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20 years ago.
The last remaining independent kingdom on the Manum Continent, Finis.
"Block them! Block them!"
Thud.
Outside, siege weapons battered the castle walls.
Inside, enemies who had poured in through the back north gate rampaged through the castle.
"Just who opened the castle gate for them!"
George Linea, commander of the Finis Kingdom's knights, swung his arms wildly.
Swish.
Silver threads reflected sunlight, glittering.
Slash, slash.
The heads and bodies of the advancing enemies were separated.
Already, the knight commander had slain hundreds.
But.
There were too many enemies.
"Despicable bastards! You could easily win even if you attacked head-on. Why do you resort to such vile tactics at the very end!"
Swish.
The silver threads danced tirelessly in the air.
Extending, coiling, and pulling, they butchered the enemy.
"Damn it!"
The number of newly arriving enemies exceeded those being slaughtered.
It was already difficult to hold out as it was.
Thump.
The south gate wall finally collapsed.
"Ah...."
The king had been taken hostage by the Marino Empire.
The number of knights had dwindled to a tenth due to the long war.
In the end, the council of elders chose the path of surrender to the Marino Empire.
"You goddamn sons of bitches!"
Tomorrow.
The Marino Empire and the Finis Kingdom were scheduled to hold talks tomorrow.
On that day, the council of elders planned to surrender to the Marino Empire, pledge allegiance as a vassal state, and bring back the king.
Just when it seemed this long war was finally coming to an end...
"Waaaaah!"
The Marino Empire's army poured in through the collapsed castle wall.
"What in the world...."
Where did it all go wrong?
He thought all the spies within the castle had been eliminated.
Was there still a spy remaining?
The number of enemies pouring in from the south.
Was incomparable to the number entering through the north gate.
The number of Marino Empire soldiers was greater than the entire population of the Finis Kingdom.
"How could they use such vile tactics when they possess such forces...!"
They had taken the king hostage long ago.
Scheduled talks for tomorrow.
Secretly picked the lock of the kingdom's back door, which had agreed to complete surrender.
Poured troops in through the back door.
And brought troops that couldn't even be matched from the start to the front gate, pushing them in.
Swish.
Knight Commander George Linea's silver threads moved even more busily.
"You goddamn bastards!"
Swoosh!
A swordsman on horseback severed George Linea's silver threads with an aura-infused sword.
'There are still plenty of silver threads left!'
Today, he would take as many of these bastards as possible to hell with him.
As George Linea tried to pull out the silver threads wound around his arm.
"Knight Commander George Linea. The last general of the fallen Finis."
"What?"
"Kneel."
"Bullshit!"
"Look around you. Your kingdom is finished. Knight Commander George Linea. The last remaining pride of the Finis Kingdom. Kneel. Then I will not kill any more of your people."
"...!"
The swordsman on horseback shouted.
A voice full of inner strength resounded throughout the castle.
"All troops! Cease attack!"
Saaa.
Instantly, the sound of clashing weapons subsided.
"George Linea. Choose. Will you abandon the last pride of the Finis Kingdom? Or will you choose the death of all Finis people?"
Gritting his teeth, crimson blood flowed from George Linea's lips.
'Either way... the Finis Kingdom is finished.'
If he could prevent any further casualties.
Not just kneeling...
Swish.
George Linea's silver threads briefly unraveled.
The silver threads wrapped around each of his knees.
Slash.
They cut straight through.
Thud.
George Linea's body, with its knees severed, rolled onto the ground.
George Linea propped himself up with his arms.
Shaking all over, he raised his body with his legless knees.
"I... knelt. I knelt so that I can never stand again, so please stop the slaughter now."
The swordsman on horseback laughed loudly.
"Wonderful. Wonderful. Truly befitting of the Finis Kingdom's last pride."
"Now, stop the indiscriminate killing. Our kingdom has already surrendered. There are few knights left to fight any longer."
The swordsman on horseback stared intently into George Linea's eyes.
"Watch closely, George Linea. See what happens when you show unnecessary pride to our Marino Empire."
George Linea's heart sank.
"What... what are you saying! I cut off my own knees because you told me to kneel! What pride have I shown!"
"No, no. Not now. From the beginning, I mean."
"...!"
"Watch closely. The end of a kingdom that resisted the Marino Empire to the very end. See it with your own two eyes."
The swordsman on horseback raised his fist high.
And brought it down forcefully.
Boo-ooo.
A messenger behind the swordsman on horseback blew a horn.
At the same time.
Swoosh!
"Kyaa!"
Thwack!
"Ugh!"
The Marino Empire's indiscriminate slaughter began.
"Leave not a single one alive!"
Blood flowed from George Linea's eyes.
"You... you... sons of bitches!"
The swordsman on horseback looked down again.
"You should have humbled your pride sooner. That very day we sent our first envoy."
"Ugh... Uwaaaah!"
George Linea's head turned wildly from side to side.
The knight comrades he had been with.
The blacksmith Cally.
Benjamin, who baked amazing bread.
Lucas, who he had a drink with yesterday.
Maria, who ran the only flower shop.
All were being brutally murdered.
