Omen (1)

Count Bellen’s expression was truly something to behold.

That must be exactly what it looks like when someone’s soul has left their body.

[So the reason the Black Skull Company was moving separately was because you wanted to see something like this, huh?]

‘As always, pulling off something like this is all about presentation.’

The moment a sense of superiority is overturned, anyone’s composure is bound to waver.

It might seem like nothing, but these kinds of trivial tactics are surprisingly effective.

‘Morale is also a crucial factor that determines victory or defeat in war.’

The sight of Count Bellen staggering around, clutching my family’s flag, proved it.

On top of that, the unrest among Bellen’s soldiers was so thick you could feel it all the way over here.

“I never thought we’d meet again so soon, Count Vanhart.”

The one approaching on a black horse was none other than Max, the vice-captain of the Black Skull Company.

Unlike before, he was speaking to me formally. He must have heard the story from Rutia on the way here.

“Sorry to call on you so suddenly. You barely had any rest—are you alright?”

“No problem at all. In fact…”

He turned and eyed the Bellen soldiers who were slowly forming up on the opposite side.

“With things as they are, I doubt I’ll even need to exert myself.”

Strictly speaking, it was arrogant to say that when there were knights mixed in with their forces.

But when it came to the Black Skull Company, he had the credentials to say so.

All their members were at least on par with the average knight.

And then there were the hundreds of mercenaries we’d hired in bulk from Lintrea alone.

In terms of both the quality and quantity of troops, it was clear who held the advantage.

“Then, I’ll be counting on you.”

“Leave it to me. I’ll be sure to repay my debt from last time.”

With that, he returned to his position.

Unlike Bellen’s soldiers, whose morale had plummeted, our own Vanhart soldiers’ morale was soaring to its peak.

“I never imagined you’d hire that many mercenaries from Eintban!”

“Looks like we’ve really hit the jackpot, huh?”

Especially the mercenaries from Talua Kingdom were watching the Eintban mercenaries with a kind of admiration.

After all, among mercenaries, becoming one of Eintban’s elite—especially from Lintrea—was a lifelong dream.

Pwooo—!

As the horn sounded again, everyone drew their weapons and leveled them at the enemy.

“We’ll punish the scoundrels who dared target our domain, starting now.”

I pulled out Genova as well, raising it high for all the soldiers to see.

Pwooo—!

Simultaneously, the third blast of the horn signaled the start of battle.

As the sound spread across the blue grassland, the knights at the front mounted up and charged towards their foes.

And Bellen’s soldiers unleashed a hail of arrows in our direction.

Shhk!

I slowly slashed my sword from left to right, towards the rain of arrows falling from the sky.

A white line appeared in the air and an enormous rift split open.

“Wh-what in the world is that?!”

I heard Count Bellen’s cry of shock.

He had good reason; the descending arrows from the sky vanished as if sucked into the fissure I’d created.

‘Solaris is such a broken technique.’

Sior had mostly used Solaris to “evade” attacks, but if used properly, it could make an enemy’s attack disappear entirely.

Of course, it wasn’t a technique I could use repeatedly, but even a single moment like this was enough to shift the flow of battle.

As the enemy soldiers floundered in confusion, this time it was our arrows that rained down on them.

“Aaaaagh!”

Maybe because they were so rattled, they fell without being able to respond properly.

And that wasn’t the end of it.

“Th-they’re on our flank!”

“Block them!”

While the enemy’s arrows had ceased, our mercenaries closed the distance and threw the battlefield into a brawl.

Ordinary rank-and-file soldiers couldn’t possibly stop Eintban’s mercenaries who’d already broken deep into their formation.

Knights could have held them off, but with the chaos spreading, even that became impossible.

“There! That’s their commander!”

“Take him out!”

The soldiers and knights, realizing the situation was dire, charged at me, but it was all in vain.

I could see all their attacks as plain as day.

‘Is this really what just mastering the basics gets you?’

Since I acquired the fundamentals of Only Mind, it was as if I could see everything around me from above.

The radius wasn’t very wide yet, but anyone who entered the zone—I could sense their every move, even with my eyes closed.

That included Count Bellen’s surprise attack from right behind me.

Clang! Clang-clang-clang!

When I turned, I saw the count staring at me with trembling eyes.

He was shocked that I had parried his attack so effortlessly.

Count Bellen was a Sword Expert, advanced-rank—a true master.

Publicly, I was only known as a low-rank Sword Expert; no wonder he was surprised.

‘As expected of the Moon Severing Divine Sword!’

Of course, just being able to read someone’s movements doesn’t mean you can overwhelm them.

But after grueling training with the Moon Severing Divine Sword, I was able to overpower Count Bellen without much effort.

“Damn it! DIE!”

Watching him lose control and swing his sword wildly, I could only feel dumbfounded.

To my knowledge, Count Bellen wasn’t an incompetent man.

But faced with a dead end, even he could only lose himself like this.

Clang! Clang-clang-clang!

The fight didn’t last long.

