At this time, the sky was already bright.
As the nocturnal monsters had completely hidden away, the daytime monsters became active, searching for food in forests, plains, or grasslands.
If anyone were smart enough, they wouldn't enter these areas now unless they wanted to end up as a meal for the hungry monsters.
Yet, in such a situation, two figures appeared on the outskirts near the forest.
"Hahh... hahh... hahh…"
A teenage girl was pulling along a little girl, panting heavily as they sprinted through this dangerous area.
"Big Sister!"
Letting out a cry of distress, the little girl, who appeared to be about ten years old, was dragged along by her elder sister and seemed to struggle to keep up.
However, the elder sister couldn't afford to let her younger sister stop, or rather, she didn't dare stop.
She forced herself to keep going, urging her younger sister to run faster, even though her own body was starting to give out.
Unfortunately, she had no choice.
If they didn't keep running, they would soon lose their lives.
"Stop!"
"Dammit, you little brats!"
Ultimately, death was catching up to them.
Behind the two sisters, two knights were chasing after them.
Dressed in standard knight armor and wielding longswords, they were not hindered at all by the weight of their attire. In fact, they were surprisingly faster than healthy adults—clearly well-trained.
However, these two knights, with twisted expressions on their faces, were relentlessly pursuing the two sisters.
Cold, murderous intent glinted in their eyes, and the blood-stained swords in their hands told anyone watching exactly what they planned to do to the helpless girls.
Behind the two knights, faint screams could be heard coming from a small village, and the air seemed thick with the stench of blood.
Knowing this, the elder sister's heart was nearly torn apart by sorrow.
She knew that in the village where the screams were coming from, not only were her parents there, but so were the neighbors who had always greeted her with warm smiles.
Now, they were all being slaughtered, victims of a brutal, senseless massacre.
Of course, the ones committing this horror weren't anyone else—they were these knights, who were supposed to be honorable and uphold justice, yet acted as executioners, doing the work of bandits.
Such grief in her heart nearly overwhelmed her, almost making her give up the will to run.
However, the warmth in her hand kept her going.
"Big Sister..."
Hearing her younger sister's sobbing voice snapped her out of her despair.
Yes, she still had her younger sister—it didn't matter what happened to her, but she had to make sure her younger sister survived.
Remembering how their father had given up his life for this chance and had used his body as a shield, standing in front of the two of them so they could escape, even if only her younger sister could make it, she had to get her younger sister out of this place alive.
"Run!"
Seeing that her younger sister was about to collapse from exhaustion, the elder sister had no choice but to drag her younger sister along, pulling her further away from the two executioners chasing after them.
Unfortunately, they were, in the end, just ordinary village girls from a remote countryside, so how could they possibly outrun well-trained knights?
*BANG!*
With a muffled sound, the elder sister suddenly felt a hard kick land on her back, sending both her and her younger sister crashing to the ground.
"Ugh—!"
Making a painful groan, the elder sister gasped, expelling all the air from her lungs, her back screaming in pain.
"Big Sister!"
Seeing her elder sister's painful expression, the younger sister cried out again, but her elder sister quickly pulled her into her arms, shielding her.
"Fucking brats, such a pointless struggle..."
"Dammit, why don't you two just die obediently?"
Saying these words, the two knights finally caught up to the two sisters, standing over them with cold, indifferent eyes.
Surprisingly, not only was there anger in their eyes, as if they were annoyed that they had to put in unnecessary effort, but there wasn't even the slightest trace of respect for life or a hint of guilt for their actions.
Anyone seeing these two knights would immediately understand one thing—begging for mercy was useless.
Needless to say, they were like grim reapers, existing solely to harvest lives.
Even though the ones before them were just two weak girls, and one of them barely ten years old, there wasn't a shred of sympathy on their faces—it was as if they were about to slaughter livestock, not humans.
Understanding this fact, the elder sister abandoned any hope or thought of begging for mercy and pushed her younger sister away.
"Run! Just run!"
"Big Sister!"
She could already see the image of herself lying in a pool of blood, yet she stopped resisting and shoved her younger sister away, trying to give her a chance to survive.
However, how could a little girl, barely ten years old, abandon her elder sister and flee alone in this kind of situation?
As expected, the younger sister clung desperately to her elder sister, refusing to let go.
Seeing this, the elder sister's heart raced with panic, but all she could do was hold her younger sister tightly, glaring at the two killers before her with the most vicious look she could muster, her unyielding gaze filled with defiance.
"Hmph, die."
Ignoring the elder sister's final, defiant stare, one of the knights stood in place, smirking, while the other raised his sword high, preparing to deliver the final strike to end these fragile lives.
"God..."
Muttering a final prayer to the heavens, the elder sister closed her eyes and felt her younger sister's warmth as she counted the seconds until her death.
*Swish!*
Unfortunately for her, the knight's sword ultimately descended, ignoring her prayers, with no divine intervention to stop it.
