Chapter 117.1

Unlike the previous time when Sigma had invaded the factory, Arina, now disguised as Mary, was fighting with her full power, revealing her complete abilities without restraint.

“Good heavens… Lady Mary is a Sword Master?!”

Knights watching the duel murmured in awe.

Her display of strength, on par with the highest-ranking knights, was already astonishing. But now, she was going all out, fully demonstrating the prowess of a Sword Master.

“And that swordsmanship…!”

“That’s the secret technique of the Grand Duke… no, the royal family!”

“It’s identical to the swordsmanship of the late Grand Duke.”

“Did they pass on the same techniques and mana training to the illegitimate child?”

“With talent like that, it’s no wonder they did.”

“A new Sword Master has emerged in Renslet!”

“Renslet! Rune Renslet!”

The knights were jubilant, taking pride in the birth of a new Sword Master in the North.

“But why would she also learn magic? With talent like that, if she’d focused solely on swordsmanship, she could have reached its pinnacle.”

“What a waste. What a shame.”

No one here imagined that Mary was actually Her Highness Arina Rune Renslet.

It wasn’t just because of the necklace she wore.

“I’ve never seen mana that white before.”

“Just how pure and untainted must her soul be….”

“Though, from working with Lady Mary, her personality didn’t exactly scream ‘pure.’”

The reason lay in the impossible-to-fake color of her mana.

Arina’s known mana blade was sapphire blue, but Mary’s was a pure, radiant white.

Even the knights of the High Tower had rarely, if ever, seen Arina train or perform her sword dances, especially after her injury.

This gave them a false sense of understanding, leading to their current misconceptions.

“Damn it! It’s frustrating just standing here.”

“We can’t do anything until Lady Mary’s duel with Hunster is over.”

Meanwhile, the knights desperately wanted to rush to Arad’s aid at the factory, but the surrounding orcs made it impossible to move.

Any attempt to advance caused the orcs to immediately follow them.

Bringing the orcs to the factory in an attempt to help Arad would only make things worse.

At the same time, fighting the orcs here risked getting caught in Mary and Hunster’s clash, disrupting their duel.

Thus, the knights were stuck in a frustrating standoff.

“A few more exchanges, and this should be over.”

But it seemed the stalemate wouldn’t last much longer.

Slash!

“Sssssssss!!!”

Arina’s relentless strike severed Hunster’s right arm, the one wielding the battle axe.

“It’s over.”

Her chilling voice accompanied a decisive thrust of her sword toward Hunster’s neck.

Flash!

“?!”

But her blade failed to pierce his throat.

At the critical moment, light radiated from a magic stone embedded in Hunster’s armor, halting her sword with a brief burst of telekinetic force.

The artifact was a magical tool crafted in the Devil’s Den.

Crack!

Fortunately, the sound of the stone shattering echoed immediately after it stopped her strike—it was a one-time-use item.

“Ssss!!!”

Hunster didn’t waste the opportunity.

Just before Arina could swing her sword again,

Thud, roll!

He retreated with surprising agility for his massive frame, rolling across the ground in an unsightly but effective manner.

“Ssssss!!”

Creating distance, he shouted in Orcish to the surrounding orcs.

“Ssssssss!!!”

“Graaaaaaah!!”

The orcs, who had been holding back, finally unleashed their fury and charged at Arina.

“For someone who pretends to be so honorable.”

Clicking her tongue, Arina adjusted her stance.

Then she called her comrades.

“Knights!”

“Renslet! Rune Renslet!”

The knights who had been waiting sprang into action, as if they’d been holding back all along.

Observing the renewed battle from a distance, someone chuckled unpleasantly.

Hehehehehe….

The eerie laughter floated down from the clear sky.

A figure cloaked in a filthy black robe, wrapped in dull gray bandages, and exuding a faint green glow from its eyes, watched the scene.

“So that’s how it is.”

The dark mage, his bandages reeking of decay, muttered to himself.

“Isabelle, so that’s why you were so confident. Now it makes sense.”

Isaac’s avatar began chanting confidently.

[Rise.]

As soon as the dark mage uncovered the key to victory, he began orchestrating the situation Arina feared most.

A substantial portion of the mana that had been focused on the barrier shifted to the battlefield.

“Gwaaaaarrr…”

“Hrrrrrrr…”

Fallen orcs and druids began to rise as undead. Even the corpses of Renslet knights joined their ranks.

When undead erupted all around them, Arina clenched her teeth.

What should have been a swift duel was dragging out far longer than she’d anticipated.

Although Hunster had lost his right arm, he was still combat-ready. Worse yet, a necromancer hidden nearby was interfering.

“Haaah!”

“Graaaaah!”

The battle raged on fiercely, but time and energy were no longer on Renslet’s side. For Arina, the situation was even worse.

Knights were growing exhausted and falling one by one.

Some of those who collapsed rose again moments later as enemies.

There was still no word on reinforcements from the barrier.

“Hah… Hah… Hah…”

Swinging her sword tirelessly, Arina felt the weight of fatigue pressing down on her.

Most of her strength had already been spent during her earlier duel with Hunster.

Renslet’s ancestors…

She had pushed herself too far.

Her lower abdomen, where her mana core resided, felt like it was boiling over.@@novelbin@@

Her heart pounded violently, as if it might burst.

She was on the brink of forming a fourth and even a fifth mana circle in an instant—a dangerous phenomenon.

Ancestor Rune Renslet, Second Patriarch Pilgrim, Third Patriarch Thesis, Fourth Patriarch Elysis, Fifth Patriarch Isilis, Sixth Patriarch Axis, Seventh Patriarch Bjorn, Eighth Patriarch Shiarang, Ninth Patriarch Terrain… And Tenth Patriarch Baikal… ȐãꞐο𝐛Ёś

Arina was at a crossroads.

She had to choose: stop fighting and preserve her life, or step into an uncharted, potentially fatal territory.

Grant me courage…

Was this an opportunity? Or a disaster?

Life or death!

Closing her eyes, Arina steadied herself.