Arius had been a promising holy knight.
In truth, within the Bretus Theocracy, there had been no one who could truly match him.
There were three Holy Knight Commanders above him, yet Arius never believed himself inferior to any of them.
The reason he had not been acknowledged as a commander lay in his arrogant and violent disposition.
In terms of raw combat power, he considered himself superior.
That belief had always lived in his heart.
Now that the holy war was over and the Bretus Theocracy had vanished, Arius realized that there was no longer anyone standing above him.
If the Church could be revived, he could stand at its pinnacle.
To a man who craved power, it was a sweet whisper indeed.
He gathered every remaining remnant he could find. As if aided by the heavens, he soon learned of Hyperborea, the New Continent.
Ancient ruins existed there—and if he could simply secure a relic from within them...
‘It might be possible to rebuild the Lumenis Church.’
For that goal, Arius even joined hands with filthy black mages.
The urge to crush their skulls with his mace rose constantly, but he endured it for the sake of the future.
Grasping hands with those revolting creatures, suffering like a dog, he finally reached the ruins.
The fact that the title of “first discoverer” had been snatched away only fueled his anger further—but that didn’t matter.
‘What matters is what you claim inside.’
If there were potential competitors, he could simply eliminate them once inside.
And now, that competitor had conveniently revealed himself.
Blatantly provoking him, as if looking down on him outright.
Arius knew the difference.
Whether someone was provoking out of empty bluster—or whether they truly believed themselves superior.
Ludger was clearly the latter.
Why? Because it was the same look Arius had received from archbishops and other Holy Knight Commanders back in the homeland.
All skill, no character—utter trash.
That had been Arius’s trauma, a thorn buried deep in his heart.
Ludger had unknowingly stabbed straight into it.
Of course, even if he had known, he wouldn’t have been careful. If anything, he would have twisted the knife deeper.
‘Come to think of it...’
Recalling that Ludger had arrived here first, Arius remembered what had happened earlier.
The ruin’s corridors had shifted at will, and several of his subordinates had been killed or injured.
They hadn’t triggered any traps—unless someone had deliberately activated them.
“You did this!”
Ludger knew exactly where Arius’s fury came from.
Strictly speaking, it had been Lexuror’s doing—but even if it hadn’t been, Ludger would have acted the same way, so Arius wasn’t entirely wrong.
“Are you just going to bark?”
“You bastard!”
Arius wrapped his entire body in holy power and charged straight at Ludger.
A massive holy knight, blasting explosive holy energy from head to toe.
A crushing pressure filled the corridor.
For an ordinary human, merely grazing it would have pulverized their entire body. Even a knight who had reached the superhuman realm would be unable to face it head-on.
If he took it directly, even Ludger would be reduced to a bloody pulp.
But Ludger had no intention of taking it head-on.
Booom-boooom-boooom!
Arius’s divine form blasted past Ludger as if skimming him—like a charging war chariot.
The corridor he passed through was grotesquely torn apart, as if plowed up with a hoe.
Anyone caught in that attack should have been erased without a trace.
Yet Arius slammed to a halt, his legs carving deep furrows into the ground.
“What...?”
Right before contact, Ludger had vanished—as if he had never been there.
There hadn’t even been the faintest sensation of impact. If they had collided, there should have been something.
Arius turned around.
Behind him, Ludger stood perfectly intact.
At some point, he had moved to stand directly in front of Arius’s subordinates.
“You—”
Before Arius could finish speaking, the men he had brought collapsed in sprays of blood.
Dozens fell simultaneously, without even a second’s delay—a sight so unreal it defied belief.
Holy knights and priests died without mounting any response, eyes wide open.
Arius stared blankly at their corpses.
‘Th-this...’
Icy water was poured over his overheated mind.
Moments ago, molten lava had flowed through his veins with rage. Now it felt like coolant rushing through him.
He was violent and hot-blooded—but he was not stupid.
Ludger had killed all of his subordinates. In less than a single second.
Was it because they were careless? Because they underestimated him since he was alone?
Even so—was that even possible?
