Chapter 19: Battle on the Hill

[Evelyn’s POV]

The crimson light of the shattered moon bled through the fog, casting long, twisted shadows across the high plateau. High above the cliffside, Evelyn drifted in midair. Her blue off-shoulder dress whipped wildly around her, the fabric clinging to her frame as strong gales wrapped around her shoulders.

Below her, a sea of mutated Aberrants surged over the plateau. Seven-meter-tall horrors with jagged obsidian hides, elongated fangs, and exposed, pulsing purple cores tore through the rocky soil, their heavy claws gouging deep trenches into the earth as they rushed toward her floating figure.

Evelyn’s blue eyes burned with cold intent. Raising her left hand, she positioned her five fingers straight before her face, channeling her mana. Her other hand cut through the air in a single, fluid sweep.

Answering her call, hundreds of translucent, ethereal blue Sky Blades materialized out of thin air.

The air shrieked. With a flick of her wrist, Evelyn launched the armada of blades.

SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

The blue blades rained down in a ruthless, sweeping salvo. Enriched by howling wind magic, the weapons tore through the thick fog and drove straight into the surging front lines. Steel ripped through flesh and bone with terrifying precision. The sharp tips sank directly into the pulsing purple energy cores embedded in the monsters’ chests.

Cores shattered instantly, detonating in bursts of violet light as the creatures collapsed in mid-stride. Monsters fell by the dozens, their massive corpses crashing into the plateau and rattling the entire cliff face.

Yet the swarm did not falter. Driven by pure bloodlust, several larger mutated beasts bounded over the fresh pile of corpses, leaping into the air with their talons outstretched to shred her apart.

Evelyn didn’t even flinch.

She tightened her floating stance, expanding her aura. A swirling sphere of compressed wind and brilliant blue energy exploded outward from her body, blowing back the surrounding fog. Spanning the sky above her, thousands more blue blades manifested in perfect geometric rows, humming with lethal pressure.

"Fall," Evelyn commanded softly, her hand descending in a sharp downward slash.

The sky collapsed into a blue storm. The barrage crushed the leaping beasts instantly—some were pierced by more than five blades mid-air, pinning them to the stone floor; others were severed cleanly down the middle or decapitated before they could even scream. The plateau shook continuously under the weight of the carnage, transformed into a graveyard of fallen beasts pinned beneath a forest of glowing blue broadswords.

Through the settling dust and ash, the battlefield fell silent, save for the whistling wind.

Evelyn descended, her heels alighting onto the blood-soaked stone without a sound. Her gaze locked onto the center of the plateau, where Velista stood completely unbothered amidst the mountain of slaughtered B-Rank monsters.

Velista took a slow step forward, clapping her gloved hands with a soft, patronizing rhythm.

"Impressive, Princess Evelyn... truly impressive," Velista drawled, a coy, dangerous smile curving her lips. "It seems I underestimated you just a bit."

"Save the talk," Evelyn replied, her voice flat, cold, and devoid of emotion.

"Fair enough. Let’s wrap this up quickly then," Velista murmured softly.

She extended her right hand into the open air. Violet light particles coalesced in her grip, hardening into an ethereal double-ended scythe. The weapon curved in a sinister ’S’ shape, featuring razor-sharp crescent blades on both ends, bound together by an ominous purple crystal pulsing at the center of the staff.

Velista spun the scythe with effortless grace before snapping it to a stop, her glowing purple eyes locking onto Evelyn with absolute composure.

In the next second, the air ruptured.

Velista closed the distance instantly, her body blurring into a trail of dark purple light. Evelyn reacted on instinct, leaning her torso back as the upper crescent blade grazed past her nose, slicing cleanly through a stray strand of her black-and-blue hair.

Evelyn thrust her palm forward, blasting a dense shockwave of wind magic point-blank into Velista’s chest. But Velista didn’t try to block it. Twisting her upper body mid-air, Velista executed a nimble backflip, riding the wind force backward before landing lightly on the tip of an embedded Sky Blade.

"Too slow, Princess!" Velista taunted.

Evelyn snapped her fingers, commanding a dozen Sky Blades to curve back and impale Velista from behind. Without looking, Velista flipped sideways, performing an acrobatic sequence of contortions and saltos across the floating blades, effortlessly dodging every trajectory as if she were dancing across a ballroom floor.

Driven into a high-speed melee, Evelyn summoned a blue mana blade directly into her hand, meeting Velista in close-quarters combat.

CLANG! CLANG! BANG!

Sparks erupted as steel clashed against darkness. Evelyn integrated royal martial arts into her swordplay, utilizing high-speed side-kicks and fluid tornado kicks to force Velista back. Yet Velista’s evasions were unnaturally fluid, almost liquid. She slid under Evelyn’s high kicks, parried the sword strikes with the shaft of her scythe, and continuously dictated the rhythm of the duel.

Velista wasn’t just countering Evelyn’s movements—she was reading her mind.

"Tell me, Evelyn..." Velista purred during a rapid exchange of blows, her dark scythe blurring as she easily deflected Evelyn’s desperate thrusts. "Does it ever get tiring? Carrying the weight of an entire kingdom on your fragile little shoulders?"

