Overgeared

Zibal had served Prince Edan—the traitor who killed former Emperor Juander and then got killed. People naturally thought that Zibal had been driven out of the empire. Yet he was working with the Red Knights...? It was surprising that a traitor was still present in the empire.

“Weren’t you in a position where you would be executed for guilt by association...? It seems that even the great empire appreciates your ability.”

The imperial family hadn’t told the world about the grandmaster. The people only knew that Imperial Prince Edan had rebelled, and the emperor had been replaced in the process. It was the same for the Yatan Church. The damn Edan stopped their deal in the middle, so the Yatan Church couldn’t figure out the details. Consequently, the Yatan followers naturally thought the Red Knights in front of them were part of the empire.

“Didn’t the new empress declare that she would aim for world unity? I know there was a proclamation of no more one-sided military intervention. Yet it seems the empire hasn’t changed since the days when it occupied other countries’ territory with force. Rather, it just became more insidious. Is it different for our church? How about using this chance to establish a relationship with our church?”

Rose still had room to act. Yatan’s followers were gathering here from all over the continent. It was Rose’s judgment that with the ever-increasing troops, she could easily break through the Red Knights and complete her mission.

“I don’t care if you curse the emperor or the empire. You have to step back here.” A knight pointed her sword at Rose. Her name was Susan. She was a great beauty, but unfortunately, there was a terrible wound on her forehead.

“Oh...? Isn’t this reaction strange? Is the rumor false that the loyalty of the Red Knights to the emperor and the empire is as deep as the sea?”

“Filthy Yatan’s Servant, do you intend to mix my words forever? Turn away or die.”

“Your tone is as ugly as the scar on your forehead. It is clear you haven’t learned anything.”

“Did you choose death?” Susan’s sword stretched out in a straight line.

Other rankers couldn’t respond to the sword that was as fast as light, but Rose responded fully by opening the Diamond Shield. Rose was a top-rated ranker and had been thoroughly prepared from the moment she saw that Susan’s name was gold. However, Susan’s skills were better than Rose expected.

‘Destroying the Diamond Shield in one strike?’

Susan’s sword shattered the shield. Rose recovered it and fired it up again at a much faster speed than before. This time, Rose determined it would be hard to block and gritted her teeth in preparation for the pain. Frodo, who was standing by Rose’s side, swung a spear and blocked Susan’s sword.

“She is a bad opponent for you. Step back and provide cover.”

“I understand.”

“This filth can’t stop me!” Susan swung her sword more vigorously. Her plan was to wipe out the Yatan followers in front of her, but it was surprisingly difficult. Frodo had a very high level of creativity. “A Servant?”

“That’s right. You are a single-digit knight.”

The battle started to expand to the scale of a war. Thousands of Yatan followers, including Rose, cast black magic to cover Frodo while the Red Knights rushed into the Yatan followers and started wiping them out. There were only 20 against thousands, but the knights were worthy of their high reputation.

‘No, isn’t this more than what I’ve heard?’ Rose’s expression darkened. It was because the Red Knights weren’t only masters of swordsmanship but also magic. They easily blocked the black magic because they were casting protective magic and buff magic extremely quickly.

‘Why do the Red Knights know magic? Furthermore, it is the first time I’ve seen these spells.’

Rose stepped back a bit further. Her judgment was excellent for someone who reached this position.

‘The average skill difference is too big. I will lose half my troops before reinforcements even arrive.’

She didn’t know the identity of the ‘master’ of Zibal and the Red Knights. If their master was above the level of the empire’s dukes, then the odds of success were low for the Yatan followers even if the reinforcements arrived. There was also something she couldn’t overlook.

their master is Marie

and Marie Rose. Rose thought up to here and used Fly magic. She was going to flee. The quest? She would give

feel good. Tsk, I

was confident that she could retreat while

“Keok...!”

the sky? Rose, trapped on the ground, was thrown into confusion by

‘This... What is it?’

huge shadow covered her. It

“...What...”

saw it. A giant

you know who I hate the most?” Zibal’s voice rang out from behind her. He leaned on the shoulder of the magic machine retrieving the spear and pointed

“Kkuk... Cough...”

every time you helped Benoit summon a great

a quest... Cough, cough. I just did it. The emergence of the great demons are an inevitable story. Cough. If it wasn’t me, then someone else... Cough, cough. You

so. Even so, would

“...?”

they would kill you... I got

“What...”

die. You shouldn’t have complained about your pain if you harbored the slightest bit of guilt for the millions of people who

I was just doing a quest. Why should I feel guilty? Moreover, I’m

for the moment when Zibal’s magic machine stopped working. Zibal shook

see. This is really heartbreaking. What’s up with you? The pain of the dead? I have goosebumps. Aren’t you

smiled. She appreciated Zibal due to the magic machine. Without it, she wasn’t afraid of

“Black Hole!”

magic that dealt powerful damage to all targets in range and also dealt five or more debuffs. The entire space designated by Rose started to distort. At the heart of

“...?!”

machine—swung its spear and knocked the black hole back. Zibal laughed at the shocked Rose. “Isn’t your

escaped from the imperial palace with the grandmaster and accepted the grandmaster’s offer of cooperation. Zibal couldn’t miss out on the biggest performance in

speak honestly because I was ashamed!” Rose yelled, looking really sad as she wept like a chicken

It was the end. Suddenly, a huge explosion occurred in the

expression stiffened. ‘The

the ‘fallen gods’ of their authority. This meant he was disliked by both the fallen gods and the great demons. He insisted that he should gather strength to fight against

duke, woke up. Zikfrector had high hopes for Marie Rose. Since she hated the great demons, if she lent him her strength, it was likely he would achieve his goals. That’s why he followed her whereabouts. However, would Marie Rose, who was fundamentally a demonkin, work with Zikfrector? Zibal had doubts about

Leave this place to us

“Son of a bitch.”

his tongue and rushed into the forest as a high difficulty

***

flames destroyed the forest. There were three people at the center of the shockwave. They were Vampire Duke Marie Rose, Vampire Marquis Fenrir, and Grandmaster Zikfrector. Marie Rose’s red eyes stared at Zikfrector. “You’re very strong. I’m reminded of Chreshler when I look at

from him. My body might be

in a roundabout manner. It is

of the