As Pwyll was dealing with the Commander Knight—
SLASH!
"GAH!"
Bernia was cutting down the commander’s direct subordinates, and so far; she had killed three of them!
Her movements were like a blur of grey and silver against the dark, muddy backdrop of the forest. Every time her blade swung, it was with a purpose that left no room for hesitation. She didn’t waste energy on large, sweeping motions. Instead, she kept her strikes tight and efficient, aiming for the gaps in the heavy plate armor the royal knights wore.
’Two more of the direct subordinates, then the rest are those five knights with the crest of the empire.’
Bernia thought to herself.
She kept her breathing steady even as the sounds of the larger battle raged around her. She could hear the orcs roaring and the mages shouting, but her world had narrowed down to the space right in front of her. She specialize in speed. Her swordmaship is fast and she’s an expert on disrupting and taking advantage of formations of group.
Bernia also knows a lot about the formation the knights uses, given that she was about to become one of them before becoming a slave. She could see the way they shifted their weight, the way they looked to each other for support, and the way their confidence wavered every time one of their friends fell. She knew their playbook better than they did.
"K—KILL THAT BITCH!!!"
One of remaining two subordinates of the commander knight shouted, and after saying that—BAM!
Him and the other one rushed at Bernia, their heavy boots splashing through the puddles of blood and mud. They tried to pincer her, one swinging high while the other aimed for her legs.
"..."
The five knights with the crest of the empire didn’t move at all.
They stood a few meters back, their posture rigid and professional. They were watching the exchange with an intensity that suggested they were analyzing Bernia’s every move. Unlike the royal knights, they didn’t seem panicked. They were waiting for the right moment to strike.
"..."
Bernia just watched the two rush at her.
She stood perfectly still, her sword held in a low guard. Her two opponents were agitated, and they were anxious. They were over-committing to their charge, putting all their weight into a single, desperate attack. Just by looking at them allowed her to predict the path of her sword.
And so—FWISH~
Bernia easily dodged both the attack by turning her body sideways, moving with the fluidity of water. The two blades passed through the air where she had been standing only a millisecond before.
And while facing one of her attacker—SLASH!
Bernia launched a rising slash that cut her opponent from the underarm—all the way to their neck, killing them immediately!
The knight didn’t even have time to scream. The force of the blow lifted him slightly off his feet before he crumpled into a heap.
FWIP—!
She then flipped her blade in her right hand, turning the tip of her sword pointing back to her. It was a reverse grip that most knights found impractical, but in her hands, it was a deadly tool for close-quarters combat. With a casual but fast retrieval of her sword—PHUCK!
Bernia stabbed the other one behind here while they were in mid-air.
The knight had tried to pivot to catch her off guard, but he was too slow. Her sword struck straight on their chest and heart, punching through the metal with a sickening crunch. She dealt with two people in just a few seconds.
THUD!
The two bodies fell onto the ground with a heavy sound. But just ignoring them—
"..."
Bernia silently faced forward, turning to the five knights with the empire’s crest on their armors.
She wiped a small splatter of blood from her cheek with the back of her hand. She was waiting for their next move. The air between them felt heavy.
But then, all of a sudden—
"Bernia?"
Someone from the five knights called her name!
"?!"
Bernia was surprised.
She didn’t expect anyone in this expedition to know who she was. She had been a ghost for years, a nameless slave moved from one master to another. Looking at the source of it; it was the guy on the farthest right. He was wearing a helmet so she couldn’t see his face.
But after that, the guy then put his hands on his helmet, then he removed it!
"...!"
And there, Bernia was able to recognize him.
The face was older, more scarred, and hardened by years of imperial service, but the eyes were exactly the same.
"Mark."
Bernia said the name like a curse.
Mark was another knight apprentice together with Bernia years before. It felt like a lifetime ago, back when they were both teenagers dreaming of glory in the capital. Bernia was the most talented and the top apprentice, a prodigy that every instructor praised. And Mark was always second to her.
