After soaring high into the sky,
Her eyes gleamed with the fierce, predatory light of a raptor king locking onto its prey.
Accentuating her sharp, strikingly beautiful features, she radiated an overwhelming, almost sinister aura of command.
Effortlessly acquiring her cluster of prey within her field of vision, Shion began her descent with overwhelming momentum toward the Holy Knight squad.
Leonard was not, strictly speaking, a Holy Knight.
He was a genius who had mastered sorcery—a Saint Sorcerer.
The title of Saint Sorcerer was reserved only for those who had achieved mastery in both Sacred Magic and Elemental Magic.
Those who could comprehend the laws of this world—that was what a Saint Sorcerer was.
However, Leonard had operated as a sword-wielding warrior wielding the Holy Sword in numerous operations.
While concealing his identity as a Saint Sorcerer, his reputation as captain of the Holy Knights had only continued to grow.
Before long, he had earned the position of Deputy Commander of the Holy Knight Order.
This was entirely due to his extraordinary ability.
Beautiful swordsmanship. If Arnaud's style was the sword of hard power, then Leonard's was the sword of soft power.
The two were closely matched in skill, though Arnaud held a slight edge. Above all, Arnaud's true strength lay in his tenacity during actual combat.
His reputation as the strongest Holy Knight had been earned through recognition of that very tenacity.
But Leonard's true nature was that of a magic swordsman—a genius in sorcery as well. That was his authentic fighting style.
While he couldn't match Arnaud in pure swordsmanship, fighting as a magic swordsman in the way he was truly meant to would never put him at a disadvantage.
No—rather than simply not being at a disadvantage, Leonard believed he would surpass Arnaud in sheer strength.
However, for a Holy Knight, proficiency in Elemental Magic was outside the scope of evaluation.
Among them, there were even some who could fuse their elemental spirit with Elemental Magic and cast high-powered spells instantly without incantation.
Still, Leonard believed that true strength ultimately lay in mastering holy-attributed attacks.
And the swordsmanship he had perfected would ascend to sacred heights, granting him the power to cut through anything.
This was the fantasy born from the day he had been directly saved by the "Hero" as a child.
The Hero had been strong.
Simply, overwhelmingly strong.
Sweeping through hordes of approaching monsters with a single swing of the sword.
Even ogres several times the size of a human fell before that blade in a single strike.
His hidden mountain village, shrouded in despair, had been saved by the Hero's visit.
From that day on, Leonard had become obsessed with the allure of the sword.
While mastering sorcery, he spent every day recalling the Hero's blade and practicing his swings with a wooden sword.
Having swiftly mastered sorcery, he left the hidden village and set out for the Kingdom of Ingracia.
There he would learn Sacred Magic, and wait for an opportunity to emigrate to the Holy Theocracy of Lubelius.
Achieving Sacred Magic above a certain proficiency level was required for outsiders to receive permission to emigrate to the Holy Theocracy of Lubelius.
As a result, he accomplished the mastery of Sacred Magic at a high level and was able to become a Holy Knight apprentice.
All that remained was the essential spirit contract required of a Holy Knight. The spirits he managed to contract were "Light" and "Darkness."
With a completely nonchalant expression, Leonard reported only that he had contracted with the Spirit of Light. He had no interest whatsoever in something like darkness—a trait so far removed from the Hero.
And so, Leonard the Holy Knight of Light was born.
That nightmare of a being had fallen from the sky.
The ground was lightly gouged, and clouds of dust billowed into the air.
Leonard, without a moment of panic, had already finished assessing the situation and was issuing orders to his squad members.
Surround the target with two members on each of the four sides.
Deploy a simplified Holy Purification Barrier.
He judged it would be best to finish this quickly and carry out Hinata's orders.
The presence he could sense was abnormally high. Even for an A-rank monster, this was a superior being.
Most likely, one of the higher-tier existences within that monster nation. Perhaps the Demon Lord itself had launched the assault.
He was aware that monsters capable of triggering alarms in his detection magic were scattered across this battlefield.
The other Holy Knights didn't seem to have noticed, but the mana flow in this area was distorted, and the density of Magicules had reached abnormal levels.
The enemy before him was one such being.
Carelessness would be fatal. It would be better to dispose of them immediately.
"Activate the Holy Purification Barrier on the target!"
He didn't even need to confirm the target—so he thought as he issued the command.
The Holy Knights immediately scattered to the four sides and responded, and a holy barrier unfolded.
The barrier's activation was perfect—from the inside, it would be impossible to break through.
However, it was not flawless. A simplified version was, after all, just a simplified version.
Its range was narrow, and there were questions about whether it could block all attacks from within.
It had activated as a square roughly twenty meters on each side, but if a high-level spell was cast before all the Magicules inside were purged, there was a possibility it could be broken.
That was precisely the reason why the full-scale barrier had such an expansive range.
