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

The air inside the clearing was thick with tension, every breath tasting faintly of iron and ash. Even the trees that ringed the battlefield seemed to lean away from the unfolding storm, their leaves trembling as if aware of the power about to be unleashed.

With a subtle gesture and a deliberate channel of his mana, Auren activated the hidden runic inscriptions woven beneath his leather armor which he creatively named Manamor.

Faint blue lines lit up under his red and green suit, pulsing like veins of light, and the mana in the area shifted sharply.

'What's this?'

Austaire's eyes narrowed, her golden brows knitting in suspicion at the sudden, unnatural flow in her surroundings. It was as if the air itself was being dragged toward Auren!

Ovan's voice snapped into her mind, urgent and sharp.

'Princess! His armor,it's pulling in the mana around him like a black hole. He's preparing something dangerous. End this fight now before he,'

"Aaahhh."

Auren's relieved laugh cut through Ovan's warning like the snap of a drawn bowstring.

His smile unfurled slowly, the corners of his lips tugging upward in quiet triumph, eyes half-lidded as though savoring the taste of victory before it had even arrived. A shiver of bliss traced down his spine as the flood of mana seeped into his every pore, filling him until his very bones seemed to hum.

"Yes…" His voice was low, almost reverent, before rising into a sharp, manic bark of laughter that belongs to a villain. "This is that feeling. Mwhahaha!"

The runes etched into his armor flared brighter in response, the glowing lines writhing like molten rivers, shifting and re-forming as if alive.

It was his own creation,an audacious reimagining of the legendary mana armor once worn by Mathes, the chieftain of the elven goldhair tribe.

It was the relic had been whispered about for generations, said to draw the very seemingly rich mana in the air of the Runewood into its fibers.

When Auren first learned of the rare thread capable of holding a runic inscription that siphoned mana from the very air, the idea had seized him like a fever.

"With this armor," he murmured to himself, "I can keep that greedy golden egg in my soul-space well-fed… and still have enough mana to spare,especially with the Blue Bull at my side."

The road to realization had been anything but smooth. It had taken months of stubborn persistence,pleading with reclusive elves, striking costly bargains, prying fragments of forgotten craft from the lips of grizzled artisans, even coaxing guarded truths from Mathes himself.

By candlelight, under starlit skies, with brittle, ink-faded manuscripts spread before him, Auren worked tirelessly. And when the moon surrendered to the sun, he kept working still.

Piece by piece, thread by enchanted thread, he forged his own version of the armor- his masterpiece.

Back at the present, the sound of metal shifting broke the moment as Austaire tried to grab the momentary chance.

CLANG!

Austaire slid her sword slightly back to balance her stance, her shield moving into position in front. Her jaw tightened, and her eyes flashed with intent. She would not waste another breath on hesitation.

"Let's finish this," she declared, her voice a steady, commanding note against the hum of raw energy in the air.

WHOOM~

The power inside her surged. Her body became a beacon as golden light burst forth, coating her from head to toe.

It was more than mere mana,it was the mark of her lineage, the awakened Phoenix blood's gift. Her aura grew brighter and thicker until it extended three meters from her form, warping the air with its heat.

The explosion of power rippled outward like a shockwave, stirring the dust and bending nearby grass flat against the earth.

Her golden aura was not merely for show. It was a living barrier, a wall of pure will and refined mana that dissolved hostile magic before it could touch her flesh.

To breach her defenses, one had to break the aura first by at least a much stronger aura. Few could even dream of trying.

'What a terrifying power',

Gondar thought, squinting against the glare.

'So this is the true strength of the Phoenix bloodline',

Anast'cia breathed inwardly, her throat tight from the scene.

The pressure was suffocating.

Anast'cia and Gondar both staggered back despite being seasoned warriors themselves, their knees weakening.

With every second, the air seemed to grow heavier. Every breath an effort, and their mana control faltered under the weight of her presence.

"What the - ughk~"

Micha'el, who had barely regained his footing after his earlier wounds, collapsed instantly. His body convulsed once before falling down, foam spilling from his mouth as he lay still.

A voice rang out from the shadowed treeline.

"What in the gods' name is going on?"

Jaira, newly arrived, halted at the edge of the gathering.

Her eyes darted from Austaire to Auren, disbelief carved into every sharp line of her face.

"Is that the human the queen warned us about? How is she radiating this kind of aura?"

The weight in the air pressed harder against her shoulders, and she realized with a slow, sinking breath that even her own body felt heavier.

Leon'do stepped forward to join her, arms crossed in measured scrutiny.

"I thought humans were supposed to be fragile compared to elves," he said, voice low. "This doesn't look like fragility to me."

From deep within Austaire's mind, Ovan's laughter crackled like embers catching flame.

'Hah! Look at them. They fear you, Princess!'

"I know," she murmured inwardly.