The two of them were supposed to be members of the Royal Knights with their talents.
They were the rising stars of their generation. Well, that was before Bernia discovered the disgusting act of the knight she was under and killed him. She had been branded a murderer and a traitor. She became a slave, and she didn’t heard from anyone she know after that.
"..."
Bernia and Mark looked at each other, not saying anything.
The rain of arrows from the gnolls continued in the distance, and the sounds of Pwyll’s fight echoed nearby, but for them, time seemed to stand still. Mark couldn’t believe that he was seeing a familiar face here, especially not in a place like this. And then, after a while—
"KAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Mark started laughing maniacally.
His voice was high and grating, echoing through the clearing and drawing the attention of a few nearby soldiers. He looked like a man who had finally found the punchline to a joke he had been telling himself for years.
"YOU’RE REALLY BERNIA! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!"
He exclaimed, his chest heaving with laughter.
Then after that, he stopped laughing and looked at Bernia, with a still crazed look on his face. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, filled with a twisted kind of joy.
"Look at you! From the star of the academy to a guard dog for a bunch of monsters! I always knew there was something wrong with you, Bernia. You always had that cold, distant look."
Mark spat on the ground, his face contorting with rage.
"You really fit in here with these demonic beings. I bet your achievements back in the day were all a lie! You probably had a contract with a demon even back then, didn’t you? That’s why I could never beat you! You cheated!"
He was shouting now, his voice cracking.
He wanted to believe that her talent wasn’t real, because if it was, then his second-place status was simply because he wasn’t good enough. He shamed Bernia, calling her a fallen woman and a disgrace to the uniform he wore.
"..."
But Bernia just remained silent, her face remained calm.
She didn’t feel the need to defend herself. She knew the truth, and that was enough. Mark was as she remembers him as... jealous.
He always tried to fight her back then and compete with her, and whenever she will come out on top of him—he would throw a tantrum. Just the spoiled brat he was just because he was from a small knight family. He had been born with a silver spoon and felt entitled to the top spot.
In fact, Mark and his family are one with the many that pushed Bernia’s punishment to become a slave.
They had used their influence to make sure she wasn’t just executed, but humiliated and broken. They wanted to make sure she would never be able to hold a sword again.
Anyway, Mark continued shouting and insulting Bernia, his words becoming more and more nonsensical as his anger took over. But as he was mid sentence—BAM!
The mud exploded under Bernia’s feet.
"HUH?!"
Bernia suddenly appeared in front of him!
She didn’t use magic; she just used the pure explosive power of her leg muscles. He didn’t even see her approach!
TIIINK—!
The sound of their blades meeting was deafening.
Mark blocked Bernia’s attack in the last second, his reflexes saved by years of constant combat.
"UGH...!"
But he stumbled back because of the force and that he was unprepared! The weight of her strike was far greater than anything he remembered from their youth.
"Haaa... you’re as loud as ever. I’ll show you that you’re still below me."
Bernia stated that.
She looked at Mark straight in the eyes with a bored look on her face. Her expression said that he wasn’t a threat; he was an annoyance that needed to be cleared away so she could go back to work.
"GUURGH...!"
Mark became angry because of this.
The look of boredom on her face was the one thing he couldn’t stand. It reminded him of every time she had beaten him in the sparring pits and walked away without even breaking a sweat.
"ATTACK!"
Then immediately, he ordered that.
He didn’t care about a fair duel. He just wanted her dead. At his words, the four other knights that were with him surrounded Bernia and attacked her without hesitation!
They moved with the precision of imperial training. They formed a square around her, their shields overlapping to limit her space. Each of them was a veteran, and they knew how to kill a superior opponent through teamwork.
FWOOSH!
One knight lunged with a spear, trying to pin her against the mud.
Bernia twisted her body mid-air, avoiding it.
Tap- WHOOOSH!!!
