Sara Dunphy descended from the sky.

She placed her hand on Liam’s shoulder.

Liam looked at his lord with a bewildered expression.

“My Queen… Why are you here…”

“You lost, Liam.”

“N-no! I can still fight! A warrior never loses until death…”

“Enough.”

Sara Dunphy raised her hand.

The numerous jewels wrapped around her slender forearm made a pleasant jingling sound.

Liam bowed his head, keeping his mouth firmly shut.

“So it was you all. The ones who’ve been exchanging magic with me.”

Sara Dunphy smiled at the group.

“Thanks to you, it was quite entertaining.”

“This isn’t the time to act so casual. You’re next, pig.”

“Hahaha! How amusing. Do you truly believe you can defeat me?”

“Such bravado from someone who can’t even use flight magic properly because of magic backflow.”

Park Hyun-a was certain.

Sara Dunphy was experiencing magic backflow as a consequence of forcefully using high-level magic.

Magic backflow isn’t something that can be easily treated.

It can’t be reversed by using recovery magic or taking a short rest.

Backflow requires at least a day, or up to a week of rest and care.

Despite appearing composed, she must be desperately concentrating to control the raging magic within.

“Well, there’s no need to hide it from such an excellent mage as yourself. You’re right. My condition isn’t very good right now.”

Surprisingly, Sara Dunphy admitted it easily.

She continued, “But isn’t that the same for all of you?”

Sara pointed at Park Hyun-a.

“The most skilled mage is out of stamina and magic.”

Next, she moved her hand to point at Bobo.

“The beast will die if left like that. It’s losing too much blood.”

Next was Choi Hyun-seok.

“And the hero…”

Sara Dunphy frowned while looking at Choi Hyun-seok.

“How are you even standing? Your body should be dead any moment now.”

“This is just everyday life for me.”

Choi Hyun-seok said with a smirk.

Sara Dunphy shook her head.

“I’ll acknowledge your willpower. But such bravado won’t work on me.”

“…”

“Anyway, given the situation, let me make a proposal. How about we both withdraw?”

“What nonsense.”

Park Hyun-a spat on the ground.

“Anyone can see we have the advantage, why should we withdraw?”

“Oh? If you really think so, why don’t you attack right now?”

“…”

“If you think you’re at such an advantage, come at me. Even in my current state, I’m confident I can take the lives of those who are already half-dead.”

Park Hyun-a ground her teeth in frustration.

‘Shit… What should we do?’

Because Choi Hyun-seok was acting too casual, she hadn’t noticed, but after hearing Sara’s words and looking again, she could tell he really wasn’t in good shape.

Plomot had already ended and he’d returned to his original body, and his fingertips were trembling very slightly.

It was probably remarkable that he hadn’t fainted already.

‘I’m about to collapse too. And the mutt will die soon if left like this.’

After Park Hyun-a’s stamina ran out, Bobo, who had faced Liam alone, had lost too much blood.

“Grrrr…!”

His current growling appearance was no different from that of an injured beast.

‘In the end, only Abelson remains…’

Though Abelson was also tired, she was in relatively better condition compared to the others.

In other words, Abelson was their only remaining fighting force.

‘Can Abelson defeat that lich?’

Abelson Mariette, whom she had taught for a month.

She certainly possessed outstanding talent.

Her holy power was exceptional, and her physical abilities were quite impressive too.

Nevertheless, Park Hyun-a couldn’t imagine Abelson defeating Sara Dunphy.

Even in her incomplete state, the opponent is an extraordinary powerful being.

Seeing her use flight magic, it was clear she hadn’t completely lost her ability to use magic.

Then Sara Dunphy spoke, “You seem to be under a misunderstanding, so let me tell you.”

“…”

“I’m proposing a truce to save Liam, the kingdom’s supreme warrior. It’s not because I’m afraid of losing to you.”

“Unacceptable! I cannot bring such shame to Your Majesty!”

“The loser talks too much, Liam.”

Sara Dunphy’s voice suddenly turned cold.

“… I apologize.”

Liam stepped back, grinding his teeth.

“So. What will you do? Will you accept my proposal?”

Park Hyun-a checked Choi Hyun-seok’s condition.

‘This bastard… He fainted!?’

Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes were unfocused.

He had fainted while standing with his eyes open.

Suddenly, Sara Dunphy’s words came back to her,

“How are you even standing? Your body should be dead any moment now.”

She had thought it was somewhat exaggerated, but it wasn’t.

Choi Hyun-seok was really on the verge of death.

Park Hyun-a heaved a deep sigh.

“Huu… Alright. We’ll withdraw for today.”

“A wise decision.”

Sara Dunphy smiled and flew up with Liam.

“Before I leave, I’d like to ask something. Fire mage, what’s your name?”

“What good would knowing it do?”

