Lucian thought for a moment that he had seen wrong, so he rubbed his eyes and looked again.
But no matter how many times he checked, the face of the Demon Sword was still there, without a doubt.
Among the ten knights and two maids surrounding the marquis’s son.
The problem was Felix’s outfit.
‘Why the hell is he wearing a maid’s outfit?’
If, even conceding a hundred times, Felix had been the marquis’s son or one of the young knights, Lucian would have understood.
Even though he had roamed as a mercenary, his swordsmanship was disciplined and he exuded a strange noble air.
But a maid? Not a marquis’s son or a knight?
It was true that his face was so beautiful it was hard to tell his gender, but still.
‘…Could it be that when we met, he was actually dressed as a man?’
Suddenly, Lucian wondered if his assumption from the beginning had been wrong.
Come to think of it, Felix’s features were far too delicate to be those of a man.
Rather than disguising as a woman to become a maid, it made more sense that he had originally been a woman and disguised as a man when becoming a mercenary.
Just as the revelation of an old acquaintance’s secret was making his head spin—
“Well, you really did prepare everything nicely. Even though you haven’t actually produced anything yet.”
“Did you forget today is the first production? You said you wanted to see it yourself, that’s why we delayed, but now you talk like it’s my fault.”
“Watch your tongue. Do you think we’re friends?”
With the conversation between Hugo and the target, Lucian shook off those unnecessary thoughts.
The Demon Sword’s secret could wait—capturing them was the priority now.
Lucian turned his gaze from Felix and focused on the marquis’s son.
‘That young man must be around my age?’
Philip Roglan.
The marquis’s fourth son, someone who hadn’t even entered the succession struggle.
He gave up his inheritance rights immediately out of fear, despite the power balance between the brothers being fairly even.
Lucian had expected someone timid, so seeing him act so arrogant with Hugo was unexpected.
At a glance, he was just another brat who bullied the weak and cowered before the strong.
“Enough nonsense! Get to work on the production! I didn’t come here to chat—I came to make sure you’re doing your job.”
“Give me a moment, I’ll bring out the materials.”
Clap, clap.
When Hugo clapped twice, his subordinates immediately moved toward the crates.
At first glance, it looked like they were going to fetch materials for preparing the medicine, but in reality, they were withdrawing to avoid being caught in the coming battle.
It was at the moment when everyone except Hugo had gotten far enough from the marquis’s group.
“Now.”
Tap, tap, tap.
“What is this!?”
At the signal, the five Black Lions leapt from their hiding places.
At the sudden ambush, Philip backed away in terror.
The knight escorts, who had been on alert just in case, drew their swords immediately to respond.
“How dare you—!”
Thud.
“Ugh!”
As escorts, their reaction was flawless, but their enemies were far too powerful.
No matter how elite they were, they couldn’t match the Black Lions.
The knights—twice as many in number—even failed to block a single strike, falling one after another in an instant.
Thud.
“Kuugh!”
In under a minute, all ten knights were on their knees, groaning.
Some were unconscious from a strike to the forehead with the hilt, others couldn’t stand because their Achilles tendons had been sliced.
All of them had been neutralized with a single blow.
The gap in level was so wide it was shameful to call them knights of the same rank.
“Useless bastards! What the hell are you doing? Get up and fight!”
What a sight.
Instead of running while he still had the chance, he scolded his fallen knights.
Lucian clicked his tongue and gave an order to one of the Black Lions.
“Shut him up and bring him.”
“Yes, young master.”
Click.
The Black Lion who received the order sheathed his sword and approached Philip.
It looked like he intended to knock him out with the scabbard.
Philip, overflowing with anger just moments earlier, finally panicked and screamed.
“F-Felicia! What are you doing? Protect me! If swinging a sword is all you’re good for, then use it at least!”
“…Phew.”
At Philip’s pathetic cry, one of the maids sighed.
The maid named Felicia moved the trembling other maid aside and picked up a sword lying nearby.
It was one that had flown out of the hand of a knight defeated by a Black Lion.
“Tch, what a waste of my strength.”
The Black Lion approaching Philip clicked his tongue.
She wasn’t even a knight, just a simple maid. What did she think she could do with a sword?
“Move aside.”
The Black Lion lightly swung the sword in his hand, still in its scabbard.
A straight strike—but so fast even a trained knight would struggle to block it.
However, the blade didn’t reach Felicia and cut only air.
“What…?”
Clang.
“Ugh!”
With a sharp, heavy sound, the Black Lion staggered.
Felicia, who had ducked low, sprang upward and struck his jaw with the pommel.
The blow landed clean, and the Black Lion, who tried to stay on his feet, ended up falling backward.
***
Thud.
“….”
“….”
No one had foreseen that outcome, and a heavy silence fell over the place.
A moment later, the five Black Lions reacted late and jumped to their feet.
“This is insane!”
“Since when can a mere maid…?!”
The remaining four Black Lions fixed their eyes on Felicia, as if ready to pounce on her at any moment.
However, they still didn’t all attack at once.
For several Black Lions to charge at a maid would be a disgrace.
“I’ll go.”
Clenching his teeth, another one of them stepped forward toward Felicia.
Unlike the one who had fallen, he showed no recklessness, but seemed determined to finish it in a single blow.
Seeing him, Felicia took a deep breath.
Whoosh.
“Kh!?”