These were men strong enough to fight their way through a forest swarming with forest spirits.
They might have been remnants of a fallen theocracy, but they were hardened by desperation. They were never weak.
Arius’s conclusion was clear.
No matter how he accounted for every possibility—Ludger was overwhelmingly strong.
“Well? Do you feel like getting serious now?”
“You... who are you?”
Arius asked in a trembling voice. No matter how hard he tried to feign calm, it wouldn’t obey him.
Meeting Ludger’s eyes only amplified those feelings.
He had slaughtered dozens of holy knights and priests in an instant, yet Ludger’s expression remained utterly indifferent.
Even crushing an insect underfoot wouldn’t leave someone this unmoved.
“Who am I? Fine. If we’re being precise—I’m the enemy you were always meant to kill.”
“What?”
“Heathcliff von Bretus. The man you call the Demon King.”
Arius’s eyes stretched wide.
“Impossible! The Demon King is dead! The Empire executed him for certain—!”
“You know better than anyone that what’s known to the world and the truth are often different. Just like the disgusting things you did.”
“...!”
Arius’s eyebrow twitched.
He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again.
The turmoil in his gaze had settled into cold clarity.
“So. Now you’re ready to fight properly.”
Perhaps this was why he was still a commander, leading these men.
Arius recovered faster than expected.
“Enemy of the Theocracy. Demon King—I will execute you here.”
He spewed words at random. Likely because he had nothing else to say. Perhaps a spoonful of sincerity was mixed in.
From the start, Arius knew.
If he failed to kill Ludger here, he would be the one to die.
To survive, he had to pour out everything he possessed.
“Hraaagh!”
Arius roared.
Holy power boiled through his body like lava.
Overflowing holy energy unfurled radiant wings from his back.
A splendid golden helm formed above his head.
Extending his hands, he grasped a shining golden spear in his right, and a golden mace in his left.
For a fleeting instant within the bluish corridor, a dazzling sun rose.
“I see. Your raw output is higher than the commanders I saw in the Theocracy. In a head-on clash, you might be the strongest.”
Ludger analyzed Arius’s power in an instant.
With strength like this, it made sense that he could drag the remnants all the way to Hyperborea.
But Arius was unlucky—because he had encountered Ludger here.
“I’ll tell you one piece of good news, at least.”
Arius didn’t respond.
Ludger hadn’t expected him to, and continued.
“This is an ancient ruin. And there are very important things here. Mana flows throughout the interior, and it seems to react sensitively to magic.”
“....”
“I don’t particularly want to destroy this place. If it were to fall into others’ hands, destruction might be preferable—but there’s no need to go that far.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I’m giving you a chance. Because of the ruin, I can’t use my full power. Or rather, I have no intention of doing so.”
Arius thought he must have misheard.
In other words, Ludger was saying he would restrain his output due to environmental constraints.
“You don’t have to believe me. Either way, the fact that you must fight me with everything you have doesn’t change. Still, since I’m giving you a handicap, I’d like to see something meaningful. You are a survivor of a fallen church, after all.”
Fwoooosh!
The holy power coursing through Arius intensified, rising beyond a mirage into blazing flames.
“You’ll regret that arrogant statement.”
Shing.
Ludger drew the swordstick from his cane.
Compared to Arius’s weapons, it looked pitifully plain and modest.
A ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) mage holding a sword? Against a holy knight?
Arius took it as provocation—and resolved to deliver judgment for that arrogance.
He lowered his stance.
Both thighs bulged like inflated balloons.
Boom!
Arius’s divine form shot forward like a cannonball. A footprint was left where he stood, and the ruin’s floor cracked like a spiderweb.
Reaching Ludger in an instant, Arius thrust his spear.
Ludger’s blue eyes traced the spear’s trajectory.
He tilted his head slightly. The spear blade cut through empty air.
Scalding air carried searing heat. Even grazing it would melt flesh.
Arius’s mace dropped straight down.
The spear thrust had merely been a feint to limit evasion space. The real attack was this.
Boom!
Ludger held the swordstick horizontally. The mace collided with it, sending a shockwave rippling outward.
