Chapter 1

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--I don't want to die.

With that single thought, the girl ran.

In the vast wilderness, she ran as fast as she could to escape the approaching death.

Her breathing was ragged, and her sides were beginning to ache.

The girl frowned at this fact and felt a sense of discomfort.

Unlike a typical noble lady, she had trained herself to some extent.

She had received training from a former adventurer hired by her family and had learned some self-defense techniques.

She should have had more than average stamina.

However, in reality, the girl's body was approaching its limits.

“Why...!”

She couldn't help but curse.

The extra oxygen consumption from her cursing only further disrupted her breathing.

Her legs, exhausted from the effort, were beginning to beg for rest.

But there was no "why."

This was a fraud, the girl raged, but it was a perfectly normal outcome.

No matter how much she trained every day, it was still content tailored to her size as a girl who hadn't yet reached adulthood. Moreover, the training was just that—training.

The sudden "real combat" she was forced into was far beyond what she had anticipated, and her mind, which was far from calm, was being ruthlessly drained of the little stamina she had left.

Still, the girl couldn't stop.

She had to keep running.

She had to escape from the approaching "enemy."

If they caught her even once, her fate would be sealed.

However—

“Oops, too bad. This is a dead end, miss.”

A man who had easily circled around appeared from behind a rock and blocked her path.

She hastily applied the brakes, scraping the ground with the soles of her boots to stop.

She tried to turn and escape from the man in front of her, but pursuers were also closing in from behind, as well as from the sides.

--There's no way out.

Within seconds, the girl was surrounded by the men. She was unarmed, while the men were a group of mercenaries with appropriate equipment.

“Chase is over. No, no, I think you did pretty well, miss? The viscount's daughter the other day collapsed within two minutes of starting to run. You running for five minutes is quite impressive, really, I mean it.”

That viscount's daughter was probably no longer in this world.

Somewhere in her heart, she hoped that the viscount's daughter had met a peaceful death, but she knew it was a futile wish.

The men, with their lecherous grins, made it all too clear what would happen to her before she was killed.

“Now that the warm-up is over, let's get to work... but first, let's see.”

The man who had been talking—likely the leader of the mercenary group—lunged at her.

“...Ugh”

The girl tried to dodge instinctively.

But her trembling, exhausted legs tangled, and she fell to the ground.

The leader pinned her to the ground, covering her body with his own.

“Well, shall we get to the fun part? The last lady was crying and begging for her life around this point, but what about you?”

The girl was the only daughter of the Gardiner family.

Because of that, she couldn't die here.

She had a mission.

A vow that must be kept at all costs for her family.

So she couldn't die.

She couldn't die here.

Therefore, despite her trembling with fear, she spoke.

“P-Please... help...”

“What? What did you say? I can't hear you well.”

The leader, with a tone that seemed to be toying with his prey, asked her to repeat herself.

Ignoring him, the girl shouted.

“Help...! Someone, help!!”

The girl cried for help.

She shouted to someone who wasn't there.

Instead of begging for her life to the men in front of her, she chose to seek help from the outside.

The girl, though young, was a member of a proud lineage.

She knew that begging for her life from the leader would be futile, but more than that, her "pride" rejected such a choice.

But the fact remained that she couldn't escape the current situation with her own strength alone. That's why she did the only thing she could do—she shouted for help with all her might.

However—

“Haha... Hahahaha! Did you hear that? She's calling for help! Who in the middle of this vast wilderness is going to come to her aid?”

The leader, who had pinned the girl, laughed heartily.

The surrounding mercenaries also laughed mockingly, as if they found it truly amusing.

But still, the girl continued to shout for help with all her might.

“You're entertaining until the end, miss. In the middle of this vast wilderness, who do you think will come to your rescue?”

The leader was right.

This was the middle of the wilderness.

There was no one else in sight, and no matter how much she shouted, no one would hear her.

Even if someone did hear her, there was no way a stranger would take on a group of over twenty mercenaries to save an unknown girl.

But even knowing this, the girl continued to shout.

Even if it was futile, it was the only resistance she could offer. The Gardiner family did not know the word "resignation." That's why the girl did everything she could until the very end.

“Well, it's more fun than bedding a woman who's already given up.”

The leader, who had pinned her, tore the fabric of her chest with force.

Her small chest was exposed to the air, forcing a chill-like sensation upon her.

A sound, like a physiological reaction, escaped her lips.

“Oh, what a good expression. Your previous tough attitude wasn't bad, but this is much better, miss. If I had to give it a title, I'd call it 'Despair.'"

The leader grinned lecherously.

No, he was genuinely enjoying it.

His face was twisted with pleasure, like a beast licking its lips in front of its prey.

The leader's hand reached for the girl's leggings.

If they were pulled down, it would be the end.

