A Death Knight using aura. At those words, I reflexively blurted out:
“What kind of cow-munching-on-grass nonsense is that?”
A Sword Master was the pinnacle of martial prowess—so rare that even a single one could tip the scales of a nation.
That’s how it was in countless web novels I’d read, and Heaven’s Ceres was no different.
Even in our Empire, there were only three: Alios, Ares—who had only recently awakened—and one more.
So what this priest was claiming now was the equivalent of a street thug suddenly being joined by an Olympic gold medalist mid-brawl.
“I-I swear it’s true!”
When everyone gave him the side-eye, the priest cried out in panic.
“I saw it myself! That terrifying Death Knight, using aura! And it wasn’t just one of them!”
“Wait. Wasn’t just one?”
“Sir Ceres! That Death Knight was accompanied by over a dozen others—estimated to be at the Expert level!”
Experts.
The level right below Sword Master.
So basically, we’re talking about a whole team of professionals showing up at a local bar fight.
“And why, exactly, would monsters like that show up out of nowhere?!”
Now that the situation was starting to make sense, I raised my voice in disbelief.
“Don’t tell me fighting them is some sort of test or rite of passage?”
“Of course not! What kind of lunatic would use undead Sword Masters for a trial?!”
The priest quickly clarified. They’d been conducting undead purges in the area for some time, and this place had long been confirmed safe.
“If it were dangerous, we never would’ve brought Lady Airan or Sir Ceres here.”
“Then where the hell did those undead come from?”
“…Undead don’t age. Maybe it’s a group of ancient, legendary-level undead that had gone dormant and suddenly woke up now…?”
What kind of sci-fi excuse is that?
As the nonsense piled up, my eyes naturally narrowed toward the priest.
Sensing my skepticism, she raised her voice even more.
“Please, you have to believe me! Lady Airan is holding them off with her holy power, but she won’t last much longer. We need your help!”
Our group reacted in all sorts of ways.
“For real?”
“Then we’ve got to get over there now!”
The priests who had followed us looked outraged—understandably so, since their comrade was in danger.
“We do need to help them. But if the enemy is truly a Sword Master-level undead…”
Hames, the head priest, did a quick cost-benefit calculation. Unlike the others, she remained calm.
“Ceres, it’s too dangerous. Let’s go home.”
Without warning, Ares grabbed my wrist, declaring she was taking me back.
And me?
Well, it wasn’t like I had a choice here.
“Mother, I think… we at least have to try.”
If we bailed now while those priests died, the rumors would spread like wildfire.
All the reputation I’d built up, all the goodwill? Gone.
And it wouldn’t stop with me—Ares and the entire Hyperion name would take a hit.
“You know as well as I do what’ll happen if we don’t even pretend to help.”
“…Tch!”
Ares clicked her tongue, annoyed by how annoyingly right I was.
She turned to glare at Hames as if challenging her.
“I’m taking command from here. Any objections?”
“None. Frankly, it’s a relief to have someone like you leading in a crisis like this.”
“Good. Then we go rescue the other priests first. But if I judge that even I can’t handle it, we retreat—immediately.”
“Agreed. We’re not marching everyone into a slaughterhouse. Especially not with stakes like this.”
With that, Hames gave me a quick glance and yielded full command to Ares.
“Ceres. Stay by my side. No matter what.”
With Ares now leading the charge, we made our way cautiously toward the site.
That’s when we saw them—two sides locked in a standoff.
On one side stood Airan and her priests.
She was at the front, face grim, radiating holy power.
Hairel stood beside her, doing the same.
One was a saint candidate.
The other, the high priestess.
And yet, the presence opposing them wasn’t a group.
It was one figure—standing alone yet exuding a pressure that matched them both.
Encased in pitch-black, intimidating armor, their form was impossible to discern.
Among a squad of knights in similar armor, this one had stepped forward to meet the sacred energy head-on.
Is that the Death Knight that uses aura?
While the three of them clashed in a silent contest of will and power, the Death Knight suddenly turned their gaze toward us.
Then—
“Wait… Hyperion?!”
They recoiled, genuinely startled, and even called out our family name.
What the hell? This guy can talk?
It wasn’t weird that they recognized us—we were famous, after all.
But a Death Knight speaking?
Clearly, this one was a high-tier undead.
Not like those brainless ones we fought earlier.
Even more surprising—her voice was a soft, surprisingly cute female voice.
Guess that tracks for this world.
“C-Countess Ares?!”
“You’ve come at the perfect time, both of you!”
Finally, Airan and Hairel spotted us and called out, relief in their voices.
Even if I was usually a thorn in their side, they weren’t going to turn down backup now.
“Sir Ceres! Hurry, over here!”
“Lend us your holy power. Together, we can push them back!”
The two of them clearly wanted me to join their standoff against the Death Knight—
But then—
“Ceres. Don’t.”
Ares cut in. Cold, firm, and commanding.
Ares firmly held onto me and stopped me.
“You won’t be going, even if you try.”
But I had no intention of going anyway. I still didn’t know the full situation.
“What’s going on?”
I raised my voice at the two people beside Ares.
“How did we go from fighting regular undead to facing a Sword Master undead?”
“W-Well…”
“They attacked us first!”
Airan and Hairel tried to explain, but…
“That’s nonsense. You attacked us just because we weren’t undead!”
It was immediately exposed.
The Death Knight shuddered and revealed the truth, making both of them flinch.
“No, no! You don’t really believe that, do you?”
“Ceres, who will you trust, the Death Knight or us?”
