Wind

ur

 danced around the 

intruders

. The smooth way 

Zich’s

 weird-looking sword 

moved around 

gave 

onlookers

 an odd feeling. However, Zich’s opponents didn’t have the luxury to 

think about such matters

.

Clang! Clang!

Even if it was weird-looking, Wind

ur

’s tips were pointy while the mana inside it was strong. 

Moreover, 

its swinging noise was almost sharp enough to slice a body in two. However, the 

intruders

 were also resisting 

very 

well.

‘The

y are of pretty high

 levels.’

They weren’t even that many of them: six in total. But 

each of them was

 strong enough to be the leader of a group of robed figures. 

O

ne of them was especially strong—comparable to the leader who

used a string sword in the tourist city, 

Violuwin

. No, actually, the figure in

 front of him 

seemed to be o

n

 a higher level, and unlike 

last

 time, Zich couldn’t use all of his mana.

Claang!

“Tch!”

Zich grabbed his numb hand and took a couple of steps 

back

.

‘He is definitely above me in terms of skills.’

Their difference in levels became more apparent after they clashed swords a 

few

more 

times. On top of that, Zich was handling the ‘especially strong one’ with two other

 intruders

 while Hans and Snoc were blocking three opponents by themselves.

‘If

 this was

 a normal situation, I would be risking my life and preparing to die in pieces.’

However,

 there was no need for Zich to go to that extent since the intruders weren’t aiming for his life 

and were just

trying to escape

. Furthermore, Zich and his companions weren

’t the only ones fighting the intruders

. Other soldiers were fighting with them, and reinforcements were looking 

at 

them from the giant hole that had formed in the wall of the 

ballroom

. Thus, their enemies had their hands full. In all aspects, 

this 

was definitely a more advantageous situation for Zich and his companions

. Moreover, 

Zich wasn’t the type to let a situation like th

is

 go to waste.

‘Ah, really.’ Zich smiled widely.

‘I can’t even lose even if I want to right now.’

Zich jumped towards the intruders again.

*    *    * 

“

A

mazing.” Weig was impressed as he watched the 

battle between Zich and the intruders 

from the 

ballroom. 

“They have become stronger again in the short time we didn’t see him.”

Lubella asked, 

“

Sir Weig, a

re you talking about Mr. Zich?” 

“

Mr.

 Zich also became stronger, but Mr. Hans and Mr. Snoc have bec

o

me much stronger too. I don’t know the identities of these intruders, but the strongest one among them is at a level to 

contest

 for the 

top spots

 in powerful 

countries

. 

Furthermore, t

he other intruders are strong enough to be the top 

soldiers

 at a large estate. So, it’s unbelievable that 

Mr.

 Zich and his companions are able to fight 

people like that

 so well…”

“It’s also my first time seeing the weapons that Mr. Zich and Mr. Hans have. It seems 

as if those

 weapons are 

playing a critical factor as well

.”

“Certainly. I’m sure they are incredibly special weapons—especially the sword that 

Mr.

 Hans is wielding.”

Hans’ sword was particularly noticeable as it shone 

bright light around the garden.

“Doesn’t it look like a 

h

oly 

s

word?”

“Yes, it seems so.”

The crowd murmured amongst themselves. The existence and appearance of a 

h

oly 

s

word 

were

extremely

 special.

“

Mr.

 Zich’s sword also looks considerably good. Of course, Mr. 

Zich’s

 skills 

are 

outstanding as well. Swords like th

e ones that Mr. Zich and Mr. Hans have

 can easily dominate their masters, but it seems 

like their swords

 ha

ve

 met 

their

 rightful match.”

“How 

could those

 two have 

gotten

 so much stronger 

in such a short amount of time

?”

“Since 

Mr.

 Zich seems to be training 

Mr.

 Hans and Mr. Snoc, it seems as if 

Mr. 

Zich’s training methods are 

extremely effective

. 

T

hey all clearly have natural talent too.”

“

D

idn’t they say that 

Mr.

 Zich didn’t show much potential when he was with his family?” Lubella 

stole

 furtive glances at the Steelwall family 

who were standing far away from them

. They were all watching the ongoing battle with stiff expressions.