The swordstick tilted diagonally as the mace slid along its edge, sparks flying with every scrape.
The mace struck the ground instead. The floor split apart, cracks spewing heat.
‘He diverted it?’
One defining trait of holy knights was physical strength. Arius had reinforced his body repeatedly with holy rites.
The moment a knight raised a shield, even other knights would be crushed along with it.
Yet Ludger had blocked and deflected that with a thin swordstick.
The material of the swordstick was anything but ordinary. And beyond that—so was Ludger himself.
A flash of light burst before Arius’s eyes.
Slice.
The corner of his helm was severed. Seeing the dazzling blade, Arius immediately focused on counterattacking.
He retrieved his spear and hurled it with all his strength.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
It was so fast the spear left multiple afterimages in the air. Ludger evaded them all, slipping straight into Arius’s reach.
‘How dare you! A mage closing in on a holy knight?!’
Arius hated that.
Mages were supposed to fight at range.
But the moment he witnessed Ludger’s exquisite swordsmanship, that thought vanished.
Fast. Dazzling. And beyond that, there was an indescribable finesse to his blade.
‘How can a mage—!’
If the opponent was the Demon King, then reaching the pinnacle of magic wouldn’t be strange.
Yes. Magic—that was Ludger’s strength.
And yet, Ludger’s current fighting style was nothing like a mage’s.
Not even a War Mage would attempt such madness. Neither would the mages of the southern Fatima Dynasty.
‘How is this possible?!’
Ludger committed that absurdity with utter calm—pressuring Arius head-on.
Arius clenched his teeth. He unleashed everything he had.
Golden weapons cleaved through space, powered by surging holy energy.
Ludger blocked and repelled them with ridiculous ease.
He could feel mana flowing through Ludger’s body—and beyond that, a faint black haze rising.
Arius poured every ounce of focus into the battle.
With no retreat left, he burned everything he had.
Like a bonfire blazing brilliantly, using itself as fuel.
Boom!
The corridors and ceiling around Arius began to crumble, unable to withstand his holy power.
Even the aftershocks alone were enough to reshape the terrain. The heat was worse.
Anyone facing it head-on wouldn’t even be able to breathe properly.
“Hm. Is that all?”
Yet Ludger remained calm. His voice was serene, as if indifferent to the destruction around him.
This couldn’t be happening.
Arius swung his mace desperately.
Baaang!
The air burst, and the force Ludger deflected gouged a deep pit into the ceiling. Molten debris dripped down.
Even without direct contact, the power was overwhelming. It wouldn’t have been strange for Ludger’s wrist to shatter into dust.
But it was fine. Too fine—so much so it felt unreal.
“What are you?! What the hell are you?!”
Arius screamed in despair.
“You have that kind of power—and yet—!”
Overwhelming defeat.
A feeling he had never experienced even during sparring among holy knights back home.
Proud as he was, Arius couldn’t accept this reality.
“Reality is sometimes unbearably cruel. But isn’t it the same for all those people you crushed underfoot until now? What—does it feel unfair now?”
Clang!
Ludger thrust the swordstick beneath the mace’s head, twisted the blade, and struck upward.
The mace flew from Arius’s hand. The palm gripping it was torn open, blood spilling.
Clang!
The spear followed. No matter how desperately he tried to hold on, Ludger’s power allowed no resistance.
Both palms were shredded. Holy power tried to heal them, but Ludger was already closing in.
“Kraaagh!”
Arius screamed and spread his wings wide.
Golden feathers shot toward Ludger like daggers.
Gulp.
At that moment, the rippling shadow around Ludger swallowed space itself.
The golden feathers vanished from sight. Even the light was cut off. Heat disappeared, replaced by chilling cold.
Arius was left alone in empty darkness.
The holy power burning through his body was devoured by the darkness, draining away at terrifying speed.
No matter how he struggled, it was useless.
“I... I wanted to rebuild the Church...!”
A voice came from behind him.
“That doesn’t exist.”
Slice.
Arius’s neck was severed by the swordstick.