Humanity's unity and wisdom are not weak.

René was walking alone on the main street.

If she saw someone in a place where she could kill them in a single swoop, she would cut them down. If someone was visible but far away, she would kill them with her magic. It was funny for René to see all the people screaming and running away when they saw her.

Since René's body became like this, she had become able to understand the "emotions" of the people around her. At first it was depressing, like noise running through her mind, but as she got used to it, she could sense the fear and despair in her surroundings as if she were tuning a radio frequency.

She could even tell which buildings people were hiding in with this power. She struck them with the appropriate magic and collapsed them. Soon the signs of life disappeared.

--I was able to try my sword and magic to a certain extent. I even got to fight someone who looked pretty strong.

…I see, this is a cheat. It's strong.

Apparently, there was no need for a cooling off period, René thought.

Incredible power flowed through René.

Now I am in a Dullahan-like body. Already decapitated, so she kind of liked it this way.

The first thing she can use is a cursed red blade created from her own blood. Although wielded in her hand, it is actually a magical attack that cuts through armor without resistance to magic like warmed butter. It was a one-hit killer.

Next was Dullahan's signature death curse. It seemed to be ... one that gradually weakened the target and made them die, but since it was possible to kill them without using such a troublesome and time-consuming technique, she did not intend to use it at the moment.

And then there is René's own magic. She had the feeling that the output of this magic was considerably suppressed. Dullahan is a physical type of monster that uses magic only as an aid, and fights mainly with swordsmanship, so there may be a negative offset to the output.

--I understand everything about magic and the Undead like I knew it all from the beginning. This is a big help.

As for the fighting, she felt that she had finished a series of familiarization exercises.

Now what to do, René wondered.

Fortunately, this was the royal city of Ciel-Terra. For the time being, she thought about annihilating the castle city and then the castle itself, but it was simply too large and crowded for that to be a simple task.

If she could start a big fire, there would be no trouble, but the streets of the royal capital were made of stone, stone, stone.

--I guess I'll just have to destroy them one by one, even if it's a hassle.

Up to this point, the battle was an experiment to test her abilities.

It was time to enjoy the massacre.

René searched for signs of life in the area and looked for prey. Something strange caught her attention.

A fighting and murderous intent that could not be concealed. And a feeling of stupefied contempt. The feeling was so strong that it bothered René.

There was also a hint of magic. It was a group. Without hesitation, they approach René.

"The Order of Knights?"

Earlier, she had fought with the Guards ..., an organization akin to the police of Earth, but she had a feeling that these ones were clearly stronger than those.

If that's the case, the only thing she could think of here would be the Order of Knights.

The Kingdom of Ciel-Terra was a form of government in which the lords ruled over their territories under the king.

Militarily speaking, the knights consisted mainly of lords large and small, with each lord dividing his domain among his subordinate knights, each of whom organized a small band of part-time knights and part-time farmers.

But apart from those, there is a corps under the direct control of the king. The strongest fighting force in Ciel-Terra, which received support from the royal family and trained relentlessly. In this country, the term "Order of Knights" simply refered to them.

The Knights are the pride of Ciel-Terra and heroes to all the people. It was the same for René.

<"I would also like to give you a word of advice: theoretically, you can eventually become stronger than the Demon Lord, but be careful not to fight a strong enemy all of a sudden.">

The Evil God's words replayed in her mind.

The Order of Knights. Can she fight them...?

--If I want to kill everyone, it is inevitable that I will collide with the Order of Knights...

While she was wondering what to do, the group approached her.

A swarm of armor methodically marched through the half-ruined city.

Holding up a large national flag ... with the emblem of a large shield surrounded by white roses and thorns.

The group of several dozen people, at a glance, took a dense formation when they recognized René's figure.

A mass of knights with shields facing in all directions like turtles, and one person outside of it...

--I don't know what this is, but I'm going to make a preemptive attack while the crowd is dense.

At any rate, instant decision, instant kill. René casted a spell.

"...≪Turbo Explosion≫”

A small fireball was formed in René's hand. Then she threw it at the formation of knights.

The fireball flew with wind-breaking speed, and then.

A flash of light that almost blinded her. A roar echoed through the snowy sky.

Flames erupted, and the blast blew up Rene's cloak. Surrounding buildings were incinerated and collapsed into the street on the other side.

The area was covered in dust, and visibility was impaired. But soon, the wind picked up and cleared it. It was not René's magic. Was it done by a knight?

In fact, the Order of Knights was there, alive and well, by some unknown method, similar to the cliches of Earth.

