Karnak, Monarch of Death

The imperial army's top priority was to reclaim the capital. However, this did not necessarily mean laying siege against the Black God's Cult. To begin with, the cult was not guarding the entire city with all their might. They had concentrated their forces around the grand temple while leaving behind only minimal defenses in the other districts.

The reason was simple. They had demolished most of the city walls when they had invaded. They did not invade the capital with the intention of long occupation, and with two archmages capable of wielding transcendent destructive magic, they had simply blasted their way in.

That was why the city's defensive forces had collapsed so easily. But now that the outer walls had lost their purpose, the imperial army found it relatively easy to enter the city. But the path to the grand temple proved anything but easy.

The cult had set up defensive positions at every intersection. To break through, the imperial army had to focus on expanding their footholds to steadily commit troops to build a siege net around the cult's stronghold.

Thea Krahan was a massive chessboard, and each side moved their pieces while vying to topple the opponent's king first. Thus, most of the battles in the capital took the form of brutal street warfare.

***

Flames engulfed the streets, with shops and buildings caught in the vortex of battle and reduced to ruin. Hundreds of imperial soldiers and elven warriors clashed in desperate combat amidst the blood-soaked chaos. Imperial knights clad in heavy metal armor charged forward with swords and shields raised.

"You vile elves!"

"For the crime of invading the empire, death alone will not absolve you!"

In contrast, the elven warriors wore mostly light armor. Their weapons were metal, but their armor was all leather. It offered less defense, but in return, it made them lighter on their feet.

"Foolish humans!"

"Receive the heavenly judgment of Tesranach!"

The elven warriors did not face the imperial knights' charges head-on. Instead, they made full use of terrain to strike and retreat while focusing on maintaining their encirclement.

An elf warrior, eyes crazed with fanaticism, struck at a knight from behind. "For the Black God!"

The knight hastily swung his shield around. The blade was easily blocked. The shield was thick, the armor heavy, and the human knight was far heavier than the elf. It was the elf's body that was pushed back by the impact.

Yet the elf did not panic. It was a situation they were well accustomed to. They shifted the longsword to the left hand and drew a dagger from the waist with the right and threw it. Then, the elf immediately spun left and unleashed a volley from a crossbow, the thrown dagger proving to be nothing more than a distraction.

The knights had to raise their shields once more to block the incoming bolts. They easily blocked the bolts, but it meant the elf had escaped yet again. The elf had quickly leapt back to safety, using a nearby wall for leverage.

Running along walls was no difficult task for the light-footed elves. On the other hand, such a task was impossible for the heavy-armored imperial knights.

"Slow as ever, you human scum!"

The elf's mocking laughter made the knights grit their teeth.

"Damn those monkey-like bastards!"

The imperial army had long known that elves were exceptionally light and quick. However, they had not realized what kind of results that, combined with a long lifespan, could produce.

Humans who set their mind on one thing often achieved greatness in said field, and elves were not so different. If they dedicated themselves diligently to a single discipline, they too could reach corresponding levels of skill.

The problem was that, due to their long lifespans, their physical growth could not keep pace with their skill. It was like finding an underground stream after digging a well, only to discover that the water flowed at a far less rate than humans. They could not draw the same amount in the same time.

So what were they to do? Keep digging the same well until the water flow increased? That wouldn't work, since the stream's flow rate was already set. It was more efficient to find a different stream and dig another well.

That was why elves learned to use various weapons and battle techniques. No matter how deeply they dug into a single well, they could not match the inherent physical capabilities of humans, but they had far more time to dig many wells in various places.

For this reason, elven warriors were not typically called swordsmen or spearmen. Every warrior was a swordsman, a spearman, a staff fighter, a martial artist, and an archer all at once. In human terms, they were more akin to rangers or adventurers than knights or soldiers.

"So that's what it meant when they said they're frail but their skills are exceptional..."

Elven warriors attacked from all directions. It was a dazzling display of speed and refined techniques, and it was almost impossible to dodge every strike. The imperial knights were struck repeatedly by the elves' relentless attacks.

Yet, despite this, they did not suffer serious injuries. The elves' attacks, for all their speed and finesse, were too light to inflict critical damage on the heavily armored and shielded human knights.

The elves were eventually worn from the attacks. They began to curse. "Damn it, these human bastards are like boars!"

Meanwhile, the imperial knights maintained formation and continued their advance, trusting in their defenses.

But the elves would not fall so easily. Their attacks were light, but so were their bodies. They dodged with ease, striking and retreating again and again.

"Damn these elf pests!"

It was a truly disjointed battle. The imperial knights weren't injured even when struck, but they couldn't land any attacks either. The elves could dodge exceptionally well, but they would eventually tire from constant evasion.

It was a deadlock, with neither side able to press the advantage. However, the situation began to shift with the arrival of a single girl.

***

Amidst the fierce fighting in the eastern streets of the capital, a gray-haired girl was running along the walls. She wore no armor, only a light outfit with a longsword gripped in her right hand. The elven warriors who saw her looked on in shock.

