"I Reincarnated But Have No System? You Must Be Kidding Me!"

Austaire stood her ground before the two elves.

Her sword shimmering under a blazing golden aura which illuminated towards the surroundings.

Her eyes glowed with an unshakable dominance, reflecting light like molten sunfire. To the elves before her, she was no longer just a human princess. She was a war goddess, descended upon their sacred forest with a presence that demanded reverence and fear.

Their gazes shifted upward, landing on the glowing panel of her Divine Frame.

And the moment they looked at it, they both frowned.

'This...'

*

Name: Austaire Katana Golrath

Level: 34

Title: Golden Knight of Unyielding Justice

Class: Sunsteel Knight

*

A Sunsteel Knight belonged to one of the rarest knightly classes in existence.Even among the elite, their kind was spoken of more often in hushed whispers than witnessed in the flesh. Possessing this class did not merely enhance a warrior's physical strength- it fortified the mind, sharpened instinct, and heightened the senses to danger itself.

And standing before them, she embodied the legend. Her beauty was undeniable, but beauty alone did not make the elves wary. It was the way she carried herself- the blend of elegance and overwhelming authority- that made the air feel heavier.

"Are humans really this powerful? I heard differently about their power," Anast'cia said through gritted teeth as she pushed herself up with her spear.

Her face was streaked with dirt, the grit clinging to her skin where sweat had dried. Every breath burned in her chest, but the sting to her pride cut far deeper than the aches in her body.

"No," Gondar said, stepping in front of her, his presence a wall between her and the human. "Just like Auren, this human is a special case."

The unspoken truth hung between them- if they wanted to bring this human down, they could no longer afford to hold back.

"I bet Auren is going to laugh at us for failing to catch this human after ditching them," Anast'cia muttered, the image flashing in her mind: Auren's insufferable smirk, the way his eyes glinted with mischief, and the low, mocking chuckle that always followed his victories in sparring.

"Then I suggest you back away and leave this to me."

Gondar's voice was low and steady but edged with finality.

The air between them seemed to still. His eyes began to change, the whites bleeding into black as his pupils swelled and ignited in a deep, predatory crimson.

"You wait for the timing," he added.

She answered with a sharp nod, her fingers tightening on her weapon.

A faint hum rose in the air, like distant thunder before a storm, as Gondar's focus sharpened to a razor's edge. The forest seemed to hold its breath.

[HUNTER'S GAZE]

The forest around him drained of all color. Pale gray shadows swallowed every tree and rock, leaving only Austaire's glowing figure bathed in vivid light. In this state, she could hide behind stone or tree, dive into rivers, even bury herself under dirt- it would not matter. \\

His vision would always find her. Even with his eyes closed, she would be there in his mind's sight.

An unbroken, 320-degree view surrounded him. No blind spots. No escape. This was the pinnacle of a predator's perspective.

"Let the hunt begin," he murmured, stepping backward. Mana leaked from his pores in faint, curling wisps.

[SHADOW FADE]

His body bled into the environment, colors and heat patterns shifting until he was nothing more than a ripple in the air.

Shoosh~

Within seconds, he was gone. He vanished without a trace. His mana masked his scent, stifled the sound of his steps, and cloaked even the faintest shift of air around him.

"You're dead now," Anast'cia said with a crooked grin. She knew Gondar's strength was not in brute force, but in the silent hunt, the predator's patience followed by a kill too swift to counter.

Yet Austaire neither flinched nor blinked. Her stance held firm, her burning gaze daring him to try.

'Does he think he can hide from me?' Ovan's voice curled with mockery in her mind.

'It's fine. We'll pretend we don't see him. Let him think the shadows are his—then we'll make them ours.'

After all, within the fifty-meter reach of his detection skill, his invisibility might as well not exist.

Far ahead, under the dimming forest light, Gondar's body flowed between roots and shadows. Two flickering shapes materialized at his sides- clones, each as tangible as the original. They crouched low, waiting for his signal.

'Let's see if you can still block this.'