The formation with shields in all directions was also intact. The shields are just a little scorched.

--…Seriously? What did they just do?

They didn't just hold up shields. Did they take a magician inside to protect them and defend with magic? Or was there some trick with their shields...?

“I see. It seems that as expected, it is not powerful enough to break through this."

The only one knight who did not join the shield formation muttered.

Come to think of it, this knight should have been hit by the explosion with no shield or anything, but he didn't move an inch.

He was a knight in delicately decorated white and silver armor. The face of the knight was obscured by his helmet, but it was clearly a gorgeous piece of equipment. The armor itself may have high magic resistance.

The knight stepped on the snow and came toward René. He pulled out the sword he carried at his waist.

--That's…!!

The shock she received upon seeing the sword was that of a simple girl, René, who had lived for 10 years in Ciel-Terra.

A blue-silver edge radiating its own light.

The hidden treasure of Ciel-Terra, as described in numerous poems. The beautiful magic sword Terra Ayur, which is said to possess great power. Only the strongest knight of the country could wield it.

If so, the person who held that sword would be ...

"First Commander of the Order of Knights, Lawrence Reinhardt...!"

"Hmmm? I'm famous even among monsters, so it seems I'm not a complete failure after all."

Lawrence spat out.

The strongest knight in Ciel-Terra, praised for his power and bravery. A hero to protect the country. He was a man whom no child could not admire. Even for René, he was a hero to be proud of as one of the nation's citizens, even though he was a person from some distant world.

(TLN: Doesn't imply that he's reincarnated, just that they had different social standings, I think)

But ... René realized something.

How could the king's brother have easily accomplished the coup against Lawrence, the strongest warrior in the kingdom?

Why was Lawrence, who should have fought to protect the king if anything had happened to him, still here after the coup?

Why wasn't Lawrence's national treasure, Terra Ayur, taken away from him?

A knight who came to capture René and her mother. On the left side of the armor they wore, there was a coat of arms that showed their affiliation.

Rene has no knowledge of heraldry, but when she saw the actual thing ... like this, there was no mistaking it. It was the emblem also engraved on the left breast of Lawrence's armor, and it belonged to the First Order of Knights.

" The former king, whose soul was defiled, and the prostitute who had taken advantage of him. The daughter born was a silver-haired, silver-eyed abomination, ... now an accursed Undead?"

His voice was a deep, contemptuous, icy cold.

With a flick of his sword, Lawrence pointed the blade of Terra Ayur at René.

" I will beat you back to hell. You shall die a second death in the mud, as is fitting for the child of dogs."

"…Unforgivable."

René's heart, which had stopped beating, blazed with flames of black hatred.

What a hero. What a Knight Commander.

" I won't forgive you, I won't forgive you, I won't forgive you!"

René rushed forward, the red blade at the ready.

The Cursed Red Blade and Terra Ayur struck each other.

There was a strange sound, different from that of two ordinary swords, like a coin flipping.

--I can't cut it...!?

Until now, no matter what kind of sword or armor, the Cursed Red Blade had easily cut through both.

However, it is indeed the kingdom's pride and joy, the supreme sword. Even when it struck Rene's red blade, not a scratch was seen on the blade.

The two swords that were rubbing against each other produced reddish sparks.

The height difference between the two left René looking up at him, but their strength was almost even. René, however, was still one-handed.

"This is as far as the violence goes."

"Oh, really?"

"What?"

René, who had been holding his own head in one hand all this time, placed it on top of her severed neck.

Somehow it fit and stuck. It seemed to have the sticking strength of a magnetic flyer pinned to a refrigerator. A single blow would almost blow it away, but this left her left hand free.

René attached his hand to Lawrence's armor.

She felt as if her palms were burning, the armor was also blessed with magic, but she only had to endure it for a moment.

"≪Shock≫”

A sound like two heavy metal objects hitting each other was heard.

Blown away, Lawrence tumbled and barely managed to stay on his feet. He deeply coughed watery liquid for a moment.

"You…"

The damage was done, she thought, but René could feel the magic flowing toward Lawrence.

It was from the knight formation behind him, lined with shields like a turtle caged in its shell.

--This is... healing magic!?

René understood the aim of the strange formation.

In order to defeat Rene, whom no ordinary warrior could take on, the First Order of Knights simply chose to clash their strongest forces in the best possible condition.

This was their plan. Lawrence would fight alone, supported by a magician, and the other knights would protect the magician with their shields.

