Page 371 of The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

? Reduces the target’s regeneration ability by 50%.

? The target suffers continuous bleeding for 30 minutes.

? Healing becomes impossible for a certain period.

The Blessing of Doom isn’t particularly useful in one-on-one battles. Unless you’re up against someone like Olaf, who can regenerate even after losing a limb, most people would already be fatally injured after being struck by my sword.

However, it’s a different story when dealing with a monstrous beast that regenerates endlessly.

“GROOOOAAAAHHHH!”

I calmly raised Kaliburn and measured the distance between myself and the beast.

‘This should be close enough.’

It was a range where my aura-infused sword strike would easily reach. It would be ideal to target the creature’s main body underwater, but that could risk shattering the entire ice field, so I had to be cautious.

“Hmm...”

“Focus all firepower!”

“Don’t be afraid! Fight! The Crown Prince will protect us!”

“WAAAAAAHHHH!!!”

Well.

“They’ll figure it out somehow.”

If the rallying cries had included something like, “Ricardo will protect us,” or “The Desmont family has our backs,” I might have felt differently. But the knights’ blind faith in the Crown Prince irritated me. So, I lightly swung my sword toward the monstrous creature rampaging across the ice.

I infused my strike with the will to cut through the sea itself.

“SHAAAAHHHH...”

To be honest, I was curious.

What kind of power would my sword unleash when Kaliburn’s abilities combined with my own?

Since becoming a Sword Master, I hadn’t had a proper opportunity to wield my full strength. During the Holy Sword contest, Elicia had been my opponent, forcing me to hold back. And in my sparring sessions with Darbav, I had to restrain myself to avoid seriously injuring him.

But now—

“GROOOAAAAHHHH!”

I was facing a beast, not a human.

“Freeze the sea, mages!”

And there was no need to worry about collateral damage in this “training ground.”

“I can’t resist this...”

Maybe this is why the head of the household couldn’t resist either.

“Meteor. Meteor. Meteor. Meteor. Meteor. Meteor. Meteor. Meteor. Meteor. Meteor.”

Remembering Darbav’s satisfied expression as he unleashed his Meteor spell, I let out a quiet laugh and released my grip on the aura-charged sword. Farther. If possible, I wanted to split the beast in two with this strike.

The space itself seemed to fracture.

“CRAAAAACK!!!!”

[Your aura has been infused with the ‘Dark’ attribute.]

The black aura, imbued with the depths of the abyss, cleaved through the air.

The waves that blocked the sword’s trajectory parted as if granting it passage, and the densely packed legs of the beast, rooted like a forest, were smoothly severed.

‘...’

Although I couldn’t see into the deep ocean, the intense tremors reverberating through the ice suggested that the beast’s main body had sustained a significant injury.

“GROOOAAAAHHHH...”

“Oh.”

As if to confirm this, the beast began thrashing violently beneath the water.

“Everyone, fall back!”

The tentacles rampaging across the ice, seeking the source of the attack, began sweeping away Wolfgang’s knights like bowling pins.

Some knights had their legs crushed. Others abandoned their comrades and fled.

“Tsk.”

Had Wolfgang brought capable knights for this hunt, they might have been useful. But his unilateral decision to gather a ragtag group of men meant they were useless.

“With that level of skill, you think you can hunt this beast?”

“Our Wolfgang Knights are experts in dealing with such creatures. We can’t risk harming the residents of the western sea.”

“How absurd.”

I could cut down the tentacles as much as needed. The Blessing of Doom would slowly whittle away the beast’s strength, eventually revealing an opening.

But dealing with the main body was the real challenge.

At this rate, I had a sinking feeling that I’d be the only one left standing by the end of this hunt. Wolfgang’s knights, tasked with serving as bait, weren’t even fulfilling their role properly.

“This is annoying.”

I needed to aim for the main body...

“Retreat!!!”

But the damn knights kept getting in the way, preventing me from executing a proper strike.

‘Master.’

‘Yes?’

‘It might be better to wipe them all out. At this rate, that octopus might escape.’

‘...Hmm.’

Even as Kaliburn offered its advice, I silently continued cutting down tentacles and covering for the knights. In the end, I had to save those who could still be saved.

“Everyone, duck.”

“...!”

“I’ve warned you.”

Swish...!

A Wolfgang knight narrowly avoided the sword strike aimed above his head, letting out a sigh of relief before resuming his frantic fight.

“Ha.”

It was frustrating. They were fighting hard, so I couldn’t just tell them to run away.

“Charge!!!”

It was difficult. Truly.

Standing atop the shattered ice, I gazed into the ocean below. The abyss swallowed the depths, and the only visible things were the tentacles blooming like flowers.

“This is strange.”

A sudden thought crossed my mind.

The beast dominating the western sea was undoubtedly strong, but was it truly so powerful that Duke Belian couldn’t defeat it?

So far, the beast’s only strength seemed to be its size. Its tentacles weren’t barbed, nor did they secrete acid. They merely struck with brute force. Could a Sword Master really have fallen to such an opponent?