As a last act of resistance, the girl shouted with all her might.

“Someone, someone, help! Please, help meeeeee—!!”

The scream, hoarse from the effort, gradually faded and vanished into the wilderness—just before it completely disappeared, it reached the ears of a certain eccentric.

“...Huh?”

The dazed voice could have come from the girl or from one of the men surrounding her, but it was certain that it wasn't from the leader who was pinning her.

Because that man's head had exploded like a watermelon, already turning him into a corpse.

What had just happened?

Neither the girl nor the men could comprehend the reality in front of them, and they could only stand frozen.

Then—

‘--What are you standing around for!? Get up!’

A desperate voice echoed in the girl's head.

She looked around frantically, but the only ones present were the mercenaries who were still trying to understand what had happened. The voice's owner was nowhere to be seen.

From the mercenaries' reactions, the girl deduced that this "voice" was only audible to her.

‘Get up! Do you want to die!?’

The voice was forceful, almost painful to hear.

But the girl heard the words and felt a surge of defiance in response to the angry question.

She didn't want to die. She had no desire to die. That's why she had called for help. She wouldn't die here.

As if in response to her thoughts, the voice continued to shout at her.

‘If you don't want to die, get up! Run towards the sun—!’

She reacted instinctively.

Pushing away the lifeless body of the leader, she stood up.

Her chest was still exposed, but she had no time to cover it, and she ran as the voice commanded.

A mercenary stood in her path, but she trusted the voice and ran straight ahead.

Suddenly, a red mark appeared on the mercenary's forehead. A hole about a centimeter in diameter opened in his head, and blood and brain matter spilled out.

Slipping past the falling mercenary, the girl broke through the encirclement and ran towards the setting sun.

“What—What was that!?”

“Sniper!?”

“His head!”

“Idiot, he's already dead! More importantly, the girl is getting away!”

The girl ran with all her might.

But her physical strength was still at its limit.

Her slender, overworked body was begging its host to rest.

Still, she kept running.

Because the "voice" was shouting at her to run if she didn't want to die.

However, the physical disparity between the girl and the pursuing men was stark.

The men were closing in on her back, gaining ground with each step.

In ten seconds, they would catch her.

And if they caught her, it would be the end.

The men had already given up on "sampling."

Their faces were those of professional mercenaries focused on their job.

If they caught her, they would kill her immediately and flee the scene.

And that would be the end of the story.

Someone had indeed interfered, but no one would be foolish enough to confront a group of mercenaries after their target was lost.

This was common sense in the wilderness, and it was a shared understanding between the girl and the mercenaries.

‘Damn... Reive, go ahead!

Prioritize the girl's rescue—no, just go! It's an order! Hurry!’

The voice shouted in a desperate tone.

It wasn't directed at the girl but at someone else.

The meaning of the words was unclear. Why she could hear this voice was also a mystery. The girl had no energy left to try to understand.

Her breathing was labored.

Her legs ached.

Her lungs felt like they were about to burst.

Still, she didn't stop running.

The blood of the Gardiner family refused to give up.

That pride drove her body forward.

But it was about to end.

One of the mercenaries was catching up to her.

She could hear the breathing of someone other than herself, indicating how close they were.

The mercenary gathered strength in his legs.

In his right hand, a dagger.

His stance was ready to leap.

His eyes held the intent to kill.

The mercenary lunged forward, about to stab the defenseless girl in the back—then his life ended.

“...Did I make it in time?”

A figure descended from the sky like a comet.

It was a tall woman with silver hair and wolf-like eyes.

In the momentum of her fall, she kicked the pursuing mercenary, shattering his head like a pomegranate.

The sudden intruder.

Faced with her incredible power, the other mercenaries were intimidated.

The girl, who had been pursued, turned to the woman who had blocked the pursuers.

The tone was similar, but this woman was not the voice's owner. The voice the girl had heard was a man's, not a woman's.

“Maiden, by my master's command, I will protect you.”

A matter-of-fact tone.

The tall woman said only that and took a stance to face the mercenaries.

“What—Where did this woman come from—”

“No, more importantly, she took out James with just one hit...!”

“Body enhancement magic? But there's no catalyst. Could it be a magic item?”

“But she's alone. We still have a chance!”

The mercenaries regained their composure and surrounded the woman.

The mercenaries had the advantage of numbers.

Even though they had lost two, they still had many left.

Since the girl couldn't fight, the numerical strength ratio was twenty-three to one.

Logically, there was no way to win.

The power of numbers is great, regardless of time and place.

No matter how excellent the tactics or how strong the position, in the face of overwhelming numbers, one is inevitably overwhelmed and destroyed.

But there are always exceptions, and this world had many of them.

The woman who suddenly appeared was one of those exceptions, a stroke of luck for the girl and a disaster for the mercenaries.