With the sound of air being cleaved, a grunt escaped from the second Black Lion’s mouth.
It wasn’t clear when he had drawn his sword, but he had already launched a slash toward Felicia.
However, Felicia dodged by a hair and struck the Black Lion’s greave.
Among the Black Lions, who had already been humiliated twice, cries of disbelief erupted.
“What the hell?! She reacted to that attack?!”
“No way! That maid is on our level?!”
“She didn’t react. She predicted the attack in advance and moved according to that.”
“What?”
As the Black Lions stood stunned, Lucian spoke.
“That person didn’t even see their movements. She just predicted when and how fast they’d move, and acted accordingly.”
“Is that even possible?”
“It is. That’s why she’s like that. Look closely.”
Lucian nodded toward Felicia.
Only then did the others clearly notice her condition.
Sweat drenched her forehead, and her shoulders trembled with spasms.
She had only evaded two attacks, but she was clearly far from fine.
“Did you force your mana too much to match their speed? You must feel like your muscles are tearing apart right now. Are you okay?”
“…”
Felicia pressed her lips together in silence.
For everyone present, that silence was confirmation enough.
Hidden behind her, Philip screamed in a trembling voice.
“Fe—Felicia! Protect me even if you have to die! That’s your job, do you hear me?!”
“Shut up, idiot. You’re distracting me.”
Ignoring Philip, Felicia once again took her stance.
Although her body trembled visibly, she still seemed to have enough energy left for at least one more counterattack.
Just as one of the Black Lions, furious, was about to draw his sword, Lucian stepped forward.
“Stand down. I’ll handle this.”
“Third young master? This is my fight!”
“So you were going to kill her? To save the Black Lions’ honor, you planned to silence her here?”
“I recall you gave us freedom of action.”
“That freedom is revoked. I’m sorry, but I can’t let you kill such a talent just to save your pride. She must be captured alive.”
“Then I’ll subdue her myself.”
“They’ll say your hand slipped. Rejected. Stand down.”
The Black Lion clenched his teeth in frustration, but eventually took a step back.
Having received a direct order from the grand duke, he had no choice but to obey Lucian.
Even so, he didn’t forget to issue a warning as he retreated.
“Be careful. Since you decided to capture her yourself, if anything goes wrong, we won’t be able to help you.”
Though said politely, it was essentially a warning that if he got hurt, it would be entirely his own fault.
Lucian smiled faintly without answering and picked up one of the swords lying on the ground.
***
‘He’s weak.’
Just by looking at Lucian, Felicia could immediately assess his level.
Little muscle mass and no signs of calluses on his palms.
In pure strength and speed, he was far below the two she had just faced.
And from the earlier conversation, the young aristocrat before her seemed to be the leader.
‘If I take him hostage, I can get out of here.’
She didn’t care at all about the marquis’ family honor or the life of that useless man behind her.
But after causing such an incident in foreign territory, she needed to find a way to escape no matter what.
Unlike highborn nobles, Felicia’s life could vanish at any moment.
“Huff.”
She circulated mana through her aching muscles once more.
Fortunately, she could still move normally two or three more times.
Enough, at least, to subdue the young noble before her.
“Are you ready?”
“…”
Felicia frowned at his words.
She disliked the calmness with which that frail young noble looked at her.
Did he think he could beat her just because her physical condition had worsened a bit?
‘Let’s see how long that calm lasts.’
Felicia took her stance, facing the opponent slowly approaching.
She planned to lure him into a critical range, then launch a counterattack.
Whether he realized it or not, the opponent attacked immediately.
Whoosh.
‘Just a diagonal slash? Please.’
At such a predictable attack, a scoff of disdain escaped her.
She now felt ridiculous for even putting herself on guard over something so basic.
She dodged easily, and just as she was about to swing her sword to counter.
Thud.
“…!”
A jolt struck her head, and Felicia dropped to her knees.
Just before losing consciousness, she saw the trajectory of the sword, which had come in diagonally, shift downward.
Seeing that strange path, she instantly knew what had happened.
‘That… is my technique…’
But she didn’t finish the thought.
Felicia lost consciousness and collapsed on the spot.
***
“All right, it’s over.”
“…”
The eyes of the Black Lions trembled violently as they looked at Lucian.
He wasn’t an opponent who could be called “strong.”
Just by reaching a speed comparable to that of a Black Lion twice, he was already suffering muscular spasms.
Yet, it was undeniable that he possessed innate talent.
Even if by carelessness, knocking down one Black Lion and landing a clean hit on another wasn’t something just anyone could do.
Probably, if it had been the first exchange, he wouldn’t have lost even against an average knight.
‘And yet the third young master defeated her in a single exchange?’
It was absurd.
He had been learning swordsmanship for less than two months.
When they heard he had defeated the fourth young master, they assumed it was because both were beginners.
But now, he had identified a technique the Black Lions themselves hadn’t recognized, counterattacked, and finished it in one blow.
And not just that—he had precisely copied the enemy’s technique to subdue her without killing her, just as he intended.
If it came down to pure combat instinct, he might even surpass the Black Lions themselves.
‘…Maybe that talk about him being a lion hiding its claws was true.’
As the Black Lions’ gazes shifted completely, Lucian looked at the unconscious Felicia and muttered to himself.
‘That habit of always ducking to dodge diagonal slashes from taller opponents—she still hasn’t fixed it. That’s why it was so easy to bring her down.’
____
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