The night was deep, but sleep refused to come.
It had been several hours since she lay down on the plush bed, yet her eyes remained wide open. A luxurious bed, soft blankets—and the uniform of the Royal Knights, neatly folded and held tightly in her arms.
‘……Am I really a Royal Knight?’
Eventually, she rolled onto her side and picked up the medallion resting on the nightstand once more. The small, shimmering gold medallion was proof of her membership in the Royal Knights. It bore the symbol of the Royal Knights: the Imperial Golden Lion.
“Hehe…….”
A smile naturally formed every time she looked at it. She had succeeded in joining the Royal Knights through her own strength, without any help from Hio or Sirbert.
Of course, she couldn’t deny that she had been incredibly lucky. Meeting Vitalianus alone at such a late hour was a miracle in itself, and his approval had come after only a brief exchange. There hadn’t even been a proper test or demonstration of skill.
Setting aside the question of what he had seen in her to admit her into the finest knightly order… she was simply overjoyed. It truly felt like she was drawing closer. She had finally stepped onto the main stage where he stood—a place she had previously only heard about through distant rumors.
Today had passed in a blur. She had been issued her uniforms, including the formal dress and training gear, and all her equipment and secondary weapons had been replaced with items exclusive to the Royal Knights. The equipment at the Imperial Academy had been decent, but everything here was of such high quality that comparison was impossible.
After swapping her gear, she had introduced herself to the other members—her seniors—and learned the regulations. Rather than internal knightly rules, most were protocols to be observed within the Huang Palace. The order’s internal code wasn’t particularly strict. This was because they carried out the Emperor’s orders as their highest priority, making it difficult to predict what missions they would undertake, often requiring them to act autonomously.
However, she was surprised by the emphasis placed on dignity and conduct. Because they bore the name ‘The Emperor’s Knights,’ they were expected to maintain a level of grace befitting that title. She would have to work even harder from now on—to avoid tarnishing the honor of the Sword Saint Vitalianus, who had believed in her and brought her here, and for the sake of her own goals.
‘The seniors were incredibly strong, too.’
The martial power of each individual was beyond her ability to even estimate. Although she hadn’t sparred with them directly, she could feel the relaxed confidence and dignity unique to the strong, characteristic of the Royal Knights.
‘I will soon, too…….’
She would learn that same poise and dignity, becoming a proud Royal Knight herself. By the time that happened, she might finally be able to stand proudly by Hio’s side.
“So, I need to get to sleep quickly.”
She intended to wake up early and head to the training grounds at dawn. Just the thought made her heart flutter pleasantly, but she forced herself to seek sleep. She lay back down and closed her eyes, clutching the golden medallion and her Royal Knights uniform to her chest.
***
Claire ended up waking after only a few hours of sleep. However, she felt in peak condition. She quickly changed into her new training gear and headed for the exclusive training grounds.
It was a white uniform made of soft, breathable fabric. The fit was perfect, and the sleeves and legs were loose enough that it felt as comfortable as wearing nothing at all. A large Imperial Golden Lion was embroidered on the back, over which Claire’s red hair flowed smoothly.
With a vigorous stride, she arrived at the training grounds as the chilly dawn air settled. Someone was already there.
“Oh, the rookie! Why are you out so early? You should rest until you’ve adjusted.”
The first to wave at Claire with a grin was the Royal Knight, Damon Lieefte. This brown-haired man with a mischievous face had met Claire once before. During the Heuka’s attack on Enmenia, Claire had briefly encountered the Royal Knights who were following the Sword Saint. Damon was the one who had asked for directions then, and that fleeting connection had led to this.
“No, sir! I intend to train hard so that I don’t become a burden to my seniors!”
“Hahaha! Right, right. That’s reliable! I can see why the Captain brought you in.”
Not only Damon but all five Royal Knights, including Melissa and Mathis, were present. Despite the early hour, Claire was actually the last one to arrive. However, the others didn’t pay much attention to her, with only Melissa giving a small smirk at Claire’s determined words.
“You’re all amazing, seniors! You’re already so strong, yet you’re training this early…… I respect you!”
“Ah, this is our mission.”
“Pardon? A mission?”
“Yeah. For the time being, there won’t be any other assignments. Just getting stronger. That’s the only mission we can perform right now, and it’s our best option.”
Damon’s words brought a look of confusion to Claire’s face. Training from the crack of dawn was a mission? She had expected the missions of the Royal Knights to be something more weighty and critically important……. Come to think of it, she hadn’t been told what her daily routine would be.
