“You wench! Pretending not to be here while you were inside?”

Though gritting her teeth against the pain of her hair being pulled, Sirha looked at the storage room door she had closed. Inside was someone who remembered her brother, someone who had risked danger to come here to comfort her. She absolutely couldn’t let Kilim discover Ishtar.

‘I just need to endure for a moment.’

She knew well what Kilim’s purpose was. So just a little, just a little longer…

Kilim dragged Sirha toward the bedroom, spewing curses all the while.

“Damn it, because of those idiots…! Getting kicked out of the Knight Order is all because of those bastards! Just me!”

He was breathing heavily with rage. From his words, it seemed something had happened in the Knight Order.

Once in the bedroom, he threw Sirha onto the bed. When she tried to escape to buy more time somehow, he kicked her without hesitation.

“Ah!”

With a loud cry, Sirha’s body fell. He immediately pounced on top of her.

“Where do you think you’re going…!”

Kilim struck Sirha’s cheek. Though she tried to block with her arms, it was impossible to defend against violence that was closer to punching. After several more screams, Sirha’s body went limp. She had lost consciousness, unable to endure both the physical and mental shock.

Kilim, still not satisfied, slapped Sirha’s cheeks several more times before starting to undress her. She must have deliberately worn many layers to buy time, as his drunk and excited hands couldn’t properly remove them.

“Damn it.”

Finally unable to control his temper, Kilim pulled at Sirha’s clothes. Rip. Along with the sound of tearing fabric, Sirha’s shoulder was exposed. Kilim’s Adam’s apple bobbed heavily at the sight of the exposed white skin. The thought of forcibly violating another person fueled his base lust. He paused for a moment and began fumbling with his waist. Then he even unfastened the sword at his waist and threw it aside. It was an action absolutely unforgivable for a knight.

He stroked himself while climbing back on top of Sirha.

At that moment, something occurred to Kilim. He slapped Sirha’s cheek again to wake her, though her eyes remained closed.

“Hey, hey. Wake up. Where did you put it? Where’s that outfit I bought you?”

The vulgar outfit he had bought while snickering with his fellow 3rd Knight Order members was also to his taste. Thinking that at this point he might as well play entirely according to his preferences, he pressed Sirha.

“Where did you put it? Tell me quickly. Before you get hit again.”

When he raised his hand again, Sirha flinched and lifted her arms. Being Shulat’s sister, Sirha had eyes quite similar to Shulat’s. Kilim liked that very much. It was thrilling to forcibly subdue a woman who resembled the man who had humiliated him.

Especially this sight of her glaring at him while being unable to properly resist – he wanted to keep seeing it.

“Hmm? Answer me quickly.”

When Sirha glared at him with blood trickling from her mouth, Kilim grabbed her chin and shook it playfully like a predator toying with caught prey. Seeing Kilim’s gaze that regarded her as an insect he could crush at any time, Sirha gritted her teeth.

She wanted to die from the humiliation. If she couldn’t die, she wanted to kill him.

Perhaps annoyed that Sirha was enduring without answering, Kilim raised his hand again. Just as Sirha tightly closed her eyes, bracing for the coming pain.

“Argh!”

Suddenly Kilim screamed, and something warm splattered onto Sirha’s face.

When she opened her eyes, not knowing what was happening.

“Ah…”

Sirha unconsciously let out a sound of amazement.

Behind Kilim, who was clutching his shoulder and screaming, stood Ishtar. With an intensely cold expression, completely devoid of the warm look that had comforted the crying Sirha earlier. Red blood was dripping from the tip of the dagger she held.

As she looked down at the writhing Kilim with contempt, Sirha was reminded of the goddess she had once seen in the temple. The beautiful goddess holding a sword possessing the power of desire, death, and destruction.

Her long black hair, the color of night, moved like a dance. The next moment, there was a ‘clang!’ and light flashed in the air.

“You b*tch, what are you!”

