Zenith was not weak. In fact, she had been a fierce presence during the first battle in the Demon Sea.
Frey would most definitely benefit from having her at his side.
He knew she wouldn’t hesitate to throw away her life for the right cause.
That didn’t seem right .. taking advantage of a broken woman like her.
But Frey didn’t see it that way.
"Then let’s give death a story worth writing in its records, Zenith."
He didn’t try to stop her.
He didn’t try to convince her to keep living.
That wasn’t his role.
The only thing he could offer was a path to fight fiercely .. until the day life left her and she finally attained the death she longed for.
At the very least, her tale would be one worth remembering... if she followed him. That much was certain.
Zenith accepted his words with silent satisfaction.
He had given her exactly what she wanted to hear.
"I look forward to fighting by your side, Lord Frey."
"Then we’re looking forward to the same thing."
After reaching their unspoken agreement, the two of them laughed quietly, sharing a moment of conversation.
The entire exchange seemed unnatural, considering the vast difference in age between them.
And yet, they understood one another perfectly .. more than either expected.
Without even realizing it, Zenith found herself talking far more than usual, sharing stories from her long life.
Frey listened patiently and intently, learning more and more about the witch who had decided to serve under his command.
Zenith would no doubt become his personal spellcaster .. his weapon against those who stood in his way.
That was why he gave her such attention, deepening his understanding of her.
It raised his affection score in her system significantly.
Then, just as Zenith was about to launch into another story from her distant past, they were interrupted..
A group of knights approached without warning, cutting through the silence of the camp.
It wasn’t hard to guess who they were here for.
Every one of them had their eyes locked squarely on Frey ... and he, Lord Starlight, understood it instantly.
"Gentlemen, what do I owe the pleasure of your visit for... to bring such threatening auras with you?"
Frey asked with a calm voice, as the knight at the front stepped forward to speak.
He looked like a seasoned warrior, framed by a broad figure and a chiseled physique that radiated strength.
"Frey Starlight, we’ve heard many strange rumors about you ..
Rumors of miracles... unbelievable miracles."
"Forgive our insolence, but we wish to see those miracles for ourselves.
That is why I, on behalf of my men, challenge you to a friendly duel."
Studying them with a single sharp glance, Frey quickly assessed their power.
They were six warriors in total...most of them likely duelists or spearmen.
Their leader was the strongest among them. He seemed to have only recently broken into S-rank.
That probably explained his overconfidence .. the reason he dared to request a duel.
The old woman, Zenith, was about to rise from her seat and burn them alive...
But Frey stopped her at the last second, his smile widening.
"Very well. Let’s do it.
Come at me ..all of you. At once."
A strange silence fell over the camp.
The six knights exchanged glances, struggling to believe what they had just heard.
It had to be either pure arrogance... or terrifying confidence.
But a single look into Frey Starlight’s eyes was enough to silence any doubt.
"Come on. I’d like to finish this before my fire grows cold."
He rose from the tree stump slowly, like a man waking from a nap ..
not someone about to face six of the Empire’s finest warriors.
His steps were calm, deliberate.
With each pace forward, the pressure around him thickened ..an invisible weight choking the air.
It felt like an unseen blade was slicing through the space around him.
One of the knights instinctively took a step back.
But their leader raised a hand and gave the order:
"Full assault. Don’t give him a chance to control the field!"
At his command, the six surged forward at once ..
their bodies flickering with speed, their auras flaring like compressed flames.
Each weapon launched with one shared goal:
To shatter the myth of Frey Starlight before it could begin.
But what happened next flipped that notion on its head.
In the blink of an eye, Frey vanished from sight.
A burst of compressed air echoed through the field ...
and the first knight found himself hurled into the sky before even realizing he’d been struck.
Frey’s voice was calm as he appeared behind the second opponent.
A sharp roundhouse kick crushed the man’s ribs, sending him crashing into the axe-wielder ..
both of them falling in a tangled heap of steel and limbs.
Time itself seemed to slow.
Frey moved through their attacks like he was reading a script ..
his eyes tracking every shift, every intent, countering them a heartbeat before they even happened.
He stopped the twin-sword wielder’s strike with a palm thrust,
releasing a compressed aura burst that knocked the man back as if a tempest had erupted point-blank in his chest.
The whip-wielder and the commander.
The first hesitated, while the other lunged in with a sweeping strike of his whip—
its dark brown aura twisting like a venomous serpent aiming for Frey’s neck.
But it found nothing.
Frey’s voice came from directly behind.
only to catch a glimpse of Frey’s face before collapsing, unconscious, to the ground.
Now only the commander remained.
He hadn’t moved once from the beginning.
His grip tightened on the shaft of his spear, his eyes narrowing,
and the aura around his body began to thicken with intensity.
"I knew you weren’t just a rumor."
then planted the spear into the ground and activated his combat stance.
His aura turned crimson ..
and with each breath, his body radiated waves of searing heat.
"Flame Sky Style... First Phase."
Even when the commander split the ground open with a molten slash—
Frey simply twisted his torso slightly, letting the attack pass within inches without touching him.
In a flash no one could track,
he appeared right in front of him.
Then Frey’s fist sank into the commander’s stomach with incomprehensible force,
driving the air from his lungs and lifting his body at an awkward angle...
The man crashed down, barely conscious, gasping to stay awake.
He stood still, calmly adjusted his coat, and began walking back to his seat beside Zenith, who had been watching the entire fight with a subtle gleam of amusement in her eyes.
"Apologies for the delay. Where were we?"
as the broken bodies of six elite knights lay scattered around him.