While Arthur openly mocked the customs of the nobility, a figure silently appeared and knelt before him.
It was Souei.
"Master, the Holy Knights, together with the Ten Great Saints, led by Hinata Sakaguchi, have arrived at the city gates."
"Hinata Sakaguchi came as well?!"
Archbishop Reyhiem lit up with excitement upon hearing that.
His entire body trembled with anticipation, as if he had just heard of the arrival of divine salvation itself.
His eyes shone with almost fanatical enthusiasm.
"It would be best if you escorted us out of this city," he declared with renewed confidence. "Otherwise, Hinata Sakaguchi and the Great Saints will certainly annihilate this city!"
"Are you threatening my father?" Angelica said coldly.
The sentence was delivered in such a frigid tone that it seemed to cut through the air.
Shion, Benimaru, Souei, and even the newly arrived Mjurran clearly felt the pressure emanating from Angelica.
Reyhiem could not help swallowing nervously.
At that moment, he felt an unprecedented killing intent.
He knew that if he dared utter even one more disrespectful word toward Arthur, that woman would rip his head off immediately.
A doubt began to form in his mind.
Did they truly not understand the power of Hinata Sakaguchi?
Driven by a strong instinct for survival, Reyhiem quickly lowered his head.
"I apologize. I was reckless and ended up causing offense."
He took a deep breath before continuing.
"But perhaps you do not understand the importance of the Ten Saints. Each of them is as strong as a Demon Lord."
Reyhiem spoke while carefully observing Arthur's reactions, hoping to finally see some sign of concern.
The central doctrine of the Western Holy Church was the supremacy of humanity, and all monsters were considered enemies of mankind.
However, seeing the entire group remain completely unfazed, Reyhiem became somewhat perplexed.
No one looked intimidated, worried, or even slightly disturbed.
Had he been too vague?
"You are even more foolish than I thought."
Arthur let out a sigh full of disgust, as if he had just heard something genuinely irritating.
Then he slowly stood up.
"Let me make something very clear."
His voice was calm, yet filled with absolute disdain.
"Even if Luminous herself—the goddess you worship—were to appear before me at this exact moment…"
Arthur slightly raised his chin.
"She would have to kneel before me."
It was a declaration delivered with the natural confidence of someone merely stating an obvious fact.
"Do you really think I would fear mere humans?"
He spoke while calmly walking past Edmaris Falmuth, Razen, and Reyhiem.
He did not even spare them a glance.
"Benimaru, Souei, Shuna, Shion, Angelica, Treyni, Gabiru, Geld, Gobta, and Hakurou…"
He continued walking without even turning around.
"Let's go welcome our visitors."
Then he added with the same calm tone:
"Benimaru will fight Hinata Sakaguchi."
The decision immediately caused Angelica's complete displeasure.
She frowned, clearly unhappy with it.
Benimaru, however, reacted very differently.
A wide grin spread across his face, and his eyes shone with excitement.
---
---xXx---
As soon as they stepped out of Nova Uruk, Arthur's gaze immediately met Hinata Sakaguchi's.
For a brief moment, the two simply stared at each other from afar, like two commanders evaluating the battlefield before the first move.
Arthur observed every detail of the woman before him: her firm posture, cold gaze, and the natural way her hand rested on the hilt of her sword.
Shizu… you should have told me your student was this beautiful, he thought with slight amusement.
The memory of Shizue Izawa briefly crossed his mind.
On the other side, observing Arthur from afar, Hinata involuntarily tightened her grip on her sword.
Her gaze grew even colder.
"I will avenge you, Teacher Shizu."
However, as the leader of the Holy Knights, Hinata possessed extensive experience in combat and enemy analysis.
She was not someone who fought purely based on emotion.
After a brief observation, Hinata's heart filled with shock.
As someone who came from another world, when her physical body arrived in this world, Hinata obtained a powerful Unique Skill: Usurper.
This ability specialized in "stealing."
Whether it was a skill…
Or a summoned entity, such as elementals or demons.
It allowed the user to completely analyze a target's abilities and arts, and later copy or even steal them.
It was an extremely powerful ability.
However, there was a condition.
It only worked on targets stronger than the user.
If the target was weaker, the analysis simply returned as "not applicable," and the user could not determine, copy, or steal their abilities.
On the other hand, if the target was stronger than the user, the ability could either fail or succeed.
Failure meant the analysis could not penetrate the target's capabilities.
This usually happened when the target was particularly powerful.
And that was exactly what happened now.
Among Arthur's entire group, her ability failed to evaluate Benimaru, Arthur, and Angelica.
In other words…
At least three of them were formidable enemies for her.
How was that possible?
The information provided by Glenda was extremely flawed!
But fate had already been set in motion.
And Hinata had no other choice now.
Furthermore, the Holy Knights who had come with the army of the Kingdom of Falmuth were also trapped in this situation.
If she could not find an effective way to deal with this, the prestige of the Western Holy Church would be completely destroyed.
The situation was desperate.
Her only option was to force an opening and defeat at least one of the strongest enemies.
However…
That possibility was extremely remote.
If she had to face that red-haired Oni and the blond man at the same time in a two-against-one battle…
She would have no chance of winning.