“I simply want to remember the name of a mage who left an impression on me. Next time, I might kill you before I get the chance to hear it.”

Park Hyun-a smirked.

“It’s Park Hyun-a.”

“Park Hyun-a… What an unusual name. I am Sara Dunphy. Remember this name in your moment of death.”

With those final words, Sara Dunphy flew away with Liam.

After they completely disappeared from view.

Park Hyun-a quickly ran to Choi Hyun-seok.

“Hey! Wake up! Choi Hyun-seok!”

There was no response even when she shook him.

“Abelson! Heal Choi Hyun-seok first!”

“Yes!”

Abelson hurriedly approached and began healing Choi Hyun-seok.

“You should have said something if you were about to die, you bastard!”

Park Hyun-a cried out while looking at the motionless Choi Hyun-seok.

***

“Where is this…”

Choi Hyun-seok looked around with a puzzled expression.

“Where was this place again…”

The scenery reminded him of an old European city.

Carriages passed along cobblestone streets, and people were haggling and trading goods in lined-up shops.

He was sure he’d been here before, but couldn’t remember when.

After pondering for a while, Choi Hyun-seok finally remembered where this was.

‘Ah! This is Scolbon, the capital of the Mariette Kingdom. But why am I here? What was I doing originally…’

As Choi Hyun-seok was wondering why he was in Scolbon.

“What are you thinking about?”

A beautiful voice rang out.

Choi Hyun-seok turned his head in surprise.

“Who…”

Flowing black hair contrasting with snow-white skin.

A woman with captivating eyes and red lips sat across the table.

“It’s not polite to be lost in thought in front of a lady.”

“S-sorry.”

She was so beautiful it felt like just looking at her could take your breath away.

Choi Hyun-seok felt his whole body tensing up unconsciously.

‘Get, get it together… No need to be this nervous just because she’s beautiful…!’

His fingertips trembled finely.

Choi Hyun-seok swallowed hard and looked at the woman.

“Um…”

“Yes?”

“You’re really beautiful. Haha!”

Choi Hyun-seok laughed awkwardly.

‘Idiot! Why blurt out she’s beautiful out of nowhere!’

Had his mind frozen along with his body?

He had blurted out whatever came to mind without thinking.

His tongue, usually so smooth when flattering others, wasn’t working properly when it really mattered.

‘She’ll think I’m weird. What should I do?’

Just as Choi Hyun-seok’s worry deepened.

“Beautiful… So you’re saying I’m pretty?”

The woman said with a grin.

An unexpectedly good response.

Choi Hyun-seok hurriedly nodded.

“Of course! You’re more than pretty. You’re truly beautiful! The most beautiful person I’ve ever seen!”

“Hmm~ But what should we do about this?”

Suddenly the woman’s voice dropped low.

“I’m not human though?”

“Huh…?”

Just as Choi Hyun-seok blinked.

The woman’s mouth began to tear.

Her lips kept spreading beyond human limits until they reached her ears.

“U-u-um, e-excuse me…”

“Am I still beautiful like this?”

“Y-yes… Of c-course…! Haha…!”

Choi Hyun-seok trembled like an aspen tree.

The trembling that started in his fingertips had spread throughout his entire body.

Only then did Choi Hyun-seok realize.

His body wasn’t tense and nervous because the woman was beautiful.

The reason is his body had frozen.

It was the fear of prey meeting a predator.

“Am I still pretty? Hmm~?”

The woman’s mouth kept spreading until it was nearly 50cm wide.

“Well…”

Choi Hyun-seok trembled while cold sweat poured down.

Her mouth, which hadn’t stopped growing, was now large enough to completely swallow Choi Hyun-seok.

“How about nooow~?”

“U-uwaaaaah-!”

Choi Hyun-seok screamed and rolled on the ground.

“P-please spare me! I’m sorry!”

Choi Hyun-seok wailed with his head pressed to the ground.

“I don’t want to die yet! The blonde noble. I can’t die yet! I haven’t met the noble lady or seen my rabbit-like child! Please just spare my life!”

He shouted rapidly with his eyes tightly shut.

He wanted to live even if it meant begging for mercy like this.

“…”

After a while passed, nothing happened.

‘Could I have been eaten already…?’

Choi Hyun-seok opened his eyes slightly.

“Bobo…?”

A smaller Bobo was looking at him, panting.

Lick-!

Bobo approached and licked his face.

Choi Hyun-seok hugged Bobo in confusion.

As he turned his head while sitting on the ground, there were three women looking at him with exasperated expressions.

“Huh…?”

“What are you doing?”

Park Hyun-a asked with a serious expression, furrowing her brow.

Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes began darting around busily.

“Well… That…”

After being dazed for a while, Choi Hyun-seok suddenly spread both arms wide.