Still, in terms of blocking the passage of Magicules, it boasted equivalent performance, so Leonard couldn't complain at this point.
Leonard, ever vigilant, instructed his paired partner to deploy a defensive barrier.
This purification barrier couldn't kill the enemy.
It was also possible to attack from outside the barrier inward, but he would do that only after confirming the target.
If the monster possessed the rare reflective attribute, a careless attack would only magnify the damage. He could not afford to make such a blunder.
The dust settled, and there stood a single monster.
A tall, slender woman with long, purplish-black hair.
Long hair cascading down her back suited her perfectly—she had a beautiful face. However, two horns jutted from her forehead.
White skin was visible from beneath the simple kimono she wore.
Clad in jet-black armor, her appearance drew the eye of any who beheld it.
Those purple eyes turned toward Leonard, and the woman spoke.
"My name is Shion. Lord Rimuru's First Servant."
"Now then, you lot. My master says this: 'Submit, or die.'"
"Surely the wise among you can understand what this means."
"Disarm at once and surrender to my command, won't you?"
For some reason, she had emphasized the "First" part with unmistakable pride as she made her proclamation.
Leonard studied his opponent, gauging the strength of the one who called herself Shion.
Clearly something different. He judged the enemy to be an Ogre.
Ogres were individuals among the Greater Ogre race who, possessing great power, had survived through long ages and evolved.
Some were said to possess a supernatural power of such magnitude that they could even manipulate natural disasters.
A Named One with the power of an Ogre.
At this point, she was less a monster and more a being on the level of a land deity.
But the Holy Theocracy of Lubelius recognized only one god—the sole deity, Luminous.
The sacred child of the Holy Spirit, said to bestow the kiss of blessing and divine protection upon the Hero.
Whether a land deity or a regional guardian god, recognizing their existence was absolutely out of the question.
"Silence! You wretched monster. I'll erase your filthy existence from this world!"
Leonard shouted, and ordered the Holy Knights to open fire with a volley from their Photon Cannons.
If the target had a holy attribute, the attack would be completely ineffective—but if she was a monster, it could not be nullified.
Unlike natural attributes—earth, water, fire, wind—the holy and dark attributes could not be nullified.
No being other than angelic holy-attributed monsters could defend against the Photon Cannon.
Receiving Leonard's orders, the Holy Knights simultaneously opened fire.
Holy energy bullets rained down upon Shion from all four sides.
"Is that your answer? You really want to die, don't you?"
Shion asked again, with an air of "why don't these guys ever listen?" as she spoke.
Even as she posed the question, she had somehow produced an ōdachi and was deflecting every single energy bullet with its blade.
But Leonard was not the type to be shaken by threats.
No matter how monstrous this land-deity-class creature was, the enemy was already caught in the Holy Purification Barrier.
All they had to do was maintain the barrier, wait for the enemy to weaken, and then deliver the finishing blow.
Still... even while weakened, the fact that the speed of her sword swings matched his own—an expert in his own right—was something genuinely praiseworthy, and Leonard found himself amazed.
The fact that her sword showed no signs of breaking even after taking numerous hits from holy-attributed energy was abnormal, to say the least.
At that moment, one of the Holy Knights let out a groan.
In one corner of the four positions—the Holy Knight responsible for both defense and attack—she had apparently deflected a Photon Cannon blast.
She had caught the holy-attributed energy with her sword and, while wreathed in that energy, deflected the next shot back as an attack of her own.
An impossible feat.
It was a godlike technique that could only be executed within a split-second window of timing.
Leonard hurriedly ordered a cease-fire.
The attacked Holy Knight had been startled by the surprise but didn't appear seriously injured.
However, the fact that she was deflecting holy-attributed attacks from within the Holy Purification Barrier was completely unexpected.
The Holy Knights couldn't hide their shock either.
Leonard swallowed his astonishment, suppressed the urge to click his tongue, and began formulating his next plan.
Shion, for her part, was furious that her shots hadn't broken through as intended.
In the first place, the barrier was one-way: attacks could come in from outside, but nothing could get out.
While holy-attributed energy could pass through freely, every other form of attack was blocked. She had secretly tested it earlier and confirmed that even Spatial Transfer was sealed.
Shion's frustration was reaching its breaking point. She already had a notoriously low tolerance for patience, though she fancied herself quite restrained.
It was only a matter of time before she lost it.
"Hey... Hey, you guys. While I'm still being nice about it, how about you just go ahead and surrender, huh?"
"I won't kill you right now, and I'll even cook you a special meal, if you want."
"Think about it—it's a great deal! This is your last chance, so what's it gonna be?"
Shion held back her anger with all her might, desperately forcing a smile as she made her offer.
Her tone was completely condescending, dismissing the Holy Knights as beneath her notice—though she was entirely sincere.