If Saare and Leonard Jester could gain the upper hand first, the situation might change.
The intelligence was disastrously wrong.
"Fritz, try to contact Lady Luminous," Hinata suddenly said.
"Did you sense something?" Fritz asked.
"Do not ask too many questions. Just do what I told you," Hinata replied coldly.
Fritz immediately straightened his posture.
"Yes!"
Hinata then turned her gaze back toward Arthur.
"Our numbers are practically equal. Demon Lord Gilgamesh, do you plan to fight us one-on-one?"
Demon Lord Gilgamesh? Since when am I a Demon Lord? And how does she know that name? Arthur wondered in confusion.
Arthur shook his head and let out a light, almost bored laugh.
"Don't worry, I won't be participating in this fight…" he said calmly. "My subordinates will fight you."
Hinata could not help but show a cold smile.
"You are underestimating us."
Still…
For some reason, she liked his arrogant attitude.
It was irritating.
But also strangely dignified.
Since that was the case…
She would defeat that redhead first!
After that, the blond man certainly would not let her leave unpunished.
But for the future of the Western Holy Church…
This was the only path.
Hinata unsheathed her sword.
"Our opponent is very strong, so do not be careless. Paladins, cast defensive magic!"
"Yes!"
With the chanting of the paladins, sacred power began to envelop them.
A luminous aura covered their bodies, reinforcing their defenses.
"I'LL GO FIRST!!"
Shion roared with a huge grin on her face as she charged forward.
Although it might not appear so at first glance, Shion's fighting style was completely straightforward.
She did not care about strategies, much less elaborate plans.
She simply charged forward and crushed the enemy.
Shion rushed directly toward the position of the Ten Great Saints.
With Shion moving, how could the others stay behind?
Although the Ten Saints were somewhat different from what they had imagined…
They were still the Ten Saints.
The Holy Knights were the first to be struck.
The Ten Saints were well positioned, but the weaker knights were completely blinded by the sandstorm raised by the impact of the charge.
"What is all this?!"
"Didn't they say that man became a Demon Lord less than a year ago?!"
The knights were all shocked.
For the knights of the Western Holy Church, they had every reason to be proud.
Under the glory of their goddess Luminous, the monsters that once ravaged the West had been exterminated.
Even hearing that this nation had defeated the Kingdom of Falmuth had only mildly surprised them.
But now…
They were uneasy.
Although the clash had been brief, each fighter had already found their opponent.
Shion faced Leonard.
Hakurou confronted Arnaud Bauman.
Gabiru faced Litus.
Souei confronted Saare.
Geld faced Grigori.
Shuna faced Fritz.
Angelica "faced" Bacchus.
Gobta faced Garde.
Treyni faced Glenda.
And as for Benimaru…
He had already begun fighting Hinata.
Hinata spoke.
"I never expected to meet someone of your caliber here."
Benimaru smiled calmly.
"You flatter me too much. I am still far from my master's level."
A seven-colored light shone from the sword in Hinata's hand.
She instantly rushed forward, aiming to decapitate Benimaru.
Clang!
A loud metallic clash echoed.
Benimaru had drawn his sword at the last instant to block the attack.
"So fast!"
The eyes of Hinata and Benimaru sharpened simultaneously.
Both were astonished by the other's reaction speed and skill.
But also…
They admired each other's ability.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of clashing swords echoed continuously.
The figures of Hinata and Benimaru moved so quickly that the naked eye could barely follow them.
All that could be seen were lingering afterimages and flashes of swordlight colliding in the air.
Influenced by the battle between the two, the fights on the other parts of the battlefield also intensified.
The movements of the impetuous Shion became increasingly wild.
The sword in her hand was swung with crushing brutality.
Unlike Hakurou's refined style, Shion's style was wide, brutal, and devastating.
With every strike, the earth split open into massive trenches.
Leonard, who was fighting her, was completely stunned by Shion's barbaric fighting style.
But there was something even more terrifying.
The amount of magicules in Shion's body was simply absurd.
How could a woman like this exist in this world?
Anyone who married such a woman must be completely insane.
But before Leonard could even mock Shion…
Her attack arrived.
Shion, who had been gathering power, suddenly unleashed a powerful slash with her sword.
Leonard's ever-smiling expression vanished.
Boom!
His rapier collided with Shion's blade.
Instantly, an immense and terrifying force surged through Leonard's body and slammed him violently into the ground.
The earth caved in and cracked apart instantly.
As for Leonard…
His clothes were in tatters.
Shion's face displayed a carefree smile.
Her long purple hair cascaded down her back, giving off a fierce and domineering aura.
"So this is all the so-called Ten Great Saints can do? I'm disappointed."
To be honest, before the battle, Shion had been quite cautious about the Ten Saints.
But now that the fight had begun, she had completely changed her opinion.
They were all talk.
Their real strength was merely average.
Shion raised her sword and proudly declared:
"My name is Shion, the first and most beloved secretary of Master Arthur. Now submit… or die. Choose!"
Leonard was furious.
How could he, one of the Ten Great Saints, bow before a monster?
"You will soon learn my answer!"
Clang!
A brilliant light flashed across Leonard's sword.
---
(End of Chapter)
It was the best I found, with all 10 together -