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Chapter 5




Chapter 5
There’s No Way the Unity and Combined Wisdom of Humanity is this Weak
Alone, René wandered the main street.
Whoever entered her sights were cut down, and those who were further away were shot down with magic. Any who caught sight of her ran off screaming, a sight that amused René.
From the point she had obtained her current state, RenĂ© could ‘tune into’ the thoughts and feelings of the people around her. It began as static noise buzzing in her skull, but over time, she came to be able to control both the channel and frequency of those fearing and despairing her presence, like a radio.
She could even tell which buildings hid people, and simply shot magic at them until they crumbled and the signs of life vanished.
――I tried out both my sword and my magic. I even got to fight someone kinda strong.


So this is what it feels like cheating. Not bad.
Looks like I don’t need this trial period thing after all, she thought. The strength that flowed through her surprised RenĂ© herself.
For now, I’m a Dullahan, I guess. I already had my head lopped off, so I guess that’s what she decided to go with.
The first thing I can use is this red sword made from my blood. Sure, I’m waving it around like this, but it’s actually being registered as a magic attack, so any armor that doesn’t have some magic resistance, this’ll cleave through like warm butter. Pretty much one-hit kill.
Next up is the Dullahan class’ specialty, a curse of death. It slowly drains away the life of an enemy until it kills them
 But I’m gonna use that right now. Feels like a pain.
And then there’s my magic. On top of that, since I’m a pretty high rank monster, the magic’s got some nice bonuses, but I might be getting some negative corrections when using it as a sword skill.
――Helps a lot that I already know a bunch about magic and undead from the get-go.
But it seems like this is all very one-sided. Well then, René thought.
Fortunately for her, this was the capital of Ciel-Terra. First comes the people out, then I’ll eradicate everyone in the caste, was what she had first thought, but it became a bigger chore than she had thought because there were many people in the first place.
There’s always the option of making a big fire, but it’s all rock, rock, rock here in the capital.
――Guess I’ll just have to keep on crushing them one by one, even if it’s a big pain.
Her battles till now were all for the sake of measuring her strength.
Guess I’ll try having fun from this point on.
René lurked the area in search of new prey, until a strange group got caught on her radar.
They oozed an eagerness for battle and blood, their breath reeked with hatred. They were so well-pronounced, it plucked at René’s curiosity.
The air around the group wore thick with magic. They approached René with no hesitation in their hearts.
“The Order of Knights?”
Her previous fight was with the Garrison
 The equivalent of local policemen in Earth terms, but this group was certainly much stronger than them, she felt.
So, it really is the Order of Knights, huh.
Ciel-Terra’s governing body consisted of the King at the top, followed by the Princes who watched over each piece of territory.
From a military perspective, the knights were made up of many major and minor Lords, and while the Princes divided up their lands and gave lease to the Knights to have stay, those knights further employed part-time knights, part-time farmers to tend to those lands.
However, there existed a special corps that reported directly to the King. Only spending their entire lives dedicated to training, they were Ciel-Terra’s elite. Within the country, they were simply known as ‘The Order of Knights’.
They were the pride of the country, heroes to the common folk. And, once upon a time, to René as well.
‘Ah, yes, I shall warn you about this once. In theory, you will certainly grow to become much stronger than the Demon King himself, but please take care and avoid fighting strong opponents right away.’
The Evil God’s words repeated in her mind.
The Order of Knights. I can take them on
 right?
――As long as I want to kill them all, I can’t avoid the Order of Knights
.
What do I do now?, as she stood and thought, the Knights drew nearer.
The jingle of their armor grew louder as they marched through the half ruined cityscape.
They held the national flag high
 A shield with the emblem of a white rose surrounded by thorns.
Once she entered their sight, they knit together into a tight formation.
Flanks and heads covered by shields, their formation took the shape of a turtle, with a single soldier at front.
――Yeah, I don’t really get it but since they’re all clumped together, might as well make the first move.
For now, I’ll kill them all, and RenĂ© began chanting.
“â‰ȘTurbo Explosion≫”
A small ball of flame curled into existence on her hand. She hurled it at the formation of Knights, flying as if ripping through the wind.
And then, a flash of blinding light spread across her vision, roaring like thunder.
The blast made René’s mantle flutter in the air, the buildings within radius on either side collapsed into ruins of brick and stone.
The dust storm raised blocked her vision. However, the wind picked up quickly, driving it away. It was not René’s work. Could it be the Knights’?
Indeed as if it were some cliche from one of Earth’s shows, the Knights were mostly unharmed through some unknown method.  Only the shields were slightly scorched.
――
Yo, you for real? What the hell did you guys do just now?
Seems they’re not holding up the shields for show. There’s a mage among them, or maybe there’s something about those shields

