‘A sudden flame burst, one that even the King’s Magic Power couldn’t sense, yet it was on such a scale!
Mages would need to use long-duration construction spells to release these flames.
This power clearly wasn’t something a first-tier could unleash.
Even second-tier spells required considerable construction time—impossible to do in the blink of an eye.’
‘Of course, Shu Yue used a little clever trick—flammable dust and accelerant, plus her Ignition Spell. Fighting isn’t all about muscles; you also need brains!’
Shu Yue swept past the fat guard without continuing her attack and charged straight at Belang.
The surviving guards were startled by the blaze, but they were seasoned warriors.
They quickly recovered and blocked her path.
“Quick, protect the young master!”
They shouted in unison, raising their swords at Shu Yue.
Shu Yue snorted coldly, showing no mercy.
She didn’t know swordsmanship, but as long as she swung fast and hard enough, that alone could overcome any technique.
Her blade arced down like a scythe mowing grass.
The tier-0 guards saw Shu Yue cutting through their ranks, killing one with each exchange.
Fear spread across their faces—this was an enemy they couldn’t hope to match.
Belang was startled as well.
He hadn’t expected two elite first-tier late-stage guards to fail against Shu Yue.
Instead, she had wounded one, severely injured another, and was now charging straight at him, dousing his fantasies with cold water.
‘Commoner! Hateful commoner!’
He gritted his teeth, watching Shu Yue break through the last line of defense and close in.
Making up his mind, he pressed his hand against the center of his chest.
A faint blue light emerged, quickly enveloping his body.
From beneath the round gemstone he pressed, a thick, gray-black fluid spread out.
Like liquid mercury guided by the blue glow, it rapidly wrapped around his entire body, forming a heavy, gray-black suit of armor in mere seconds!
Shu Yue sliced off a tier-0 guard’s arm, deflected another blade, then kicked a man in the ribs hard enough to double him over.
She sensed Belang’s change and, upon seeing the armor, her expression grew serious.
Although Belang’s own aura hadn’t changed, the armor gave her an extremely dangerous feeling.
‘Is this… a Mana Armor?’
She had heard of such things.
Mana Armor was a unique technology of the Westwind Empire, capable of granting a tier-0 warrior combat power rivaling a tier-2.
It was not permitted to circulate among commoners; only major nobles were allowed to forge and use it.
The Leicester family was merely a baronial house.
Even on the border of the Northern Frontier Outlands, they weren’t considered a major family.
This Mana Armor shouldn’t have been in Belang’s hands.
Even if it existed, it should belong to Baron Leicester himself.
He would never give such a life-saving trump card to a first-tier mid-stage son.
The baron had many sons and didn’t particularly value Belang—he wasn’t the type to earn the baron’s favor.
So possessing a Mana Armor seemed impossible.
But regardless of how Belang obtained it, Shu Yue would have to face it.
Even after seeing him don the Mana Armor, she didn’t hesitate.
Planting her foot, she burst forward.
‘Today, only one person can live!’
As Shu Yue broke through three layers of resistance, crimson blood splattered in the air, blooming like an eerie flower for her.
The blood-stained sword swung toward Belang, its blade whistling as it cut through the air.
This strike was faster and heavier than before, as if it would cleave him in two.
Belang hastily raised his arm to block.
Shu Yue was much faster; the heavy blow slammed into his arm, forcing him back a step.
Fortunately, the Mana Armor’s strength was astonishing, deflecting the attack.
Boom!
The blade struck the armored arm with a sharp clang, accompanied by the sword’s ringing vibration.
Shu Yue’s hand went numb, as if she’d smashed a steel bar against a load-bearing wall.
She also noticed a chip had appeared in the blade at the point of impact.
‘So hard!’
It startled her.
She knew about Mana Armor, but she hadn’t expected it to be this tough.
After a brief freeze, Shu Yue raised her sword to parry.
A steel fist slammed into the blade, snapping the fine steel longsword in two.
It wasn’t a top-tier weapon—average materials—but it had cost her five silver coins.
‘It actually broke just like that? Well, it had already cut through a lot of things. Under all this abuse, it’s not surprising it snapped.’
The armored fist lost some of its force but still struck Shu Yue solidly.
She was sent flying backward, her chest feeling tight—her first injury of the fight.
When she landed, she remained standing, her amber eyes fixed on Belang in his Mana Armor.
“Cough, cough…”
“Haha, impressive!”
Belang looked down at himself.
