Monarch of Death

Chapter 47 – 12. The End is An Open Door (3)

Serati and Barros stayed at Karnak’s mansion. The other knights had families, so each had a house, but Manuel was still unmarried. And a few days later, she officially became a knight of Karnak. The knights of Zestrad welcomed her wholeheartedly.

Of course, there was no territorial attitude. She was an Aura user so she had a gap from the rest of the knights. Instead of feeling superior to them, she showed fierce curiosity. And the knights had several questions for her, like how strong were the aura users they only heard about till now? and was it true that aura users show ruthless strength even with the body of a woman? Thank that, Serati had to spend her busy days dealing with other knights.

»»————-　★　————-««
There was a large gymnasium in the backyard of the mansion. A stout man in his mid-thirties was preparing for a duel with Serati. He was the knight of Zestrad, Emile.

“Please teach me,” Emile said politely, aiming at the training sword.

Likewise, Serati, who was holding a training sword, answered politely.

“Rather, it’s me who’d be learning from you. I’ll be in your care.”

Soon, Emile rushed wildly.

“Taaaat!”

The fierce Emile, trained in real battles, aimed at her. But Serati didn’t even move. She just took all the attacks lightly and bewitched them.

Bang! Bang!

Several clashes came and went with a loud sound. Emile’s body began to sweat. The sound of his breathing also gradually became rougher.

“Heh, heh, heh, heh……”

On the other hand, Serati did not change at all. Let alone sweat, even breathing was not disrupted. Emile’s eyes twinkled.

“Was being an Aura user such a high wall?”

He heard that the red class was the most beginner-level among Aura users. Besides, wasn’t the opponent in a woman’s body? Of course, he didn’t think he could win. However, no matter how much he failed to awaken his weapon, he knew how to fight back to some extent. But that was not a match at all.

‘I’m not even using a fighting sword yet!’

Moaning at Serati’s counterattack, Emile stepped back. At first glance, it was a slash that seemed to contain lightly. However, the moment they struck back, a shock as if they had been hit by a carriage pierced their whole body.

“Keugh!”

What he barely endured was his last mistake as a man.

“Ah, you haven’t fallen yet!”

The other knights who were watching the match made faces. They were the ones who had experienced sparring with Serati first.

“Emile, that friend, is a dragon.”

“I know how you feel.”

“Because it’s hard to understand that you’re pushed by such a slender woman by force.”

Serati did not use any exceptional swordsmanship or subtle techniques. She could deal with just ordinary, basic swordsmanship. She was only just too hard, too fast. Even if she did not have to use a fighting sword, there was an absolute gap in the physical ability amplified by the aura.

“Gagging!”

Eventually, Emile rolled across the floor. He barely picked himself up and greeted her.

“Ah, thank you for your time…”

It was a mixture of humiliation and admiration. Of course, he was upset because he left without being able to do anything. However, the awe of the Aura user was as great as that. Serati also drew her sword.

“Thank you for your effort.”

Still, she didn’t break a sweat. However, she was polite, she deliberately pretended to wipe her sweat. She, too, was acknowledging them.

“What is it, isn’t everyone at the level of the first-class adventurers of the guild?”

She thought it would be nothing to do with Karnak’s disparagement, but surprisingly, her skills weren’t bad. Although she had little experience in interpersonal warfare, this was not a big drawback since the main enemies of the Zestrad Territory were monsters. They were trained enough to handle the given situation. Then why did Karnak and Barros disparage the knights of their territory so much?

‘It’s only by the standards of those humans, sheesh.’

Serati pursed her lips. In fact, by their standards, she was also third-rate. No, the vast majority of people in the world were third-rate to Karnak. There were times when she was dumbfounded and asked outright.

“Then, what kind of person do you think Master Karnak is?”

The answer was simple.

“Four great kings and three great wizards.”

“………”

If the four great kings who had reached the ultimate level of nothingness and the great wizards who had reached the realm of god were first-rate, then what about the first-rate?

“If you’re the Dragon Emperor Gratheria, you’re top-notch.”

“Then, do you make it?”

“About the captains of the Imperial Knights or the guardians of the federation? If it’s the Seven Kingdoms Alliance, maybe the captain of the knights of the Altair Kingdom can join.”

Infamous Scans

Translator: Anom
Proofreader: Orange
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By the way, they were all silver knights, silver knights. Those who had only one step left to the end of nothingness.

“Everything below that is third-rate?”

“Huh.”

“Does that make sense? How vast is the gap below that!”

Even the purple knights were strong enough to handle 10 red-class soldiers alone. Even the red-class Serati could easily deal with dozens of ordinary warriors.

“How can you lump this into third rate?”

According to Karnak’s logic, it seemed possible.

“What’s strange? A guy with 10 coins or a guy with 1,000 coins is the same as being poor anyway.”

“Ah, do you think that way?”

“……That kind of thing?”

Afterward, Karnak wondered, “Why does every single one disappear when I think about it?”, but this was not a very important story. Anyway, the knights of Zesterd Territory were on the strong side in terms of common sense rather than senseless Karnak standards. But even so, it had no meaning in front of Serati.

There was a many times difference between those who had awakened fighting spirit and those who had not, in all physical abilities such as strength, speed, and reflexes. Serati was also able to understand well enough to know what she was like before awakening to the fighting spirit.

However…

‘How can Sir Barros be so strong without using an aura?’

»»————-　★　————-««
“Why why?”

