Noble Lady Reformation Guide - Chapter 138: 4-star (3)

A rain of monsters was falling from the sky.

Along with the army the roaring demon endlessly vomited forth, the number of corpses raised by the Archlich exceeded the hundreds.

Each monster was weak enough to be easily defeated, but when they formed an army, even veteran mercenaries could do nothing but flee, panting for breath.

However, those gathered there were only the brave.

Guided by the heroine Rodelia, together with the veteran special forces, the finest soldiers of Count Belmierd, and the Beldern mercenaries who had spent their lives hunting monsters, they were people who knew how to wield their swords even when a horde came crashing down upon them.

Before the Beltus mansion became a nest of monsters, all of them wore determined expressions, ready to end everything.

The blood of goblin corpses mingled with the night air, the wings of monstrous bats tore apart, and the fangs of trolls wielding broken spears shattered.

Even so, the wave of monsters did not lose momentum. Rodelia clicked her tongue at that absurdly overwhelming offensive.

‘An Archlich and high-level demons… there’s a limit to how long we can keep killing these endless pests…’

She dodged the blade of a resurrected goblin’s axe and swung her Sacred Blood Sword, cleaving its neck in two.

Then, as she lifted her gaze toward the railing of the second floor of the grand hall, she saw Dereck drawing his sword under the moonlight.

‘We must aid Baron Ravenclaw and eliminate the source of all these monsters. Subduing Grand Duke Beltus is the top priority…’

Grand Duke Beltus was a five-star mage, someone Dereck could not face alone.

But to get close to him, they first had to eliminate the Archlich controlling the first floor of the main hall.

That chilling high-ranking monster seemed determined not to let anyone approach Dereck, commanding all the soldiers on that floor.

Breaking through was no easy task. That creature not only endlessly resurrected corpses but also cast advanced magic itself.

‘First… that Archlich…’

With that thought, Rodelia brandished the Sacred Blood Sword and charged toward the Archlich.

Whoosh!

On the railing of the second floor of the grand hall, Grand Duke Beltus, facing Dereck, had the veins in his eyes bulging as dark red magic enveloped him.

That nobleman, saturated with an overwhelming amount of necromantic energy, was astonishingly struggling to maintain control.

Even with the traces of madness that Fina had deliberately injected into him, a five-star mage somehow managed to resist.

However, his physical state was far from normal. He coughed up blood, his fingers trembled, and saliva dripped from his mouth—fighting against the madness of that necromantic magic was no simple feat.

“Ha… Huff… huff…”

“…”

“You… you… planned this?… turning my mansion upside down… and… doing this to me…”

Dereck, with a cold gaze, took a combat stance and answered briefly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“That… necromancer… that woman must have… another purpose… besides killing me… Huff… Huff…”

It was at the moment he had drawn his sword to kill Dereck that it all happened.

Though he found no clear proof, it was too much of a coincidence. He was convinced Dereck was involved somehow.

Dereck feigned innocence.

But judging by his cold eyes, he did not seem unrelated to the situation.

Grand Duke Beltus gnashed his teeth as he glared at him.

“You… damn you…”

“…”

“You’ll regret angering me for the rest of your life… Even if I end up in this miserable state… even if I’m falsely accused of some absurdity… I’ll drag you… I’ll drag you with me to hell…”

Grand Duke Beltus had manipulated countless people like chess pieces, killed those who no longer served him, framed his rivals, ruined families, and ruled with bloodstained hands.

However, Dereck had no intention of condemning him morally or speaking righteous words.

Having been entangled with the nobility for quite some time now, he understood.

No one who lived by power was completely clean. One way or another, everyone had blood on their hands, committed dirty deeds, or sometimes looked away from the right path.

Dereck also had blood on his hands since his mercenary days and was by no means blameless.

That’s how the world was. Perhaps Grand Duke Beltus had merely been fighting in his own way to rise within that mire.

Of course, for those who had suffered under him, it was a matter of hatred and pain, but in the end, he was nothing more than a man who knew no limits to his ambition.