"I hate using this form because it reminded me of the King, but maybe after today, they'll stop interfering with me."

In truth, this golden blaze was not a weapon she wielded lightly.

Its power was indiscriminate. Even her most loyal elite knights had crumpled under it in training. Before the awakened power of the Phoenix, all bowed, friend and foe alike.

Her grip on her shield tightened.

'I just need to end him. Once Auren falls, the spirits of my family,and of the children lost,will finally be freed.'

[SHIELD ROAR]

The emblem on her shield flared to life, drowning the clearing in a sudden white-gold light.

From the brilliance, the visage of a giant lion emerged, its mane flickering like wildfire. The lion's maw opened wide, unleashing a bellow that was less sound and more physical force,a cone-shaped blast that warped the air and churned the ground into chaos.

GRRROOAAARR!

The shockwave slammed forward, splintering tree trunks, shattering stone, and reducing a twenty-meter stretch of earth into a churned wasteland with Auren in the center.

Gasps rose from the watching elves.

"That's…!"

"It's like the White Fang's Primal Roar!"

"But that's impossible,she's a human!"

When the dust settled, the impossible became reality.

Auren stood exactly where he had been, unmoved.

But this time, revealing to everyone his own golden aura.

But unlike the Austaire's, his golden aura shone brighter, longer and much heavier. Its glow so intense it painted the ground around him in molten light.

Seeing this, her stomach knotted.

'No… this can't be.'

Even her own brother's aura reached only three and a half meters and he was considered a monster!

Their father's aura, King Aurelus himself, could reach up seven meters and is considered as a walking disaster!

But this young man, the third prince that is supposed to be dead, is radiating a golden blaze that towered at least ten meters high!

Ovan's voice came quietly into her mind.

'Princess… remember what Emperor Rhomeov decreed? Only those with Phoenix blood purer than the King himself is the rightful successor to the throne!'

"Yes," she whispered inwardly. "It's why the Soulfang household wants me gone."

'Then you already know what this means?'

"I do."

The truth clawed at her.

This was no accident.

Auren's presence here, his bloodline, his strength,they all aligned toward a single, dangerous truth.

'He was the most rightful heir to the throne of Austerra at the first place!'

Her mind reeled.

Could that be why her father had wanted him executed? Not because he was a threat to the realm, but because he was too rightful a claimant of his coveted throne?

The ground trembled under Auren's next step.

Auren's eyes locked with hers.

"My turn, big bister."

His aura flared higher, heat shimmering in the air, and then,he moved.

One blink, and he was upon her. His sword was already mid-swing.

"Princess, block!" Ovan shouted in her head.

Her shield rose in time, but he twisted his blade mid-strike, cutting low toward her legs.

Clang!

She intercepted with her sword, the impact jarring her arm to the shoulder. Auren followed up with a downward slash.

[SHIELD WALL]

she commanded, bracing herself.

Klang!

The next blow felt like a battering ram, forcing her back three steps, boots gouging furrows in the dirt.

'Too strong… and too fast!'

Panic whispered through her mind.

"Going turbo!" Auren mumbled as he continued to barrage her with more attacks from almost all angles.

He wasn't just overpowering her,he was outpacing her and anticipating every defense!

'My skill's cooldown can't catch up. I need to back away for a moment.' she thought.

But Auren's strikes flowed one into the next, each faster and sharper than the last.

She slashed at him, but he was already behind her, the edge of his grin glinting in the corner of her vision before another blow came.

Clang!

Clang!

Golden light collided with golden light, their auras sparking in violent bursts where they met. The ground beneath them cracked from the pressure alone.

From the safety, the elven comrades of Auren can only watch with wide eyes and gaping mouth.

Clang!

Clang!

But as the fight raged, Austaire's will wavered.

The realization of his lineage gnawed at her focus.

This wasn't just a fight for survival. This was a duel against the man who, by every right, should be wearing her kingdom's crown.

'But I don't know what kind of ruler he would be…' The thought weighed her sword arm like lead.

Auren saw it,the faint lag in her defense.

He swept her legs.

Pah!

She hit the ground hard, her shield rattling against the dirt.

THUD!

In the next heartbeat, his sword tip hovered inches from her throat, the edge gleaming in the golden haze between them.

"Listen well, Princess intruder," he said, each word honed to an icy edge. "Think of me as you will,it matters little. But understand this,"

His gaze narrowed, a storm of long-buried rage and grief burning in his eyes.

"I have my own reasons to see King Aurelus fall. I have my own dead to mourn… my own debts to settle in blood. You look at me and think I've had it easy, but you have no idea,no fathom,of the hell I've crawled through to stand here."

The tip of his blade inched forward, the cold steel kissing the air between them.

"So if you insist on painting me with his shadow… then I'll end this here and now,and save us both the trouble."