I Became a Swordsman in the Middle Ages.

“As expected of Sir Hyder!”

The Windsor Knights were returning to the capital after completing their demon extermination.

A knight named Selon spoke to Hyder, who was riding his horse at the front.

“Whew- that earlier moment. I’ll never forget it for the rest of my life.”

“It’s nothing special, so stop making such a fuss.”

“How can we stay quiet after seeing that! It’s every knight’s dream!”

Nod nod.

The other knights who had been watching carefully also nodded their heads.

Hyder, who had blown away an entire dungeon with his Ultimate Technique because it was troublesome, was the very embodiment of coolness.

Ultimate Technique, a skill that only those with titles above ‘Sword Devil’ could use.

However, it was relatively common to see in the Windsor Knights.

Hyder felt a bit uncomfortable.

“Why are you acting like it’s your first time seeing an Ultimate Technique?”

“Now we just need to see Lady Sisilia’s, and we’ll have seen them all!”

“What, you haven’t seen Sisilia’s yet?”

Hyder quickly understood his own words.

“Well, Sisilia is the type who doesn’t waste power.”

“Do you know about it, Sir Hyder?”

“Why ask such an obvious thing? I’ve been on several missions with her.”

“Ooooh-!”

The surrounding knights began to sparkle with interest.

It was a bit creepy seeing thirty men act like this.

But it was hard to resist a story about Sisilia – the only woman in the knight order, and an incredibly cute and beautiful one at that.

“…What was it called, Wind Shear?”

“Oh! It must be a technique that slices with wind?”

He guessed based on the name.

But Hyder shook his head.

“No. That’s a Domain.”

“D-Domain?”

His eyes widened.

“There are only a handful of those in the entire Arcadia continent, right?”

“She doesn’t seem to like it much herself.”

Hyder shook his head as if he couldn’t understand.

“But it looked like a normal barrier…”

“Can I ask about its effect?!”

“That? It’s nothing special. If you’re inside it, death is certain.”

“Pardon?”

He blinked at the absurdly overpowered ability.

Hyder shrugged.

“Tell us more details!”

“I don’t know much either. Sisilia never tells anyone. Everyone just speculates. They say if you stay in the Domain for a certain time, death is certain, and the stronger the opponent, the longer that time becomes. But you know what? Sisilia has never needed to maintain the Domain for more than 2 minutes.”

“H-how strong is Lady Sisilia exactly?”

Hyder, who had been speaking proudly, suddenly shut his mouth.

‘…How strong is Sisilia?’

That was the funniest joke he’d ever heard.

Because Hyder had witnessed it.

-Please forget what you just saw. And stop insisting at drinking parties that my barrier is a Domain.

The sight of Sisilia effortlessly slaughtering high-ranking demons without batting an eye.

-Or I’ll get really, really angry.

And her warning.

Gulp-.

“…What I just said is absolutely secret, okay? If it gets out, Sisilia will get super mad.”

***

A man.

There was a man.

“Interesting.”

Eyes red as if steeped in blood-

Skin not just white but pale, devoid of any signs of life.

He was suddenly standing next to Sisilia.

As if he had been there from the beginning.

Whoosh-

Darkness fell over the capital.

Not natural darkness, but one that shouldn’t exist.

The air felt remarkably cold. And heavy.

This presence was at least at the Demon Duke level.

No- perhaps a Demon King.

An irregular who shouldn’t exist in the capital at this point in time.

“The goddess’s power has weakened, hasn’t it.”

‘The others.’

Sisilia looked for the Windsor knights from the corner of her eye.

They were trembling, unable to do anything with dilated pupils.

Already paralyzed by fear and unable to move.

But clearly alive.

Sisilia let out a small sigh of relief.

“I thought it was just a mere servant running wild.”

‘…Servant?’

Was he talking about the demon at the flame a few days ago?

There wasn’t enough information to be certain.

“However.”

The demon looked at Sisilia.

Leisurely standing with his hands behind his back, he showed not even a hint of tension despite being in the very center of the Kingdom of Rianen.

“Are you not afraid of me?”

The same was true for Sisilia.

“…Should I be?”

The demon’s interest shifted from the flame to Sisilia.

After staring at Sisilia for a while with chilling eyes, the demon answered leisurely.

“There’s no need.”

The demon turned his head back to the flame.

“Human. What is your name?”

“Sisilia of the Windsor Knights.”

“I am Demon Duke Cain Baltazarion.”

Sisilia tilted her head.

“You’re just a Duke? That can’t be right.”

Cain’s red eyes, which had shown no change until now, filled with surprise.

Then he smiled and said.

“‘For now,’ I am a Duke.”

‘He means he’ll soon become a Demon King. Which means he’ll get even stronger than this… This is a bit troublesome. It would be too cruel to make the newbies kill him.’

Sisilia placed her hand on her sword’s hilt to adjust its level.

-Whoosh.

At that moment, an invisible aura was released around her.

