Just minutes ago—

A mercenary coalition and the Knighthood’s investigation team faced off on the main street.

...To be precise, only one person stood against the Knighthood’s Battle Spirit and several mid-to-high-level Mystic Warriors.

“Hey, hey! Sedrion...”

Osam wanted to pull Sedrion away but hesitated for a moment and stopped.

Sedrion was courting death.

As a mere lone wolf, she provoked the Knighthood’s Battle Spirit in broad daylight—a notorious battle maniac.

She was just a temporary member, no kin to Osam’s group. He had no reason to risk enmity with the Knighthood’s team for her.

She should bear her own trouble. Their safest move was to stay clear. If the Battle Spirit’s wrath turned on them, they’d cut ties instantly.

Osam gave Belisa and Rikin a slight head shake. Belisa signaled her sisters to hold back. Rikin nodded; he disliked the Knighthood, but hated this idiot woman more.

On this street near the city’s edge, nearly everyone retreated to the sides—except the involved parties.

“Bitch, I owe you big time... for rushing to entertain me!”

Butcher opened his mouth. His fur-coated tongue licked over lips covered in tiny cuts, revealing an eerie grin.

“Sorry, no bestiality for me. But I’d gladly perform your castration surgery~”

Sedrion made a scissor gesture with her fingers and grinned maliciously.

As tension spiked, an investigation team member sensed trouble and stepped in front of Butcher.

“Lord Butcher, please hold back. Let us handle this kind of—”

Thud!!!

Before he finished, the high-level Mystic Warrior—who’d kindly intervened to avoid escalation—flew sideways. No one saw Butcher move. His victim’s Mystic Armor shattered instantly, too fast to believe.

“Don’t block my damn path!”

Butcher growled in annoyance. His companions wisely stepped back.

“Are you joking?” Sedrion, seemingly bored, twirled her hair. “If it’s a circus act, please—uh?”

Butcher moved before she finished.

Refining mana took zero time—for Battle Spirits, skipping steps vital to ordinary Mystic Warriors was natural. Their bodies flowed perfectly with mana, like crossbows needing no reload. Perfect weapons.

Butcher’s right leg exploded against the ground. A bomb seemed to detonate beneath him. A massive shockwave blasted outward, blowing away onlookers! The ground roared. Tiles shattered to dust, leaving a crater—but he’d already closed in on Sedrion!

The shockwave nearly swept everything off the street. A straight trench scarred the ground. Butcher’s speed defied his massive frame! He used pure impact, no mana flare. On contact, he twisted, his bent left elbow slamming into Sedrion’s unprotected abdomen!

“Ugh... ugh...”

Time froze. An invisible shockwave pierced Sedrion’s body, spreading behind her! It carved a twenty-meter fan-shaped crater! Her body bent into a “く” shape. Creepy cracking sounds echoed from within.

But it wasn’t over.

“Hey, dead bitch!”

Butcher’s rock-hard leg shot up. His knee slammed into Sedrion’s chin with a loud *crack*.

“Where’s that arrogance now?”

This blow should’ve launched her thirty meters high—but Butcher’s huge hand slapped down first, hitting her crown dead-on.

“Huh? Can’t even speak?”

Sedrion was a ball in his palms. His slap crashed her forehead into the stone road, creating a dent. Half her head sank in.

“Don’t you dare joke with me!”

He lifted his steel-booted foot and stomped her skull! Battle Spirit mana surged through the stomp. The street shook violently. Sedrion’s neck made an ominous *click*.

Overwhelming victory.

One-sided brutality.

Public execution.

Butcher clicked his tongue, lifting his foot off Sedrion’s dust-caked head. Disdain filled his face.

“As expected... heh. Just rabble. Stupid bitch.”

He shrugged, turning to leave. He snorted loudly and spat thick phlegm at her—

“...Weakling.”

—The phlegm halted ten centimeters from Sedrion.

Vaporized by blazing mana overflowing her body, it vanished.

“............!?”

Butcher froze. He turned, staring in shock at this woman who should’ve been dead.

“Fat pig, ever had thoughts like this?”

Creepy cracks echoed from Sedrion’s body. An invisible hand seemed to lift her. Her dislocated limbs had reset; only her head tilted weirdly.

“When sick, wishing to sleep fast to avoid pain. When beaten, wishing to pass out quick. Things like that...”

Her hands gently climbed her head, covering her cheeks.

“A body always battle-ready is such a pain—even lying dead for rest isn’t allowed... heh!”

Her hands twisted sharply. Her spine cracked loudly. When they dropped, her head snapped straight.

“Disappointed. Truly disappointed. Even having to call you ‘disappointed’ disappoints me.”

She cracked her neck. Blazing mana flared, blowing away all dirt.

“Pigs belong in pigsties... that’s universal truth!!!”

As she spoke, Sedrion’s sharp shoe tip sank into Butcher’s gut.

Sparks erupted on contact. Only sharp-eyed onlookers glimpsed a tiny magic circle forming before her toes—

“Guh!! Cough... cough cough...”

The sudden counter caught Butcher off guard. He wasn’t kicked away—all force concentrated on him, no wasted motion! Agony stole his breath. But as a Battle Spirit, his will crushed the pain. He retreated several steps.

“Sorry for the kick. But who gets close without Mystic Armor, Battle Spirit?”

Indeed, armored properly from the start, he wouldn’t have taken the full hit.

Butcher stopped coughing. He looked up at Sedrion.

No prey-like disdain remained in his eyes.

Only excitement at a true opponent... and madness.

“Heh... ha... hahahahaha! Now this is fun! Ages since I stretched my bones—a real fight at last!”

“A fight? Mistaken again. Humans and pigs don’t fight—we slaughter! Speaking of which...”

She recalled something, flashing a killing-intent smirk. She snapped her fingers lightly.

A scarlet magic circle appeared. She reached in and pulled out a... “blade.”

“...Slaughtering pigs always uses a pig-sticking knife, right?”