The Duke's Reluctant Bride

Chapter 42: Where Mercy Ends

The moon hung low, casting silver over blood and steel. The grounds outside the estate had become a battlefield.

Valerie's sword gleamed as it carved a wide arc, severing the limbs of a snarling beast. She pivoted, ducked beneath a heavy swipe, and plunged her blade into its ribs. The creature gave a rattling cry before collapsing in a heap.

Damn that woman. Whoever she is, she's capable of summoning this many abyss monsters? No... it's more than that, it feels endless. Like they'll just keep coming.

No matter how many monsters fell to her blade, Valerie's strength and stamina were not infinite. It had been hours, and still the waves came.

There has to be something I need to destroy to stop this relentless assault.

Her breathing was rough, legs felt like lead. A dark gash stained her side—clawed through her uniform. She ignored it. Pain was a distant bell. There was no time.

Flames roared across the battlefield as the first wave of mages arrived at the edge of their ground. Their cloaks billowed from the force of their own spells. Ignis wielders launched blazing arcs that scorched through enemy lines, turning monsters to ash in bursts of heat. A Terra mage slammed his staff into the ground, raising a jagged wall of stone to shield wounded knights. In their midst, a Glacio mage swept her arms wide, casting a freezing mist that turned a charging cluster of beasts into brittle ice statues—only to be shattered by the knights. The air pulsed with elemental energy as the mages wove their magic with practiced precision, channeling their chosen forces to hold the line.

From the chaos, another creature lunged at Valerie's back.

"Captain, behind you!" a knight shouted, intercepting the blow and knocking the beast back—just as she had raised her sword to defend herself.

Valerie gave a sharp nod in thanks before stepping in again. "Hold the line!" she barked. "Don't let your defense falter!"

But the line was thinning. The enemy pressed closer now, clawing up from the ground. Valerie could barely track them all.

Tch. If this keeps up, we'll be running out of strength.

The battle raged on. As the minutes passed, knights fell one by one. Their bodies were crushed, some torn apart, devoured by monsters. Blood soaked the ground. Yet even as their numbers dwindled, the surviving knights did not falter. Their courage held firm. Fear did not claim them; they stood their ground, defending the estate with everything they had left.

Valerie darted in zigzag patterns, slashing as she moved, searching—scanning—every creature. Her muscles burned. Her grip faltered, white gloves slick with blood from the monsters.

There has to be one of them I need to kill. One that's different. 

She cut down another beast, then paused, catching her breath in the briefest moment. Her vision blurred from exhaustion, but she forced it to focus—scanning the battlefield, looking for anything that didn't fit.

Nothing.

Then another pulse of dark energy rippled across the ground, and more abyssal creatures surged forward from the edge of the woods. It hit her like a slap.

I can sense a strong dark presence in there.

She narrowed her gaze, It was nearly impossible to see anything in the complete darkness. Without a word, she cast a lightning bolt, striking aimlessly to the ground near that area. And then—just for a second—she saw it.

A tall, hulking figure at the tree line. A towering bear-like creature, just watching. Its violet eyes locked with hers, glowing like twin embers in the dark.