“Commoner, this is a power you’ll never touch. With your frog-at-the-bottom-of-a-well perspective, you probably thought you were amazing, right? Dead wrong! The true power of us nobles is beyond your imagination!”
Shu Yue secretly rolled her eyes.
‘This guy’s identification with nobility is stronger than a cultist’s devotion.’
She tossed aside the broken sword and drew a spare blade from her waist pouch.
“Belang, you’re not even a baron, yet you dare to privately possess a Mana Armor. Did the Westwind Empire approve?”
“Heh, as long as no one knows.”
At that moment, Belang felt terrifyingly strong.
Even a second-tier combatant might not be his match.
A thought even crossed his mind of challenging his father, Baron Leicester.
“Commoner, kneel and surrender now. I can still grant you the honor of becoming my subordinate.”
“You gutter trash, kneel and surrender to me now. Hand over that Mana Armor with both hands, and I’ll let you die quickly!”
Shu Yue shot back, barely suppressing her true voice.
Belang was furious.
Though his expression was hidden behind the helmet, his clenched fists said it all.
Shu Yue flipped him off and spat rudely.
“Wearing a turtle shell and thinking you’re invincible? Do you have a turtle bloodline or something?”
“You!”
“You what? Can’t even talk, you turtle man! A shrinking turtle dares to speak?”
Shu Yue wasn’t usually this talkative in a fight, nor was she naturally venomous.
But since she couldn’t find a way to crack his “shell” for now, she’d just have to piss him off.
Tier 0 had three stages: Mana Control, Simple Mana Use, and Basic Circuit.
At this stage, one’s strength and speed far exceeded ordinary people.
Tier 1 meant building a complete Mana Circuit within the body, allowing it to carry more mana.
At Tier 2, the Mana Circuit was intact and full, enabling mana to be released externally for defense or to cast construction spells—trading longer casting time for greater attack power.
Killing a tier-2 as a tier-1 was extremely difficult; one needed a way to break through the opponent’s mana guard.
One major effect of Mana Armor was granting a tier-0 warrior mana defense above tier-2 level, greatly enhancing survivability while boosting strength.
The downside was reduced mobility—much slower than a normal tier-2.
To Shu Yue, Belang was just wearing a “turtle shell.”
Calling him a turtle man was just omitting the “shell” to annoy him.
She sidestepped a glowing sword strike from behind—a combat skill from the Battle Method system.
Turning, she saw the tall guard who had survived the flames.
He was in terrible shape: his clothes burned off, his skin charred black with no intact patch, even his eyelids burned away, leaving crimson eyeballs exposed.
The sight was chilling.
Just standing there would be enough to scare children.
The powder burn released immense energy; surviving that already showed his robust physique.
But without immediate treatment, he’d soon collapse and die from his injuries.
With a pained roar, the tall guard wildly swung his sword at Shu Yue, trying to kill her.
Shu Yue dodged like she was playing with him, her agile movements like a dance.
His reckless slashes couldn’t touch her.
The other guards were too afraid to approach, circling at a distance.
The fat guard arrived but likewise dared not advance.
Even Belang was shaken by the tall guard’s horrific state, momentarily frozen.
“Don’t come near me! You reek of burnt flesh—it’s disgusting!”
Shu Yue said, backing away quickly.
Belang finally realized Shu Yue intended to flee and ordered his men to surround her.
But most of his guards were dead or wounded, leaving only the tall guard, the fat guard, and about seven or eight tier-0 guards.
The tall guard, like a madman, chased Shu Yue relentlessly.
She grew annoyed.
Deliberately stalling, she waited for his energy to deplete.
When his movements slowed noticeably, she stopped abruptly, sidestepped his slash, and drove her sword through his throat—in through the front, out through the back of his neck.
At that moment, Belang charged forward, his iron fist aimed at Shu Yue.
But she already knew the Mana Armor’s strength boost and didn’t intend to meet it head-on.
She was only first-tier mid-stage, while Belang, armored, was nearly second-tier mid-stage—an entire major realm gap.
If not for her Dragon Blood compensating for her physique, and Belang being only first-tier himself with poor mana externalization, the gap would have been even larger.
‘Killing a second-tier while at first-tier—this is the protagonist’s script. The advantage is mine!’
Shu Yue was confident, but she still didn’t plan to use Bloodline Manifestation.
‘What if there are hidden enemies? Revealing my trump card too early isn’t wise.’
The swirling mana guard scraped her cheek, bringing a burning sensation.
It made her even more eager to reach second-tier and master mana externalization.
She turned her head, ducked, and narrowly dodged that iron fist.