Sensing her confusion, Damon gave a faint smile.
“That passion to get stronger—you must never lose it. Don’t give up.”
“Yes! I will never give up!”
“Hahaha! Good. A few guys already had their spirits broken and left the order. That’s why there are only five of us now. Ah, I guess there are six since you’ve arrived?”
Those words were quite a shock to Claire. She had wondered why there seemed to be so few people, but to think they had left the Royal Knights…… but why? The Royal Knights were the most honorable order that everyone admired and respected—the most prestigious and powerful military group in the Empire. What reason could there be to leave such an order voluntarily?
The question was written all over Claire’s face, but she didn’t dare ask. A bit of bitterness flashed across Damon’s expression.
“They hit a wall. Those guys who didn’t know the meaning of fear met a real wall and gave up.”
He couldn’t entirely blame those who left. Beyond this point lay a battlefield of true monsters. Everyone had to ask themselves: *What can I possibly do here?* Those who stayed decided to face it anyway; those who left decided to do something else they were capable of. It was bitter, but it couldn’t be helped.
“Aren’t the Royal Knights the strongest……?”
However, Claire’s innocent remark soon chased away that bitterness.
“Hahaha! I once thought I was strong too. But I’m still woefully inadequate. It turns out there’s always another sky above the one you see. And there are monsters that even those skies are wary of.”
“But you’re also very strong, senior!”
“……Yeah. That gives me strength! I feel like I can get even stronger!”
Antiphus Praman, who had played with him like a child. Hio Pavlenko, the Magician who turned a hell filled with tens of thousands of monsters into a mere tourist spot. Vitalianus, who had comfortably pushed back a Death Knight that possessed a crushing presence.
Was that all? He knew now that there were certainly other powerhouses hidden somewhere in the world who were just as strong. And from now on, the stage belonged to those transcendent beings. It was a perilous battlefield that even they were extremely cautious of.
“So, for now, don’t think about anything else and just focus on getting stronger. There isn’t much time left, so you’ll find out soon enough. Though, I’m not sure if they’ll take you along.”
“…….Yes!”
Claire nodded solemnly, having a rough idea of what Damon was talking about. The Saint of Black Wings and the expedition. The Black Gate that the rumors were about. She probably meant that place. Just how dangerous was it for Damon, someone already famous as a Royal Knight, to speak like that?
“Alright, how well can you handle a blade?”
Regardless of the circumstances, now was the time to focus on training, just as Damon said. She had to get stronger as quickly as possible. She had to become someone worthy of the Royal Knights.
“I learned dagger techniques at the Academy!”
Claire spoke boldly as she drew the new dagger at her waist. Damon smirked and picked up a short wooden sword lying nearby.
“Good. I’ll coach you a bit. As for skills, see that blue-haired woman over there pretending not to be interested? Melissa is the expert on that, so go ask her later.”
“Yes! Thank you!”
At Damon’s words, Melissa, who had been listening intently while pretending not to, snapped her head around and glared, but Damon was already checking Claire’s stance.
“Hmm…… it’s not bad, but it’s too formal. It’s obvious you lack real combat experience.”
“Yes!”
It was that afternoon, while they were absorbed in training, that they received a summons from Vitalianus. No one failed to guess why they were being called.
The time was drawing near.
The time for the deeper Abyss, the 53rd Floor, to open.
***
Inside the dark house.
In the quiet interior, Airlights chuckled to herself.
“Hehe.”
She was holding a wooden plaque in her hands.
[Airlights and Hio’s Honeymoon Home]
This was her fourth attempt. Starting with the front door, she had tried secretly hanging or attaching it to the side wall, behind the door, and even the ceiling, but every time, Hio had found it like an Ogre and cut it to pieces.
But Airlights wasn’t one to be discouraged by that much. She was already looking for a new place to put up the plaque. As she came down to the first floor and looked around the house…
“Huh?”
One of the bedroom doors was slightly ajar.
“Hio?”
Hio had been staying in the basement to research magic, rarely coming up except to eat and often sleeping down there as well. It seemed he was planning to sleep in his room for the first time in a long while.
“Hehe.”
Naturally, Airlights’ heels lifted. She crept toward the door and peeked her head through the small gap. There she saw it: Hio, sleeping peacefully.
“Gasp!”
Airlights instinctively covered her mouth with both hands.
“My goodness…… he’s too cute……!”
It was a rare and precious sight. Hio, fast asleep. Thinking this might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Airlights quickly opened the Point Shop and purchased a Vision Stone. After buying a top-grade one, she entered the room and captured Hio’s sleeping face.