Like the scythe of death, the sword fell mercilessly, as if mocking her last act and proving that her final prayer hadn't summoned any mercy from the gods.
Nevertheless, even if the gods didn't show mercy, some people did.
*Schwing!*
A sharp, crisp sound, like the clash of metal, suddenly rang out, echoing through the outskirts of the entire forest, reverberating.
"What?!"
"Huh? Wh-Who are you?!"
Tightly shutting her eyes, the elder sister suddenly heard the startled cries of the two knights.
She didn't feel the pain of being slashed by a blade but sensed a gentle aura standing right in front of her, much like her father had stood before the knights earlier to give her and her younger sister a chance to escape.
"...Eh?"
With a trembling body, the elder sister cautiously opened her eyes and saw a figure standing before her.
It wasn't her father's figure, but a young man who was taller, straighter, and exuding a greater sense of safety.
He stood straight in front of her, facing the two knights with an air of nonchalance.
One of the knights took a step back, while the other's face twisted in shock.
It couldn't be helped.
If someone blocked a sword that could easily slice through a person's body with just their fingers, anyone facing them would be just as stunned.
Naturally, this was exactly what was happening right now.
"You alright?"
A calm voice broke the silence.
Looking even more reliable than their father, the young man turned slightly to glance at the two sisters on the ground.
He looked younger than she had imagined, possibly even the same age as her.
Meanwhile, his build wasn't particularly large, nor did he have a strong presence, making it hard to believe he was really there, almost like a ghost. Yet this young man, who seemed about her age, not only stood calmly before the two knights but ignored them completely as if they didn't even exist.
With just two fingers, he pinched the knight's sword—the same one that had been swung down earlier.
"You…"
Seeing such an unbelievable scene, the elder sister stared in shock.
"Bastard! Let go of my sword!"
Meanwhile, the knight, whose sword was being held, roared in anger, using all his strength, desperately trying to pull his sword free.
"HAAAAAHHH—!"
At the same time, the other knight, who had just stepped back, gripped his sword tightly and swung it at the young man who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
"WATCH OUT!"
Seeing this, the elder sister cried out in panic.
However, the young man still didn't glance at the two knights and simply kept his eyes on the two sisters, casually raising another finger toward the charging knight.
"Lightning."
*Bzzz—*
With a soft chant, the young man's fingertip, extended toward the knight, suddenly sparked with electricity.
In the next second, lightning erupted.
*Splurt!*
A bolt of lightning shot from the young man's fingertip, striking the knight head-on, piercing his chest, and sending blood spraying everywhere.
*BOOM!*
Afterward, the bolt of lightning shot out from the knight's back, hitting a nearby tree and cutting it clean in half.
"Ugh... Agh..."
Being pierced by a lightning bolt, the knight's charging figure froze in place, blood spilling from his mouth and nose, his eyes bulging as if they were about to pop.
Before long, the knight collapsed to the ground, his aura fading.
"..."
Silence.
At this moment, both the elder sister and the knight gripping his sword, trying to yank it back, stared in shock at the scene before them.
In the elder sister's eyes, the sight before her felt completely unreal.
Just as she was about to be killed, a young man about her age suddenly appeared like a hero.
With one hand, he grabbed the knight's sharp sword, and with the other, he sent out a lightning bolt that blasted through one of the knights, who moments ago had seemed like the grim reaper in her eyes.
For a girl who had lived her whole life in a remote village, this was simply a miracle.
Meanwhile, the other knight, once he realized what had happened, let out a scream.
"Th-That's 3rd-Tier Magic?! You're a high-tier magic caster?!"
Upon hearing this statement, the young man raised an eyebrow.
"High-tier magic caster, you say? With that kind of magic?"
Saying this with a smirk, the young man chuckled half-heartedly at the knight's statement before continuing.
"No, not quite... Even if you haven't seen 7th-Tier Magic or above, at least don't call someone using 3rd-Tier Magic a high-tier magic caster, okay?"
"For your standards, if you want to call someone a high-tier magic caster, you should at least witness 5th-Tier Magic before making that claim."
"For example, this."
With a casual demeanor, the young man pointed his still-crackling finger at the knight.
"Dragon Lightning."
*Bzzzt—*
In an instant, even more violent and blinding lightning shot out from his finger.
"Wh-What the—?! 5th-Tier Magic?!"
Seeing the magic the young man cast, the knight finally screamed in terror.
"You're in the Realm of Heroes?!"
As soon as he screamed this, the knight quickly dropped his sword and fled in a panic.
Sadly, no matter how fast he ran, he couldn't outrun lightning.
*BOOM!*
"AAAAAHHHHH—!!!"
Ultimately, the dragon-shaped lightning struck the knight in the back, causing him to scream in agony as the violent lightning surged through him.
Before long, he fell to the ground, lifeless.