To Avia, who had arrived in this era, even though he hadn't known exactly what time period it was beforehand, he was very familiar with the girl standing before him now.
A white-haired, tan-skinned girl—God's scourge, the Hun King Attila.
Her true identity was a cosmic vanguard who once burned nearly all civilization on Earth over thirteen thousand years ago. She was the titanic being "Sefar," designated as Velber 02. After disintegrating into dirt in the Sahara Desert, what remained was a buried terminal—a backup of her core or brain unit.
Thirteen thousand years ago, at the moment when Earth was on the brink of annihilation, a wielder of the original Holy Sword—the strongest "phantasm" forged from the world's wishes—pierced through the massive giant. Even though Sefar possessed a body tougher than any earthly substance, even bones capable of withstanding stellar heat, she could not endure that one final blow from the strongest sword of all fantasies.
In the end, the pseudo-spirit particles Sefar had absorbed from Earth fluttered away like fine snow. Her defeat created an opening that allowed the Moon Cell to act. In that brief window, the Moon Cell generated an isolated space within itself, enclosing the cosmic vanguard's true body in an unknown dimension and sealing her away.
Moreover, the Moon Cell launched one final counterattack into the cosmos: sealing the coordinates and navigation path leading to the Solar System.
Since then, it had been unleashing powerful interference across the entire galaxy, shielding itself from the gaze of the wandering stars for over thirteen thousand years.
"I am Attila. Don't call me 'Attila the Hun'—that name isn't cute at all."
Backlit by falling snow, the girl's expression remained stern, but her crimson eyes, half-veiled in shadow, narrowed slightly. Clearly, hearing that name had lifted her mood a bit.
When she first learned that Avia was only two years older than her, Attila didn't feel anything in particular.
After all, she existed solely for battle—or so the elders of the Huns had always told her.
She had no father, no mother, only her identity as a descendant of the Huns.
Indeed, Attila had no memories of parents—no family, no friends. In her world, there were only enemies to fight. Just like the combat markings engraved on her body the moment she awoke, it was simply her nature to fight.
To fight relentlessly—that was Attila's nature and her duty. She had never once questioned this role.
However, this boy—who never managed to beat her but always found a way to scrape out a win with strange illusions—kept pestering her with the same speech every time he won. Gradually, she started paying more attention to him.
"Killing is natural. That's what warriors do. Kill, kill, and kill again—burn, plunder, crush your enemies, destroy everything.
Attila, I won't deny your nature. You're just focused on swinging your blade and carrying out your slaughter. Sometimes I do the same. But I just want you to understand—what does battle mean to you?
And you're not alone. You have a family. Not the Huns here and now, but your real family. Up there in the sky."
Whenever she gazed alone at the star-filled sky at night, trembling with loneliness, Attila would remember those words—like there really might be family waiting in the heavens.
And Avia hadn't lied.
Attila was once part of a civilization that had been assimilated by the cosmic invader. On her original planet, she held royal blood. Chosen by the stars, she was transformed into a vanguard. The reason she spared Gilgamesh—whom she called "Father"—may have been because she wanted to make him into a new vanguard as well.
The wandering star sent three starships into the Solar System. Attila was Velber 02. She had an elder brother—Velber 01—and a younger sister—Velber 03.
However, Earth hadn't been their primary target. There must have been other civilizations within the Solar System at the time, and they had gone off to harvest those instead.
Perhaps this faint sense of kinship was why Attila began to contemplate her purpose beyond just fighting.
So when the Hunnic tribe and the Western Roman Empire reached an agreement to exchange hostages, she was the first to step forward.
She wanted to see if what Avia said was true—if there was another way to live beyond killing. Could she roam freely as a traveler on horseback, or perhaps plant wheat and farm the land like the people she had seen from afar? Hunt wild beasts and birds?
Unfortunately, life as a hostage in Western Rome was far from what she imagined. Her movements were restricted. She was forced to attend court lessons and hear church doctrine she had no interest in.
If not for Avia's persuasion, she would've destroyed it all already. The only god she cared about was the war god—Mars.
From the moment she began learning their language, young Attila latched onto the concept of a war god. She had asked the elders, and learned that there was one in the Western lands—Mars. So she lifted her iridescent sword and declared:
"Then my sword is the Sword of Mars. That's what I want to call it."
Perhaps it was because, during the Sefar era, she had been impressed that this primordial god of war could even slightly injure her.
"By the way, Avia—where did you go? You're the one who told me not to wander off, yet you disappeared on your own. Ever since we got to Rome, you keep lying to me."
Just as Avia was about to walk past her, the girl suddenly reached out to block him. Her eyes, which had just been squinting slightly, now opened wide—dead serious.
"I've been right here with you this whole time."
Seeing her reaction, Avia raised a brow in amusement and smiled playfully.
But Attila, who had already seen through his illusions, simply shook her head and replied calmly:
"That's not what I meant. It's fine if you're not with me. I just wanted to give you my Sword of Mars so you wouldn't get hurt—because you can't beat me."
"...Don't worry. I'll be back soon. And besides, I'm only a little weaker than you now. With my illusions, I always win."
"You still can't beat me fair and square. And your illusions don't work on me anymore… So, what exactly are you going out there to do?"
Avia turned around, his expression softening to match the atmosphere.
"Well then—I'm off to slay a dragon, bathe in its blood, and then come back to defeat you fair and square."