For a moment, Ir couldn’t process what she was seeing.

Shulat was the youngest in the 9th Knight Order. Despite how the other knights would tease him for his youthful energy, they cherished him like a younger brother. During sparring matches with other knights, he would say things like “Please spare this handsome face at least!” which only earned him more beatings.

That face he was so proud of was now covered in bruises and wounds. Even through her blurring vision, Ir could tell these injuries were inflicted after death.

Whoever had thrown Shulat’s head must have kicked it around after killing him.

The extreme anger and confusion actually made Ir calmer.

‘Did they use drugs?’

The other collapsed knights, and now her blurry vision and clouding consciousness.

Since they had brought all their food themselves, then something must have been sprayed in the air. Ir held her breath and wrapped the cloth from her shoulder around her nose and mouth. With trembling hands, she pulled out the neutralizing agent from her bag.

When she learned they would have to enter the cave, she had brought it from the knight order’s storage just in case.

As a child, Ir often hid in the cave connected to her house’s backyard to escape her father’s beatings. That’s when she learned that caves could have pockets of toxic air. She had brought it thinking this cave might have similar air, but….

Though it couldn’t neutralize everything, it seemed to have some effect as her vision cleared and her mind sharpened momentarily. But it wasn’t enough to fully restore her rationality.

Ir reached out and picked up Shulat’s head.

Drip. Drip. Blood fell from the severed neck. The blood was still warm. The head with its eyes still open retained some body heat too. That’s why everything Ir was seeing felt like a cruel joke.

‘Why? Who?’

Holding Shulat’s head, Ir stepped backward. She lifted her gaze toward where the head had rolled from.

Someone emerged from the darkness. They all had their faces covered. Their clothes were ordinary, the kind you could see anywhere on the street.

But that alone was enough for Ir to know.

These were people whose faces she knew, and they weren’t the type to normally wear such clothes.

“Sorry, Shulat. Wait just a bit.”

Ir muttered this and placed Shulat’s head on the ground. Then she immediately drew her sword and faced the approaching figures.

They stopped when they saw Ir.

“They said this much would be enough to knock everyone out.”

Like Ir, they had cloth covering their noses and mouths. Though their voices were muffled, Ir could tell. They were from the Empire. And educated ones at that.

Even with her clouded mind, it wasn’t hard to guess who they were.

People whose faces she knew, people who normally wore clothes that revealed their status, people who could kill a knight like Shulat even when he was drugged, and people who could enter a cave guarded by the Imperial Knights.

‘Imperial Knights.’

That’s why Ir couldn’t understand this situation even more. Why would Imperial Knights want to kill their own?

With echoing footsteps, all those who had come down revealed themselves. Ten in total. Ir kept backing away while glaring at them. They snickered at her behavior. The one standing at the back spoke to the others.

“Kill them all.”

Without any response, the attackers moved swiftly. Ir screamed frantically.

“Wake up! Everyone wake up!”

Normally, the 9th Knight Order would have jumped up at Ir’s command without even opening their eyes, but no one moved. Meanwhile, the attackers approached the knights and mercilessly slit their throats.

“Guh!”

“Urk!”

Even collapsed, they writhed and made sounds of agony as their throats were cut.

“Utu!”

Watching the attackers move without hesitation, Ir called out to Utu, who had been laughing and joking with her just moments ago. But it was too late. Before Ir could move, an attacker grabbed Utu’s hair and thrust a knife into his throat.

Utu’s body, which had been choking, went limp. A dark red pool of blood formed under his body where the attacker had thrown him.

Ir couldn’t hold back anymore and rushed to attack the assailant.

Clang!

Sparks flew as the swords clashed. The moment their swords met, Ir realized. Though the neutralizing agent might have cleared her mind, it hadn’t restored her body.

Normally, she would have kicked her opponent the moment their swords met, but now she could barely keep from being pushed back, let alone raise her leg.

“Damn, you’re really a monster after all. Still so much strength.”

One of the attackers muttered at Ir’s display. Their words further confirmed Ir’s suspicions. These were definitely Imperial Knights.

‘Which ones are they?’

Ir quickly withdrew her sword and stepped back. She had realized she would be pushed back if their swords met again.

Grrrk.

A frustrated sound escaped through her gritted teeth. It infuriated her to be so helpless against those she could normally subdue. Moreover, she was enraged by how they had instantly killed her comrades.

‘I’ll kill them.’

A life must be paid for with a life. She would kill them all. She would hold her comrades’ funeral over their corpses.

But the more angry she became, the colder her reason grew, telling her:

That it was impossible. That she too would soon die.

The attackers who had finished slitting the throats of the 9th Knight Order now approached Ir. She stepped backward to keep her distance from them. One step, then another.

Though they were surprised by Ir’s resistance, that was all. Their unhurried movements were as leisurely as hunters approaching trapped prey.

Thud.

Something hit Ir’s back as she retreated. Turning around, she saw a wall. She had been driven to the edge of the clearing.

Ir looked up. She could see the Holy Sword embedded above her head.

‘It’s not vibrating.’

The Holy Sword, which had hummed warnings when they first entered as if telling them not to come close, showed no reaction even though Ir had long crossed the line she had drawn.

“Ha.”

Ir let out a bitter laugh at the sight.

‘So one of them must be the sword’s master?’

It was absurd. These people who used drugs to rob others of consciousness and took the lives of defenseless opponents. Could one of these really become the master of the Holy Sword?

“This is bullshit, really.”

In legends, only those who were righteous and had a sense of duty could obtain the Holy Sword. But it seems the legends were all nonsense after all.

As Ir looked at the Holy Sword, the attackers’ gazes also turned to the sword embedded in the wall. Their eyes suddenly gleamed with greed.

“That is…”

“We must retrieve it quickly.”

The attackers exchanged brief, excited words, completely ignoring Ir below it. That’s when it happened.

“Guh!”

One of the attackers who had been looking at the Holy Sword suddenly groaned and collapsed forward. The sword that had been in Ir’s hand moments ago was now lodged in his throat.

“Urgh…”

Foaming blood at his mouth, the attacker writhed before going still. He was the one who had thrust his sword into Utu’s throat.

“Utu, I’ve avenged you.”

Ir spoke to her comrade who was growing cold. If the fallen could still speak, they would probably have grumbled about when their revenge would come.

Ir’s throat tightened. Her teeth ground together in frustration and helplessness. These were people who had treated her, called a monster, as a comrade and consistently addressed her as vice-commander. They drank together, ate together, and sometimes fought over blankets in the barracks. They were as good as family. And they had all been murdered before her eyes.

Yet she couldn’t even properly avenge them.

‘I want to kill them.’

She wanted to make them pay for the weight of the lives they had taken. At least so her comrades who had just departed could rest in peace.

‘If only I had another weapon.’

Maybe she could kill at least one more before dying.

But Ir had no weapons left.

At that moment, Ir looked up again at the Holy Sword embedded in the wall. She saw the sword shining alone high above, as if indifferent to human circumstances.

Suddenly Ir thought, isn’t that a weapon too?

Ir bent her knees, and even that made her vision shake and consciousness blur again. But without staggering, she crouched lower.

Perhaps realizing what Ir was about to do, the leader of the attackers shouted.

“Kill the monster!”

At that moment, Ir used all her strength to leap from the ground. Then she stepped off a protruding part of the wall and jumped again. And with all her might, she reached out her hand.

Thud!

With a dull sound, Ir’s hand grasped the Holy Sword.