After a few passes, Count Bellen completely lost his balance.

I seized the moment and sliced through his horse’s neck in one stroke.

“Kuuagh!”

He tumbled to the ground and scrambled up, raising his sword again, but there was no fighting spirit left in his blade.

He’d realized the match was already decided.

“Weren’t you a bit too unprepared?”

Bellen’s soldiers, completely surrounded, had already laid down their arms.

The outcome of the domain war had been decided with just one clash.

Count Bellen’s fatal mistake was that he thought overwhelming numbers meant no strategy was needed, so he’d entered the domain war heedlessly.

“Well, thanks to you, I won quite comfortably.”

I smiled lightly and said to Count Bellen.

“No, no way. It can’t end like this. It CAN’T end like this!”

Having lost all reason, he squeezed out the last of his magic power and charged me with everything he had left.

He must have judged that his only choice was to kill me now.

Max, who had come up beside me, wanted to step forward at this point, but I stopped him.

If I was going to end this, I preferred to do it myself.

‘Moon Severing Divine Sword, First Technique, Crescent Moon Slash.’

As I gripped my sword, an icy white radiance drifted from the sword like a hazy mist.

Shhhk!

Then it formed into a sharp fang.

The fang spun in a spiral and bit into Count Bellen’s sword.

CRASH!

His sword shattered like glass without lasting even a moment.

Realizing the difference in our abilities with that single exchange, Count Bellen froze in shock.

“So… will you admit defeat now, Count Bellen?”

When I sheathed my sword and spoke slowly, only then did Count Bellen’s head droop in a nod.

* * *

The hastily arranged domain war ended as quickly and unexpectedly as a flash of lightning.

Domain wars usually lasted several days, but this one ended with a single clash.

“To all the heroes who fought for our domain—cheers!”

After the domain war, I immediately threw a feast for everyone who had fought so bravely for House Vanhart.

There were a lot of people, so it wasn’t cheap, but I had no regrets.

Watching the banquet’s festivities from behind the manor’s windows, a smirk appeared on my lips.

“I never thought things would end this easily.”

“It only shows how desperate they were. They didn’t have the luxury to drag things out for days.”

The one responding to my muttering was Max, vice-captain of the Black Skull Company.

He looked a little awkward sitting at the banquet, but he seemed to be in a fine mood.

I suspected it was because Rutia was sitting beside him.

Sure enough, as Max spoke, Rutia set down her wine glass and puffed out her chest.

“It’s all thanks to me. Do you know how hard it was to go all the way to Eintban on short notice?”

In fact, Rutia suffered the most this time around.

Who could have guessed the war would end faster than it took to muster the troops?

‘Thanks to that, I can focus on Lugal that much sooner. I’m grateful.’

Now, really, there was very little time left until Lugal’s resurrection.

I was just as relieved as Count Bellen that the war hadn’t dragged on.

“Dragging things out with pipsqueaks like those would’ve been a waste… In fact, even this was too long, if you ask me.”

Riya, who had been sipping tea beside her, smiled and joined in, but I could only give her a wry grin.

“Even so, the Bellen family was still one of the two leading houses in the southern Talua Kingdom.”

Their end might’ve been pathetic, but the Bellens were still members of the House of the Count.

They had clashed over dominance of southern Talua with the Deoric family.

“Our family used to be one of them too, but we fell from grace.”

“But now you’re back where you belong, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. It was a stroke of luck.”

It still felt surreal.

Who would’ve thought I’d stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those families again?

“Then the Deoric family will probably cook up something interesting soon, right?”

“Most likely.”

“Oh my, I’m looking forward to that. I was a bit bored since I didn’t have anything to do this time…”

Riya was signaling that she wanted me to give her something to do.

“If not the Deoric family, there’ll be something for you to help with soon.”

“Really?”

When it came to the fight against Lugal, I planned to ask for Riya’s help, too.

Even Fabian hadn’t been able to stop Lugal. Ultimately, it had been Damian sacrificing himself that put an end to him.

[Doesn’t seem like you’ll need help landing the finishing blow—not with your current power?]

‘Ah, well…’

I trailed off.

Honestly, this was something that would need Grancesia’s permission, too.

Whenever it came to Damian, Grancesia became deeply unsettled. I wondered how she’d take it.

‘I don’t want to make Damian’s end the same as in the original story.’

[… Then what?]

‘For that, I’ll need your and Maria’s help.’

When I said that much, I heard Grancesia take a faint breath.

It showed just how strongly this moved her.

Rarely did she show this kind of emotion.

[Don’t tell me…?]

‘Didn’t you say the Moon Severing Divine Sword still feels somehow lacking, as if something’s being held back?’

At first, I didn’t quite understand what she meant.

But if Grancesia said it, it wasn’t nonsense.

So I’d agonized over it for a long time.

Until, finally, I arrived at my answer.

‘I’m going to perfect the Moon Severing Divine Sword.’

The swordsmanship of the Sword God—Moon Severing Divine Sword.

I would bring it to its true, perfected form.

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