Holding her mouth shut with her left hand, her eyes were filled with the sweetest gaze in the world. Despite her active movements, she made almost no noise or presence. Such things were possible for the body of an Elf who moved with purpose.
How much time had passed?
As she sat by the bed staring blankly at Hio, Airlights slowly lowered the Vision Stone. She had realized something was wrong. No matter how stealthily she moved, Hio shouldn’t have been unable to react to her presence, even while asleep.
The fact that he was still in a deep sleep meant he was pushed to his absolute limits. It meant he had finally chosen to sleep because he was exhausted beyond measure.
She tucked the Vision Stone, which she had bought by scraping together her remaining Points, back into her clothes.
“……Hio.”
She carefully brushed back Hio’s hair, finding it rougher than before. Looking closely, she could see tiny, invisible scars all over his face and body. It must have been from the magic. She remembered the explosions that went off at all hours since he started researching divine magic and whatnot.
She knew he would just smile awkwardly and say, “Oops, I failed,” before trying again as if it were nothing. Everyone admired and simultaneously feared the man known as the Jijoncheonma, but in reality, he was an incredibly hard worker. He barely slept, researching all day. He threw himself into practice and challenges, which was why he could stand at the summit as everyone’s hope.
Even if the rest of the world didn’t know, she knew now. She could also guess, at least vaguely, why he was working so hard. No doubt it was for some trivial promise he had made to himself. He was the type of man who always created greatness out of such trivialities.
“……I want to help.”
Her hand moved from his hair to stroke his cheek. It felt quite dry.
Airlights was strong. Along with her ‘Enthralment’ skill, she still had her newly acquired petrification ability, her physical stats that were higher than the limit, and the system used by a Bingija. Unless it was a monster like Antiphus, it was hard to find anyone who could harm her.
But this level of strength was of no help to Hio. In fact, hadn’t it always been this way? What help had she been? At Hibernia, or on the 52nd Floor of the Abyss, what had she done?
Nothing. She had simply stayed by his side. And while she did, Hio had always solved everything. She couldn’t go on like this. It wasn’t right. She had to get stronger.
“But I can’t go back to the way I was.”
To get stronger, she fundamentally needed Reputation Points, and the surest way to get them was to use her Enthralment. However, Hio didn’t want that. Therefore, she wouldn’t do it. Then what was left?
“There’s a limit to getting stronger using the system…….”
That’s what Hio had told her. There was bound to be a limit to gaining Reputation Points and evolving skills through the system. Ultimately, it meant one had to become strong themselves. Knowing this, Antiphus had chosen the sword. Hio had chosen magic.
But she couldn’t learn magic. When she had asked Hio to teach her out of curiosity, she had immediately felt the limits of her talent. Move magic power and do this or that……. She was certain it would take her decades to reach Hio’s level.
Nor could she master the sword. Even though her stamina, agility, and strength were excellent due to her stats, she couldn’t expect to handle aura and grow to the level of a knight overnight when she had never held a sword in her life.
Airlights was a realistic person. She had to find what she was best at. Then, only one thing came to mind.
Skills.
The residents here developed their skills on their own without the help of the system. She had never considered the principles behind it before, as she could just click and evolve them as long as she had Reputation Points.
‘What if I evolved the Enthralment skill to the highest level without Reputation Points…….?’
If she could find the clues to its principles and application, couldn’t she grow rapidly enough to be of help to Hio? It wasn’t baseless confidence. Airlights knew the one person who handled skills better than anyone in this world. She had often watched up close how he handled and applied his skills.
Atawolf—the one who had perfectly synchronized with a mere skill like the Black Mist to become the Black Mist itself. The strongest being in the setting, who Hio said he wouldn’t have been able to catch if the man hadn’t chosen death himself.
If she could become like him…… she would definitely be an immense help.
“Hio will see me in a new light, too.”
Maybe Hio would even fall for her impressive self.
“Hehehe.”
She could see her own image overlapping with Atawolf, who freely commanded the terrifying Black Mist. She would radiate energy, enemies would fall in heaps, and then Hio would burst into cheers—and finally, she would hug him from behind and confess her love…….
“Eek!”
Letting out a tiny squeak, Airlights covered her blushing cheeks and burrowed into the sleeping Hio’s embrace. She rested her head on his shoulder and buried herself deep in his arms.
“Hio…….”
The embrace she hadn’t felt in a while was warm, as always. Warm enough that she wanted to stay there forever.
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