“Kyaak!”

“Ahh!”

“Step back! Don’t try to fight it, just run!”

Ear-splitting screams and cries came from every direction. Kaywhin brandished his sword at the swarming demons. Every time he waved his sword, several demons were knocked out at once.

‘They’re endless.’

Kaywhin cut the demons down, and down some more, but they would not go down in number. New demons kept appearing, as if they were shooting out of a hole in the ground.

‘Yelena.’

Kaywhin pictured his wife’s face and tightened his jaw.

Was his wife safe? Where was she right now? Was the same thing happening in other places? Was his wife…

“General Mayhard opened an escape route for us!”

“Everyone, gather the horses and run away!”

Kaywhin cleared a path as he killed demons and the surviving troops followed his trail on horseback.

Kaywhin checked to see if most of the troops had run away. Then, he took hold of the reins. He hesitated.

‘The horse is too slow.’

Even without stopping, it would take him more than five days to get to the capital. On top of that, he couldn’t guarantee that his wife would be in the capital. She could have taken shelter somewhere else, or she could be at the fief. There were a number of places he needed to go to, and the horse’s speed wasn’t up to par for him.

‘There has to be a faster way…’

At that moment, birdlike demons that were roaming the sky caught Kaywhin’s eye.

Narrowing his eyes, he picked up a random sword off the ground and threw it at one of the flying demons. The sword slightly brushed against its wings, cutting off a few of its feathers.

Kreee!

The angry demon sharply pointed its beak and violently charged at Kaywhin. Kaywhin turned slightly, dodging the beak that was aimed at him. Then, he got on the demon’s back.

Kree?

The demon flapped its wings like it was flustered. It floated in mid-air and shook relentlessly, as if trying to get Kaywhin off. Kaywhin calmly punched the demon’s back a few times.

Kreeee!

The demon jolted. Kaywhin punched the demon a few more times. Then, the demon calmed down, obediently flying through the sky as if Kaywhin was its passenger.

‘That’ll do it.’

Kaywhin steered the demon by turning its neck. Whenever they were going in the wrong direction, he tightened his grip on the demon’s neck as if he was going to twist it. Then, the demon would change directions.

[What am I witnessing right now…]

The Holy Sword mumbled, baffled. But of course, his words were a lonely soliloquy that no one else could hear.

***

“Madam!”

“Madam, are you awake?”

Yelena opened her eyes as the loud voices echoed in her ears.

The first thing she saw was an unfamiliar ceiling. Yelena turned her head in the direction of the voices. Max and Colin were standing there with emotional looks on their faces.

“Madam… buhuhu.”

Perhaps they were happy that Yelena had woken up. They smiled widely as tears streamed down their faces. Yelena sat up, blinking.

“Where…”

“We’re at the Penelle Manor, Madam,” Max replied, sniffling.

‘The Penelle Countdom… We arrived safely.’

Yelena was relieved. She had been worried that something may have happened along the way.

“What about Thomas?” Yelena asked. Colin answered right away.

“He’s safe.”

“Really?”

Yelena sighed in relief.

Even though she knew Thomas was safe, she was worried because he wasn’t currently present. But since he died and came back to life, he was probably being treated separately.

“…”

Yelena looked down at her hands.

She had saved someone.

“Um, Madam…” Colin said carefully. “The light you showed us in the carriage… That was definitely divine power, right?”

Yelena nodded her head.

A bright white light that had brought someone back to life. There was no other way to explain it except that it was divine power.

‘I have divine powers.’

Yelena suddenly remembered that she had seen that light before.

‘When I hit Incan and sent him flying.’

The strength she possessed at the time was from her divine powers.

‘Wait a second, then was I able to crush the necklace gem that Rebecca used… and awaken the Holy Sword…’

Had that all been divine powers? Assuming it was, Yelena could surmise something else.

‘Do I faint every time I use divine powers?’

It was a reasonable theory.

At that moment, the bedroom door opened and someone ran inside.

“Help me, knights!” A woman, who appeared to be a maid, shouted, gasping for breath, as if she had been running urgently.

“Monsters have penetrated the fortress!”