Chapter 1010

The faint aura that had been lingering at the tip of her sword exploded in a brilliant surge as Meghna poured her entire being into the strike.

“Everyone, get back!”

General Gino instinctively shouted, gripping the hilt of his sword in a flash. He had vowed not to use aura for a while to help his shaken vessel recover from previous strain—but in that moment, the only thing on his mind was the need to protect those around him.

Had Kishiar not reached out and gently grabbed the General’s elbow just then, Gino likely would have drawn his blade and released his aura without hesitation.

What the—?!

BOOM!!

Before he could even pull his arm free, a deafening explosion erupted, followed by a violent wind that tore through the air like a cyclone.

—Time slowed.

In the span of a single blink, the General felt the overwhelming rush of power emerging from the haze of dust.

A wall of ice suddenly unfurled in midair like a shield, lining up in front of the spectators and blocking the explosion’s fury. Shards of vivid blue aura ricocheted off the ice barriers, shattering with merciless force before they could reach the crowd. Some microscopic fragments, like specks of sand, managed to slip between the gaps or around the edges—but even those were bounced away by an invisible force, slammed into the ground as though repelled by a translucent wall.

What... is this wall?

The moment he thought it, time snapped back to normal. The winds ripped past his face, rustling his hair, and the General coughed as reality came rushing back.

“...Incredible.”

The small training ground was a scorched ruin. The terrain had already been disturbed by Yuder’s earlier use of earth magic, but now it looked as if a small bomb had gone off. Restoration might not even be possible.

In the epicenter stood Yuder and Meghna.

Yuder’s once-neat clothes were shredded and stained with dirt, his training sword reduced to splinters. Meghna’s blade was similarly ruined, half-destroyed, her limbs stained red with blood from aura fragments that had burst from her lost control.

Someone gasped—but anyone with a discerning eye would have realized the injuries were superficial. For the force that had just erupted, it was miraculous they were even standing.

And there was another person—someone neither of them had noticed step in.

Nathan Zuckerman stood between them, his drawn blade radiating a deep-blue aura. At his feet lay the shattered remains of Meghna’s training sword. The conclusion was clear: it wasn’t Yuder who had broken it—it was Nathan.

In the blink of an eye, one person had shielded the spectators with barriers of wind and ice, and another had charged into the storm—risking being torn apart—and shattered Meghna’s blade before greater harm could occur.

And that wasn’t all. Looking around, the General spotted faint traces of all sorts of defensive abilities flickering around the crowd. The Cavalry members had instinctively reacted, shielding themselves and others in the split second it took for the blast to hit.

Almost no one had frozen in place or panicked. The few who did were likely unawakened or non-Cavalry personnel.

And the one who had done all this while holding Gino back from acting—Kishiar la Orr—now gently released the General’s arm, his expression as calm and composed as ever.

“Are you alright, General? You looked like you were about to release your aura, so I stopped you.”

“...Yes. I’m alright.”

Just moments ago, Kishiar’s hand had felt like a mountain pressing down on him—but now that it was gone, there wasn’t even a mark left behind. It was unbelievable.

He restrained me that easily...? What kind of method did he use?

If General Gino had needed to stop someone else in the same way, especially another Master, there was no way he could’ve done so this effortlessly. Not without some clash or harm. Yet Kishiar had stopped him as though it were nothing.

As the General stood in stunned silence, Kishiar offered him a serene smile.

“And... congratulations.”

“...What?”

“Looks like Deputy Curlieva has finally overcome the biggest wall that’s been blocking her.”

“...Ah!”

Finally snapping back to himself, the General rushed toward his disciple.

“Meghna! Are you alright?”

He reached her and gently supported her slumping form. Meghna Curlieva, who had been standing dazed and motionless like someone in a dream, blinked at the sound of her master’s voice.

“...General?”

“Do you know what just happened?”

“Huh...? What do you mean? I was just... my sword...”

Lowering her gaze, she stared at her ruined blade and the blood-soaked skin of her hand—then gasped, lips parting in shock.

“Ah...!”

She had been utterly consumed, swept into a state of complete focus as she clashed against the opponent who constantly challenged her, blocked her, taunted her—urging her to fight harder.

At first, she had held back out of caution, unwilling to unleash too much power. But somewhere along the way, she forgot. She lost herself in the fight.

She had spent so many years locked in step with familiar sparring partners, always hitting the same wall when facing her master. It was an environment that, while stable, offered no freshness—no true test of her skill.

Yuder’s blade was pure shock.

Even when fighting the sea monsters recently, she had felt something different—but back then, her focus had been on protecting others. She couldn’t fully commit to the sword.

This was different. Here, she was unburdened. The only things that mattered were her opponent, herself, and the blade in her hand.

That feeling. That freedom. That release.

She had long dreamed of wandering like her master, training freely with her sword. But as the General’s deputy in the Southern army, that dream had always felt like an irresponsible fantasy.

If she had asked, her master would have let her go. But that was exactly why she couldn’t.

She knew that if she left, someone like Galexantr Balfos—or any of her master’s enemies—would strike. She couldn’t abandon her post, not when she had more people to protect than ever before.

After the Day of Hail and the Blue Despair incident, she had started to believe her path no longer lay with the sword—that it was time to accept her limitations, to stop chasing what seemed impossible.

General Gino, the man who had always been there like a mountain, was getting old. If he used his strength recklessly, his aging vessel might not endure. And when she saw that reality, it broke her heart.

Time didn’t wait. She was still not a Master. Her responsibilities had only grown, and her mentor was nearing the twilight of his career. Maybe it was childish to keep clinging to the sword. Maybe it was time to settle.

That’s what she had told herself.

But Yuder’s sword—his endless arsenal of powers—had stirred something deep inside her. Something she had long buried. The thrill of confronting the unknown. The joy of facing what she had always yearned for.

Walls that seemed passable—but weren’t. Each one higher than the last, revealing the next only after you surmounted the first. It should’ve been discouraging.

But it wasn’t.

It was exhilarating.

Without any conscious thought of reality, she had given everything to the final blow. And in that moment, something within her had broken loose—something that had always been trapped.

The thing she had desperately chased, the thing that never came no matter how ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ much she trained, the thing that left her anxious even as she obeyed her master’s advice to “be patient and let it come.”

The thing she had finally decided to give up on.

That thing had a name.

...Aura.

Meghna stared down at her hand in a daze. It was drenched in blood—but there was no pain.

All she could feel was the immense sensation that had coursed through her when her power finally erupted. That one, overwhelming moment consumed her every thought.