No way they would use such a bizarre battle strategy based on their usual battles. They analyzed René's ability in a short time and came up with a way to effectively defeat her with minimal sacrifices.

As it asw, no matter how much damage she inflicted on Lawrence, he would be healed.

"Well then, let's start...!"

No matter how hard she tried to fortify her anti-magic defenses, she would never be able to match the strength of Terra Ayur.

First of all, she had to cut through the "turtle formation" by means of the red blade.

She tried to cut it open.

However, a sharp blow intercepted René's movement.

"Ha!"

A blue-silver sword flash. It was Lawrence's Terra Ayur. She just barely managed to avoid it, and it shallowly cut her side.

The Undead body was already dead, so no blood flowed, but there was a searing pain. It was the result of the holy energy of the sacred magic in the sword.

“Where do you think you're going? ... Could I be that boring to deal with?"

A sharp look through the helmet shot through René.

In René's sense, it was only for a moment that she was distracted from Lawrence. A moment.

It was not that she had ignored Lawrence, but that she had intended to attack the formation while keeping an eye out for Lawrence. But still, Lawrence took advantage of the opportunity.

--Not only is his equipment amazing, but he's good with the sword! It's no wonder he's the strongest in the country... I'm going to have to deal with that formation while also dealing with this guy!

Or she could keep damaging Lawrence until the magician assisting him ran out of magic, but how much more damage could she do?

Lawrence, who had recovered and was now in perfect condition, slashed at René. The sword was a nimble one that didn't seem to be affected by his heavy armor, but the attack was powerful.

After a few crushing blows, just when she was slightly out of her stance, a killing blow came.

"Kuh!"

René was able to catch it with the red blade, but was unable to stay in place and pulled back. Holding her head with one hand, she somersaulted backward to gain distance. The landing point was near the "Turtle Formation".

At the moment of landing, Rene slashed at the "Turtle Formation" a couple of times.

"Gyaah!"

Although it was a little more difficult than a normal shield, the shield that René slashed at was cut in half, and the knight who was holding it was also cut in half.

Dodging a spear thrust through the gap, René immediately parried Lawrence's sword as he closed the distance.

--Okay, I can keep going...!

It seems that magic was not powerful enough, but the red blade attack got through.

However, the knights do not even show any signs of being shaken even though their comrade died in front of them.

Another knight, who was waiting inside, filled in the hole of the fallen knight to repair the "Turtle formation".

--This is ... How many more people have to be cut down before an attack reaches inside...!?

Lawrence would not fall without taking out the magician guarded inside.

Any number of support and healing magic would fly at him.

No, not only that, if there is enough to spare...

"≪Holy Arrow≫!"

Light shot up from a gap in the shields.

The light emitted from the "Turtle Formation" converged in the air, branching out geometrically and enveloping René.

"Guh….!"

The cloak of rags and the tattered underwear she was barely wearing were all destroyed.

White skin was covered with ugly burn marks.

The damage was not that great.

But...

"Aaah!!"

The impact slowed her movements. That was more than enough of an opening for Lawrence.

From her right shoulder to her left side, Terra Ayur sliced deeply.

--This is bad... the damage is pretty bad...!

A bloodless wound. Body still moving. The pain sensation was also suppressed a lot more than it was before she died.

But even so, a red warning lit up in a corner of her mind. That blow was severe.

Lawrence closed in. Showing the brilliance of Terra Ayur to René.

As if to show what resided in the blue-silver blade.

For René, it was the light of despicable deception.

"Our unity is the shield that protects the people. Know that it cannot be broken by you!"

“I will never forgive... youuuuuuuu!"

René aimed for the killing blow.

The Dullahan's instincts told her that endurance warfare was no longer possible.

Through the gap in his armor, through Lawrence's... neck!

"Ah..."

A brief attack and defense. There was no time to think, René reacted almost instinctively.

As a result, René's red blade didn't reach Lawrence, and Lawrence's Terra Ayur stabbed René in the chest.

Thoughts caught up with her.

Immediately after the cut, René aimed at Lawrence's neck as the blade slid towards it. She thought she could go for it. But it was an invitation, or a feint.

At the same time that René came for it, and more quickly than René, Lawrence delivered the final blow.

The red blade disappeared with a sound like breaking glass and scattered to the wind.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!!"

René's body collapsed.

Cracked and crumbling from the tips of her fingers and toes, it disintegrated into bleach-white ash.

A mournful scream echoed through the air. In the freezing wind, that voice was forever echoing in the main street.