Born of noble blood and gazing at the stars with a desire for greatness.

It might have seemed romantic, but hadn’t he considered the price?

“You talk too much, Grand Duke Beltus.”

When Dereck’s eyes glimmered, Beltus’s pupils widened for an instant.

Come to think of it, Dereck had never criticized his evil deeds or atrocities.

The reason he pointed his sword at him did not stem from a moral conclusion.

It was something far more primal.

If you point a sword at someone, you must be prepared for the blade to turn toward you as well.

That was all Dereck was saying.

“Did you not wish to seize the southwest of the continent and, beyond that, make your name resound throughout the world with power and authority?”

“…”

“Did you truly think such ambition could be achieved without facing a crisis?”

Just as Dereck had once reached toward the heavens, dreaming of attaining seven-star magic, this man, too, sought to climb endlessly toward that unreachable sky.

He cared nothing for the cruel circumstances that arose in the process.

If their paths crossed and one had to fall, at least Dereck had no intention of being the one to do so.

That was why Dereck drew his sword, pushed off from the ground, and charged toward Grand Duke Beltus.

Whoosh!

Fiery, human-shaped spirits rose around the duke.

Each of them, equipped with high-grade armor, was the result of four-star summoning magic.

Swoosh! Clang!

But before the spirits could even draw their swords, they were all engulfed in frost.

It was the three-star combat spell “Freeze.”

The memory of when Siern had instantly mastered the magic that had taken him a lifetime to learn flashed through his mind.

Crackle! Swoosh!

In an instant, everything around the railing froze, even the feet of Duke Beltus, fixed to the floor by ice.

But the duke invoked the two-star combat spell “Burst,” shattered the ice, and stepped back while launching more spells.

Four swords rose from the ground, aiming to pierce Dereck’s body, but he rolled over the ice and dove to the side.

Thud! Thud!

The emerging swords shattered the frozen floor.

Duke Beltus didn’t waste that brief moment and conjured new magic.

Though his own mana was nearly depleted, he forced himself to use the necromancy Fina had driven into him.

Grand Duke Beltus was a being completely different from the mages Dereck had faced before.

If he hid his skills or hesitated even for an instant, his life would be in immediate danger.

He had to give it everything.

To squeeze out every last drop of strength from his very core and clash with the sole determination to kill his opponent.

If he lost focus for even a moment, the blade would pierce his neck.

That sharp sensation, like walking a tightrope suspended over lava, ran through his body, raising every hair on his skin.

Death was close.

Ironically, the closer he came to it, the more alive he felt.

– Clang! Clang!

– Boom! Bang!

Grand Duke Beltus began summoning all kinds of weapons.

Steel swords, spiked spears, golden arrows, sharp scimitars, maces, and throwing weapons—so many that they surrounded the area like a storm.

Before Dereck could cast a defensive spell, his body was covered in cuts. The speed was so great he could barely react, but he broke through the wall beside him and hurled himself inside, securing a safer position.

“Damn you… You have no idea what you’ve done! I am fundamentally different from you—in nobility and in the magnitude of my ambition! I… have been chosen by this era to reach greater heights…”

Madness and desire.

The flames burning in Grand Duke Beltus’s eyes began to shine with an even more ominous energy.

Boom!

The inside of the wall where Dereck hid was a luxurious bedroom.

The fist of the enormous demon, roaring as if covering the sky, came crashing down upon the room.

Rumble! Boom!

That mansion belonged to Grand Duke Beltus, so he knew every corner of it.

All the summoned creatures moved according to his will; even the demons and monsters were under his control.

One way or another, this was Beltus’s domain—it was no exaggeration to call it the kingdom he himself had built.

His magical level was five stars, and the entire battlefield was his territory.

Facing him one-on-one in such a place was an impossible task.

However, Dereck, without changing his expression, leapt out of the room.

Thud! Bang!

He rolled once across the floor and ran down the corridor.