In the novel, the [N O V E L I G H T] beast was enslaved by black magic, making it somewhat different from its current state. Still, it hadn’t been an easy foe to overcome.

‘Did they underestimate it?’

No.

Considering the calm and rational nature of the previous Duke of Belian, they would have made a composed and logical judgment.

‘Then am I just too strong now?’

No, that wasn’t it either.

While I was exceptionally powerful compared to other Sword Masters, someone like Roen, with similar skills, would also treat this creature as nothing more than a warm-up.

"Then...

‘There must be something I don’t know.’

It seemed highly likely that the beast was hiding something capable of baffling and neutralizing a Sword Master.

Otherwise, there’d be no reason for the Duke of Belian to have perished.

The battlefield was chaotic, contrasting with my increasingly focused thoughts. While Wolfgang’s knights, hastily dispatched to boost their family’s prestige, continued firing magic at the beast, the Crown Prince and Wolfgang relentlessly unleashed wide-range spells to inflict damage.

“GROOOAAAARRR...”

Cheers erupted as the beast began retreating its tentacles into the sea under the continuous assault.

“Yes! It’s slowing down!”

“Now’s our chance! Keep pushing!”

But...

“This feels...off.”

As the tension began to ease due to the seemingly favorable turn of events—

“GUUUUUUUU...”

An ominous premonition crept into my mind.

If...

“KUOOOOOO...”

Just maybe...

“RUMBLE, RUMBLE...”

If this beast had already fallen into the hands of the cultists long before the events described in the novel, even back when the previous Duke of Belian had died...

“Damn it...!”

As the realization began to take shape—

“BOOOOOOOM!!!”

A deafening roar tore through the air, threatening to rupture my eardrums.

“CRAAAAAACK!!!”

The ice field split apart.

“RUMBLE, RUMBLE...”

Freezing seawater surged toward Wolfgang and the Crown Prince, radiating an aura of impending disaster.

“Save the Duke!”

“Get the Crown Prince to safety! I’ll find a way out!”

“Pull them up!”

The waves were crashing—not toward the shore but back into the sea, spiraling as though draining into a sinkhole. A massive whirlpool began forming before my eyes.

A small dot swallowed the waves, growing larger with each second.

SPLASH, SPLASH...!

The dot, devouring the waves, expanded into a colossal circle, as though intent on consuming everything.

“...!”

As the ferocious tidal waves whipped across the battlefield, dark clouds began gathering in the sky.

“So, this is its true power...”

I let out a breath, awed by the beast’s unnatural ability to reshape nature itself. The damage was already catastrophic, and if the cultists became further involved, there would be no point in saving the Crown Prince or continuing the hunt.

“Damn it.”

Should I have followed the Crown Prince’s orders?

Shielding my face from the pouring rain, I peered into the whirlpool. If there were signs of cultists, I’d have to act, no matter the cost.

If an apostle was involved, they had to die.

Even if it meant losing the Crown Prince, the cultists’ power had to be diminished. That was the reason I kept the Crown Prince and Wolfgang alive in the first place.

“Duke Belian.”

“Why are you calling me?!”

“Tell everyone to stay far away.”

“You...!”

“...”

Duke Belian, seeing the stern expression on my face as I stared into the vortex, refrained from questioning further and nodded.

“Understood.”

“There’s no time.”

“...”

“Hurry.”

Duke Belian moved swiftly, rescuing the Crown Prince and Wolfgang from the sea. After pulling the stranded soldiers to safety, the Duke collapsed onto the ice, exhausted.

“...I see it.”

I focused my gaze on the depths of the whirlpool, which had exposed the ocean floor.

The tentacles were moving rapidly, circling the waves in a tight spiral.

And within that spiral—

“GUUUUUUUUAAAARRRR!”

The main body of the beast came into view.

As I sighed deeply, spotting the beast's form, I jumped into the water. If the creature was already in the cultists’ hands, it had to be dealt with.

SPLASH, SPLASH...

As I descended, nothing indicated the presence of cultists or apostles, but I couldn’t afford to let my guard down.

“MOOOOOOOONNN...”

“Kaliburn.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Lend me your strength.”

I would kill it in one strike.

“...!”

Ssssshhhhhh...

·

·

·

As my red hair trailed through the water, I stepped onto the ocean floor—only to freeze in place, stunned by the sight before me.

“...?”

“An octopus?”

“...???”

An octopus...was talking.

No, a girl with a pink octopus head was saying something incomprehensible.

“An octopus?”

The beast stared at me and extended a small tentacle.

“...Huh?”

The tentacle held a squid.

“Are you giving me this?”

“Octopus.”

“As a peace offering?”

“Octopus.”

“Uh...well...”

The beast looked at my hesitant hand, its eyes beginning to tremble.

“Octopuuuus?”

“Well, I mean...I’m supposed to hunt you...”

SPLAT.

At the word hunt, the beast dropped the squid onto the ocean floor and began to cry.

“OCTOOOOOOOPOOOOOOOUS!!!”

And so—

“Uh...”

“OOCTOOOOOOOOOO...”

“Please don’t cry, okay?”

The hunt was...a success.