Chapter 57
The brigadier infused her sword hand with Magic Energy.
The moment Cheshire saw it, she sensed something off—something dangerous.
It wasn’t the sword.
She was infusing her Magic Energy into the hand that held the sword.
Why?
In close combat, it was only natural to channel Condensation Technique into the weapon.
But unlike their earlier clash, the sword the brigadier now held had no Magic Energy flowing through it.
That was when Cheshire started to feel a rising sense of unease.
–Pak!
The brigadier then stabbed her sword into the ground.
It didn’t look like she was trying to surrender.
Rather, this human woman began emitting a different—ominous—kind of atmosphere.
“W-What’s going on? What is she trying to do…?”
“Don’t tell me…”
A strange situation where a warrior sets aside their sword and starts gathering Magic Energy into both hands.
Then—
A Magic Circle began forming around the brigadier’s hands.
Unlike the simplistic Condensation Techniques used by warriors until now,
This one contained intricate and complex Spell Formulas.
At that moment, a thought flashed through Dust’s mind.
“A… A Mage?”
“What?”
At Dust’s words, Cheshire felt a sudden wave of confusion.
The brigadier had demonstrated superior close combat prowess—clearly above her own.
It was hard to believe that someone like that was actually a Mage.
But even Cheshire could clearly see the Magic Circle forming.
Unlike the simple flow of rotating Magic Energy from earlier,
The complex circuits now activating before her eyes made it undeniable.
Cheshire had to admit it.
Just like Dust said, that woman was a Mage…
And not just any Mage—one with close combat abilities at the level of at least a high-ranking warrior.
A monster in the form of a mage.
–Crackle! Crackle-crack!
The magic activated with a sharp sound.
It exuded an aura on a completely different level compared to any Condensation Technique used before.
Yet despite this, neither of the two flinched.
Especially Dust, who began unfolding her Aura without hesitation.
‘Whatever that is, let it come! No matter how powerful the magic, I’ll block it all!’
Dust generated a Barrier of Aura to protect both herself and Cheshire.
Though Aura Barriers were weaker than Magic Barriers when it came to defending against physical attacks like bullets or cannons,
They were highly effective against Magic.
That was because of Aura’s innate magic-nullifying properties.
Magic—built upon Magic Energy —could be wiped out by Aura,
Just like a pencil sketch vanishing beneath an eraser.
That’s why Mages were often outmatched when facing holy knights or clergy.
Moreover, Dust, as a nun, possessed power nearly equivalent to that of a Saintess.
With such a formidable Aura Barrier in place,
She was confident that no ordinary spell could lay a finger on her.
Convinced that even the strongest spell would pose no threat,
A soft smile appeared on Dust’s lips.
Meanwhile—
Watching her, the brigadier smiled too.
But hers was a cold, chilling smile.
Magic Energy flowed from her hands, climbing the Magic Circle, and reaching toward its intended outcome.
That ominous power, now beginning to turn black—
With it hidden in her hands,
The brigadier slowly…
Moved her hands to overlap—one atop the other.
“!”
An eerie chill rushed in.
Even with the Aura Barrier still active,
That chilling sensation could be clearly felt.
And at that moment, a thought flashed rapidly through Cheshire’s mind—
She had to stop this.
She couldn’t afford to feel safe just because she was inside the Aura.
She needed to strike now—cut off that woman’s head immediately.
Driven by that primal instinct—
Cheshire moved to leap out from the Aura Barrier and launch an attack.
At that instant, the brigadier’s hands came fully together—
“Don’t move!”
“!”
Startled by Dust’s voice, Cheshire froze.
Then—
–CRACK!!!!
“!!”
Her vision suddenly shattered.
Like glass struck by a boulder.
As if someone had shattered her eyeballs—
Or more precisely,
The semi-transparent shield made of Aura that had surrounded her and Dust—
Had nearly cracked apart.
And then—
“Khak!”
“!! Dust!”
Dust coughed up blood and stumbled violently.
Due to the backlash caused by forcibly blocking the extreme shock, Cheshire hurriedly supported her body.