From his belt, he drew two curved daggers, each wickedly sharp. With a twist, he locked the handles together, forming a single sinuous weapon. It was neither dagger nor sword- it was a long, wavy-edged boomerang made for both slicing and returning.

Mana seeped into the metal until even its faint reflection faded, granting the weapon the same invisibility as his body.

His clones mirrored his actions. When the three hunters found their angles, Gondar's voice came like a whisper in the leaves.

'Now.'

Whoosh!

From a tangle of bushes, one of the shadow clones burst forth, a perfect replica of Gondar in motion. It whipped the spinning boomerang through the air, the weapon slicing leaves as it tore toward Austaire.

"Princess-"

"I know."

She shifted her weight in an instant, springing sideways. But as she moved, she caught it- the boomerang turned with her, angling to follow.

'Mana control, huh.'

It was a dangerous and extremely difficult technique to master. Guiding a weapon through the air with invisible threads of mana, almost like holding a leash on a blade.

Most warriors struggled to maintain both control, precision, and speed; and even seasoned mages often lacked the control for it.

But the elves, with their deep connection to the forest's mana, wielded it like an art.

Fortunately for Austaire, she had faced such tactics before.

'Its turning arc is limited by speed. I'll let it close in, then slip past at the last possible second.'

Her gaze darted across the field. She was certain she wasn't facing just one attacker.

The moment arrived. She pivoted sharply, the spinning blade slicing past her hip with barely an inch to spare.

'Got you.'

Gondar's smirk hid in the shadows. Her dodge had been expected, a lure for the real strike.

From her right, the second clone emerged, its spinning blade cutting in at a near-impossible angle. At the same instant, the true Gondar unleashed his own weapon toward the spot where he knew she would land.

Three projectiles hurtled toward her, converging in the same heartbeat, each one timed to strike her blind spot.

Not good.

Her options shrank to almost nothing. With no time to fully reposition, she twisted her body, letting two blades slice past, and snapped her sword up just in time to meet the third.

SWOOSH!SWOOSH!CLANG!

The clang rang out like a bell, steel sparking under the force. The impact shuddered up her arms, but the assault didn't stop.

"Take this!" Anast'cia's voice split the chaos.

Princess, be careful!

[THUNDER FANG]

Her spear dropped from above like the wrath of a storm god. The shaft burned white-hot, arcs of electricity leaping between weapon and earth.

KRAKABOOOM!

The ground split open on impact, jagged cracks racing outward as lightning tore through the soil. The air reeked of ozone, and for a heartbeat the world was nothing but blinding light and rolling thunder.

"Let's see you survive that!"

Anast'cia wrenched her spear free, a victorious grin breaking across her face—until she felt it. The balance was wrong.

This…

Her gaze fell to her weapon. The lower half of the shaft, the reach and leverage she depended on, was gone- sliced clean, as if by a blade sharper than reality itself.

"No! My spear!"

'What kind of blade is that…'

From the shadows, Gondar's smirk faltered. One of his own daggers lay in two perfect pieces on the ground. He had forged them from dark runesteel, a metal said to drink the light and never yield- yet it had been cut like paper by the golden sword of the Austaire.

"You!" Anast'cia's frustration boiled over. She stepped forward, ready to launch into another strike-

- but the dust from the blast curled away in slow spirals, revealing Austaire standing in the clearing. Her robes were untouched, her gaze calm, as though the storm had passed around her without daring to touch.

Whooosh.

"This is my final warning. Leave me alone, or I will have to resort to force." her voice was filled with unyielding dominance.

The golden aura around her intensified, wrapping her like a living flame. Her hair lifted as if caught in an unseen wind, her eyes now blinding with light.

Her sword's aura grew so dense it warped the air, producing a high, grating sound like metal against a grindstone.

"If you attack me once more, I will not hesitate-"

The light in her eyes shifted, gold bleeding into a deep, merciless crimson. The air changed with it, elegance dissolving into pure, murderous intent.

Her sword sang again, this time not like a weapon but like a wailing spirit.

"To kill you."