“I see. It doesn’t have the power to break through this.” the lone knight outside of the formation whispered.
Oh right, this guy isn’t even using a shield and got faceplanted by the explosion, but doesn’t even have a scratch on him.
Delicate carvings adorned his silver-plated armor. His features were hidden by the full-face helmet, however. There might be some sort of high magic resistance imbued in that armor.
He stepped towards René, the sword at his lower waist unsheathed.
――That’s
!!
Even if she lived a simple life for the past 10 years,René still knew what that sword was. It had a legendary status in Ciel-Terra.
It’s silver edge gleamed with a dim blue light.
The blade has been sung of in many stories by numerous bards across Ciel-Terra. Terra Ayur, the beautiful sword that carried great power, gifted only to the greatest knight in all of the country.
Thus, the one wielding that sword was

“Chief of the First Order of Knights, Lawrence Reinhardt
.!”
“Ho? For a monster to know my name, it seems my fame reaches far beyond my expectations.” Lawrence spat with malice.
Ciel-Terra’s strongest knight, praised for his limitless strength and courage. The hero hailed as the country’s greatest shield. There existed no children who wished to not become him. Even for RenĂ©, who once felt as if he were ‘someone who was always so far away, yet a pride for any citizen of the country’, this held true.
However
 she realized something.
How had the Royal Prince so easily managed to stage a Coup, while an existence of Lawrence’s caliber protected the country?
How, the man who was supposed to protect the king at all costs, was he still here after the Coup?
Why did he still hold in his possession, Ciel-Terra’s treasure, the Terra Ayur even now? The knights who had come to capture RenĂ© and her mother, wore an emblem on their left chest indicating their affiliation.
Even if RenĂ© had no knowledge of the country’s emblems
 She could tell at a glance if it were in person. Lawrence wore that same emblem, the emblem of the First Order of Knights.
“The corrupt late king and his whore’s child, a cursed child with silver hair and silver eyes
 Ah, now it would be an accursed undead?” his voice singed with scorn as frozen as the snow that fell.
Spitting at the ground, Lawrence pointed Terra Ayur at René.
“I will personally send you to hell. Die your second death groveling in mud like the dog you are.”
“
 I will never forgive you.”
René’s dead and still heart beat with the heat of her grimy vengeance.
To hell with being a hero. To hell with being the chief of the Order of Knights.
“Never, never, never!!”
With her red blade, René rushed at him.
The sword made of curses and Terra Ayur met.
They rung like the jingle of a sack of coins, a sound very much not that of two blades meeting.
――I can’t cut it
!?
Until then, she had easily rend asunder any sword, any armor with her cursed blade.
However, this much was expected of the pride treasure of Ciel-Terra. Even after meeting, the steel had not a single dent on it.
Sparks flew from their point of meeting as the blades slipped across one another.
èș«é•·ć·źăźă›ă„ă§èŠ‹äžŠă’ă‚‹ă‚ˆă†ăȘçŠ¶æ…‹ă«ăȘるRenĂ© had to look up because of their difference in height, but it seemed their strength output was almost equal. However, RenĂ© used one hand, Lawrence used both.
“This is your end.”
“Oh really now.”
“What-?”
Until that moment, René had been holding her own head with one hand, but now, she raised and put it on her torn neck.
I don’t get it but it fits perfectly, like some flyer slapped onto a fridge with a magnet. One hit and it’ll fly off, but my left hand is now free.
And RenĂ© put that free hand on Lawrence’s armor.
Her palm burnt ever so slightly, likely because of some divine protection put on the armor, but she only had to put up with it for just that moment.
“â‰ȘShock≫”
With the sound of a cannonball crashing into a wall of steel, Lawrence was blown away, just barely managing to stop and anchor his feet on the ground, then coughed a copious amount of some water-like liquid.
“Damn you
”
He should’ve taken quite the damage with that, she thought, but soon saw mana flowing into Lawrence.
It came from behind him, from the turtle formation of shields.
――Is that
 That’s healing magic!
She understood what the point of that strange formation was.
To beat René, the First Order of Knights knew, was a feat not possible by the hand of any mere warrior, so they simply put forward the best among their ranks and strived to keep him in the best condition.
That was their ace. Lawrence would fight and would receive assistance from mages, while the mages were protected by the Knights and their shields.
The Order had never before resorted to this kind of technique. It was only the result of analyzing René’s capacity for destruction in a short amount of time and proposing a plan that risked the most minimum of losses.
If this goes on, Lawrence won’t stay down no matter how much I beat him up.
“Then, first up, I should
!”
Even if they’re blessing their shields with magic resistance, they definitely won’t be as strong as Terra Ayur.
It’s fine as long as I deal with the ‘Turtle Formation’ first.
She lunged for it.
But, a sharp blow cut off her path.
“Ha-!”
Faint blue light flashed, followed by Lawrence’s Terra Ayur. She barely managed to dodge the strike, which opened a shallow wound on her flank.
Being undead, no blood flowed, but the wound burnt as if boiling oil had been splashed on it. So this is holy magic damage, huh.
“Where do you think you’re going?
 Is it truly so boring to fight me?”
A sharp gaze pierced René through that helmet.
René had put Lawrence out of her mind for only a moment. An instant, to be exact.
She had not intended to outright ignore Lawrence, only being wary of his presence as she dealt with the formation first, but it seemed that he could use even that to his advantage.
――He’s not only got good equipment, but also a great sword to boot!
 Well, it is the country’s best weapon, so I guess that’s a given.
What the hell, I have to fight him and do something about that formation at the same time!
Oh, but I could just keep on damaging him until their mages run out of mana, but how long would that take?
Once fully recovered, Lawrence took the fight to RenĂ© once more. His footwork  was swift and his swings were light, as if he weren’t even wearing any armor, but his sword carried the weight of a mountain.
They exchanged a few heavy blows until her posture broke for only a moment. That was when he dove in for a one-shot kill.
“Kuh-!”
She blocked the hit with her red blade, but it still managed to throw her backwards. She held onto her head with one hand and did a flip to land gracefully on her feet. And near her was the Turtle Formation.
Right then, she slashed 2, 3 times at them.
“Gyah-!”
She felt some resistance unlike with normal shields, but they indeed split into two, as did the soldiers holding them, their guts spilling onto the snow.
Quickly dodging the thrusts of spears coming from within the shielded ranks, she reacted to Lawrence’s sword diving towards her.
――Okay, I can do this
.!
The magic might’ve not been enough, but my red sword works perfectly.
However, despite watching their fellow comrades fall, the knights showed no sign of faltering.
More knights, ones who were on standby at the sides, seemed to have joined in to fill up the hole created in the Turtle Formation.
――What even
 How many more do I have to go through to make a dent!?
So long as those mages at the heart of their formation stand, Lawrence will not fall.
They would keep buffing and healing him.
No, that’s not all, I’m pretty sure if they get the chance, they will

