Chapter 548: Eiji Makes His Move
The golden holy sword in Princess Iris's hands was undoubtedly a divine artifact—one that had gained recognition and could unleash its true power.
According to Airi Yasaka, she had never seen a divine artifact more powerful than that golden holy sword in her entire life!
That holy sword might very well stand at the pinnacle of all known divine artifacts.
But the wielder was not made of steel.
Princess Iris appeared to be only eleven or twelve years old. Naturally, her physical strength and magical power couldn't be that formidable—she couldn't wield the holy sword endlessly.
Every time she used the holy sword, her strength diminished slightly.
The moment she showed even the slightest sign of exhaustion, she would be met with a storm of relentless attacks!
"This can't go on!"
Claire clearly realized this as well, her expression turning grim.
"Rein, prepare a teleportation spell. Send Her Highness back to the palace. Compared to temporary victory or defeat, the princess's safety is paramount!"
"Understood!"
The girl dressed as a mage beside her nodded solemnly before lowering her head to begin chanting.
"Wait, Claire!"
The golden-haired girl quickly stopped her.
"I can still fight! At least wait until I've exhausted my strength before using teleportation. Until then, I must cover the retreat of the knights!"
"That's too dangerous! There's no telling when the Demon King's daughter might appear!"
Claire was visibly reluctant.
The Demon King's daughter was incredibly powerful. If she launched a surprise attack, Claire and Rein alone wouldn't be able to protect the princess.
"Damn it! If only the main force of the knights and the other black-haired adventurers hadn't been lured to Axel, Her Highness wouldn't have to be in such danger!"
The main force of the knights consisted of adventurers all above level 30, and the other black-haired adventurers were even more formidable—each of them practically cheating, with a dozen or twenty of them fighting together. Even if the Demon King's daughter performed beyond expectations, she'd still be beaten to a pulp!
Unfortunately, the new Demon King had appeared in Axel, drawing most of the capital's combat forces there.
"Yare yare, what a pain."
Eiji crossed his arms with a wry expression.
"You stay here. I'll be right back."
With those words—
Before Airi Yasaka could even react, a gust of wind rushed past her face. When she opened her eyes again, he was already gone.
On the battlefield—
BOOM!
A black shadow suddenly descended like a meteor, crashing onto the snowy plains with a deafening impact, kicking up a storm of dust.
"What happened?!"
"Did the Demon Lord Army appear?!"
The knight captain, Claire, and the others tensed up immediately.
Even the monsters paused their assault, drawn by the commotion.
As the dust settled, what appeared at the center of the battlefield was neither the Demon Lord Army nor a new monster.
But a boy.
His short black hair fluttered in the wind, his flawless features like the finest work of the gods, his tall figure radiating an overwhelming sense of security as his black mage robes billowed dramatically.
If there was anything in this world that could be called perfection—it could only be him.
Whether it was the knights, adventurers, or even the girls on the hill, everyone present felt their breath catch in their throats as they watched the figure of that young man.
"...Divine One?"
The golden-haired girl stared blankly at the boy in the center of the field, even murmuring unconsciously under her breath.
"A black-haired adventurer?"
The young samurai was the first to snap out of it, his face filled with profound surprise.
"Another reincarnator? How come we've never seen him before?"
"Must be a newcomer who just arrived in the capital?"
The other two also widened their eyes.
"But how dare he charge into a horde of monsters?"
"Does he have some special cheat ability?"
On the battlefield.
"Rooooar—!"
The enhanced white wolf threw its head back with a fierce howl, its hind legs kicking off as its massive frame surged forward like a mountain. Its front claws rose high, slashing furiously toward Eiji!
"—!"
But before those razor-sharp claws could reach him, a wooden staff had somehow already appeared before its eyes—smashing squarely against the crown of its skull.
Without even a whimper, the enhanced white wolf convulsed once before collapsing lifelessly to the ground.
"This sensation... feels a bit odd."
Eiji withdrew his magic staff, lightly patting his hands together.
"He one-shot an enhanced white wolf?!"
The Knight Commander's eye twitched violently, his face a picture of utter imbalance.
"These black-haired adventurers are really... each one more outrageous than the last. They leave no room for ordinary folk to survive!"
"What ability did he just use?"
"Can't tell."
The three black-haired adventurers exchanged glances, each seeing the shock reflected in the others' eyes.
Reincarnators sent to this world by the goddess generally possessed one of two types of cheats: either a forcibly-bound Divine Artifact, or a special superpower.
Since they couldn't detect any trace of a Divine Artifact on Eiji, did that mean he had an ability-type cheat?
"Grrraaahhh!!"
The death of their comrade sent the wolf pack into a frenzy, surging forward en masse.
"Oh no!"
Princess Iris immediately tensed up, her small face turning pale.
"Divine One... that person is in danger!"
Even reincarnators only dared to fight enhanced monsters one-on-one or two at most—no one would ever risk being surrounded by them. Once trapped, even a reincarnator wielding a Divine Artifact would meet their end!
"We have to go help—!"
Before the princess could finish her sentence—
Her clear eyes widened in shock.
And not just hers. The two attendants beside her, the distant knights and adventurers—all wore identical expressions of stunned disbelief, as if they'd seen a ghost.
On the battlefield.
Enhanced white wolves attacked Eiji from all directions, their claws and fangs exuding deadly menace as dozens of strikes rained down on him simultaneously.
But in the next instant—
"Shhhk!"
"Thud!"
The wolves were sent flying as if they'd crashed into a steel plate, each of their front limbs now dripping with blood.
He seemed to have done nothing at all—merely watching the wolves' suicidal assault with an indifferent gaze, as if he'd foreseen this outcome from the very beginning.
What just happened?
No one could comprehend it.
All they saw was seven or eight enhanced white wolves—creatures theoretically capable of matching elite warriors—being swatted away like mere cannon fodder.
Every single spectator was utterly dumbfounded.
"Light of Saber—!"
He raised his magic wand high, and golden light swords erupted from his body.
The light swords were extremely slender, no thicker than a finger, but there were many of them—at least seven or eight.
Like floating cannons, the thin golden light swords traced arcing trajectories through the air, piercing through the White Wolves that had been sent flying.
The golden light swords danced across the battlefield, and within just a few breaths, the White Wolf Pack was completely annihilated, followed swiftly by the Kobolds.
It took less than ten seconds.
All the monsters that had been driven here now lay in pools of blood.