William was running like lightning through the wide streets of the empty capital in the dark of night. He had his sword out of his dimensional bag, holding it in one hand, ready just in case.

He hadn't run two hundred meters before he heard the bells ringing and the men shouting behind him. He saw warriors in shiny silver armor on top of some buildings shouting and pointing at him.

William felt that if he did not mobilize his movement technique and bloodline strength, he would soon have to fight hundreds of soldiers. After all, the capital was filled with an army, and William was only one person.

"There! In the middle of the first zone!” shouted a soldier, holding two small shiny stones in his hand. He slapped the two of them quickly and tossed them into the air. Then the stones he threw exploded in the air like a beautiful firework accompanied by sparks. But when he turned his head down to William again, all he could see was a footprint of flames. This footprint had turned a corner out of his sight and was already out of sight.

William did not see this task as one of secrecy from the very beginning. It had to get in, kill, break, and exit quickly. Turning the corner, he saw a graceful tower in the faint moonlight at the end of the road. This was the tower on his target. Two rows of soldiers were lined up in front of him. From hundreds of yards away, William could sense that the strength of these soldiers was far weaker than his own.

Some were even moved by the sound of the bell and began to sweat. He could smell their fear with his sharp nose, and he could see with his sharp eyes.

He drew his sword and put the sheath in his dimensional bag. There were six targets in front of him, and they were lined up in groups of three on either side of the door. William felt that their arrangement relieved him of a great burden.

With the last hundred meters left, the soldiers saw the man coming towards him, leaving behind him a cloud of dust and traces of fire. They pointed their spears at their targets, and the man in front shouted.

"Enemy! Protect the tower no matter what!” said. But against the man who came before him like a storm, he too surrendered to fear. The tip of his spear was trembling.

As William entered the last hundred meters, he heard the shouting of the soldiers ahead. Then his eyes looked to the right and left, looking for a step on both sides.

When he entered the last fifty meters, he suddenly jumped on the wall of the house on the left, then, with the strength, he received, supported the wall of a house on the right from there, and again stepped on the corner of the door of a tailor shop on the left. The distance between him and the soldiers was now only ten meters, and he pushed himself with all his strength.

The soldiers did not even understand what was happening. William had suddenly taken a step and appeared ten meters in front of them. Then it disappeared again! The soldier in the front couldn't see, but the soldier in the back saw the man teleported to the middle of the six!

He tried to open his mouth and shout, but the man's fiery red glowing sword had already cut his throat and went to the neck of her friend next to him.

The soldier at the front realized something was wrong when the man disappeared, only to hear a small belching sound behind him, so he thought he should turn around and look. But it was the worst decision of his life. Turning his head for a moment, he saw that his four friends were still standing upright, but had died with a round trace of blood on their necks. The man's sword had just entered the neck of the fifth soldier next to him. He wanted to pull out his spear and stab it. In this fleeting moment, he miraculously found the strength in his body to do so.

As he twisted and stabbed his body and spear at the same time, he could see that the young-looking enemy's sword, which had already cut his friend's throat, was making an undercut towards him. Confident that his metal and quality spear could block this attack, he preferred blocking rather than mutual destruction. But he soon realized that he had made the mistake of his life. The man's sword, which was emitting a bright orange light, suddenly cut off his spear as if it were just soft straw.

Seeing that his spear had been cut, however, his survival instinct told him that he could be stopped. His free left hand extended to block the man's bright sword, but although he felt no pain, he could see his hand sliced through the middle. The sword did not stop there. He continued to advance under her right armpit. His eyes were sharp enough to catch this speed, he had seen and most importantly felt that sword go through his armpit and cut down to his neck.

Before he could vomit enough hot blood from his mouth, his eyes began to close. 'I wish…I wish I hadn't turned my back.'

He could not speak, but in his thoughts, this sentence had completed itself.

William took a deep breath.

Killing six soldiers had only taken him a few seconds. It felt like an easy task, even though he was pushing himself.

