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A thick cloud of smoke lingered in the area where the 7th Battalion of the King’s Order was catching up on their missed training.

The smoke came from an explosion that had just blown apart part of the outer wall.

About ten swordsmen and mages formed a battle formation and readied themselves.

“Everyone, stay on guard!”

“Identify the target!”

A shadow moved swiftly through the smoke.

It was a girl with ashen-gray hair, moving along the edge of the training ground, leaping over the collapsed wall.

The expressions of the soldiers hardened when they saw the two-handed sword she was holding.

“It’s her.”

“Is that really the cursed sword Mareda?”

One of the soldiers, looking incredulous, glanced up at the sky.

“…But it’s broad daylight?”

As members of the King’s Order, an agency that specialized in dealing with dark cult, they were all well aware of the nature of cursed swords, creatures born of darkness.

A cursed sword like Mareda appearing under the sun wasn’t a good sign. Its power would be significantly weakened in daylight.

‘But why?’

This was far from normal. Everyone grew tense, their confusion evident.

‘Are we mistaken about something?’

‘Could it be that this cursed sword doesn’t lose its power, even in daylight?!’

At that moment, the girl with the cursed sword swung her weapon wide.

From the tip of the blade, a red aura of darkness erupted, lashing out like a whip and striking different parts of the training ground.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The soldiers of the 7th Battalion dodged the attack with relative ease and exchanged confused glances.

“…Wait, no?”

“She really is weakened, isn’t she?”

Her power had drastically decreased. It was at a level that a red-class aura user could easily handle.

Of course, that didn’t mean the 7th Battalion soldiers could relax. There were no aura users present at the moment.

Trib and Harris had both stayed up all night and were napping.

“What about Dame Serati?”

“She’s eating.”

“She’ll be here soon.”

They began carefully engaging the girl with the cursed sword.

There was no need to forcefully defeat her. All they had to do was tie her down and buy time.

Normally, facing the cursed sword would have been impossible, as it possessed overwhelming power…

‘What is this?’

‘We can manage this?’

The sound of clashing swords rang out dozens of times as they exchanged blows. The soldiers’ expressions shifted oddly.

‘She’s definitely weaker!’

That monstrous strength that used to slice through people and weapons alike in a single strike had diminished significantly.

They were still being pushed back in direct confrontation, but it wasn’t as overwhelming as before.

However, that didn’t mean the cursed sword had become easy to deal with either.

‘But wait…’

‘In another sense, she’s stronger!’

While her raw power and dark aura had decreased, her movements were far superior now. She attacked, withdrew, pressed forward, and maintained distance with such efficient precision that they couldn’t find an opening.

“Gah!”

“What… What is this?”

The battalion members were flustered.

The girl, who had previously moved like a wild beast driven by pure instinct, was now demonstrating refined and sophisticated swordsmanship, as if she had become a master swordsman.

Moreover, she wasn’t wearing that usual eerie smirk.

Instead, she remained calm and expressionless the whole time.

“…”

The ashen-haired girl darted across the training ground like a fierce leopard, her blade slicing the air with a chilling brilliance wherever she moved.

“Ugh!”

“Hah, hah!”

Despite the pressure, the battalion members managed to hold their ground. No one had fallen yet.

While part of it was due to the weakened power of the cursed sword, something about the girl’s movements seemed off.

‘Since earlier…’

‘It seems like she’s only targeting that one person?’

With sharp, agile attacks, she focused solely on chasing one man, as if he were the sworn enemy of her parents.

Her movements showed no interest in the other battalion members at all.

The target, Lephan, a member of the 7th Battalion, had also realized this.

“What the hell? Why is she only after me?”

He felt slightly indignant, but this was actually an opportunity.

“Hey! I’ll keep running, so cover me from behind!”

The others quickly understood and adjusted their formation.

Lephan focused solely on evading, while the rest of the 7th Battalion worked hard to block the cursed sword’s path.

Of course, this strategy wasn’t going to take down the girl.

But who cared? The one meant to defeat her wasn’t them anyway.

A sharp sound rang out in the distance. It was Serati, the aura user of the 7th Battalion.

“Is everyone alright?”

Shrouded in a red aura, she was rapidly closing the gap, covering over 10 meters with each step.

The girl flinched at the sight of Serati.

“…”

Suddenly, the girl’s skin began to tear, and blood oozed from her wounds.

The spilled blood turned into an aura of darkness, forming a shadowy armor around her, blocking the sunlight.

She then raised the cursed sword high and slammed it into the ground.

Boom!

An enormous explosion erupted, the same one that had previously destroyed the mansion’s wall.

Dust and debris filled the air, and in the midst of the chaos, the girl leaped away.

Her direction was clear—she was fleeing outside the mansion.

“Running away again?”

Grinding her teeth, Serati increased her speed.

But the girl with the cursed sword was faster.

In an instant, she dashed out into the street, leaping over the rooftops and disappearing from view.

Serati gave chase, but by the time she reached the rooftops, the girl was already out of sight.

“Damn it, did I lose her…?”

Looking down at the cityscape of Archenbart, Serati frowned.

“If she was going to flee so easily, why did she come here in the first place?”

***

Trib, Harris, and Jiken, who had been napping, arrived late.

After hearing the report, Trib and Harris both voiced their doubts.

“The cursed sword attacked?”

“In broad daylight?”

“And then just left?”

“Without killing anyone?”

Jiken stroked his chin, deep in thought.

“Does the cursed sword Mareda really possess intelligence?”

The actions were clearly rational.

She exploited their assumption that she wouldn’t move during the day, attacked only the King’s Order while ignoring everyone else around the mansion, and retreated without hesitation when the situation turned against her.

“If she were mindless, there’s no way she’d act like this.”

Harris shook his head.