“Khk! Wh-What… I definitely blocked it with Aura…”
Her expression twisted in disbelief.
The Barrier that had never once let her down until now.
And yet, that Magic cast by the brigadier had nearly destroyed that Aura Barrier in a single strike.
That was something utterly impossible unless there was at least a two or three-tier difference in power.
Not that Dust’s strength was weak either.
The Aura she had shown earlier was at least high-ranking warrior level.
To shatter it so easily…
That woman’s power could only be estimated to be at least Archmage-level.
“How unfortunate. I should’ve pushed it a bit further. Well… I achieved my goal, but it seems winning outright won’t be easy.”
As she said that, the brigadier retrieved the sword she had previously planted into the ground.
Watching her now return to using Condensation Technique,
It seemed that casting a Magic like the one before came with a heavy burden even for her.
In fact, her Condensation Technique looked slightly weaker than before.
But only slightly.
It was still more than powerful enough—so Cheshire gripped her axe once more.
This time—
With a very clear emotion.
“Cough! Cough!”
Dust lay on the floor, coughing blood painfully.
In a situation where she had practically taken the hit in Cheshire’s place…
For the first time, Cheshire felt not something fabricated…
But a clear and genuine emotion:
Rage.
“One down. You’re next.”
“I’ll kill you.”
Radiating killing intent, the two resumed preparing for battle.
This time, with the firm resolve to completely destroy their enemy,
Cheshire began channeling her maximum output into her Condensation Technique.
With the thought of crushing that filthy human who dared harm her friend in an instant.
Then—
“Wait! Wait!”
“You two! Stop right now!”
Suddenly, voices broke in.
Having been drawn by the commotion, Bennessa’s Navy and the Blue Shark Pirates had arrived.
And along with them, Admiral Gardin appeared, forcing the gunfire to halt.
“G-General…”
“Brigadier! What on earth are you doing? Instead of stopping the fight, you’re at the front swinging a blade? And you call yourself an officer of the Franz Kingdom?”
“Kh…”
In a harsh voice, Admiral Gardin tried to settle the situation.
The soldiers from Bennessa’s Navy who had come with him also rushed to calm things down.
“Out of the way! I can’t stop until I wipe out those filthy snail bastards!”
“Please, calm down! We’ve got a major battle with the Pirate King coming up—we can’t be fighting like this!”
“They killed our comrade! You want us to just stand by and do nothing!?”
The pirates raged, while Bennessa’s Navy tried to stop them however they could.
They were technically the ones most wronged in all this,
But that didn’t change the fact they were also now causing a public disturbance.
Finally, after barely managing to bring order back to the tavern—
The groups began listening to both sides of the story.
Since everyone involved was present,
They each told their version of what had happened with relative fairness.
The only thing no one could clarify—
Was who had started the fight first.
Meanwhile, amidst the tension that seemed to be settling down…
She—
The Brigadier—
Remained silent, simply observing the two people who had been glaring at her with murderous intent for some time.
Their expression clearly said:
“I’ll let this go today, but I will definitely repay this debt someday.”
That thought wasn’t one-sided.
The Brigadier, too, who had been on the receiving end of their killing intent, felt exactly the same.
‘Filthy pirates… I’ll back down for now, but next time, I’ll be the one to end you.’
Grinding her teeth, the Brigadier left the tavern with her subordinates.
Immediately after,
Admiral Gardin, who had stopped her moments ago, sighed deeply and said:
“Haah… seriously, keep it in check. When something like this happens, you should’ve just handed it up to higher-ups to deal with. My head’s already aching thanks to that idiot of a Commander-in-Chief—don’t make things worse.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Just be more careful next time. If you get yourself hurt, it’s all for nothing. Remember this well—
Our enemy is the Pirate King, not those small fry.”
The words of a senior officer, laced with both warning and concern.
And she—
The Brigadier of the Franz Kingdom—
Napoleona—
Responded in a cold voice:
“Yes… I will keep that in mind, Admiral.”
—
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