“Ta-da! This was my new technique!”

“…”

“You see, I pretend to beg pathetically to lower the enemy’s guard and then strike when they least expect it. What do you think!? Of my new technique!”

“Idiot.”

Park Hyun-a clicked her tongue and turned away.

“Hero, you know what?”

“…”

“Rachel is sometimes genuinely embarrassed by you.”

Rachel lowered her head with a gloomy expression.

“Um… Did the healing go wrong?”

Abelson approached with a worried face and held up three fingers.

“Mr. Choi Hyun-seok. How many fingers do you see?”

“Three.”

“Strange. His pupils look clear and he seems fine…”

“Leave him be. The hero sometimes acts like he hit his head really hard.”

“…”

Only Bobo’s panting could be heard in the quiet cabin.

“Heh! Heh!”

After reading the room, Choi Hyun-seok got up from the floor and naturally sat down in a chair next to the table.

“Ahem! So what happened? Did we win?”

Park Hyun-a sighed.

Since Choi Hyun-seok was trying so hard to act like nothing happened, she decided to play along.

“The lich woman and the pig. They both ran away.”

“I see, so that’s what happened…”

“We had no choice. You fainted while standing up, you know?”

“What? I did?”

“Yeah. You fainted with your eyes wide open.”

“Hahaha…”

“You think this is funny? Next time tell us in advance if you’re about to die. I really thought you were fine!”

Choi Hyun-seok gave an embarrassed smile.

“My original dream was to be an actor. I wanted to go to Hollywood and be a superhero movie star.”

“What nonsense. What kind of hero plants their head on the ground and spouts such pathetic lines?”

Suddenly Park Hyun-a made a crying face and started begging mockingly.

“Please spare my wife! I’m a virgin who’s never even dated! It’s too cruel to die like this! Boo hoo!”

Choi Hyun-seok’s face turned bright red at Park Hyun-a’s blatant attack.

“When did I say that!?”

“It was exactly like you though.”

Park Hyun-a smirked and leaned back in her chair.

“Anyway, we lost to the enemy. I went to check the battlefield while you were passed out, but there was nothing. They disappeared without a trace, nice and clean.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Nothing to be sorry about. If we had fought there, we all would have died anyway.”

If Sara Dunphy hadn’t wanted to save Liam.

The group might have been wiped out right there.

“Sigh, this is troublesome. That woman will really cause problems if we leave her be.”

Park Hyun-a muttered with a serious expression.

Sara Dunphy.

She was truly a monster.

Reminiscent of Hemis.

‘Though the feeling is slightly different…’

While Hemis’s magic itself was in unknown territory,

Sara Dunphy used magic from the same system as herself, yet showed unbelievable control.

Her abilities were the unknown factor.

She seemed at least one level, maybe two or three levels above her in magical skill.

‘Plus her theoretical knowledge is outstanding too.’

Even Park Hyun-a, who understood most modern magic theory, couldn’t comprehend her magic usage.

Added to that were various spells that no longer existed.

Her only weakness was having slightly less total magic than herself, but even that would gradually increase over time.

By then, she would surely have perfected her adaptation to magic as well.

When that happens, Sara Dunphy would have no weaknesses at all.

“As time passes, she’ll become too strong to touch.”

“Then what do we do?”

“… I don’t know, shit. We’ll figure something out. I did what I could. Just wiping out the undead army was an achievement.”

Not just herself, but Choi Hyun-seok, Abelson, and Bobo too.

Everyone performed beyond their capabilities.

What more could they have done in that situation?

“Well, if that woman really goes wild later, the Holy Empire will handle it. They never let anything interfere with their business.”

“What if Gatren loses?”

“Gatren won’t lose.”

Park Hyun-a said with serious eyes.

“I know from fighting for years. Gatren doesn’t lose. That mouth woman actually died trying to invade Gatren, right? No matter how strong that lich is, she can’t be stronger than the mouth woman.”

“That’s true.”

Hemis was completely off the charts.

Although Sara Dunphy was impressive, she didn’t seem stronger than Hemis.

‘Hmm… Come to think of it, Hemis seems to be alive.’

He recalled the woman he encountered in Scolbon, Mariette Kingdom.

Why had he dreamed of her today?

Though he had no evidence, Choi Hyun-seok was convinced she was Hemis.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Ah, nothing.”

But this was just his own thought.

There was no need to bring up Hemis right now.

“Then let’s get going.”

Suddenly Park Hyun-a stood up.

Choi Hyun-seok blinked as he looked at her.

“Where are we suddenly going?”

Park Hyun-a spoke with a look that said isn’t it obvious.

“We finished the job, so we need to go collect our payment.”

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! If you would like to support me or read advanced chapters, you can do so by unlocking chapters.

https://ko-fi.com/ippostranslations