As she landed, another knight swung a mace at her head!
"Ugh, annoying."
SWOOSH~
She dropped into a low crouch, letting the heavy weapon whistle over her, then immediately used her momentum to roll between the legs of a third knight.
"DON’T LET HER ESCAPE! TIGHTEN THE CIRCLE!"
Mark kept shouting, his voice full of frantic energy.
He stayed on the edge of the formation, waiting for Bernia to make a mistake so he could deliver the final blow. He and the others were using formation to push her back, forcing her toward a thick patch of thorny vines that had sprouted from one of the violet plants thrown earlier.
"..."
But Bernia was calm.
She didn’t fight against the formation. Instead, she flowed with it. She waited for the rhythm of their attacks to become predictable. Every group has a heartbeat, a moment where they all breathe at once, and she was looking for that gap.
Bernia had to use her speed and flexibility to parry, and dodge the attacks.
TINK! TINK! CLANG!
She parried three simultaneous strikes, the sparks from the metal illuminating her focused eyes.
"...!"
Then, she saw it.
One of the knights on her left stepped a bit too far to the side to avoid a puddle, creating a tiny opening in the shield wall!
SWISH!
Bernia vanished again.
She slid through the opening and appeared behind that knight!
And before he could even turn his head—SLASH! Her blade found the gap in his neck armor. The knight fell forward, his shield clattering into the mud.
"F-FUCK!"
Mark screamed, his face twisting in horror.
The formation was broken. The remaining three knights tried to regroup, but Bernia didn’t give them the chance. She was among them now, a ghost with a blade. She used the knight she just killed as a stepping stone, launching herself into the air. And while descending—PHUCK!
She drove her sword through the helmet of the second knight!
"...!"
The third and fourth knights tried to back away, their confidence completely gone. They looked at Mark for orders, but Mark was frozen.
"A-Attack her! What are you waiting for?!"
Mark stammered.
Bernia didn’t wait.
She lunged at the third knight already before she could even finish his order--FWIISH!
Then she launched a series of lightning-fast thrusts!
"U-UGH...! HELP!"
The knight tried to block with his shield, but Bernia was too fast.
TIAK!
She struck the edge of the shield, forcing it down, and then—SLASH! She cut across his throat!
"JUST FUCKING KILL HER!!!"
The fourth knight turned to run despite Mark’s order, but Bernia threw a small dagger she had hidden in her boot.
STAB!
"GURGH!"
The blade buried itself in the back of his leg, making him tumble into the mud. Bernia was on him in a second. She didn’t say a word--PHUCK! As she finished him with a single stab to the heart.
Now, it was only Mark.
"!!!"
He stood alone in the mud, his four elite companions dead. His hands were shaking so hard he could barely hold his sword. He looked at Bernia, and for the first time in his life, he truly understood the gap between them. It wasn’t about demons or contracts... It was just talent.
"B-Bernia... wait... we were friends, right? At the academy?"
Mark pleaded, taking a step back.
His voice was thin and pathetic. He looked like the spoiled brat she remembered, stripped of his noble title and his expensive armor.
"..."
Bernia didn’t answer.
She just began to walk toward him, her sword dripping with the blood of his men. The bored look was gone, replaced by something cold and final.
"We were never friends, Mark. You were just the boy who’s second to me."
Bernia said quietly.
"NO! I’LL KILL YOU!"
BAM!
Mark lunged forward one last time, a desperate, clumsy strike that had no hope of landing.
TAP-
Bernia didn’t even bother to parry. She stepped to the side and, in one fluid motion—SLASH!
She took his head.
THUD!
The body of the man who had always been second fell into the mud, joining the others.
Bernia stood there for a moment, her chest rising and falling slowly. She looked at the blood on her blade that resembles the color of her hair, and then at the castle walls in the distance.
She had closed a Chapter of her past, but the battle for her new home was still far from over.
Without a word, she turned and headed toward the next group of invaders.