But of course, there was no way the Holy Knights would pick up on that...
"You fool! Don't act so high and mighty when you're trapped in a barrier, completely helpless!"
one of the Holy Knights retorted.
Indeed, the Holy Purification Barrier weakened any monster it captured.
The principle was simple: it purified and eliminated the Magicules within the barrier.
A monster, being a mass of Magicules, needed to expend its own power to maintain its existence. That was precisely why it could only exert roughly one-tenth of its true capability.
And the elimination of Magicules meant that any special ability relying on magic, demonic power, jutsu, supernatural power, mana manipulation, or any other such law became unusable.
Even if such an ability could somehow be activated, the Holy Barrier blocked the passage of Magicules and would not let any attack through.
Attacks from inside were essentially nullified. The Holy Knights had absolute confidence in their superiority.
But...
While the barrier blocked the passage of Magicules, it allowed purely physical energy to pass through.
Leonard and the others, who knew this well, were fully on guard against that possibility.
For example, if an explosion were generated inside the barrier—the blast wave and shrapnel would pass right through and strike the Holy Knights.
For that reason, they had thoroughly established counter-barriers against physical attacks. Identifying the type of attack and preparing countermeasures was simply standard procedure.
Even so, even after all that, Leonard's anxiety could not be dispelled.
He looked, and the Ogre who had called herself Shion was picking up a fist-sized stone rolling at her feet.
He immediately understood what she intended.
The Holy Knights, especially those standing in the front, tensed and braced for the incoming attack.
A thunderous sound rang out, and a small explosion erupted in front of the Holy Knight facing Shion head-on.
Shion had put her full strength into hurling that stone at the Holy Knights. The thrown stone had collided with the anti-physical barrier the Holy Knights had erected and ricocheted away.
The force was tremendous.
She was this powerful even while restricted and weakened by the barrier.
The thought of what would have happened if the Holy Purification Barrier hadn't been deployed in time sent a chill down his spine.
The Ogre before him, apparently furious, was stomping her feet into the ground.
The fact that cracks were forming in the earth gave some indication of just how much power she was putting into it...
She looked like an intelligent, beautiful woman, but the gap between appearance and reality was staggering.
"Those maintaining the barrier—hold it with your lives! Everyone else, synchronize your spiritual energy with mine. We're unleashing a Photon Collapse."
"Converge from all four sides toward the center and seal off her escape route! We cannot let this thing live!!"
A complete Photon Collapse would lock onto the target and never let it go.
A direct hit would reduce any existence to nothing. However, in cases like this where the range was wide, the dispersal of power couldn't be prevented.
Moreover, not every Holy Knight could cast this spell.
In this case, the Holy Knights served only as energy suppliers and launch platforms. By personally triggering simultaneous detonations from all four directions, he could achieve a wide-area Photon Collapse.
Leonard felt relieved that he, of all people, was present for this.
In truth, only he and Hinata could use Photon Collapse. Furthermore, the wide-area variant was a forbidden spell so difficult that even Hinata couldn't cast it.
The amount of spiritual energy consumed was so enormous that it could threaten the life of the caster.
Even so.
Looking at the monster rampaging before him, hurling stones, he thought: A dangerous monster like this must not be unleashed upon the world.
Having made that decision, Leonard issued his command.
The Holy Knights read his intent and immediately moved into action.
If this thing could rampage like this even inside the Holy Purification Barrier, imagining what would happen if the barrier broke was terrifying.
The coordination was flawless. Bands of light converged to cover the twenty-meter square completely.
Once connected, the light raced from all four sides toward the zenith along equal lengths, and a pyramid-shaped cage of light was completed.
Shion stopped her rampage and regarded the cage of light with a sharp gaze.
That light was dangerous—Shion judged as much. But she had no barrier of her own and no means to protect herself.
She had looked down on these humans too much, and just as that thought crossed her mind— "Perish! A dangerous monster like you must not exist!"
"One god is all that is needed! Photon Collapse!!"
Among the Holy Knights, the most powerful voice rang out.
With that cry, from the four sides and the zenith as focal points, a torrent of light engulfed Shion.
"Don't underestimate me, humans! Lord Rimuru, please protect me!!"
Shion enveloped her entire body in her inner mana and braced herself against the impact.
It was over in an instant.
An explosion of light erupted all around her, and in that brilliance—devoid of both heat and shock—everything disappeared.
Even for the Holy Knights, accustomed as they were, that light was blinding. But not one of them neglected their duty of maintaining the barrier.
The monster's death was virtually certain, but the iron rule was to maintain the barrier until the order was given.
Those who had synchronized their spiritual energy with Leonard collapsed on the spot, one after another, utterly spent. The strain of that unorthodox magical operation had exhausted them both physically and mentally.
Even for well-trained Holy Knights, this was unavoidable. If anything, the fact that no one had died should be praised.