The grand hall on the second floor was too wide; the open space allowed Beltus to deploy multiple summons simultaneously.

To gain an advantage in battle, that space had to be restricted.

The surest way to do so was to draw him into a narrow place.

“So… you’re using your head… Kuhk… Huhk…!”

As he pursued him, an intense pain from the necromantic magic struck Grand Duke Beltus’s mind once again.

Blood began to flow from his nose, and the veins in his eyes bulged even more.

Amid the burning and agony, Beltus barely held onto his sanity.

He was a man destined to climb higher. He would not fall so miserably.

Clenching his teeth with that resolve, he used levitation magic and soared into the corridor.

Hwaaak!

Magic enveloped his hand as he gripped the five-star magic weapon Light of the Empire.

Although it was an inferior replica of the original, its power was still worthy of a weapon of war.

Anyone struck directly by that staff would die instantly.

To prove it, the amount of energy radiating from the staff was far greater than before.

Boom!

Dereck, running through the corridor, analyzed every corner, searching for an opportunity to counterattack.

Luxurious carpets, curtains, and all kinds of antiques decorated the hallway.

Although he couldn’t examine the layout of every room, most appeared spacious.

At the end of the corridor were the outer stairs, the servants’ tool storerooms, the Grand Duke’s office, and several empty rooms.

‘Haa… Hoo… Hoo…’

Dereck was breathing heavily.

As he advanced, various monsters emerged to intercept him, but he cut them down one by one with his sword.

His movements were so fluid it seemed as if nothing could hinder him.

But if he let his guard down for even a second, it would all be over. Beltus’s combat magic far surpassed that of any ordinary mage.

Cold sweat ran down his back; the chill of death coursed through his body.

Life or death.

A battle on the edge.

A sharp, bluish sensation he hadn’t felt in a long time.

As a child, it had been part of his daily routine—whether hunting goblins or facing trolls, he always had to risk his life; a single mistake could cost him an arm or a leg.

That feeling of walking along the edge of an abyss sharpened all his senses to the limit.

Only amid danger and such fierce battles could he burn his entire being.

The acute sense of crisis, like needles pricking every pore, spurred him on even more.

— Pull everything from deep within, defeat the superior beings, and remember that feeling in your hands. I know better than anyone the pleasure of that moment.

— Killing is something pleasurable. Though you don’t seem like the type to let yourself be swept up in that pleasure.

Though he could not agree with Fina’s deranged words, he had to admit there was some truth to them.

Only in extreme situations, at the brink of death, could one glimpse the realm beyond one’s limits.

By pushing his body to its utmost in every exchange, Dereck was reaching the summit of his own extreme.

Boom! Bang! Crack! Snap!

High-powered spells flew at incredible speed, destroying the corridor.

Though combat magic wasn’t his specialty, the Grand Duke’s destructive power surpassed Dereck’s.

Crack! Snap!

And his way of using magic was completely different from that of ordinary mages.

His power had no defined limits; he mixed combat, confusion, and summoning, transcending the magical system itself.

The system accepted in this era was nothing more than a structure established by a genius named Adelbert.

But the magic of those who grasped its true essence existed on a level others could never reach.

The fireballs he hurled contained Fina’s necromantic power—they weren’t flames that burned flesh but energy that devoured the soul and vitality.

The floating swords were imbued with confusion magic—illusions mingled among the real blades, and if you tried to dodge them with sight alone, they would cut you in an instant.

Snap! Crackle!

Dereck rolled across the floor to dodge a slash and cast a spell, launching fireballs toward Beltus.

Snap!

But Beltus destroyed them in midair with a mere furrow of his brow.

He had never seen such manipulation of magic before.

It was, without a doubt, the result of the duke’s countless years of research.

Dereck’s arm trembled.

His pupils dilated once more.

Seeing his reaction, Beltus smiled with bloodstained lips.

“What’s wrong? Do you finally understand the difference between you and me?”

A being two levels above.