“He probably had a problem with his mana. No matter how outstanding 

a person’s skills are

, there’s a limit to their strength without mana. 

I heard that

Mr.

 Zich 

wasn’t able to use

 his mana at all 

when he was at 

Steelwall. Normally, people

 continuously train and awaken their mana at a young age

, and if that’s not the case, there are two possible reasons: first, they possess too little mana to manifest it, or second, they possess such an immense amount of mana that it takes an 

incredibly

 long time and effort to

 awaken it.

” Weig scratched his chin and said, “Most people are the former.”

“Mr. Zich is the latter?”

“The amount of mana that 

Mr. 

Zich

 has

 is probably unimaginable. 

H

e

 is

 continuously training to be able to use more of his mana, b

ut that’s not 

his only strength

.

 M

r. Zich’s skills were already polished by the time we met him. It was very shocking, 

especially

 considering his age.”

“In short, you are saying that 

the amount of mana he has

 is abnormally high, and his sword fighting skills are a

t a

 genius level, right?”

“On top of that, he has a good head and 

sharp

 senses.”

After saying all th

is

, Weig shook his head. “It’s truly fortunate that 

Mr.

 Zich is obsessed with doing kind acts. I can’t even imagine how much damage he would cause if he fell to the 

dark

 side.”

Lubella asked, 

“How is he in comparison to you, Sir Weig?” 

They heard somebody gulp their saliva down at Lubella’s shocking question. Words about the Karuwiman’s greatest Holy Knight, Belri Weig

,

 and his fame had shaken up the whole empire for decades. It was a huge deal to compare someone so young as Zich to a hero like Weig. However, Weig’s response shocked them further.

“I am still stronger than him

, b

ut I don’t think that will last for

long.”

“I see.” Lubella also calmly accepted Weig’s words.

“…Did you hear that?”

“Yes.” The 

C

rown 

P

rince nodded, and the 

K

ing asked a follow-up question.

“What do you think?”

The 

C

rown 

P

rince contemplated for a bit and said, “Don’t you think the gentlemen named Hans and Snoc are fitting for 

the position of a count

? Since Zich’s 

status has

 already been made

clear.”

“What about 

giving them

 estates to tie them down?”

“We have to pull out something from the royal estates somehow. Or we could make them inherit land from a family without heirs and raise their 

statuses

 that way.”

“Is that all we can do?”

“Yes, for now. No matter how great they are, we can’t give them a position more than a count for now. If they become even more valuable in the future, then we can think about this more.”

“Hmmm, that’s all I need to know.” The King nodded. “Of course, we won’t be able to tie them down with just that.”

“…Your Majesty, I also agree.” The Crown Prince also had the same thoughts as the King. 

“That Zich person doesn’t seem to have much interest in status or power. If he did, he wouldn’t have stormed out of the Steelwall family with his abilities. He also seems like a free spirit.”

“Yes, it seems so. Then what do you think about the other two individuals, Your Majesty?”

“I don’t know. We have to find out more about them, but I’m sure there’s a low possibility of getting them on our side.”

The Crown Prince nodded at the King’s words and glanced to his side, towards the direction of Count Steelwall.

‘He let a guy like that go. For a while, Count Steelwall’s reputation will be dragged to the ground.’ The Crown Prince knew that trained knights basically had supernatural hearing, so he didn’t make the mistake of saying his thoughts out loud.

Watching the battle from afar, Lubella said to Weig, “Won’t it be better for us to help them?” 

Even though Zich and his companions were holding the intruders at bay and were showing an impressive fight, the overall abilities of the intruders were very high. Even in Lubella’s eyes, it looked as if Zich and his companions were getting slightly pushed back. Weig tapped the sword that a servant brought to him a few times.

“Hmmm, yes, it seems like it’s time for me to help them.” Weig thought it was still too early for Zich and his companions to fight opponents of this level. The Kingdom’s knights were slowly getting ready to intervene. However, at that moment, a person stepped forward. It was Lyla, who had been quietly watching the battle in front of her. All the people’s attention shifted towards her.