Leonard, breathing heavily, confirmed that everyone was safe and felt a measure of relief.
But it was too soon to catch his breath. First, he needed to verify whether the target monster was dead.
He had used an individual-targeting spell over a wide area, and the strain had taken its toll—his legs were unsteady.
Even so, he forced himself to raise his head and check on the target.
Near the center, there was a crumpled mass of something that resembled the remains of the Ogre.
It seemed the spell hadn't managed to annihilate everything—some parts remained.
But survival in that state should be impossible. Even for a monster, having lost all four limbs with massive holes riddled through the torso, there was nothing to do but await death.
Leonard let out a sigh and confirmed that the target had been eliminated.
She had been a terrifying monster, but they had managed to defeat her.
Defeating her without any casualties had been a stroke of luck. If they'd made a mistake in the opening moves, everyone could have been killed.
But the target hadn't been that monster. Remembering that, he shifted his mindset.
And then he began thinking about continuing the mission.
Their original task had been to maintain one corner of the large-scale Holy Purification Barrier at this location.
It was a critical mission to support Hinata. However, the Ogre's assault had left everyone completely drained.
Continuing the mission might be difficult. Just as he was thinking this, he noticed something strange.
None of the barriers in any sector seemed to be active.
Had the other sectors been attacked as well, just like his? Even so, it seemed unlikely that monsters of this caliber had struck everywhere—their response was far too slow.
They're getting sloppy. Good—when this mission is over, I'll have them all retrained from the ground up, Leonard thought, and was about to contact Arnaud when— "Ggh... you... you lot... I won't forgive... I'll never forgive you... humans!!"
He felt a sinister aura and turned around.
What he saw was a reality he didn't want to believe.
In the center of the still-active Holy Purification Barrier, something tattered and broken was trying to rise to its feet—like a zombie or a ghost.
The Holy Knight maintaining the barrier had gone pale and turned to look at Leonard.
"I-Impossible! She survived the Photon Collapse?!"
The words slipped out involuntarily.
It was a lapse completely unlike the perpetually calm and collected Leonard.
But it was understandable. After all, there was no precedent for anyone surviving the Photon Collapse.
Before Leonard's eyes, the Ogre—now resembling a zombie—was beginning to repair itself back to its original beautiful form. And at a terrifying speed.
In less than a minute, restoration was complete, and the Ogre spoke: "I'll give you the same pain, the same suffering, and double the terror, humans!!"
Shion's eyes blazed an eerie crimson as she screamed.
Then she charged forward in an instant and slashed at the barrier with her ōdachi.
The impact seemed to have no effect. The Holy Knights, beginning to feel a glimmer of relief, were then seized by terror.
A crack had formed in the barrier. And then— "Hmph. Just as I thought. It's not a high-density barrier, but a special barrier that manipulates pure law, isn't it?"
"With my 'Cook' skill's effect, I simply rewrote the outcome—nothing more to it."
Saying this, she cut down a stunned Holy Knight right in front of Leonard.
His head should have been severed, but the result was different. Only the limbs of the Holy Knight tumbled to the ground.
A speed too fast even for Leonard's eyes to follow? While still troubled by the strangeness of it all, he cast Instant Recovery Magic on the still-living Holy Knight.
But...
There was no sign of the magic activating.
As Leonard faltered in confusion, Shion revealed the answer with clear amusement: "Kukuuku, you fool. For that human, the state of having no limbs has become the 'correct' outcome."
"Recovery magic couldn't possibly fix it—there's nothing wrong with him anymore, as far as reality is concerned."
Understanding the meaning behind her words, Leonard felt terror surge from the very depths of his soul.
He had noticed the possibility the moment she had rewritten the Holy Purification Barrier's effects—something he had refused to acknowledge, though he should have.
And the phenomenon displayed before his eyes now was proof that confirmed his fears.
Phenomena. The rewriting of law. The power to obtain whatever outcome one desired.
Before that power—the power to produce a predetermined, desired result—perhaps no defense held any meaning.
To counter it, one would have to overwrite the outcome with an even greater will. Those who did not possess an ability of the same system had no means to fight back.
Because he was a genius, Leonard grasped the meaning of this—and fell into despair.
He realized that they had no means of opposing her.
And then it struck him—the realization that a monster had been unleashed upon the world.
"Impossible... that's absurd... how could a creature like this, why..."
Fear.
Just as Shion had declared, fear flooded into Leonard's heart.
Leaving Leonard to his terror, Shion went about dismembering the Holy Knights who had fainted and those who had exhausted their spiritual energy and couldn't flee, taking their limbs.
It didn't take long before Leonard was surrounded by his limbless comrades.
Leonard felt as though he were losing his mind from terror.
And then, a gentle voice whispered in his ear: "Now, it's your turn, isn't it?"
Leonard's true time of horror had only just begun.