No matter how much of a genius Dereck was or how fast he grew, he could never reach a fully developed five-star mage.

Did he understand that now?

Seeing his astonished expression, the Grand Duke raised his voice.

“Gaah… you… will never follow in my footsteps… Die here…”

From his staff, an even greater surge of magical energy began to burst forth.

Three-star summoning magic—Stone Turtle, Shadow Spirit, Magic Crow, Flame Wolf.

So many creatures appeared it was impossible to count them.

But Beltus didn’t use them directly.

Instead, he drew out a greater power and fused all those summoned beings together.

A fusion summoning spell.

A type of incantation nonexistent in any book.

Fina had once told him that to reach rank four or higher, one must touch one’s own domain—no longer bound by any system or formula.

If up until then you had been running along a path laid out for you, from four stars onward, you had to forge it yourself.

As proof of that, Beltus’s magic was filled with unpredictable variables.

Dereck’s arm trembled even more.

The duke, noticing his condition, smiled madly.

“You must be terrified. Now you understand how arrogant you were.”

Bang!

Without giving him a chance to breathe, the demon’s fist descended from the sky once more.

He had to fight not only the duke but also all the entities he had summoned.

It required reaction speed beyond human capability.

And even so, Dereck managed to evade and avoid a fatal wound.

Starlight filtered through the shattered ceiling.

The fused being’s joints were all twisted, and from its body flowed energies of various elements.

It was a half-wolf, half-human creature.

When it spewed fire, Dereck—who had just dodged the demon’s blow—was struck head-on.

Crash! Bang!

With superhuman reflexes, he shielded himself with magic, barely escaping death.

But the pain in his shoulder burned like fire, and his bones creaked as if several had shattered.

The moonlight, filtering through the broken roof, illuminated his figure against the wall.

Covered in dust and debris, breathing heavily, Dereck was clearly on the brink of death.

“Ha… ha, ha…”

The madness of necromancy began to devour Grand Duke Beltus once again.

Drooling, his face twisted, the archmage still resisted.

“Yes… those are the emotions befitting your level… fear… dread before death… ha, ha… tell me… how does it feel to face it?”

Throughout his life, many young nobles like Dereck had dared to challenge him.

At first, they carried pride and determination, but in the end, when crushed, stripped, and threatened at swordpoint, they all trembled the same way.

Dereck was no different—or so Beltus believed.

He delighted in watching that youthful arrogance crumble.

He enjoyed seeing Dereck covered in dust, trembling with wide eyes.

And just as he let out a mad grin—

“Yes… this is exhilarating…”

He noticed something strange.

Dereck’s hand was trembling, yes—but not from fear.

Madness takes many forms.

And Dereck was no exception.

“What…?”

Crackle, pop.

Dereck was a reserved man, but that didn’t mean he never smiled.

He smiled when it was necessary.

As a noble, it was something he was expected to do.

Sometimes, he even showed an elegant and serene smile befitting a refined gentleman.

But the smile he wore now was not one of courtesy.

It was something far more primal.

Duke Beltus’s eyes widened in shock.

In a situation where anyone else would see death before them, in an environment dominated by overwhelming power—Dereck was thrilled.

It was the tremor of one who had glimpsed a higher level of magic.

More than fear, it resembled the ecstasy before awakening.

Grand Duke Beltus was not the only madman there.

It was the first time Dereck had witnessed such magical manipulation.

The first time he had seen a summoning of such magnitude.

The first time he had observed a magic weapon of that power.

The first time he had faced such a complex fusion.

For someone who had felt stagnation, as if trapped behind the wall of three stars, this experience touched him directly.

What filled Dereck’s mind as he slowly rose was not fear but the pure exhilaration of a mage who had discovered a new horizon.

“Yes… your way of using magic is unique… I think I’m starting to understand it… interesting… truly interesting…”

And seeing that spark of talent, growing like a sponge absorbing everything, it was the other who felt fear.

Grand Duke Beltus suddenly realized it.

That man had to die—here and now.

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