Of course, I’d trust the Death Knight.
If I were to trust you, I might as well trust a demon, you filthy scum.
“Hah!”
Ares seemed to have a grasp of the situation and let out a sigh.
Then, she spoke calmly.
“I will apologize for their rudeness.”
She bowed her head toward the Death Knights.
At that moment, there was an uproar.
Our group, except for me and Hames, were all shocked. Even the Death Knights seemed incredulous.
One of them cautiously spoke up.
“Aren’t you from the Hyperion family?”
“Yes. I’m the current head of the Hyperion family.”
“Is the descendant of one of the heroes who defeated the Demon King bowing to undead?”
“If it’s our fault, we can’t help it.”
Ares was practical as always.
If bowing could avoid a fight with a Sword Master, she would do it without hesitation.
And if I were by her side, it was all the more reason.
She had to protect me—there was no way she would risk a fight against someone she couldn’t guarantee victory over.
So, she tried to initiate a conversation.
“We didn’t come here targeting you. We were only here to hunt regular undead, and we had no knowledge of your presence.”
“We just woke up after sleeping for a long time,” the Death Knight replied.
“Why did you wake up now?”
“We don’t know. We just suddenly woke up and started wandering when we were attacked.”
“So it was just an unfortunate accident?”
Ares tried to reason with them.
It seemed like our allies were scared after seeing the Death Knights wake up, and they attacked without knowing.
It was a reasonable suggestion to apologize and call it a day.
But…
“It would’ve been better if you did this before our people were harmed.”
The Death Knight coldly rejected it, pointing behind her.
One of her subordinates lay on the ground, being cared for by another.
“The brown-haired man’s holy power already took down one of my subordinates. Soon, his false life will be gone.”
“If you fight us, none of you will make it out alive. Are you willing to take that risk for just one person?”
“It’s not just one. My subordinates and I have been together for over a thousand years. If one falls, the rest will follow.”
“We don’t want to hurt humans either, but if one of our own dies, that changes everything.”
Ares fell silent, realizing there was no room for negotiation.
“I didn’t want this fight, but it seems unavoidable.”
Ares drew her sword, and the aura around it surged.
“Aura?”
“S-Sword Master!”
The only person who knew Ares was a Sword Master was me.
Everyone else was shocked, and even Hames, usually composed, was stunned.
“My word, a Sword Master? That’s impressive!”
The one who reacted the most was Airan.
Her gaze turned starry-eyed, and she immediately hid behind Ares.
“I’ve never seen anyone as impressive as Count Ares. I’ll assist you! Let’s defeat these wicked undead together!”
“I’m thinking of retreating while I can.”
Airan excitedly spoke, while Ares responded with reluctance.
I couldn’t help but wonder if these two could actually take down the Death Knights together.
…I couldn’t be sure.
Ares was a Sword Master, but she had only recently awakened her powers.
Even among Sword Masters, the timing of awakening made a huge difference, as Alios had confirmed.
But the enemy was a Sword Master who had lived for over a thousand years, along with their subordinates.
Their experience was much greater, and even if Airan assisted, I couldn’t guarantee a victory.
Even if Hames, the other priests, and Hairel joined in, the subordinates of the Death Knights were a huge variable.
I couldn’t use my trump card, Black Pain…
It was the Demon King’s sword, and using it in front of the priests would be problematic.
Also, it was something I needed to keep hidden.
Even if we ran, I didn’t think they’d let us leave easily.
The Death Knight had already gone mad with rage, and I could feel it.
“Ugh.”
I briefly focused my spiritual power and observed.
If I released my full intent toward the Death Knights, would it deal a significant blow, like the Red incident?
But I couldn’t do that right now.
We were the ones who messed up first.
And the enemy had been passive, just staying still, even explaining that they were attacked first. It was hard to summon real hostility.
Damn it, why did this happen?!
What started as a simple undead hunting test turned into a battle for our lives with a Sword Master leading elite warriors?
“If only I could heal them…”
I could’ve helped the enemy’s injured and moved on, but I couldn’t do that now, and it frustrated me.
If they weren’t undead, I might’ve been able to just move on.
But…
“That doesn’t matter.”
Hames suddenly spoke to me.
“You could still heal them.”
“What are you talking about? Undead take damage from holy power, it’s common knowledge.”
“You’re special, though, as I’ve said before.”
Hames placed his hand on my shoulder, giving me a kind smile.
“Trust me. Even if others can’t do it, you can.”
“Really?”
“Take this chance to heal them. Focus your energy, and then act.”
I took Hames’ advice and positioned myself, just like I had when fighting the Red Knight.
Even if I was healing them, I wouldn’t let them approach me. Instead, I sent my spiritual power toward them.
“What?!”
The leader of the Death Knights was startled and tried to block it, but it was useless.
I engulfed her in my light and swept the target Death Knight along with her.
Then, the Death Knight who was critically injured sprang back to his feet.
Seeing this, his fellow Death Knights froze, and the priests gawked in horror.
“Healing an undead is impossible with holy power!”
“Could he really have spiritual power?!”
The priests were amazed and stunned.
“Lies, lies!”
“Is he really a saint?”
Airan and Hairel, who already disliked me, twisted their faces in disgust.
“Ceres, you’re doing this without consulting us!”
Ares, realizing that we had just avoided the immediate crisis, was already fuming with concern.
Finally, “Wait, could this be? Is your lost power returning?!”
The leader of the Death Knights, caught in my energy, muttered something strange.