“Guh—”

One of the mercenaries made that sound.

He was the deputy leader, standing at the back of the group.

He wondered why he had made that sound and examined his body in confusion... and then he died, discovering a large hole in his abdomen.

“What—What just happened!?”

Another mercenary, standing closest to the deputy leader, shouted in shock.

Or rather, he tried to shout.

But the man's torso had already been struck by the woman's kick, and in the next moment, his body was launched thirty meters into the air. Dying before hitting the ground might have been a mercy for him.

The mercenaries, witnessing this, took a step back in shock.

“This woman...!”

They had made the wrong choice.

The woman in front of them was not someone they should fight.

She was a monster they should flee from immediately.

By the time the mercenaries realized this, it was too late.

The woman unleashed her fists and feet mercilessly on the mercenaries.

And it was the same for those trying to escape.

Some tried to resist, but they couldn't even see her movements, let alone fight back.

--In about twenty seconds.

With less than a second per person, the woman single-handedly annihilated the mercenary group.

She observed the surroundings without letting her guard down, confirming that all the enemies were dead, and then approached the girl.

The girl, still catching her breath, stared at the tall woman in a daze.

She couldn't process the reality in front of her and could only stand there.

But as a noble lady, the etiquette drilled into her was almost reflexive, and it demanded that she stand and express her gratitude.

So she did.

“Thank you for your assistance. I owe my life to you.”

She placed her left hand on her chest and curtsied.

Wearing travel attire, she had no hem to hold, but her gesture was impeccable for a noble lady.

“Your gratitude should be to my master. Without his command, I would not have abandoned my guard duty to save you.”

The tall woman answered matter-of-factly.

The girl felt a sense of "of course" at her answer.

The voice she had heard earlier was likely her master.

“Please wait a moment. They should be here soon... Ah, no, they're already here. There they are.”

The woman pointed to the top of a towering cliff.

The girl wondered if the woman had also come from there and looked in the direction she pointed. Two figures leaped from the cliff.

“What—!?”

The word "suicide" flashed in her mind.

But the figures didn't plummet; they descended slowly, as light as feathers, and landed softly on the ground without stirring a speck of dust.

The two figures who descended from the sky were a woman and a man.

The man's face was hidden under a hood, but the woman had a very beautiful face.

The girl thought of the word "beauty." With her well-proportioned figure, she would undoubtedly draw the attention of the opposite sex in any social setting.

The girl tried to resist being captivated by the sight.

Since the man was the only one present, he must be the voice's owner.

She needed to start by expressing her gratitude to him.

“You're safe. I'm glad I made it in time.”

Surprisingly, his voice was gentle.

It was the same tone as the voice in her head, but there was no doubt that he was the voice's owner.

But perhaps because of the different emotions conveyed, his voice sounded almost like a different person's, so soft and gentle.

He pulled back his hood and smiled as he continued.

“I'm sorry for shouting at you just now. I apologize.”

No, it's not at all. I am the one who should be grateful for your assistance. I have nothing to offer here, but when we return to our country, I will certainly send you a proper reward.

...That was what she intended to say.

But her mouth froze when she saw the man's face, and she couldn't form any coherent words.

In her shock, she forgot to cover her exposed chest and stood there in a daze.

The man's face was quite ordinary.

Much younger than she had imagined, he looked to be under twenty.

His eyes were a bit sharp, but otherwise, he had a common face, one that wouldn't stand out in a crowd.

However, if asked if he could blend in with the general public, the answer would be a definite no.

The man—youth—had a striking physical feature.

It was the color of his eyes and hair.

“...Black hair, black eyes?”

Jet black.

His eyes were so deep they seemed to draw you in, and his hair was as black as a raven's wing.

These were special colors in this world, colors that no ordinary person should possess.

“Ah... By the way, that, what... Your attire is, well, quite an eyesore.”

The youth approached the girl and offered her his cloak.

But the girl was too preoccupied to accept it.

She was completely captivated by the color of the youth's hair and eyes.

Perhaps growing impatient with the girl's lack of response, the youth took another step closer, trying to look away from her exposed chest.

The youth's face was now so close that she could see his eyes and hair clearly. Even at such close range, they didn't look dyed. To the girl, they appeared to be natural.

So, driven by her curiosity, the girl asked the youth a question.

“--May I know your name?”

The sudden question.

The youth, while draping the cloak over the girl's exposed chest, answered briefly.

“I am Helian.”

That was the meeting between the girl and the youth—Helian, the King of Demons.

+ + +

The story begins two weeks earlier, on October 14, 997 S.C.

·Thank you for reading.

·The next chapter will be posted on [October 15].

·I have already prepared over 200,000 characters, so I will update [daily] until the end of the chapter.