"What is that child?"

Her body was almost perpendicular to the ground, yet she showed no sign of wavering. Her expression was far too calm, more serene than one would be even while running on level ground. This wasn't something even the light-footed elves could achieve.

The girl kicked off the wall and swiftly circled behind the elven warriors. Her eyes had a curious glint as she observed them. "Oh? You're all still alive."

The faces of the elves hardened. They had interpreted her words as a threat. She was declaring that she would be the one to end them. Was this young human girl daring to mock them?

"What did you say?!"

The elven warriors, incensed, charged at the girl, Lapicel.

She hunched her shoulders reflexively. Ah, that wasn't what I meant.

It was just that, having faced nothing but the undead for so long, it had become rare to see living enemies. She had exclaimed without thought, and without any underlying meaning. Still, there was no need to clear up the misunderstanding. Thanks to it, the enemies had lost their composure on their own.

Two elven warriors slashed at Lapicel from the front and back. Her longsword gleamed brilliantly in response, and purple aura flashed brightly around her. The elves who had charged at her lost both their swords and their wrists in an instant, collapsing with blood spraying from their wounds.

Others stared at Lapicel in shock. They couldn't believe that she had just unleashed purple aura. It was impossible to believe that such a young girl had reached such a realm. Because of the vast differences in lifespan, elves found it difficult to gauge the ages of humans.

However, the girl looked far too young, even to their eyes. She looked like a youngling who had only just started learning the sword. To think she was an aura user at that age was astonishing enough, but to find she was of purple rank?

They quickly found their composure. The elves hastily ordered retreat while keeping their distance from the young girl and fired their crossbows. Dozens of bolts flew toward Lapicel, and her eyes gleamed with a dangerous light.

She took a sharp breath, and dozens of purple streaks of light beautifully traced the air around Lapicel. At the same time, every bolt was shattered and scattered in all directions.

"She deflected them all with a sword?!"

The elves' faces turned pitifully pale. It was one thing to deflect an arrow or two with luck, but dozens at once? Such a feat could only be accomplished by swordsmanship that was impossibly fast and precise. She had reached a level of mastery that even the elves, who prided themselves on such skills, could not hope to match.

Lapicel immediately launched her counterattack. With a cute battle cry, she swung her purple aura-clad sword. Not-so-cute screams followed in quick succession. Lapicel incapacitated the elves one by one, sweeping through their ranks without mercy.

She intentionally spared their lives. These elves were still alive, so unlike the undead, she could not simply take their lives at will. Instead, she merely severed their legs.

She even carefully cauterized their wounds with aura to prevent them from bleeding out and dying. In Lapicel's mind, she was simply trying to be kind. Of course, the elves saw it quite differently.

"What cruelty is this?!"

"Just kill us instead!"

After all, pressing a heated iron to a wound had long been one of the oldest forms of torture.

She grumbled inwardly as she continued dealing with the elves. But I can't just let them die, can I?

That was when she felt overwhelming presence behind her.

"Everyone, fall back!"

"We'll take it from here."

She didn't need to look back to know. They were elf aura users.

***

The elf aura users shuddered as they looked upon their fallen comrades. They completely misunderstood her intentions. They thought she was intentionally increasing the number of wounded to weigh them down with the added burden. They had not expected such cruel methods from a child so young.

Lapicel blinked her eyes. Oh? Is that how it looks to them? What should I do then?

The elf aura users drew their aura blades. Most were of red rank, with only one blue rank among them. Awakening aura was no easy feat, even for the long-lived elves.

The elf leader gave his orders. "Our opponent's tier is higher than ours! Attack with caution and in coordination!"

A dazzling offensive of aura blossomed like flowers, with red and blue sword lights beautifully streaking through the air. They might appear young outwardly, but in truth, the elves were all several hundred years old. Their swordsmanship showed barely any openings.

"Wow." Lapicel honestly felt impressed. Though the tier of her aura was higher, there was still much she could learn from their swordsmanship. So, she learned from them and immediately put it to use.

Tascal Swordsmanship, Eightfold Strike!

A technique that originally had only four strikes had gradually expanded until it now boasted eight. Though she still called it by that name, it was, in fact, a new sword technique entirely. The attack relentlessly pressed her enemies from eight angles, and there was no trace of its original form. The stumped hands of the charging elf aura users were sent flying through the air, accompanied by sprays of blood.

Earlier, she had overheard the elves complaining about how they had to expend so much effort to carry the wounded away when they had severed legs. So this time, she made sure they could still walk on their own by cutting off their arms instead.

An elf aura user wept tears of blood after losing their arms. "What kind of brutality is this?!"

but Lapicel paid it no mind. Lord Karnak did say so.

The more viciously the enemy cursed at you, the better you were fighting. As she continued pressing the elf aura users back, she cast a glance toward the other side of the city. He said I just need to get over there, right?