He quickly turned his head and looked at the tower's huge door that opened on both sides. 'Now it's your turn!' he thought and rushed towards the door. He swung his sword and cut a hole his own size. Just as the lightsaber cuts through metal, William's sword cuts through the fortified wooden door with ease.

It was covered with a bright light. He could see a man meditating in front of him and behind him a mountain of soul stones.

At the top of this tiny mountain of the soul stone, floating in the air, a seal was floating, just as the mage, Arthur had mentioned. William knew as soon as he saw it that it was the seal he was targeting.

After William entered, the meditating man opened his eyes. He slowly stood up. His golden blond hair and glowing soul stones behind him made him look like an angel descended from heaven. He was wearing a white robe, with two rows of necklaces hanging around his neck and a red epaulet from shoulder to chest.

The only thing that spoiled the man's angelic appearance was this red epaulet. William knew what it was. More precisely, there was no one in the kingdom who did not know. When you saw someone in a white robe wearing red epaulets, you should have bowed. Whoever you are, be it a farmer, a beggar, or one of the most powerful dukes in the kingdom. None of this was a valid reason not to bow before someone with red epaulets.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

These people were called the ancestors of the kingdom. They were not actually ancestors, but that was the custom. Each generation would have several red epaulet mages. This one was one of the three red epaulet-clad ancestors of this generation.

William spoke, looking at the epaulet on his shoulder. “I didn't expect to meet an ancestor here.” Said.

The man in front of him smiled slightly. “Since you did not bow, you did not come with peaceful intentions.” Said. Even his voice sounded extremely gentle and pure.

William took a stance of attack. He crossed his sword in front of him with both hands. “Unfortunately, you have to die for the mission.” Said. He was ready to attack at any moment.

Hearing William's words, the man got angry. He frowned and made a fist with his right hand. When he opened it, there was a bright light inside. His face looked shadowy and frightening from the light. There was no trace of the otherworldly looking man from before. “A brat that has just been weaned? You are not my equal!” said. At that moment, the light in his hand began to shine brighter. William felt no danger from that light, but it was so bright that it looked like a flash bomb had exploded. He could see nothing but pure white light.

William did not move from where he stood. Yet he could still 'feel' the man's movements. After a second or so, he felt great danger this time. It was coming from the man's direction again. William knew that moving was not an option, as he was almost blind right now. He immediately activated the defensive technique and the strengthening effect of the armor.

A second later, this sense of danger hit William's body.

“ Booooom!!” Due to both the armor's defense and William's defensive technique, he felt as if something strong had just hit him. But this feeling continued for a few seconds. From the end, he began to feel a little burning and little pain like a pinprick. Meanwhile, the bright light in the man's hand went out. Looking at his chest, William saw that his leather armor was slightly frayed. It was as if a wave of flame had swept across his chest. Still, he was glad that he was not injured.

Meanwhile, he saw that the man was preparing a spell in his left hand again. He immediately dropped his defensive technique and stepped forward. Before the man could prepare his magic, he had come to him in a blink of an eye. He attacked with all his might using the execution technique of his sword. Just as he thought he was going to cut off the man's head from top to bottom, a small glow came from one of the necklaces around his neck. This glow formed a defensive barrier over the man's skin faster than William's sword.

Although William's sword broke as soon as it touched, the reaction was enough for him to withdraw his sword. Meanwhile, a bright light began to emanate from the man's hand again. William had seen at the last moment that one of the man's necklaces had been broken. It was obviously a disposable thing. After being blinded, he again activated his defensive technique. While he was blind, he felt the same danger again. But this time it was bigger.

The moment William felt something hit his chest, he had to be pushed back a few steps. The power from the magic this time was big enough to force him back a few steps.

The pain William felt this time was also twice as much as before. This time it wasn't needles, but small daggers that cut through his skin. He might not be able to see with his eyes, but he could feel that parts of his body that weren't protected by the armor were getting small cuts. It was an attack big enough to break through his massive defense using the metal element.

Yet it stood. Yet the majority of the qi pool remained. This battle could go on for a few more hours.

When the light went out, he saw the man again. This time he was a little sweaty. He was surprised, too, to see that William was completely intact. He had an expression of disbelief on his face. William stepped forward again. He couldn't waste this opportunity.

