Headed by a Snake

"HyahhhhHHHH!!"

Valeria poured every onze of mana she could into her cavalry blade.

One good hit-- that's all she needed. As long as the silver knight's armor wasn't enchanted with someone insane, her augmented ⌈Eldritch Blast⌋ would literally burn his skin off.

"DIE!!" She screamed.

Valeria put all her power into her arms... though her legs and sides ached even more than her arms did. But that beady-eyed knight-- he casually deflected the strike-- all while keeping that stupid smile on his face.

He wasn't even sweating!

Who in the seven hells WAS that guy?!

Who in the eleven heavens were ANY of those guys?!?!?

Valeria had NEVER heard an adventurer named Krysaos-- but his offensive magic was at the same level as an Adamantine-Rank Leviathan!

His element-type was water, too... If it wasn't for her patron empowering her fire magic, she wouldn't have lasted five minutes.

Besides Krysaos and the silver-armored knight, there were two more people...

There was a weak-looking blonde guy... but, thankfully, he seemed to be low on mana.

The guy beside him, she couldn't tell how dangerous *he* was. He looked like he had some skill at Formation Magic...

...but the silver knight referred to him as 'Boss.'

Even though the four of them had beaten up literally hundreds of the Tree God's minions, the only thing stained on that guy's military uniform was his boots.

He was probably stronger than he looked... (and that was despite the fact that even Valeria was taller than he was.)

One injured, one out of mana, one busy painting lines in the dirt...

--with that, they were betting that their blue-haired swordsman could beat her.

Of course, it wouldn't be that easy.

When Valeria received the blessings of her patron... that person said that the only people who could challenge her 1-on-1 were god-woken and other god-servants.

That Krysaos creep... he didn't die even after suffering a direct hit from her explosive magic. She was so mad, she hit him in the balls instead of stabbing him through the heart.

He was definitely an immortal of some kind. Valeria had never met a god-woken before, but he was probably one of those.

And then the silver-armor knight... that... Wroe-person...

His magic was different-- power borrowed from somewhere else.

Even if he tried to hide it, his mana resonated with her ⌈Dragon's Heart⌋.

The twisted magic he weaved into his swordplay... was Ancient Magic, similar to hers.

Valeria reversed the momentum of her saber and put her weight into her swing-- but Wroe parried with another flick of his wrist.

She tried to step in, but the knight chopped his sword down, forcing her to block-- the impact pushing her back.

Because of the shape and material of Wroe's sword, Valeria first thought it was purely decorative... or a mid-level magical focus.

It wasn't. It seemed to have similar weight and strength of a typical Nemayan sword.

That meant... considering all of Valeria's lifetime experience, it was that type of sword she had the most practice against!

Yet... for some reason... every move she tried was useless!

Valeria felt her brows twitch as she realized something.

What if it wasn't a sword?

What if it was... a ⌈Hexblade⌋!

Was Wroe the same Class as she was?!

Was he just like her? Was he also an Exarch? A direct servant of a god?

If that was the case, then everything made sense!

--then it wasn't just Ancient Magic he wielded--

It was... Dragon Magic.

But that STILL didn't explain the level of butt-kicking she was experiencing.

Valeria was the best swordswoman in all of Nemaya Strana-- the best one alive, anyroad.

But Knight Wroe used odd... maneuvers-- yet ones that seemed natural.

It was like... his swordsmanship was saying 'this is what a real genius looks like.'

Valeria used mana to leap backward, dodging Wroe's downward stroke by a hair's breadth.

She impaled her sword in the dirt to slow her momentum before standing up and pointing at him.

"I'm not done yet! Just because you're the hottest guy in your group," She scowled," doesn't mean I'll go easy on you!"

"Oh?" Wroe tilted his head, his know-it-all smile MORE infuriating than ever.

Oh? What did 'oh' mean?! What she said didn't mean anything WEIRD!

Valeria felt her cheeks start to burn-- and she wasn't even casting magic.

"⌈Eldritch Barrage!⌋"

Valeria grabbed the hilt of her sword and spun around, cutting the earth around her. The mana spiked up above her head and separated into seven arrows of light before jetting forward.

She smiled, placing her hands on her hips to watch the display. Because she was allowed so much set-up time, she was able to cast a Spell that the knight couldn't escape using pure swordsmanship.

And... then...

He... used...

...pure... swordsmanship.

Wroe stepped forward, blocking and deflecting each bolt... even though they were all cast at the same time!

It was... another of his strange techniques!

But... but... the movement technique he used didn't have any magic in it! But-- but someone who radiated only an IRON-RANK AURA should absolutely NOT be capable of that!!!

Valeria felt her head tilt upward.

Wroe was holding her chin up with his fingers... and he met her gaze, face-to-face.

"(Your sword has courage and purpose... its beauty suits you.)"

"Get a-WAY!!!!!" Valeria slapped his hand away. By the time she slashed her sword, though, her stupid smiling opponent disappeared in a splash of silver mist...

She rubbed at the scales covering her neck... "Don't you mock me... I know what I look like with these scales..."

It was... a sacrifice she willingly made in exchange for Adamantine-Rank power.

Admittedly, she was a lot better off than the Cult of Qotal. Their leadership had to damage their faces to show their faith.

The Dragon God did not have an Exarch. He gave blessings to many servants... but they were incomplete.

But Valeria was different. She was an Exarch-- a CHOSEN avatar of one of the Dragon God's direct servants!

She had scales that swords could not cut and wielded flames that could melt through flesh and bone.

...But her opponent was also an Exarch.

If ANYONE in the ENTIRE Realm could understand her, it was another--

Valeria narrowed her eyes, "(You speak Nemayan.)"

The knight tilted his head and smiled, "(Not as well as you, Sunshine.)"

"You think we're close enough to use a pet na--"

...Oh.

"Tch," She scoffed, "Y'know... you're the only one who dares to call me that."

Valeria didn't think she'd recognize anyone outside of the Sleeping Country. If she had, she would have realized her opponent's identity much sooner.

"(Forgive me for my impertinence, your Highness,)" She whispered softly.

",