Kilim, his shoulder stabbed by the surprise attack, had hastily grabbed his discarded sword to block Ir’s attack.

“Tch.”

Ir withdrew her blade with displeasure and raised her hand again. Without hesitation, she aimed the tip of the old dagger at Kilim’s eyes. Kilim barely managed to block the dagger flying at him.

Kiiing! The blades made an unpleasant sound as they clashed, but neither Ir nor Kilim had the luxury to cover their ears. Meanwhile, Ir immediately lifted her foot and kicked Kilim in the face.

“Kuk!”

Along with an unpleasant sound, Kilim fell sideways.

“Sirha!”

At the same time, Ir called out to Sirha. Hearing her name called, Sirha hurriedly tried to get up. However, due to the aftereffects of Kilim’s violence, she staggered several times and struggled to stand.

“Damn it, are you alright?”

Seeing this, Ir supported Sirha. The moment of relief was brief as Sirha’s eyes widened and she shouted loudly.

“Ishtar, behind you!”

At Sirha’s words, Ir immediately turned and raised her dagger.

Clang!

The sound of clashing metal rang through the room again. Through the trembling blades, Kilim’s distorted face could be seen.

“You, you’re definitely… the one who came with Prince Nergal that time…!”

Kilim seemed quite flustered by the presence of someone he hadn’t expected at all.

Ir remained silent and tried to kick him again. But Kilim retreated and avoided her attack. He stumbled briefly before adjusting his grip on his sword. Seeing this, Ir’s expression stiffened and gripped her dagger again.

Despite being a despicable person, he had still passed the Imperial Knight Order test. As such, he quickly regained his stance despite his injury. However, he couldn’t hide his confusion.

‘What’s with this woman?’

He thought she had been able to stab his shoulder only because he had been careless. But she had continued to block his attacks and now maintained a perfect defensive stance that made him hesitate to charge in. She was no amateur who had learned the sword poorly. Whether in her breathing or her swordwork, she was clearly highly skilled.

Kilim swallowed dryly. For some reason, his mouth kept going dry under her glare. This was the tension he felt when sparring with Knight Order captains.

‘How can a woman like this…?’

Such skill required a body capable of supporting it. But this woman’s body looked so delicate.

The next moment, Ir moved first. She kicked off the floor and charged, putting her whole body’s weight behind the dagger.

‘I have the advantage!’

Kilim thought as he blocked the dagger. A weapon’s effective range is a crucial factor in determining victory or defeat. From the start, a dagger and a sword were not weapons that could fight equally. Of course, there are times when a dagger has the advantage. But that’s only when launching a surprise attack. In a direct confrontation like now, a dagger was at a much greater disadvantage.

‘If I hold out, I’ll win!’

The fact that an Imperial knight was only trying to hold out already proved his opponent’s strength, but now wasn’t the time to worry about such things. If he continued to hold out with all his might like this, surely the one to tire first would be his opponent.

Just as Kilim was about to settle into a defensive stance with that thought, Ir, as if having already anticipated his thinking, pushed forward with her body weight. Kilim lost his balance and fell backward. Ir didn’t miss the moment he wavered, freeing one hand to strike his hand with her fist.

A thud was followed by the sound of Kilim’s sword falling to the floor.

“Sirha! Kick that sword away!”

At Ir’s shout, Sirha hurriedly stepped on the fallen sword and kicked it out of the room. When she turned her head back, Ir was pointing her dagger at the fallen Kilim’s throat.

“Kuu…”

Feeling the blade’s edge nearly touching beneath his chin, Kilim shook his head in terror. Ir glared at him coldly and spoke.

“In the name of the great and just Anu, you shall fall to the bottom of Kur.”

These were the words Ir always spoke before killing a fellow citizen of the empire. Killing one’s own kind was strictly forbidden. But when the opponent was despicable, she would recite these words like a prayer asking forgiveness from the first god while executing them.

And the moment Ir spoke those words, shock appeared on Sirha’s face, who had been unable to intervene in the intense fight between the two.