George Linea's gaze turned toward a completely collapsed house.
It was George's house.
A small warehouse in the yard next to the house.
The warehouse door was slightly ajar.
'No. Don't come out!'
Through the slightly open warehouse door.
The pupils of a girl with unusually small black eyes could be seen.
The girl's unusually small pupils were moving busily.
Moving busily, chasing after the sight of her family, relatives, and neighbors dying.
As if trying to capture their last moments in her eyes.
Monster Eyes.
George Linea's only daughter.
Solveere Linea's nickname.
Because of her unusually small pupils from birth, she had been the target of teasing or fear since childhood.
Her eyes, full of white, gave people chills.
Even.
Depending on her emotional state, the size of her pupils would repeatedly shrink further.
Eventually.
George Linea's only daughter, Solveere Linea, chose to live in the warehouse herself.
After that, Solveere Linea never stepped out of the warehouse.
As time passed.
The little girl called Monster Eyes was forgotten in people's memories.
In her small pupils.
The sight of those who had called her Monster Eyes dying was fully captured.
And.
The sight of her father, grieving as he watched those people die, could be seen.
He had cut off his own knees.
And tears of blood were flowing from his eyes.
'Dad... must be in pain. Dad is a kind person, so those people must all be friends of Dad.'
The girl picked up the silver threads hanging on the warehouse wall.
Since being confined to the warehouse.
It was the girl's only friend.
The only thing to do besides eating and sleeping was to play with these silver threads.
The girl, with silver threads wrapped around her arms, looked out of the warehouse door again.
The figure of her father, holding his head in his hands and wailing, could be seen.
'Dad... the only person who was kind to me, Monster Eyes. Dad must be in pain. I'll make sure you're not in pain.'
Squeak.
After five years.
She opened the warehouse door herself.
Swish.
A strand of silver thread extended from Solveere Linea's arm.
'Beautiful.'
The silver threads reflected in the sunlight, glittering.
A sight she had never seen in the dark warehouse.
The silver threads, extending in a straight line, wrapped around her father's body several times.
"Solveere?"
"Dad. I'll make sure you're not in pain anymore."
Slash.
Solveere clearly saw it.
At the last moment.
Her father's smile.
"It's over there."
"If you're lying, I'll pluck out those monster eyes. Collin! Tie up this monster eye bitch tightly. Especially her arms, tie them tightly."
"Yes!"
The adjutant Collin ran up and tied Solveere's body tightly with ropes enchanted with defensive magic.
Only then did Espin Ellaina let go of Solveere's neck.
"Guide us, Monster Eyes."
Espin nudged Solveere's back.
The adjutant Collin followed right behind Solveere.
Espin followed behind him.
Davian, following from the rear, stared at Espin Ellaina's broad back.
The Witch of the Battlefield.
The Iron Swordswoman.
Espin Ellaina.
'Stronger than I expected... much stronger.'
He knew Solveere Linea's strength to some extent.
In the 3rd playthrough, he chose to cowardly run away.
But this time, he thought he could put up a fight to some extent.
He didn't think he would lose.
But he expected that some tension would be necessary.
He had devised a decent strategy.
But because they came to Portus City, he got involved with Espin Ellaina.
Well, it wasn't all bad.
'Espin Ellaina is entirely on my side.'
And he met Solveere Linea.
He thought he could handle it alone.
But he felt even more secure with Espin Ellaina by his side.
He wasn't even that nervous.
Still, he thought he should step forward first since Espin would be unfamiliar with Solveere's attacks.
And as the silver threads were released from Solveere's arms.
Espin, who had drawn her sword in an instant, accurately slashed the silver threads eight times.
How could such speed come from those burly muscles?
Espin, who had subdued Solveere in an instant, uttered the word "Monster Eyes."
Monster Eyes.
Solveere's trigger.
If someone said that word, Solveere would slaughter everyone there, regardless of whether they were enemy or ally.
But.
He didn't know how many times Espin had already said the word Monster Eyes.
But far from triggering her.
She was calmly leading the way.
Espin, seemingly bored of walking, stretched out greatly.
Her burly muscles twitched.
'There's no cure for the trigger...'
Anyway.
Marquis Espin Ellaina.
Was a much stronger force than Davian had thought.
"Two over there. Are those guys your party?"
Espin pointed to the 2 o'clock direction.
There was only dense foliage in the direction she pointed.
He couldn't see anything.
Solveere nodded.
"Monster Eyes. I expected you to pull some trick, but you actually guided us to your allies?"
"Not allies."
"This Monster Eyes. What a disloyal bitch. Collin, Davian. Keep a good eye on this Monster Eyes."
Collin gave a short salute.
"Yes! Marquis."
Paaang.
Along with the sound of splitting air.
Espin Ellaina's body soared into the air.
Soaring toward the 2 o'clock direction.
Collin approached Davian.
"Davian, do you feel any presence over there?"
"No."
"I see. Just how much more do I have to train to become like the Marquis? No. Can humans even become like that?"
Davian was also surprised.
No matter how much he maximized his senses, he couldn't feel anything.
"That's what I'm saying."
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