Serati bounced back, holding the sword.

“Ugh!”

It wasn’t because of Barros’ sword power. As Barros deflected her slash, she was thrown back by her own power.

“It’s because Serati handles speculation poorly.”

Late afternoon. Today, as usual, she was being taught by Barros. It was not a polite expression, but a real ‘teaching’.

“Of course, I know that my level is still low…”

Quickly correcting her posture, Serati put on an expression of incomprehension. She was faster. Barros’ movements were obviously slow. But, even though she can see him attacking, she couldn’t stop him!

“The reason is simple.”

Spinning his sword, Barros shrugged.

“There is too much-wasted energy.”

No matter how fast and strong a sword could be swung, there would always be a delay in returning to its original position once it has been swung. Barros was aiming for this delay.

“Reducing this delay is not simply about making the action faster.”

Accurate posture and rapid control, movements that had been repeated hundreds of times to eliminate unnecessary actions, skill to use at the right place in one blow, and experience of instantly grasping about the right place were required.

“It’s an experience, it’s not something I can do right away, but…”

Barros moved again.

“Shouldn’t the superfluous actions at least be removed from the movement?”

Again her sword began to dance gracefully. Even though it was still slow, it was an attack that bizarrely penetrated Serati’s entire body.

‘But yes, obviously I’m faster…’

Serati let out a lamentation while concentrating only on avoiding and hitting him. Why were flaws that she usually couldn’t feel at all, only felt when she fought Barros? Had it been like that for a minute? For some reason, Barros’s offensive slackened and Serati frowned.

“Why are you looking at me all of a sudden?”

Barros smiled shyly.

“I’m not looking at you, I’m just getting tired.”

“Is that a look on your face?”

“Oh, this? It’s just a habit.”

The more he was tired, the more he could survive only when it was a habit to cheat while pretending to be calm.

“Anyway, this is the limit of my ability.”

“Already?”

“There’s no way this kind of movement can continue with a body that can’t even fight, right? At least, I can still barely do it with breathing and gradual control.”

“Ah…”

“Today’s sparring was lost to me.”

“If it was a real battle, I would have died before that, right?”

Without saying anything, Barros smiled. It was no different than an answer, so Serati rolled her eyes.

“Hey, if you want to kill me, you have already killed me, right?”

Looking for shade, Barros slumped down.

“Let’s take it easy.”

“Okay.”

Take a breath and drink the water you prepared earlier. Suddenly, Serati stared at Barros.

‘Come to think of it, there’s nothing particularly bad about being a member of this, right?’

When she became a necromancer’s attendant, she was determined, but now she thought about it, there wasn’t much of a problem. It was not that Karnak was giving evil orders, and it was not that her mind had turned evil. Rather, being able to learn from Barros was enormous.

It was Serati who practiced her swordsmanship over her shoulder here and there without a fixed teacher. Thanks to her innate talent and hard work, she was able to become an Aura user at a young age, but she was hungry for a higher level throughout.

In that sense, Barros was a really great teacher. He had the memories of being the world’s strongest warrior, had collected all the fairly famous swordsmanship, and had a lot of combat experience, so he pointed out the difference between theory and practice.

His understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of others was also very high, probably due to his experience of fighting while possessing this person.

‘That’s right, possessed. I honestly liked that.’

Suddenly, Serati put on an ecstatic expression. She was terrified when she was taken away, but looking back now, it was an amazing experience. Not indirectly, but ‘directly’, experiencing how one’s body moved, how one’s aura flows, and what a higher realm was like. Greedy, she asked softly.

“Hey, Lord Barros. Can’t you possess my body again like you did back then?”

“Possession?”

“Yes. I thought I might be able to get a feel for it if I experienced it a few more times…”

Barros was straight.

“It’s better not to do that often.”

“Why?”

“Actually, that idea, Young master, came up with it first.”

After Barros possessed the body of an aura user who was struggling with being blocked by a wall, he directly felt the high level. Wouldn’t this make it easier to break down the wall? To prove this hypothesis, he caught some Aura users and experimented with them. The results were not satisfactory.

“I went crazy after repeating the possession three times.”

“Possession is the act of covering someone else’s soul over one’s soul, right? Serati, who was astounded, shouted.

“Did you do that dangerous thing to me?”

“At that time, my life is at stake, so I can’t help it…”

Serati came to her senses.

‘As expected, these humans can’t be careless.’

He never knew what would happen if he did something wrong. Even if he got something to try, he always had to be nervous.

“If you go crazy on the third, you mean you can do it twice?”

“Why did you interpret it like that?” The angry Barros looked at Serati.

‘This lady, she has a similar way of thinking to the young master.’

No matter how scared she was, she seemed to want to take care of things.

“Now, now! It’s dangerous, so stop thinking about it. Even if you don’t do that anyway, Miss Serati will become stronger. You’re still young.

“Oh.”

“Pfft.” She laughed. It was kind of funny, like a grandfather scolding his granddaughter. As for the subject, a young woman in her twenties.

“Well, Sir Barros is really old, isn’t he?”

Although physically her age, what is inside is a 100-year-old demon. And Karnak too. He shouldn’t judge either by appearance alone.

“Anyway, it’s hard to see Master Karnak’s face these days.”

Serati looked toward the mansion as if she had suddenly remembered it.

“Is it because he’s the lord? There must be a lot of backlogs in the meantime.”

Barros shrugged.

“He must be busy but it may not be because of overdue work.”