Kaaaaang!

Arendt’s hand that had been holding his sword began to feel numb and painful, but he didn’t have time to pay attention to that, because a vicious sword flew towards him with the intent of cutting off his arm.

Kagakak!

Metal screeched against metal.

Arendt, who had used his strength to throw Vincent away, ducked his body to avoid the sword that was flying at him again. The sword narrowly missed him, leaving a long scar on his pale cheek.

‘His momentum changed.’

As he bit his lip and drew out his magic power, the sword froze white. The ground he stood on was covered in white frost. At the same time, Arendt’s eyes turned cold.

Kaaaaang!

The two swords clashed again.

“Why are you nervous? Is it because this situation is completely different from the picture you had in mind?”

“…This is truly absurd.”

Vincent burst out laughing.

There was no refutation.

Where on earth did it go wrong?

He expected the knights to show up. He could also easily guess that the ridiculous blackmail commotion was a plot to attract the knights.

But he didn’t think anything would be a variable.

Although he was dealing with the imperial knights alone, he thought that he didn’t need any other forces besides his own anyway.

The golems would make up for the lack of power. Furthermore, now that he had the artifact in his hand, he also gained the ability to make an unspecified number of people his allies.

‘And yet…’

There’s no way the knights could point their swords at civilians, so he thought that they would be helpless if he used civilians as shields, but he ended up having to fight the owner of the Frosty Touch while his artifact was sealed.

He would be victorious against an ordinary apprentice knight, but against an artifact owner, it became difficult to judge his victory or defeat.

As long as he was trapped here, the knights could protect the people and fight the golems with peace of mind.

Vincent, who had been laughing in vain, twisted his lips.

Arendt’s eyes widened as he was struck by the sudden explosion of black energy. He reflexively relaxed his body and avoided being cut badly, but as a result, he lost his balance and was flung away.

Boom!

The moment he raised his head after being hit on the ground, a sword suddenly came rushing towards him right in front of his eyes.

He barely managed to avoid it by rolling his body, and with a bang, the sword was stuck in the spot where his shoulder had just been.

Vincent didn’t hesitate and made a big cut into the floor.

With a thud, the sword split the solid floor like a sheet of paper and swung towards Arendt, who had not yet found his balance.

He raised his frozen sword and defended himself, but a sharp sound struck his ears and a strong shock shook his entire body.

Blood flowed out from between his sharply bitten lips.

Arendt let his sword fall to the side and took advantage of the brief opening to grab Vincent’s forearm with his hand.

Vincent reflexively struck Arendt hard and distanced himself as the cold chill ran through his bones.

“…”

The place where his hand had briefly touched was frozen white.

Vincent was speechless for a moment, then burst into laughter.

“Hah…”

At this point, he had no choice but to admit it.

It was he who fell into the trap. He was caught in the spider’s web created by Arendt, who was only about twenty years old.

But the spider web could only catch butterflies. He could only tear apart fragile traps.

Vincent laughed and grabbed his sword.

“You’re so arrogant and don’t even know what you’re doing.”

“I originally played the arrogant role.”

Arendt spit out the blood that had gathered in his mouth and raised the corners of his lips. The blood that touched the floor froze in an instant.

“It’s a good opportunity. I’m also curious to see how far I can go.”

With a snap, Arendt cracked his neck. With a swipe of his sword, ice crystals fell like snow.

“…Ha, are you really going to use me to test the artifact?”

“Why not? You were going to do that anyway. Don’t you know what they say, ‘You reap what you sow.’”

“This guy is no ordinary lunatic.”

“It makes me feel really proud to hear those words from a masked pervert.”

Arendt, holding his sword, kicked the ground and ran towards Vincent.

“Everyone, go to the reception room! It’s still safe there!” Neumann shouted at the top of his lungs.

The servants supported the nobles and moved in unison under the orders of their superior.

The mansion was already a mess. Smashed furniture and broken golem fragments littered the floor.

Helen, who was confronting a single golem, shouted in confusion.

“Where did they come from?”

“It seems like they were all summoned at once from the garden.”

“Who summoned the golem?”

This time, the question came from Benjamin.

Arthur deflected the golem’s fist flying towards him with his sword and immediately cut down its core.

Bam, another golem collapsed to the ground.

“He’s probably somewhere in the mansion. And…”

Arthur trailed off.

The damn summoner was somewhere in the mansion, and Arendt was the only one blocking him.

‘Idiot.’

The word fell out on its own.

It wasn’t something he couldn’t understand. It was only after things got to this point that he could guess why Arendt acted that way.

If Vincent were here, the knights wouldn’t be able to focus solely on stopping the golem.

“He should have said that from the beginning! He’s so annoying!”

Eventually, Arthur vented his frustration and defeated the golem with one blow.

Neumann, who had been evacuating people with his servants, came running in a panic.

“Sir Arthur! I have gathered everyone in the inner drawing room!”

“Is there a place that could be used as an escape route?”

“No, it seems like the mansion is completely surrounded.”

Arthur turned his head and checked his surroundings.

Just as the guys who had rushed in first were finally being sorted out, he saw Richt, Kendrick, and Diana joining in.

Some of the security forces that had fled returned and fought back, clinging to one of the golems.

