No one knew what had happened. Naturally. The ‘stories of past tribes’ who fought by exchanging curses were not passed down orally, but perished with them.

Moreover, even the only surviving descendants had been keeping secrets thoroughly.

So the masked men came to think Mercedes was a magician.

“There was no… such thing!”

Although they had never heard of magic that could instantly age and kill people, the scene before their eyes could only be explained as magic.

“Damn. There’s such magic?”

“Be on guard!”

The masked men confronted her hesitantly, each gripping their swords.

Whatever it was, dying so old as soon as it touched her. She must be a magician wielding quite dangerous magic.

They were prepared to sacrifice their lives and were red-eyed for revenge against the emperor.

That woman was the emperor’s weakness. So they were not afraid. They just intended to prevent her from taking a single step out of this place.

“Anyway, if she’s a magician, she’ll lose her power when her mana wears off. Our mission is to keep her from leaving!”

“That’s right! Woman, you may have underestimated us, but one magician can’t take us all down!”

“If capture is too difficult, we were told it’s okay to kill her!”

They quickly regained their composure despite being flustered. It showed they were trained soldiers. Mercedes exhaled with a ‘whew’.

It was the first time in her life she had completely taken someone’s life.

Having been kidnapped, rather than guilt over committing murder, along with the hope that she might really be able to escape…

A strange elation boiled up. The power that arose from the center of her body moved freely as if it had been one with her from the beginning.

Perhaps because she had lived a long time suppressing this power without even knowing its true nature?

A strange sense of exhilaration surged.

Since they were trying to kill her, she was glad there was prey in front of her that she could absorb without guilt.

More, more… If she could eat more.

Then she would become stronger.

No matter how skilled they were, no matter how many swords came flying, she felt confident she could block everything.

Was this how Carlos felt when he took to the battlefield? It felt like the whole world was at her feet.

“First, we need to restrain her.”

“Stay alert. Be careful not to touch her.”

Even though it was a cool room, the masked men’s backs became damp with tension.

They had to move as quickly as possible to aim for vital points and knock that woman unconscious. The masked men who had trained together for a long time knew well what each other was thinking.

And they swallowed the tears that came up as they looked at their squad leader who had aged and died.

“Damn… Damn woman! Go to hell, you-”

Strong curses flew out here and there.

‘People who will go to hell together.’

Mercedes thought, not intimidated by the momentum of the men on guard.

She had heard that defeated soldiers easily killed civilians as well. And now that they had kidnapped her, they had no right to say such things when Mercedes, the victim, took their lives.

Mercedes secretly enjoyed her arrogance for a moment, then spoke with a frightened look.

“W-wait. Please spare me…! J-just now, I don’t know what happened either… It must be because of the d-defensive item His Majesty gave me!”

Her attitude suggested that killing the squad leader was just a stroke of luck she barely managed.

But the men were not fooled.

Hadn’t that woman just tried to deceive them with her silver tongue?

“Don’t fall for it. We don’t know what else she’s hiding.”

As expected, once she showed her power, they wouldn’t be easily deceived. Mercedes swallowed a sigh.

She needed to at least reduce the number of people in this room right now.

No matter how strong a power she had, no matter if she could take people’s lives, if there were too many people outside… she could still end up defeated.

For now, she needed to resolve things in here and lock the door while figuring out a plan.

“We need to go out and report.”

Whether he read her thoughts, or sensed that something was off about her.

One of them spoke up. He seemed to be quick to grasp the situation and gave off a calm impression.

‘That won’t do.’

The moment one of the men tried to go outside upon hearing the order, Mercedes had no choice but to get up.

And at the same time, she rotated the power coursing through her entire body.

And then…

“Kuhuh. Ack-”

“Ugh!”

“W-wait!”

Most of the men were flung back and collapsed from the white shockwave she created. Quite a bit of power was used, causing cold sweat to start running down her forehead as well.

Even the one who was trying to open the door and leave was slammed into the wall.

Mercedes hugged the legs of the man who was flying from the closest position at the same time as she used magic. She too had to roll on the floor with that man.

But.

‘This method is best for gaining power.’

While everyone was groaning from the shockwave, Mercedes quickly absorbed the life of another to gain power, then firmly locked the doorknob and stood guard to prevent anyone from going outside.

Originally, it was a room meant to confine her, so there were no windows or anything else. To get out, they had to go through the door no matter what.

In here, let’s kill them all one by one.

That was her mindset.

“I won’t let anyone out until it’s all over. Whatever your plans were, you’ll regret kidnapping me.”

The men did not crumble easily. Despite the quite strong shockwave, they began to get up one by one.

Then they looked at their comrade whose power Mercedes had absorbed.

Already the second one.

He had stopped breathing, in the form of a withered old man.

If she were a magician, if she had secretly learned and was using forbidden magic, she should be staggering as her mana wore off.