Again, William's sword was on the man's head just as the light began to gather in his right hand, but yet another necklace gleamed and blocked his sword. The moment William's sword recoiled again, a glow emitted. It was the third time he was doing the same light magic. Despite this, William was not depressed because he had no more necklaces left. Judging by what he was wearing, he didn't have armor like his own.

Seeing that both of his spells were ineffective, the man felt that he had no other choice. He poured more soul power into the blinding light magic in his hand, so that he could prolong the duration of the glow. Then he extended his left hand forward and pointed at William. He began to recite a spell in the mage language.

“Lord of the light! Listen to my voice. Your weak servant offers you a life! Let the judgment sword come down! See it with my eyes. ”

William felt tremendous danger when he heard the man begin to speak. He felt that no matter how defensive he was, he couldn't take this attack. His chest was already starting to tingle. If this spell were to go down, a bucket-sized hole would definitely open in his chest. He knew he had no other choice. He should have blindly killed this man! Moreover, his protective necklace was gone.

William mobilized his lineage power. The tattoo on his shoulder glowed a bright green. He applied the movement technique, the execution sword, and the firebringer's own buffs. He could hear where the voice was coming from, could smell the man's scent. All he had to do was jump straight and cut it from top to bottom.

William was thrown with incredible speed. It was as if he had been teleported. The man in front of him was equally surprised. He had not blindly expected that William would attack him. Despite the large beads of sweat stacking upon his forehead, he started to read the spell faster and started pouring more soul power. But no matter what he did, it seemed like he wouldn't be able to finish the spell. He could feel the fiend's ax on his neck.

But then something unexpected happened. The enemy before him, who had come to kill him with his eyes closed, stumbled for a moment and seemed to fall to the ground. He was surprised, but he did not break the spell and started reading faster. He saw this as an opportunity.

Just as William rushed to the mage opposite him, he heard a voice that shook his mind.

“ Auuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu !!!” It was a howl.

'Damn little sneaky bastard! Shut up!' William shouted in his mind, but it made him lose momentum and stumble forward. The little wolf had just found the time to come out of the cocoon! And he howled with all his might in his mind to announce it.

William regained consciousness after a moment of stumbling, and this time he swung his sword from the bottom up. But he didn't seem to be able to arrive in time, so he changed his target. He chose the mage's hand, from which he had collected the spell, for himself as the new target. He swung his sword from the bottom to the elbow with all his might.

The spell was activated as William's sword cut the mage's elbow. A massive golden ray gathered in the middle of the hand, and the target was his head. William put all his strength on his arm and tilted his head to the right.

Meanwhile, the arm was cut off, but what he didn't expect was that the spell continued despite the arm amputation. The disorientated arm spun in midair, wreaking havoc wherever it passed as it turned. William saw that he was going to cut himself from head to toe as the hand swung in the air, and he quickly took a few steps back, but the beam still came down to his leg. A fist-sized hole formed in his left thigh.

“ Agggghhhh !!!”

“ARĞĞHĞHHH!!”

The wizard and William shouted at the same time. The mage had lost an arm, and William had gained a hole in his leg. Still a warrior, William had the advantage in this situation. He knelt down but endured the pain. He stared at the sweating mage, who was trying to squeeze the cut of his left arm before him.

The distance between them was an arm's length. William drew his sword to his left and swung.

“ Swoosh !” The mage's frowned brows and narrowed eyes suddenly opened. He no longer cared about his severed arm. But the missing arm was obviously the one he used all the time, he had it up to his throat, but it just looked like the movement of an empty elbow. He couldn't close his throat. With blood still gushing from his throat, he tried to reach for his dimensional bag with his left hand. But halfway through, just as his hand was about to touch his dimensional bag, the light in his eyes went out. He died on his knees with his head bowed.

On both knees, William walked over to the mage, leaning in pain. Soon the soldiers would drip here from the sound of the light and its footprints. Although it looked like a long battle, it could actually be measured in a few minutes. It was just an intense battle. William reached for the wizard's waist.

…