“But, doesn’t it seem a bit odd to assume that?”

If the cursed sword’s actions were considered wise, then that’s questionable too. After all, didn’t it just recklessly charge in, rampage aimlessly, and then flee like a startled deer?

“If it had a mind, I don’t think it would move in such a way.”

Jiken muttered in frustration.

“Does this thing have a mind or not?”

Oddly enough, saying it out loud sounded like the typical complaints of a parent scolding their child, but one thing had become certain.

“The cursed sword is clearly targeting the King’s Order. We don’t know why yet, but that’s for sure.”

So, what should they do now?

They thought it over, but no immediate solution came to mind.

Since the King’s Order was a relatively new organization, this situation was unprecedented. There were no examples to refer to.

Jiken glanced over at Karnak, just in case.

“Do you have any ideas?”

Karnak’s ability to sniff out cults “like magic” had earned him quite the reputation within the King’s Order.

But Karnak shook his head.

“I’ve just been lucky. If you don’t know, Captain, how could I?”

“This isn’t the time for modesty.”

“It’s not modesty. I truly have no idea.”

He wasn’t lying.

After all, Karnak’s “deductions” were usually just observations with some clever guesswork added.

‘But this time, I genuinely don’t know.’

He stopped smiling wryly and then suddenly tilted his head.

“Now that I think about it, there is something strange.”

“What is it?”

“It’s something I heard from the battalion members…”

The place the cursed sword attacked was the training ground where the 7th Battalion was gathered for practice. And during the attack, it specifically targeted Lephan.

“Wallace and Beric, our first victims, were also part of the 7th Battalion.”

It seemed like the cursed sword was deliberately singling out the 7th Battalion.

“And come to think of it, the first time it acted strangely was when it encountered the 7th Battalion’s captain, wasn’t it?”

Jiken’s expression hardened slightly.

“Does this cursed sword have some connection to the King’s Order’s 7th Battalion?”

“I don’t think a cursed sword would check our ranks before attacking…”

“But isn’t it a fact that there’s something in common?”

As the two pondered, Serati offered a suggestion.

“Why don’t we test it?”

“Test it? How?”

“By changing the living arrangements.”

They would surround the 7th Battalion with the 1st Battalion, placing Lephan’s quarters at the very center. Then, they would see how the cursed sword reacted.

“Wouldn’t this help us find some kind of clue?”

***

Now that they knew the cursed sword Mareda could strike day or night, the King’s Order needed to change its defense strategy.

So, Jiken shifted the command’s guard shifts and sleeping arrangements into three rotations.

This way, in any situation, at least half of the force would be awake and ready to respond.

Additionally, he banned excessive training and alcohol consumption among the soldiers.

This ensured they would always be in peak condition, ready to confront the enemy at a moment’s notice.

Not that he needed to say this aloud—there wasn’t a single member of the King’s Order foolish or incompetent enough to make such mistakes.

The 1st and 7th Battalions’ areas of operation were also clearly divided.

The 1st Battalion would patrol only the outer perimeter, while the 7th Battalion would remain inside the mansion.

And Lephan would stay confined in a bedroom in the center of the mansion.

Until the cursed sword appeared, he would eat and sleep solely in that room.

From Lephan’s perspective, it was like being imprisoned for no reason at all.

Fortunately, he didn’t seem to mind.

“You guys feed me and give me a place to sleep without me having to do anything. What’s there to complain about?”

And so, another day passed, and night returned.

This time, the target really appeared.

Boom!

With an explosion, the southern wall of the mansion crumbled.

The girl with the cursed sword had used the cover of night to infiltrate the mansion grounds once again.

She pierced through the encircling forces of the 1st Battalion, heading straight ahead before leaping onto the roof of the mansion. As she sprinted across rooftops, she suddenly stopped.

She had arrived above the building that housed Lephan’s bedroom, in the exact center of the mansion.

“Aha?”

Letting out a peculiar laugh, the girl swung her cursed sword downward.

The roof caved in, and she quickly descended, landing right in front of the door to Lephan’s room.

But waiting for her there were Jiken, Harris, and Serati, all fully prepared.

“Unbelievable.”

“She really is only targeting him?”

Though they were surprised, the three quickly took up combat positions.

Since the cursed sword had shown up, it was the perfect opportunity to eliminate it.

The girl glanced around, a faint smile crossing her lips again.

“Aha…”

Then, in a flash, she leaped back up through the hole in the ceiling, attempting to flee once more.

However, this time, Harris and Serati immediately chased after her, jumping through the roof as well.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“This time, you won’t escape!”

Thanks to their preparation, the cursed sword couldn’t shake off the pursuit this time.

Sensing the gap between them closing, the girl’s eyes suddenly glowed red.

“Hahaha!”

With a manic laugh, the cursed sword unleashed a blade of dark red energy.

The terrifying surge of dark aura swept toward the two pursuers.

Harris and Serati quickly deployed their aura shields to block the attack.

But this time, it was deep into the night. The cursed sword’s powers were no longer weakened.

Boom!

With a massive explosion, the two were thrown back over 10 meters.

“Ugh!”

“Damn it…”

In the meantime, the cursed sword escaped the mansion grounds.

As her shadow darted into the night streets, she vanished beyond the darkness.

Once she disappeared into the maze-like alleyways, it would be impossible to track her.

Serati, frustrated, clicked her tongue.

“Ugh, she got away again!”

Sheathing his sword, Harris tried to calm her down.

“But at least we’ve confirmed it now, haven’t we?”

There was no doubt.

The cursed sword Mareda was specifically targeting the 7th Battalion, and within that, Lephan.

But why?

Standing on the mansion’s roof, gazing down at the dark cityscape of Archenbart, Serati’s expression hardened.

“Let’s test it one more time.”