But Mercedes was only sweating a little cold sweat, and her appearance was just disheveled from rolling on the floor.

Not only that. An endless stream of mesmerizing red and white light flowed from her. And she didn’t even look tired.

Whether that was mana or whatever, the masked men instantly sensed it.

That the situation was not normal.

* * *

“Huff, huff…!”

Sky kept urging on her horse as she rode.

Carlos’s condition was bound to be bad. So she had to follow along.

He had ridden at an insane speed even on the way to the battlefield, but this time was even faster.

She shouted for him to stop several times, but Carlos didn’t seem to hear. So she gave up and focused only on following. Thinking she would get paid for this hardship.

But suddenly, Carlos who had been heading straight for the capital suddenly stopped his horse.

“…Mercedes.”

It was a relief that he stopped for a moment. Even while catching her breath, Sky immediately realized what Carlos had done.

“Your Majesty, huff. Don’t use aura! Are you crazy?”

He was trying to track Mercedes and the kidnappers with aura. He had been using aura all the way here from that far distance.

So he could react so sensitively like that.

‘Damn. I couldn’t feel it because it was a different power.’

In this vast land, he had been using aura for tracking all the while coming here?

For tracking, he must have been using aura very widely and densely. That was tantamount to a death sentence for Carlos.

Then…

“Huff, whew… Your body is already stiff!”

Sky hurriedly took out her canteen and swallowed some water, taking advantage of Carlos stopping.

“It’s faint… But faint.”

“Your Majesty. Can you hear me?”

“There is. At that end… Mercedes is.”

“Your Majesty. Hey, Carlos!”

Finally, the urgent Sky called his childhood name and grabbed his arm.

Carlos instinctively tried to push Sky away, but when his name was called, his senses seemed to return for a moment and he looked at her.

“Sky? Why are you here.”

“Please, whew. At least lift the curse a bit before going. Can you feel strength in your hand holding the reins right now? What are you going to do going there in this state!”

“Mercedes is-”

“5 minutes, 5 minutes is enough! I’ll pour out mana like crazy! Please!”

At this rate, Carlos’s heart might stiffen and he could die.

Sky felt frustrated herself as to why this curse had to befall this person of all people.

This person… had only committed the sin of living diligently since childhood.

“…Finish it in 5 minutes.”

Meanwhile, Carlos clenched his hand a few times and then answered in a slightly calmer tone before getting off his horse.

She was right.

Even if he chased after them like this, if his heart stiffened, he would die immediately. Then he wouldn’t be able to confirm Mercedes’s safety.

Carlos plopped down on the dirt ground and held out his arm to Sky.

“Damn, I’ll be sprawled out here unable to move. Are you happy to leave me behind?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Forget it! Is it news that Your Majesty is so reckless?”

Sky retorted irritably and grabbed his arm, beginning to drive out the curse as before.

It was instantaneous. When she maximally drew out mana and forcefully injected it, the backlash was severe.

In just 30 seconds, her entire body was soaked with sweat.

“Ugh… This is really, ack, too, severe.”

Carlos, who had groaned in pain even when it was less severe than this before, showed no reaction this time.

His body was sweating and twitching as if in pain. But that was just his body’s reaction.

Carlos just anxiously stared in the direction of the familiar feeling caught at the end of his aura.

Even Sky was in pain from the curse.

‘Damn…’

Sky swallowed a curse as she looked at the emperor.

‘Damn curse. Why does it have to be killed directly?’

It would be better if someone else killed her, and Carlos lived on resenting them.

Sky also felt uncomfortable about killing an innocent person. Moreover, from what she had observed of the two of them so far. Mercedes shone more with each passing day, and the two seemed happier together.

Was that why? She couldn’t stop Carlos from running to save the person he was supposed to kill. She understood his feelings.

“Whew, hoo-”

Sky took a deep breath and blew in the expanded mana to break through the tangled curse. Carlos endured the process silently.

Even though it probably felt like his limbs were being torn apart. He didn’t even blink while sweating cold sweat.

Soon, the promised 5 minutes would be up.

She barely managed to break through the curse to Carlos’s heart with the mana that had grown enormous through repeated expansion. Now she just needed to put up a protective barrier. It was a temporary measure, but at least he wouldn’t die immediately from his heart stiffening.

“Haa, haa…”

Fatigue settled over Sky’s entire body. After squeezing out the last of her remaining mana to put up a protective barrier, she collapsed on her back.

On the contrary, Carlos clenched his hand a few times as if his body felt a bit lighter.

“Thank you, Sky. For coming along.”

“Your Majesty. Remember our promise. You must return alive. Even if you put aside the matter of Her Majesty the Empress, you must return. You must.”

Sky said to him in a tired voice.

“…I’ve found a list of people to replace me. They’re not bad talents. You’ll be able to choose directly. I’ve properly taken care of future plans and work, so you and Leopold just need to do well as is.”

But the answer that came back felt somewhat like a will.