Reborn As Noble

From afar, Erinette stood still, her blades lowered at her sides—her posture straight, eyes calm.

She watched as Liana and Gloria tore through another wave of dark beasts with their synchronized rhythm, their playful voices drifting across the battlefield.

”Impressive improvement,” she said quietly.

Alf, standing beside her with his daggers already stained in dark blood, wiped one clean with a white cloth.

Erinette vanished again, reappearing twenty meters ahead—striking down an elite beast with one elegant, silent blow that made no sound as it died.

Alf followed—like a shadow vanishing into mist.

Garius roared, his voice echoing across the battlefield as he swung his dual swords, tearing through the densest cluster of miasma-infested beasts at the center.

”YEAHHHHH!!!”

His coat fluttered, blades gleaming white and green—a storm made flesh, carving destruction with gleeful fury.

Meanwhile, just a few paces behind.

Fransesca giggled softly.

Still standing.

Still not moving an inch.

Her eyes half-lidded, her hand gracefully raised, sending out another volley of white homing magic missiles that spiraled in elegant patterns before striking down every dark monster foolish enough to be near her.

”Dear...”

Her voice chimed gently over the chaos.

”Yes?”

Garius shouted mid-swing, cleaving three corrupted hulks in one motion, blood misting into the air.

Fransesca’s tone was sweet, unbothered.

”Finish fast. We have a date, remember?”

Garius’s grin widened.

He sliced one last beast in half, spun, and pointed a blade at the churning black center where the final mass of miasma gathered.

”Of course!!”

He cracked his neck.

Fransesca smiled, eyes twinkling with affection.

The battlefield began to shift.

The remaining dark miasma, once scattered and clinging to broken monsters, now whirled into motion—spiraling toward the center of the cursed ground like a black storm.

The sky trembled.

The wind went still.

A deep, guttural growl echoed from the forming vortex of shadow.

A massive shape erupted from the ground, forged from every corrupted fragment, fused into one grotesque, towering abomination. Its body twitched and writhed as if still being born—skin pulsed, boiled, and crawled with unnatural life.

Twin glowing red eyes snapped open, burning with malevolent hate.

It stood taller than the trees, with jagged horns made of corrupted bone and wings formed from twisting tendrils of miasma. Its roar shook the barrier Fransesca had placed, and its very presence caused the cursed earth beneath it to crack and rot.

”Looks like the complete form is here.”

Garius’s voice dropped into a satisfied murmur, a wide smile on his face.

Behind him, Liana, Gloria, Alf, and Erinette instinctively moved into formation, ready to act.

”Liana. Gloria. Alf. Erinette.”

They answered in unison, eyes locked on the monster.

Garius didn’t turn.

He raised his sword.

”Step back.”

”...??”

”This one’s mine.”

A moment of silence.

Then, Fransesca giggled.

”Ara~ I knew you’d say that.”

Liana and Gloria exchanged brief glances, startled but obedient.

Alf and Erinette, clearly capable of handling a creature like this, immediately stepped back without a word.

Garius’s swords pulsed, and he grinned in joy.

The ground shook beneath Garius’s feet as his aura blazed to life, a white and gold storm of energy erupting around him like a divine force made flesh. The sheer power cracked the corrupted soil, sending ripples of purification through the darkness with every step he took.

His eyes shone brightly beneath the shimmer of mana.

”Come on. Show me what you’ve got,” he said calmly.

The monster screeched—a screech that distorted the air—and then lashed out with dozens of tendrils, like blades, extending from its body in all directions. Each one sliced through the air as if made of darkness itself.

They surged toward him like a black tidal wave.

Garius didn’t dodge.

He didn’t block.

He simply swung once.

Every tendril was repelled, sliced, or deflected, blasted backward by the overwhelming force of his dual blades.

And he kept walking forward—calm. Unhurried. Casual.

Another attack came—this time from both sides. Massive corrupted limbs, shaped like blades, tried to crush him in a pincer movement.

Garius didn’t move.

He just smirked.

The blades slammed into his body.

BOOM!!

But the impact was stopped mid-air by a glowing, spherical barrier of gold and white surrounding him.

The earth cracked beneath his feet from the force—yet he remained untouched.

”My lord!!”

Alf’s voice rang out sharply from behind, tense and urgent.

Garius just laughed, spinning one of his swords lazily in his hand.

”Don’t worry too much, Alf. Chill a bit.”

He grinned over his shoulder.

”This monster’s level isn’t even worth your warm-up.”

Alf’s tone was flat, but edged with loyal frustration.

”I know, my lord... but please, don’t be careless or carefree.”

Garius chuckled again.

”Carefree? Yes. Careless? Never,” he replied with a smirk.

He turned back to the monster, which had begun to recoil, sensing danger—something terribly wrong.

Garius raised his blades.

”Now then… Let’s finish this.”

He held up one hand, palm glowing with golden-white light, as intricate arcane runes spiraled outward into the air around him.

His voice was calm but commanding.

”Activate—Golden Bind.”

Golden chains of magic erupted from the ground like divine spears—coiling around the monster’s massive limbs, wrapping around its torso, wings, and throat with deadly precision, locking it in place as it screamed.

The cursed beast thrashed wildly, eyes blazing red as it fought to break free—

But the chains only tightened, glowing brighter with every struggle.

It was trapped.

Condemned.

Garius rested one of his twin blades casually on his shoulder, the other pointed lazily at the restrained monster.

”Oh no no no…”

He chuckled, his grin widening.

”You don’t get to run.”

The monster twitched, shrieking and warping its body trying to break the chains—nothing worked.

”You can’t run anywhere,” Garius said softly, stepping forward with calm authority, eyes glowing with firm judgment.

”This entire region is sealed. My barrier. My ground. My home.”

He lifted his other hand again—then both swords began to glow in unison, threads of golden light wrapping around them like divine runes burning in the air.

His voice echoed:

”So…”

He smiled—softly, coldly.

”Extermination.”

A massive beam of pure golden light erupted from his blades, converging into a torrent of divine energy that slammed into the monster’s center.

The chains ignited, the barrier pulsed.

The creature didn’t even scream.

It simply… ceased.

Ash scattered on the wind.

Silence fell over the battlefield.

Garius lowered his blades slowly, the light fading from around him, the earth trembling one last time beneath his feet.

He turned to the others.

”All clear.”

( End Of Chapter )