Evelyn’s rhythm faltered slightly. She swung her blade harder, trying to force a break. "Shut up."

"Oh, but it’s true, isn’t it?" Velista’s voice dripped with dark, philosophical poison, aimed straight at Evelyn’s hidden psychological scars. "The paragon of hope... the golden princess chosen by the gods to save humanity. You never asked for any of it, did you?"

CLANG!

A flash of memory invaded Evelyn’s focus—the cold, stone training grounds of the Starlight palace. Her father, the elderly King, staring down at her young, exhausted frame with an unforgiving gaze. *’Rise, Evelyn. You are the future of this kingdom. A princess does not rest. A princess does not play. You must be strong enough to bear the hopes of the entire world alone.’* She remembered crying in the dark, isolated room, watching normal children play through the high stained-glass windows while her small hands bled from holding wooden training swords.

"You’re a prisoner to their expectations," Velista whispered, her purple eyes glowing in the dark as she gracefully ducked under a horizontal slash. "Your father broke you when you were a child, isolating you from the world... and now you blindly throw your life away trying to solve everything by yourself."

"Shut your mouth!" Evelyn yelled, her emotional composure cracking for a split second.

That single moment of distraction was all Velista needed.

Velista sidestepped Evelyn’s wild swing, instantly slipping past her guard. With a cold smirk, Velista swept the double-ended scythe in a wide, sweeping arc, discharging a massive crescent wave of dark purple energy at point-blank range.

Evelyn’s instincts screamed. She brought up her arms to deploy a wind barrier, but the sheer explosive force of the dark wave shredded her defense.

BOOM!

The concussive shockwave blasted Evelyn off her feet, sending her tumbling violently across the stony ground. She skidded several meters before coming to a hard halt against a jagged rock, her left sleeve torn open as a deep gash spilled fresh crimson blood onto her blue dress.

Evelyn clutched her bleeding arm, her chest heaving as she pushed herself up on one knee.

Velista idly twirled the dark scythe around her fingers, looking down at the kneeling princess with a mocking tilt of her head.

"Is that really all the Starlight Kingdom’s hope has to offer?" Velista sneered.

"Velista..." Evelyn stood up, her legs trembling from sheer physical and magical exhaustion. She held her bleeding arm tight. "What do you know about me...? You know nothing about what I’ve been through... so stop acting like you do."

Velista raised an eyebrow, letting out a dry chuckle. "Am I wrong? You’re just lying to yourself, Princess. Look at you—so desperate to play the noble martyr. You run into suicidal danger alone because you’re terrified of letting anyone close to you. You think you’re protecting them, but you’re really just a lonely girl who doesn’t know how to ask for help."

Evelyn’s jaw clenched tightly.

The words stung, but inside, her heart burned with quiet resolve. She hadn’t taken up this burden out of foolish recklessness, nor out of a blind desire to be a martyr. She accepted her royal lineage and the responsibilities that came with it. She knew the weight of her power—she was the strongest warrior in the kingdom. And precisely because she knew how terrifyingly dangerous enemies like Velista were, she refused to drag innocent people into her fights.

If she could handle the nightmare alone, why should she force anyone else to suffer through it?

Velista opened her mouth to laugh again, but suddenly, her laughter cut off mid-sound.

Her flirtatious expression vanished instantly. Her eyes widened slightly, her gaze darting away from Evelyn toward the distant edge of the plateau.

Evelyn frowned, noticing the abrupt shift in her opponent’s demeanor. ’What is it...? Why did her expression change so suddenly?’

Behind Velista, space itself warped and cracked. A swirling, dark purple dimensional portal materialized out of thin air, pulsing with chaotic energy.

"Well, Princess Evelyn... consider yourself lucky today," Velista said softly, stepping backward toward the portal with smooth, deliberate steps. The dark scythe dissolved into a spray of purple light particles in her grip. "It seems I’ll have to spare your life for now."

"Wait!" Realizing Velista was escaping, Evelyn forced her exhausted legs into a sprint, reaching out with her good hand. "I won’t let you run away again...!"

Velista offered a faint, mysterious smile as she stepped fully into the dark vortex.

"Until the next chaos, Princess Evelyn."

The purple portal snapped shut, collapsing in on itself and vanishing entirely a split second before Evelyn’s fingers could reach it.

"Damn it...!" Evelyn hissed, her hand grasping at empty air.

Her knees buckled under her. She collapsed onto the cold stone floor, gasping heavily as the last drops of her mana drained away. A sharp, burning pain flared in her chest—the consequence of severe mana exhaustion.

Sitting alone amidst the pile of dead beasts, Evelyn stared blankly at the spot where the portal had been.

The way Velista had cut the fight short... that sudden, blank look on her face right before she fled... It was as if Velista had sensed someone’s presence nearby—someone she wanted to avoid at all costs.

But who...? Evelyn thought, her eyebrows furrowing.

The cold mountain wind howled across the silent peak, biting into the fresh gash on her arm and sending a bitter chill through her body.