“â‰ȘHoly Arrow≫!”
Rays of light shot from between the shield openings. They all split across the air and surrounded René.
“Guh
.!”
Her makeshift cloak, along with her tattered underwear, all burnt away.
Her white skin became littered with ugly burn marks.
It’s not really that much damage
.
However,
“Haaa-!!”
Her movement had become sluggish because of that. That was all the chance Lawrence needed.
Terra Ayur ran down from her right shoulder down to her left flank.
――This is bad
 That was a lot of damage just now
!
A bloodless wound. A body that still functioned.
The pain’s being suppressed, most likely.
Even so, a corner of her mind kept shouting red alert. That last hit was bad.
Lawrence approached. As if showering Terra Ayur’s pale blue light on her.
To René, that light was a despicable show of deception.
“Our unity is the shield that protects the people of our country. Know that it will never falter by the likes of you!”
“Like I’ll ever
. Forgive youuuuuuuuuu-!”
René leapt to exchange blows.
A battle of attrition was no longer possible, was what her sense as a Dullahan told her.
Aim for the openings in his armor, Lawrence’s
. neck!
“Ah
”
The fight did not last long. She reacted only according to her instincts, with almost no room to think.
In the end, René’s red blade never reached Lawrence’s neck, while Terra Ayur pierced René’s chest.
Her thought process had finally caught up.
The moment their blades met, René slid her sword across his, her eyes locked on his neck. She believed she could do it. Unfortunately, it was an invitation to attack, a feint.
Just as she reached for his neck, Lawrence took his chance and moved much faster than René.
The red blade shattered like glass, ground into fine dust and swept away by the wind.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaa!!”
René’s body crumbled.
Her fingertips, her toe tips, all crumbled into fine, white ash.
Wails of grief shook the air. Her voice echoed, lingering in the frozen air of the streets.
Translator : Fried Hedgehog
Here we are, back with RenĂ© after quite the while. To be honest, I didn’t expect her to just outright die here lmao. I thought she was supposed to be OP what the hell. Ah well, it does put into perspective the power levels and stuff. Man I really need to know what happens next chapter.
Also, Lawrence Reinhardt, who uses a very strong sword. Hmm, where have I heard this before? *cough* ReZero *cough*
Anywho, you guys know the drill by now. Any typos, any places to improve, etc etc, just leave em in the comments. I will see you in the next chapter. Toodles~