Chapter 13
The remaining nine guards tightened their formation, shields locked together, desperately trying to hold back the savage tide of raiders crashing against them.
Then, without warning, death arrived like a phantom.
"H-Huh?! What the—?!" A raider at the front froze mid-swing as his comrade's head suddenly flew off his shoulders in a fountain of crimson. The severed head rolled across the dirt, eyes still wide in shock.
In the next heartbeat, another raider was decapitated before he could even scream. A blinding streak of white light tore through the battlefield — impossibly fast, merciless, and silent.
"W-What is that?!" another raider shrieked, stumbling backward in horror as three of his allies were butchered in the blink of an eye. Blood sprayed across his face like warm rain. He never even saw the strike.
"Aaarghhh!!!" A burly raider howled as the man beside him was beheaded so cleanly that his body kept running for two more steps before collapsing.
Panic spread like wildfire.
"M-Monster… It's a fucking monster!!" one raider wailed, his voice cracking in terror. Before he could turn to flee, the white blur flashed past him. His head spun through the air, his final scream dying in his throat.
The ten guards—now fighting with renewed, almost fanatical hope—watched in stunned awe as the invisible force carved through the raiders like a reaper's scythe. The raiders once-fierce battle cries twisting into screams of pure, animalistic dread.
One of the guards, breathless and wide-eyed, finally broke the silence.
"Count Damnern?" he whispered, almost disbelieving what he was seeing.
The battlefield had become a slaughterhouse.
And the white light showed no mercy.
The seven raider bowmen in the rear line trembled in fear as they watched all eight front-line raiders being slaughtered before their eyes. They could only see a flash of light moving at incredible speed across the battlefield, cutting down one raider after another until none remained standing.
"What's happening?!" one of the archers shouted, panic rising in his voice as he saw their front line being slaughtered without mercy by a figure of white light that flickered in and out of sight like a nightmare made real.
"Stay calm—we're positioned farther back!" another archer said, gripping his bow tightly, though his voice trembled. "He won't be able to see us in the dark."
Then he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Fall back! Everyone, retreat!"
Suddenly, one of his companions—who had just tried to step back—had his head cleanly severed right beside him. It fell with a dull thud.
"I can see every one of you with my Judgement Eyes, you fools," Damnern said, his gaze sharp and predatory like a hunter's.
He stood there with only his bare hands. Both were glowing faintly, drenched in fresh blood.
Judgement Eyes worked by allowing him to see faint glowing judgement threads around a person's neck once he locked onto them as a target. Once the thread appeared, it made it incredibly easy for him to sever the enemy's head with any weapon — including his bare hands.
However, the thread would break if the enemy managed to escape from his range.
Damnern's figure vanished from sight once again, disappearing in a flash of light so fast that the eye could scarcely follow.
He's doing this...without a weapon? the raider muttered in disbelief.
His body trembled as he watched his comrades fall one after another, slaughtered without mercy.
There was nothing he could do.
Nothing at all.
Every time that streak of light appeared, another life was extinguished.
The raider's eyes widened as he recalled the radiant glow surrounding Damnern's bloodstained hands.
A warrior with a Light dominance Fue... he whispered.
Suddenly, a horrifying realization struck him.
His face drained of all color.
No...
He took an involuntary step backward.
"There's only one monster capable of something like this..."
His voice cracked.
The Fifth Strongest Warrior...
Another flash of light erupted in the darkness.
A scream echoed through the battlefield.
The raider's pupils shrank.
"T-The Pillar of Dominance!"
The title left his lips like a death sentence.
In that moment, the fear in his heart surpassed even his fear of death itself.
Because he finally understood who was hunting them.
And no prey had ever escaped the Pillar of Dominance.
The raider beside him let out a guttural scream as his head was cleanly severed without warning. "Arghhh!"
"What are we gonna do?!" another cried, voice cracking with terror. "Haaa!"
Chaos erupted like wildfire. The archers who had retreated farther back, desperately trying to hide and nock their arrows, were systematically decapitated one by one. Heads flew through the air in a continuous rain of crimson as bodies crumpled mid-draw, still clutching their bows. What was once a coordinated ambush dissolved into pure pandemonium—a horror show of headless corpses stumbling over the fallen as death claimed every single one of them.
The battlefield fell silent.
The screams had stopped.
The slaughter was over.
All of the raiders were dead.
All except one.
Surrounded by the corpses of his comrades, the lone survivor stood frozen in terror. His legs trembled so violently that he could barely remain upright.
Before him stood Damnern.
Bathed in the faint glow of light and blood, he looked less like a man and more like a divine executioner sent to deliver judgment.
"P-Please forgive me, my lord..." the raider stammered.
His voice shook uncontrollably.
"W-We didn't know that carriage belonged to you, my lord."
The moment the words left his mouth, Damnern took a step forward.
Then another.
Slow.
Calm.
Unhurried.
Yet each step felt heavier than a mountain.
The raider's knees instantly gave out beneath him.
He collapsed onto the ground and desperately scrambled backward, pushing himself away with trembling hands.
"P-Please..."
Another step.
Damnern's expression remained utterly emotionless.
The distance between them continued to shrink.
"P-Please spare me!"
The raider's voice broke into a desperate cry.
Tears streamed down his face.
"I-I'll never do it again! I swear!"
Another step.
Closer.
Closer.
The raider could feel his heart hammering against his ribs.
Every instinct in his body screamed at him to run.
But he couldn't move.
It was as if the weight of Damnern's presence alone had crushed all strength from his limbs.
"T-There must be something I can do!"
His words dissolved into sobs.
"Please... don't kill me..."
Damnern finally stopped directly before him.
The raider slowly raised his head.
And for the first time, he found himself staring into the eyes of the man known throughout the continent as the Fifth Strongest Warrior.
The Pillar of Dominance.
In that instant, the raider understood a terrifying truth.
Death had already reached him.
It was merely deciding when to strike.
Without activating the full potential of his Semi-Angel skill, which would reveal a single wing on his left side, Damnern was able to defeat all attacking raiders effortlessly.
Damnern's cold gaze made the raider wet himself in fear.
"Who sent you?" Damnern asked.
End of Chapter 13