Cain’s eyebrow twitched slightly.

“A Domain-type Ultimate Technique? You have good talent for a human.”

“It’s just a simple barrier. I’d feel bad if the noise woke people up.”

A dense wall of wind wrapped around the area.

At the same time, the four unauthorized Windsor knights were pushed outside the barrier.

They coughed as if they had been holding their breath for a long time.

After confirming this, Sisilia closed the barrier. Now, no one could enter or see inside the barrier.

“Are you going to fight?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t mind, but-”

Before the demon finished speaking, his presence became far greater than before.

Whoosh-

The already unstable flame shook more violently.

Though it didn’t quite go out, rekindling several times.

But at this point, it might as well be considered half-extinguished.

“It won’t be you.”

“……”

Crack-.

The entire barrier cracked.

Cain hadn’t used any special technique.

He had pierced Sisilia’s barrier simply by increasing his presence.

‘He’s stronger than I thought.’

Having taken a hit, Sisilia adjusted the difficulty rating for the entity named Cain.

‘Probably even more than a real Demon King.’

By Another World standards, this being was clearly stronger than a Demon King.

‘Could the entire Windsor Knights win if they all attacked together?’

The answer came immediately.

Impossible.

Sisilia calmly lowered her hand.

Cain wore a strange smile as if amused.

“It seems you’re the one who killed my servant.”

While she was considering how to lure him away naturally-

A familiar voice was heard.

-‘ Damn it, what the hell is going on?’

-‘I-is this Lady Sisilia’s Domain?’

The hunting party seemed to have returned.

‘Why at this timing.’

The barrier was half-destroyed.

Right now, it was barely blocking the demon’s aura.

If they tried to enter, they could easily do so.

However, Sisilia couldn’t take her eyes off Cain to change the wind flow now.

-‘A high-ranking demon has invaded. Selon! Go gather all the Windsor Knights! The rest, follow me to help Sisilia!’

-‘ Yes!’

“It was quite an enjoyable time, but it seems uninvited guests have arrived.”

‘Don’t come.’

Sisilia said internally, but there was no way they would listen.

“Huk.”

As soon as the knights entered the barrier, they collapsed, unable to withstand Cain’s presence.

Like dominoes.

“Damn it.”

Among them, only Hyder, a high-ranking knight, barely managed to stay standing by supporting himself with his sword.

‘Don’t.’

Sisilia wanted to shout. But she couldn’t say those words.

Then the demon would read it.
That Sisilia didn’t want their deaths.
If he knew that wish, the demon would move in the direction Sisilia least wanted.
That’s the kind of being demons are.

“Sisilia—! I’ll create an opening!”

Hyder, who had somehow overcome the aura, swung his sword with all his might as he charged.

Clang!

Sisilia instantly blocked Hyder’s sword and kicked him away.

“Kuk!”

The kick landed precisely in his abdomen, and Hyder’s body flew like an arrow and crashed into the wall.

“Wise.”

The demon was still looking at the flame.

“Just now, you saved quite a few lives.”

“……”

“However, it’s also true that I’m displeased.”

Cain reached his hand toward Sisilia’s head.

Sisilia watched without moving a muscle.

His hand passed over Sisilia’s head, reaching for the flower crown.

The moment he touched it.
The flower crown crumbled, unable to withstand the aura of death.

“Since I’m an uninvited guest, I’ll leave it at this for payment.”

Cain tried to pass by as if he had finished what he came to see.

‘Ah.’

Sisilia was staring blankly into space.

The flower petals scatter.

The powder had lost its bright color and turned to mere ash.

She remembered the face of the young child who had placed the flower crown on her head with a bright smile.

Sisilia’s composure, which hadn’t wavered even when facing a being comparable to a Demon King, shook.

Crunch—.

‘Endure it.’

If she fought him here, this city would be finished.

The barrier didn’t work on him.

If a battle broke out, this whole area would become a wasteland.

‘I must endure.’

The child who gave her the flower crown and the Windsor knights over there would all die.

‘No.’

Think realistically.

If she engaged in an all-out war with the demon at this point, the end result would be—

Just herself standing alone in the ruined capital.

“I warn you.”

Her silver eyes sank frighteningly with her sword precisely aimed at Cain’s neck.

“If you step foot on this land again.”

The demon looked down at the sword held to his neck.

“You will die.”

Her attitude was as if stating an obvious fact.

Emotionless red eyes brushed past Sisilia.

Sisilia was staring at Cain with cold eyes.

‘What is this?’

Tremble tremble.

Cain’s hand shook slightly.

Fear.

The survival instinct that all living beings must feel.

‘This is an emotion I’m experiencing for the first time. What should I call this?’

Unfortunately, he didn’t know that this emotion was called fear.

He only felt it faintly.

“Sisilia, was it?”

He realized that she before him was different from other worthless humans.

“I look forward to it.”

With those final words, Cain disappeared.