The sky above Lugnica had already split once that day—but this tear was different.
Reinhard van Astrea stood alone at the edge of a shattered plain, his sword drawn but unmoving. Across from him, the enemy smiled—a being that did not belong to his world. Its body flickered like a broken reflection, as if reality itself rejected its existence.
"You can't win, Sword Saint," it said softly. "Not against something that exists between worlds."
Reinhard didn't respond. He simply stepped forward.
The ground cracked beneath his feet as he moved, faster than sound, faster than thought. His blade shone with divine protection, cutting through the air in a single, perfect strike. The enemy raised a hand—
—and space bent.
The sword met not flesh, but a fracture. Light twisted inward, spiraling into a point that shouldn't exist. Reinhard felt it instantly, a distortion not governed by mana, nor by any blessing he knew. His instincts screamed, but he didn't retreat.
Instead, he pressed forward.
If the enemy was beyond the rules of this world, then he would simply cut beyond them.
The moment his blade touched the distortion, everything broke.
There was no sound. No light. No ground beneath his feet.
Reinhard floated in a void that pulsed like a living thing. Colors he couldn't name surged past him, accompanied by whispers in a language older than memory. His body resisted the pull, his blessings activating one after another—protection against magic, against curses, against dimensional interference.
Yet this was none of those things.
Then, suddenly—
Gravity returned.
He landed on soft grass.
A breeze passed through the field, carrying the scent of something unfamiliar—dense, rich, almost overwhelming. Reinhard stood upright immediately, scanning his surroundings. The sky was clearer here, but the air itself felt… thicker.
Not with mana.
With something else.
Reinhard narrowed his eyes, letting the unfamiliar energy brush against his senses. It was dense—far denser than mana—yet strangely quiet, as if it flowed through the world without resistance.
"Not mana…" he murmured. "Then what sustains this world?"
There was no answer.
No presence responded. No movement stirred.
Silence.
Reinhard stood still for a long moment, waiting.
In his world, nothing truly remained hidden from him. Whether by instinct, experience, or divine protection, he could always feel others—life, intent, danger.
But here—
Nothing.
"…No life nearby?"
That, more than anything, was unnatural.
He took a step forward.
The grass bent beneath his foot. The wind moved. The world functioned as it should.
Yet he was alone.
Hours passed.
Then a full day.
Reinhard walked without fatigue, his pace steady, his senses constantly extended. The landscape shifted gradually—rolling plains gave way to rocky terrain, then to shallow valleys carved by long-dried rivers.
Still—
No people.
No monsters.
No signs of civilization.
Even the sky seemed distant somehow, as if he were walking through a world not entirely awake.
"…Strange."
On the second day, he stopped atop a ridge.
From there, he could see miles in every direction.
Nothing moved.
No smoke from fires. No tracks in the earth. No sound beyond the wind.
For the first time, Reinhard considered a possibility.
"…Am I the only one here?"
The thought did not frighten him.
But it did trouble him.
A world without life was not a world that should exist.
By the third day, subtle changes began to reveal themselves.
The energy—thick and unseen—no longer flowed evenly. It gathered in places, heavy and turbulent, like a storm that had only just passed.
Reinhard slowed.
This was no longer the quiet stillness of an empty world.
This was disturbance.
Then—
A sound.
Faint at first.
Metal striking against something hard. Wood splintering. A distant shout.
Reinhard's eyes sharpened instantly.
"…Voices."
Without hesitation, he moved.
The ground shattered beneath each step as he accelerated—crossing distance in moments that would have taken hours. The sounds grew clearer—panic, struggle, and something else—
Growls.
He crested a rise—
And saw it.
A merchant cart, half-broken, its goods scattered across the ground. A pair of horses lay collapsed nearby, trembling but alive. Surrounding the cart were creatures unlike any he had seen before—twisted, monstrous forms with jagged limbs and glowing eyes.
And at their center—
Two humans, barely holding their ground.
One wielded a spear with shaking hands, the other clutching a short blade, both clearly outmatched.
One of the creatures lunged.
Reinhard moved.
There was no announcement of presence. No warning. No hesitation.
He simply stepped forward—and crossed the distance instantly.
The monster's claw descended.
Reinhard drew his sword still in its scabbard.
A single clean arc passed through the air.
The creature froze mid-motion.
Then split apart and fell.
Silence hit the battlefield like a dropped weight.
Reinhard stood between the cart and the monsters expression calm.
"…You are being attacked," he said simply.
The monsters hesitated.
Not because they understood him.
But because something had changed.
The prey was no longer alone.
They rushed him all at once.
Reinhard met them without urgency.
One step.
A swing.
Another step.
Another cut.
Each movement was precise almost gentle in its efficiency. No wasted strength. No flourish. Just the minimum required to end each monster.
Bodies dropped one after another until the last creature collapsed into the dirt.
Then—
Silence.
Only the wind remained.
The merchant and guard stared at him.
Not speaking.
Not moving.
Finally, the guard's grip loosened and the spear nearly slipped from his hand.
"…What… was that?" he muttered.
Reinhard looked at them.
"I removed the threat."
"That's not what I mean," the merchant blurted out. "You just—where did you come from?!"
Reinhard glanced briefly down the road.
"I was walking."
"That's not—" the guard started, then stopped, shaking his head. "We didn't even see you until you were there."
Reinhard paused at that.
Then answered calmly.
"That is likely because I arrived when it was necessary."
Neither of them understood.
But neither argued further.
The weight of what they had just witnessed made speech difficult.
The merchant eventually exhaled shakily and began checking the cart.
"We're lucky… really lucky," he said. "If you hadn't shown up, we'd be dead."
Reinhard did not respond immediately.
He looked at the broken road ahead, then at the direction the monsters had come from.
"…This road is unsafe."
"Yeah," the guard muttered. "Been getting worse lately. Monsters are getting more aggressive."
Reinhard absorbed the information quietly.
"…I see."
The merchant looked at him again, more carefully now.
"You're not from around here, are you?"
Reinhard shook his head once.
"No."
That answer, simple and direct, ended the question.
A brief silence followed.
The merchant exhaled slowly, then scratched the back of his head while looking at the destroyed road rather than at Reinhard. The tension that had been in his shoulders earlier was still there—but it was no longer fear. More like exhaustion mixed with disbelief.
The guard still kept glancing at Reinhard, but even that had softened into wary respect rather than panic.
Reinhard, as always, did not react to their expressions.
He only looked down the road.
"…Where does this path lead?"
The merchant straightened slightly at the question, quickly shifting back into something familiar—conversation.
"Oh—this road? It loops back toward the borderlands of the Armed Nation of Dwargon.. From there, you can reach proper trade routes and towns."
Reinhard repeated the name once.
"Armed Nation of Dwargon."
Then, after a brief pause:
"I do not know where I am. Is that place far?"
The merchant gave a small shrug. "Not close, but not impossible either. If we keep moving, we'll reach a checkpoint in a couple of days."
The guard added, "Assuming nothing stupid tries to attack again."
The merchant let out a short laugh at that. "Yeah… and considering what just happened, I doubt anything on this road is that stupid."
He finally glanced at Reinhard—this time without hesitation or fear, just curiosity.
"…Seriously though, thanks again for saving us."