Laius was looking around the inside and outside of the mansion while dealing with the golem, as if trying to grasp the overall situation.

“It will be sorted out soon. We will take care of it ourselves, so please stay with the people, Lord.”

At that moment, the golem, which had come within striking distance, swung its thick arms at the two people.

Arthur instinctively raised his sword, but before he could react, the golem suddenly stopped moving and came crashing down.

“Is everyone okay?”

It was Laius.

“Ah, Captain?”

Arthur looked at the Captain who had come over in an instant to help him, dumbfounded.

Laius swung his sword into the air and strode towards Neumann.

“Thank you for your hard work. Now, Sir, you too must evacuate.”

“Yes, yes… Oh, by the way, I haven’t seen Baron Cromwell for a while. I’ve been looking for him, but….”

Neumann, who had been staring blankly, suddenly came to his senses and continued speaking.

Laius gave him a slight nod.

“Okay, we’ll look into it.”

“Yes, good luck!”

Neumann hurriedly ran inside with his head down. Occasionally, golems would rush at him, but Helen and Benjamin covered for him from behind.

Arthur readied his sword after making sure that Neumann had evacuated to a safe place.

“Sir, Arendt…”

“I know.”

He asked in an anxious voice, but received only a cold response from Laius.

“Let’s sort this out as quickly as possible.”

Boom, boom!

He’s been feeling an ominous vibration up there for a while now.

It was right where Arendt and Vincent were facing off.

‘We can’t leave this place.’

Strength naturally entered his hand holding the sword.

It was a difficult task for just seven people to hold off this large number of golems, and above all, there was no way that Laius could not have grasped the current situation.

As long as he stayed firmly in place, he could not act rashly.

As if trying to shake off his distracting thoughts, he gripped his sword tightly and cut down a golem in one stroke. Right now, his priority was to focus on dealing with the enemy in front of him.

Vincent became increasingly anxious.

Even when that little brat stood in his way, he didn’t expect the standoff to last this long.

His opponent was only an apprentice knight.

It was originally supposed to be over in a few minutes. He was confident that he could completely subdue him and keep him alive until the end of this, and then drag him to the main office.

‘However…’

His fingertips that held his sword were already frozen. His other arm, which had been hit first by the cold, was almost useless.

After a few exchanges of blows, he felt a cold chill seeping through the shallow wounds here and there.

If he had been an ordinary person, he might have already died.

“Ah…”

Wuduk.

As he forced his frozen hands to move, the stiff skin contracted with a terrible sound.

Arendt was also not in good shape.

He slumped his shoulders and took a deep breath before coughing dryly. Blood spurted from between his lips. There were also several large cuts on his body.

Even in such a situation, his magic did not weaken.

The moisture in the air froze and settled as a white layer of frost at the young knight’s feet.

Breath that was out of season flowed out from between slightly parted lips. To Vincent, who knew the power of the Frosty Touch, it was all a threat.

Vincent’s eyes narrowed as he looked at his opponent.

Furthermore.

‘It’s a bit hard to reach.’

If he swung his sword with the intention of cutting off an arm, it would only cut off his forearm, and if he swung his sword with the intention of cutting off a leg, it would only graze his shin.

It seemed like he instinctively knew where to aim and how to block it. If it was intentional, it was great, and if it was instinct, it was also a great talent.

Even though a sharp sword was right in front of him, his eyes were so calm as if he was closely examining his opponent.

Indifferent… To be more precise, it was an attitude as if he was watching someone else’s business. It was a fiercely objective view that looked down on every situation from above.

“Why are you like this? Are you nervous?”

Arendt raised the corners of his lips at the gaze that was quietly looking at him.

Even while he was showing off like that, his whole body was in pain as if it was going to break apart.

In the first place, Vincent was a skilled person who could defeat both Arthur and Richt at once and run away, so the possibility of winning in a one-on-one fight was extremely low.

But he didn’t know that just holding onto his ankle and hanging on would be this hard.

One of the magic stones embedded in his sword had already broken, and the second one was losing its shine. This was because he had used too much magic power while using the Frosty Touch.

‘It’s a good thing that I have the magic stones.’

If he hadn’t gotten them, he didn’t know what would have happened already.

“No, I just wish we were on the same side. This is beyond words. It’s something I want to praise.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s not for you to decide. It’s my decision.”

“I know that, so it’s a shame.”

Vincent licked his lips and adjusted his grip on the sword.

His body reflexively tensed up. However, the point where the attack hit was different from what Arendt had expected.

Kkwaduk!

Vincent’s sword cut a large slash through the floor and sank towards Arendt’s heart.

He barely managed to fend off the attack, but a large scar was left on the ground he was standing on.

Vincent jumped lightly, kicking off the wall and soared up to the ceiling. Then he spun around in midair and planted both feet firmly on the ceiling.

“…!”

Arendt, who had been following his movements with his eyes, froze. A strangely large smile spread under Vincent’s mask.

There was a crack in the ceiling where Vincent’s foot touched. Vincent hit the ceiling hard and fell straight towards Arendt.

If he takes it head on, he dies.

Arendt’s strong intuition made him quickly throw himself to the side.

The next moment, bam! Vincent’s sword crashed into the floor.

Crack.

With an ominous sound, Arendt felt the ground beneath his feet disappear.