Chapter 343: The Second Place, Living in the Shadows

“——!”

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.”

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

“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!”

Katarine, transformed into white light, rushed past Shien’s location, bringing a gust of wind that shattered and cracked the ground there.

Missing the attack, Katarine wasn’t discouraged at all. Her figure, transformed into white light, defied inertia and abruptly changed direction, rushing towards another direction with the flap of her white wings.

There, Shien’s figure reappeared.

“Evolve!”

Seeing the white light approaching at an alarming speed, Shien no longer dared to hold back and activated the [Limit Evolution] ability.

Magic power coursed through Shien’s entire body, causing all his abilities to surge.

But by this time, Katarine had already approached Shien, and the replica holy sword in her hand flashed as she slashed.

That slash was at least ten times faster than before!

“Bang!”

Shien couldn’t react in time and was struck hard in the chest by the replica holy sword, which flashed like lightning. With a heavy thud, he was sent flying.

But while flying backward, Shien activated the [Instant Movement] skill, and his figure suddenly vanished in mid-air, reappearing behind Katarine.

“Hum!”

The atmosphere trembled as red magic light extended from the holy sword.

Looking at Katarine, who had her back to him, Shien’s holy sword, imbued with [Demon Sword], slashed down, striking Katarine’s back like red lightning.

However…

“Clang!”

With a clashing sound, Shien’s holy sword, imbued with [Demon Sword], was deflected.

The white wings behind Katarine seemed to have eyes of their own. With a single flap, one of the wings deflected Shien’s attack, generating a gust of magic power.

“It actually deflected it?”

Shien’s eyes widened slightly.

And Katarine wouldn’t let go of this opportunity. She instantly turned around, and the replica holy sword in her hand once again flashed as she slashed.

This slash once again stirred up a storm, shredding the air it passed through and shattering the surrounding ground.

The terrifying aurora-like sword was like a concentrated natural disaster, already destroying the terrain in this area beyond recognition.

Shien’s figure appeared a short distance away as if teleporting. Looking at this scene, his expression was grave.

“It seems that this so-called second place isn’t just a name.”

Katarine’s power after using her Unique Skill was on a completely different level compared to before.

Those wings seemed to combine high-speed flight, automatic defense, and amplification enhancement, making Katarine at this moment unprecedentedly powerful.

At least, in Shien’s view, Katarine now was even more terrifying than Tielle in her demonized state at the Atlus Canyon.

Even Airi, who was watching the battle from the side, narrowed her eyes and murmured.

“This Unique Skill is quite strong. It’s already no worse than that Hero I dealt with, right?”

That was the case.

Katarine had used her full strength, displaying power that put pressure on Shien and earned some acknowledgment from Airi.

“What? Is this your full strength?”

Katarine flew into the air again, looked at Shien, and spoke indifferently.

“You should also have a pretty powerful Unique Skill, right? Aren’t you planning to use it?”

Clearly, the Imperial Princess believed that Shien hadn’t used his full strength yet.

She believed that to be recognized by Lucy and possess such strength at this age, Shien couldn’t possibly not have a powerful Unique Skill.

If he didn’t, then he wouldn’t be worth being acknowledged by those at their level.

After all, Unique Skills were abilities that could defy common sense, ignore level and skill restrictions, and directly display terrifying power.

Without a powerful Unique Skill, no matter how high one’s level or how strong one’s skills, they would ultimately not be their opponent.

In fact, that was the case.

Shien did possess a Unique Skill, and it was a ridiculously overpowered one at that.

Unfortunately, Shien’s Unique Skill wasn’t the type that directly enhanced combat abilities.

However, Shien indeed hadn’t used his full power yet.

After all, he still had his holy sword.

“Should I use it?”

Shien hesitated.