Weig said, “She’s Mr. Zich’s new traveling companion.”

Lyla raised both of her hands. “El. Tin. Oun. Ra. Putz.”

Crackle!

A huge mana current began to flow between her hands. A roaring sound and a flash of light rang throughout the surrounding area. People’s eyes widened.

“…She’s a magician?” Lubella murmured in surprise. 

Lubella simply thought that Lyla was an extremely beautiful person. Yet, Lyla paid no attention to all the people staring at her and finished her spells. She stretched out her hands in front of her. The intruders’ movements became frantic. They desperately tried to move closer to Zich and his companions because they expected Lyla to not attack the areas where Zich and his companions were, but their expectations were completely wrong.

Crasssssssh!

The electric currents from her hand split into several branches and rushed towards the intruders. The robed figures didn’t expect Lyla to shoot her magic without considering Zich and his companions at all, so they were extremely shocked. The people in the ballroom were also shocked, but they were even more shocked by how effective her magic was.

“Aghhhhhhh!”

“Ughhhhhh!”

Two of the intruders were not able to react in time and were swept by the lightning. The rest of the intruders quickly infused mana into their swords and tried to defend against Lyla’s magic. 

“Ugh!”

“Arghhh!”

Thanks to their defense, they were able to avoid the lightning strike, but a huge gap appeared in their formation. There was no way Zich and his companions would miss this opportunity.

Slice!

Zich’s sword cut off one of the intruder’s necks, and a head flew up in the air.

Pierce!

Hans’ light pierced through one of the intruder’s hearts.

Crunch!

Snoc’s earth crushed down one of the intruder’s bodies.

Five intruders died instantly, and the only one left was the leader. With just a single magic attack from Lyla, the flow of the battle had completely changed, and this was the terrifying part about magic.

“…Amongst this chaos, did she just accurately only hit the intruders?” It was already surprising that she was a magician, which was a very rare position, but her skills were even more shocking. Even Weig could not hide his shock. 

Yet Lyla looked at the result of her magic without much emotion, as if she didn’t do anything special. Lubella and Weig continued their conversation with clear surprise in their voices.

“Mr. Zich’s companions are all really impressive.”

Weig replied, “Out of parties around that size, his party is probably one of the best in this world.”

*   *   *

“T-this is…”

Now by himself, the leader surveyed his surroundings. All of his underlings were dead and rolling on the ground.

“What do you think of our magician? Isn’t she great?” Zich mocked the leader and gave a thumbs up towards Lyla’s direction. 

Lyla raised one corner of her mouth and gave a thumbs-up back.

“Damn, she’s even good at responding to me now!” Zich was very satisfied by Lyla’s reaction. “Then why don’t we start finishing this up? But before that, I’m curious about your identity.”

The intruders had suddenly appeared at the ballroom. If it hadn’t been for Lyla, Zich would have completely missed them.

“Are you working with the assassin organization? Why did you come to save Albus? He doesn’t seem to be worth it.”

As expected, the intruder did not reply.

“Yeah. I didn’t even expect you guys to reply.”

Under ordinary circumstances, Zich would have tried to stir the conversation somehow and gain more information from his opponents. Then Zich would have killed them because torture probably didn’t work on the robed figures. However, today was different.

“Why did you infiltrate the palace out of all places? If you made your attack anywhere else, I would have mercifully killed you.”

The royal family would most definitely want Zich to capture the leader alive. The palace forces would probably torture him in all kinds of ways to get information out of him. The intruder would probably not open his mouth till the very end and die after intense suffering.

‘It can’t be helped. Since I did commit some crimes, I should prepare a gift to be on the King’s good side.’

Zich had successfully protected the Kingdom today and had Karuwiman’s support, so it was unlikely that he would be punished. However, he thought he should be prepared as much as possible.

“Let’s end this.” Zich dashed towards the leader. 

Now full of injuries and paralyzed from Lyla’s lightning magic, the leader of the intruders faced Zich. However, it was impossible for the leader to win in his current state, and in the end, the battle ended with him getting beaten up and captured by Zich.