In the picturesque city, bearing a classic medieval atmosphere, faint glimmers of green and silvery-white light flickered through the air.
Inside a massive hotel, Promet was locked in combat with a grotesque old woman—fat, naked, and coated in viscous slime.
He raised his sword high and swung it horizontally through the air. A current of electricity surged along the blade.
"Activation."
Step by step, he advanced. Explosions erupted, blood spraying everywhere—it came from the rats.
He thrust his sword straight ahead, piercing through the curtain of blood. A thin electric current followed the trail of rat blood that had been blocking his path.
The current shot straight toward the old woman and detonated in a massive flash of light. The blast dealt almost no damage—while his sword nearly melted from the corrosive mixture of blood and filth.
Tch. Not enough time.
The old woman was a beast tamer. She wasn't strong in direct combat, yet she dared remain here—clearly confident in herself.
And indeed, she was justified.
The ground beneath Promet suddenly sank and collapsed. As he fell, he realized the rats had gnawed through the wooden structure below his feet.
"Are you fucking insane?!"
Promet froze when he realized it wasn't just one or two rats—there were dozens.
He immediately began chanting, conjuring a dense fog cloud around himself, then releasing it outward until the entire area was swallowed by mist and vapor.
The rats lost their vision—but that didn't mean they lost their prey. Maddened, they chased Promet as he slipped through the fog.
Meanwhile, the fat old woman lost interest in Promet and turned her gaze toward the others.
Janeus.
Luce, Hadelus, Alaxin, Jinxite—and the rest—were gone. Clearly, the enemy had already taken them away. Only Janeus remained, standing alone.
That meant the old woman now had the capacity to carry out the most important task.
Or perhaps she was the strongest one.
Though not combat-oriented, the rats alone were a nightmare—and that nightmare was now forming long ranks outside.
From the very beginning, Janeus—the second imperial princess—had been designated as the primary target for elimination.
And this moment was perfect.
At least five minutes before the authorities arrive. No one can break through the forces below right now. I should use this time.
Suddenly, something felt wrong.
Janeus… was gone.
From the start, it had been nothing more than an illusion.
"Did that bitch trick me?!"
The old woman flared with rage for an instant, then glanced back toward the pit. A scent drifted upward—one she knew all too well.
She decided she would question Promet first.
Then let him die.
…
Promet now stood in a room drowned in darkness. All around him echoed the squeaks of sewer rats.
A sound rang out from above—
—and then the floor collapsed.
A massive lump of flesh dropped down.
For a brief moment, the area was illuminated.
Click.
Darkness returned.
The old woman feared Promet might seize the chance to escape, so she chose to seal the area completely—turning it into a prison, cutting off all sound and signals.
"My children, that's enough. You don't need to eat him."
She spoke—but none of the rats stopped squealing. In fact, their cries grew louder.
Then she felt an itch.
The darkness around her seemed… slightly brighter.
The rats suddenly fell silent. Only faint, scattered noises remained.
"…"
Something was wrong.
She began to feel sharp pain coursing through her body. A ticking sensation pulsed with each second.
"Damn it!"
She tried to cast a spell to illuminate the room—
—but her legs buckled.
Her mind blurred, shrouded in mist.
She staggered upright, flailing her limbs wildly. That terrifying strength shattered everything around her, destroying all in reach—
Then… nothing broke anymore.
Only then did she realize—
The ground was slick, as if covered in water.
Her breathing quickened.
That smell… it's gone…
Thud.
She collapsed.
And before her, in that hazy space, she saw a silhouette sitting calmly.
Within the fog, tiny lights appeared—then vanished.
'The Machine' of Gate Academy.
Promet had killed a commander.
…
"Hmph. To think she underestimated others and jumped down there herself."
Janeus walked through the corridor, smiling faintly. She clasped one hand over the other as she moved.
As a member of the royal family, her information was closely guarded—but never impossible to obtain. In fact, many desired it with extreme intent.
Her perfume.Her clothing.All of it had been exposed.
She was certain that joining the battle directly would be foolish—they had prepared specifically for her.
So from the very beginning, she handed Promet her perfume before the battle started. Throughout the fight, she continuously worked to disperse her scent.
Still… I can't deny how thoroughly they prepared. Even in the false realities I experienced before, it was always a near miss.
Just looking at the fat old woman leading them made that clear.
She coated herself and the others in slime and wore no clothes for a reason.
First: the rats could likely only transport naked bodies.Second: it optimized bodily protection and made marking easier.
And that led to the second reason—marks.
The old woman was a noble. If Janeus used mana strong enough to kill her directly, it would leave a trace tied to Janeus herself—evidence the city could track.
Janeus was only a princess. She held no real authority, no solid backing. With this scandal, it would be easy to fabricate narratives and smear her reputation.
The third reason was her specialized mana.
It allowed the leader to track each member's position and direct the rats accordingly.
Even so… I didn't expect her to be stupid enough to fall into Promet's trap.
Promet lured her into a sealed room, created a humid environment, and gradually increased a massive electric charge.
He didn't use it directly—that would have exposed him.
Instead, he released it as raw mana.
More precisely, he manipulated the surrounding mana itself.
Heaven Mana relied on natural mana rather than one's own. It was drawn in and used externally.
Promet based his entire plan on that principle.
By redistributing raw mana, he created a sealed, humid environment, then released unrefined electric mana—no adjustments, no signatures.
He didn't kill her with brute force.
He killed her by suffocation.
Avoiding both complications and her close-range counterattack.
As a Heaven Mana user, Promet was far less affected by environmental mana.
The old woman, however, failed to notice the gradual oxygen deprivation. Her magic faltered due to the loss of concentration—an absolute requirement for mana use.
The slime only accelerated her death.
That was what Janeus and Lusk had seen.
A/N: At first, I intended to write this battle as at least 3,000 words, or spread it across three chapters, and make it far more complex. However, after finishing those 3,000 words, I realized it would be better to condense it. As a result, the version you are reading now is essentially a heavily summarized version of the battle.