Devena was, without a doubt, one of the most renowned swordswomen on the continent. Considered the third greatest sword user, she ranked behind only the Lightning Elemental and the King. Her main reason for following Solene was to gain more power and one day surpass the two who had always stood above her.
'I'm undoubtedly one of the strongest... And yet this girl managed to kill me once?'
In front of her, Elara slowly drew her sword from its sheath. The blade had white gemstones embedded along its center, while an intense light enveloped the entire sword. Devena stood up and drew her own sword as well.
"Drawing a sword in front of me is a foolish decision, girl."
"Right, right. You're one of the greatest swordswomen. I know that. Now let's just start fighting already."
With a flick of her hand, a slash of light flew from Elara's sword straight toward Devena. Devena's blade glowed crimson and unleashed another slash to meet the attack. The two strikes collided and completely canceled each other out, proving they possessed the same level of power, something Devena definitely didn't like.
"I don't remember ever hearing that you wielded a sword at this level."
"You're not the only one who didn't know. No one around me even imagines how strong I really am... Maybe Leon knows, but I'm not sure."
Elara spun the sword in her hand with a bored expression. The situation was troublesome, but her thoughts were somewhere else—rather, on someone. The knight watched that with irritation.
Pointing her hand at her opponent, Devena fired ten crimson blasts in succession. Elara spun her blade once more and cut through the first attack. Then she stepped backward and cut another. Two more attacks approached almost simultaneously.
"Multiple Defenses of the Sword of Light."
With a single swing, both were sliced in half. The sword shone brilliantly, and the speed of her hands increased all at once. Every remaining attack was divided into dozens of fragments of mana. Her eyes turned to observe her opponent, but Devena was no longer there. Appearing behind Elara, Devena took advantage of that instant to launch another attack.
"Crimson Thrust."
Her blade extended and struck Elara in the back. The blow was powerful enough to inflict severe damage and send the noblewoman flying.
Turning around immediately, Devena rushed toward Rebecca, as she still hadn't forgotten her true mission. However, sensing the danger, she raised her sword behind her back and managed to block a strike from Elara.
"Where do you think you're going? Our fight isn't over yet."
The noblewoman's eyes had turned serious. Gritting her teeth, Devena activated her magic and deflected her opponent's blade. Immediately afterward, an explosion of mana caused her sword to accelerate violently in an attempt to cut Elara down.
The strike passed through her arm, but it was only an afterimage left behind. The real Elara was already behind Devena and, with a single motion, pierced her heart. Elara gave a faint smile and whispered near the knight's ear as she coughed up blood.
"That's twice."
"You bitch..."
Another symbol went dark as Devena stepped back. Now she only had two extra lives left, but honestly, what frightened her the most was how quickly Elara had discovered the weakness behind her immortality. Thinking about it more carefully, perhaps she had noticed the symbols disappearing on the other mages who had attacked earlier.
'Even so, realizing that in such a brief moment is incredible.'
Gripping her sword tightly, Devena raised it into the air and released another spell. Her armor began transforming into a sturdier crimson suit of armor. The blade of her sword also acquired the same symbol engraved on the armor.
That symbol did not grant an extra life. The specific symbol engraved onto a weapon was capable of tripling the power of both the user and the weapon itself. Of course, there was a requirement to use that power. One had to be at least Rank Nine and possess enough mana to supply a small city for an entire week.
"Now I'd like to see whether a noblewoman like you can keep up with me at this level."
Her eyes turned crimson, matching the aura surrounding her body. Elara looked at that amount of mana with a serious expression before breaking into a dark smile. Her own sword began releasing more and more mana, enough to make every room within a five-hundred-meter radius tremble without end.
'What kind of monstrous amount of mana is this?'
Both Devena and Rebecca were stunned by such an overwhelming reserve of mana. Of course, if they had known that, in the original story, Elara was the human with the greatest amount of mana in the world, they wouldn't have been so shocked. But they didn't know.
Throughout the entire story, Elara had been blessed by God Himself, who had chosen her as His Chosen Saint. It wasn't a title granted or recognized by humans, but by God Himself. However, that power would only fully awaken later in the story, after she went through the kidnapping.
"Step of the God of Light."
Elara vanished from Rebecca's sight, and the same happened with Devena. Their swords collided in the very next instant. Both stepped back for only a moment before attacking again. The crimson blade tore through the air in a horizontal slash, but Elara spun her body and dodged with precision. Taking advantage of the movement, her Sword of Light accelerated and cut directly into Devena's leg.
Realizing the attack, the knight leaped backward and, at the same time, swung toward the noblewoman's head. Taking only a single step back, Elara managed to lessen the damage. A thin line of blood ran down her forehead, but she had no intention of letting that be her only wound. Taking advantage of the opening, she raised her sword and struck Devena's wrist, forcing the sword out of her hand.
Without wasting any time, Elara activated her light magic to increase the speed of her feet. With a single burst of speed, she closed the distance and delivered a clean slash across Devena's neck. Another symbol went dark. Only one remained.
Devena revived almost immediately and took advantage of the short distance between them. Her sword returned to her hand on its own, allowing her to deliver a deep slash across Elara's chest before retreating.
"From what I can see, that cut was deep, Lady Noble. I almost reached your heart."
"...And I killed you three times."
Blood continued pouring from Elara's chest, while sweat covered her forehead. It had been a long time since she had fought a battle at this level. Realizing she could no longer continue fighting the same way, she took a deep breath, raised her sword before her body, and murmured:
"Reversal."
A new wave of magical pressure erupted from within her body. The intensity was so overwhelming that Devena instinctively took a step back.
"Isn't your magic light? Then why is that coming out of you?"
Sweat ran down the knight's forehead as she watched darkness begin to emanate from the noblewoman's body. Elara kept the Sword of Light in one hand while, in the other, a new sword of metallic darkness slowly took shape. Light and darkness. Two completely opposing magics coexisted side by side. Behind her, a wing of light spread from one side, while another, formed from pure darkness, emerged from the other.
"You don't need to know why, dead knight."