“——!”
Shien abruptly turned around, looking behind him.
There, an endless torrent of magic power was erupting like a volcano.
However, the magic power wasn’t erupting aimlessly. Shien could clearly see that as the magic power surged, a pair of pure white wings were slowly taking shape, unfolding behind a figure.
The figure, while spreading these wings of magic power, floated into the air.
“…I never thought I’d be forced to use this move by someone my age other than Lucy.”
Holding a replica holy sword, the Imperial Princess looked down at Shien, her expression cold, her eyes now silver, reflecting the white wings behind her. Her posture was like that of a true Valkyrie.
But looking at this angelic Valkyrie, Shien’s expression grew serious.
Because, from just now, his [Magic Perception] skill had been sending frantic warnings, telling him how dangerous this enemy had become.
Shien knew what was happening.
An ability that could cause such a drastic change in someone, defying common sense to bring about a terrifying increase in power, as far as he knew, besides a holy sword, there was only one other possibility.
“Unique Skill…”
The Imperial Princess had used her true trump card.
“So, she does have a Unique Skill, huh?”
Shien forced himself to calm down.
Katarine spoke with an impassive face.
“Our Ragna Empire’s Imperial Family is also descended from heroes. Since that’s the case, isn’t it natural for us, who inherited the hero’s blood, to possess such a talent?” Katarine said coldly, “Yet, the world only sees the Kingdom of Mitra, only acknowledges the Kingdom of Mitra’s heroic descendants, considering them the true successors of heroes, often subconsciously forgetting that our Ragna Empire’s Imperial Family also possesses the blood of heroes.”
That was unavoidable, wasn’t it?
“Because our ancestors couldn’t defeat the Demon King, not even a Demon Lord, and were killed by the Dragon Demon, one of the Six Demon Lords, the world believes that our heroic ancestors were unworthy of their name.”
A hint of resentment crept into Katarine’s tone.
“People only remember the victors, never the losers.”
“Therefore, when mentioning descendants of heroes, the world only thinks of the Mitra Kingdom’s royal family, not our Ragna Empire’s Imperial Family.”
“We can only live in the shadow of the hero Mitra, the Ragna Imperial Family can only live in the shadow of the Mitra Royal Family, and even I can only live in the shadow of Lucy.”
As she spoke, Katarine’s tone gradually became weaker.
“The Ragna Empire has always wanted to escape this shadow. For this reason, we spared no expense in retrieving the remains of our ancestors, spending a huge price to gather precious materials from the three realms, taking five hundred years to finally successfully create a replica holy sword. But the Kingdom of Mitra could simply ask the Divine Race for help, and with the hero Mitra’s voluntary sacrifice, easily obtain a true holy sword.”
“We have been working hard to strengthen ourselves, to strengthen our national power, and unknowingly, we have become the most powerful nation in the human realm, possessing the largest army and the strongest military force. But this proud military force is considered to have only quantity, not quality, and is not comparable to the Royal Knights, who were once companions of the hero, and the Mitra Kingdom’s Wyvern Legion.”
“And in this generation, our Ragna Imperial Family finally gave birth to a genius who has the hope of surpassing our ancestors. The moment she was born, she alerted the temple and attracted the attention of the highest-ranking Superior God, who personally blessed this child, causing the entire Ragna Empire to celebrate, and the Imperial Family decided to devote all their resources to nurturing her. But almost at the same time, the kingdom announced the birth of a world-shaking genius, whose magic power directly alerted the Divine Realm, alerted the Three Goddesses, and caused the Goddess of Fate, one of the Three Goddesses, to descend personally and bestow her blessings.”
As she spoke, Katarine’s weak tone became increasingly filled with resentment.
“When the empire’s most outstanding genius in history obtained the replica holy sword, the genius hailed as the kingdom’s treasure obtained the recognition of the true holy sword.”
“When the empire’s most outstanding genius in history displayed a powerful Unique Skill, the genius hailed as the kingdom’s treasure displayed a Unique Skill that moved even the Divine Race.”
“Her blessing was from a Superior God, while hers was bestowed personally by one of the Three Goddesses, no less than her ancestor.”
“Her beauty was considered the best in the empire, while hers was crowned the most beautiful in the human race.”
“As a result, in every aspect, she became the loser, and she became the superior victor in every aspect.”
“People only remember the number one in the human race, but they never pay attention to the second place, who has always lived in the other’s shadow.”
As these words were spoken, the silver light in Katarine’s eyes grew brighter, and the white wings behind her and the replica holy sword in her hand began to emit an increasingly bright white light, causing magic power to surge.
“So, I swore that in this lifetime, I would definitely defeat Lucy and completely break free from her.”
“I won’t let her be my lifelong shadow, and I won’t let the Mitra Kingdom always be the shadow of the Ragna Empire.”
“You are strong, truly strong, so strong that it exceeded my expectations and shocked me greatly. No wonder Lucy favors you.”
“Among our peers, the appearance of an opponent like you must excite her, right?”
“But precisely because of this, I must defeat you.”
Katarine raised the replica holy sword in her hand, pointing it at Shien.
“For nothing else, just to not lose to that woman.”
As soon as her voice fell, the magic power surging from Katarine’s body was suddenly sucked into her body like a vortex.
No, it was being sucked into the pair of pure white wings behind her.
“Whoosh!”
In the next instant, Katarine’s wings suddenly flapped, and her entire being transformed into a white light, shooting forward.
In an instant, she arrived in front of Shien.
“…!”
Shien only felt a blur before his eyes, and then Katarine’s figure appeared before him, causing his heart to tremble. Without hesitation, he activated the [Instant Movement] skill and vanished from the spot.
“Boom!”