Reborn As Noble

Cedric smirked, narrowing his eyes at Marcellus. ”You? Noggie our little brother’s head? Heh~ In your dreams.”

Marcellus smirked back, tilting his head down and making a funny face at Cedric before straightening with a smug look. ”I did get him once, during a practice duel. And it felt so good~”

”That was just one time.”

”Still~” Marcellus grinned, wiggling his eyebrows before nudging Cedric’s arm with his elbow. ”At least I got him once. Unlike some ’unlucky’ paladin~”

Cedric’s brow twitched. ”Me? Unlucky?”

”Yeah! You. The unlucky paladin~” Marcellus leaned in, his grin widening as he continued, his voice dripping with playful mockery. ”You have two wives bickering over you all the time. Fighting for your attention, pulling you this way and that, never a moment of peace. Meanwhile, I have the best pair. Mother and daughter~ The peace, the beauty, the harmony~ It’s perfection~”

Cedric’s eye twitched again, his smirk turning strained. ”At least my wives don’t team up to gang up on me during arguments!”

While Marcellus and Cedric teased each other back and forth, the girl gritted her jaw in rage, her entire body trembling with fury. Her red eyes blazed with madness as she raised both arms high above her head.

”You insolent brats... You dare ignore me!?”

Darkness erupted from her in a massive, surging wave. The sky above the ruined street twisted and churned as a curtain of hypnotic, sickly purple light descended across the entire battlefield, blanketing everything in its eerie glow.

She let out a manic laugh, her voice echoing with triumph. ”Now you’ll tear each other apart! You’ll rip each other to pieces and become my finest specimens! Kill each other! KILL EACH OTHER!”

The purple light washed over both brothers, seeping into their bodies, attempting to twist their senses and turn them against one another.

Marcellus and Cedric both paused mid-bicker, their expressions shifting from playful to utterly unimpressed. They turned their heads in perfect sync, glaring over their shoulders at the girl with flat, bored eyes.

Cedric’s voice came out flat and casual, his tone bored. ”We’re kind of busy here...”

Marcellus let out a small sigh, rolling his eyes as he cracked his neck. ”Yeah. Do you mind? We’re in the middle of something.”

The girl’s laughter died in her throat. Her eyes widened in disbelief, her arms still raised as the purple light continued to pulse around them.

”W... what...? Why aren’t you...”

Cedric turned fully to face her, his expression unreadable, while Marcellus tilted his head with a lazy, mocking smile.

”Sorry to disappoint you,” Marcellus said, his voice dripping with condescension. ”But that little trick of yours... it doesn’t work on us.”

Cedric’s smirk returned, sharp and cold. ”Maybe try harder next time~”

The girl fell silent, her body going still as the purple light continued to pulse around her. Then her shoulders began to shake. A low, guttural sound escaped her lips, growing louder with each passing second until it erupted into a wild, unhinged cackle that echoed through the ruined street.

Her tongue flicked out, sliding slowly across her lips like a serpent tasting the air, her eyes widening with manic glee.

”Finally~... I found someone who can withstand one of my skills!!!! Now... NOW!!! I can go all out!”

She vanished in an instant, reappearing behind Cedric with her hand raised, dark energy coalescing into a jagged, corrupted blade aimed directly at his back.

Cedric let out a weary exhale, his shoulders slumping slightly as he glanced at Marcellus, who was grinning with both hands behind his head.

”Why do enemies like her always think attacking from behind gives them an advantage?” Cedric muttered, his voice flat. ”And why do they always try to fight a paladin in close range? A class that specializes in defense and has a massive advantage against dark energy users?”

Marcellus shrugged, his grin widening. ”Who knows? Maybe the enemy is just dumb~”

He tilted his head, his grin widening as he wiggled his eyebrows at Cedric. ”Well~ I really wanted to fight her, but since she’s taken a liking to you~ She’s yours~ Just don’t fall in love with her, okay~?”

”Ugh!” Cedric’s face twisted in disgust as he sidestepped the girl’s descending strike with lazy grace, the corrupted energy crashing into the ground where he’d just stood, sending cracks splintering through the stone.

”I have high standards, you idiot. I’m not about to choose someone who... well, I don’t even know what kind of creature she is. Ugly personality aside, the aesthetics are just not there~”

Cedric turned, planting his sword into the ground before him. His eyes closed for a brief moment as he channeled his mana, his voice low and resonant.

”Sacred Ground: Sanctuary.”

A brilliant, radiant light erupted from the blade, spreading outward in a perfect circle across the ruined street. The ground within the circle shimmered with holy energy, golden runes spiraling across the stone. The air grew warm and heavy with divine presence, the oppressive darkness around them beginning to crack and dissolve.

The girl let out a blood-curdling scream, her body convulsing as the holy light seared her corrupted flesh. She stumbled backward, her dark miasma hissing and evaporating where the light touched it. Her skin smoked, cracks forming along her arms as she desperately leaped back, putting distance between herself and the sanctified ground.

”You... you bastard!” she snarled, her voice trembling with pain and rage. She raised both arms, her body trembling as she channeled her darkest power.

The sky above churned, black clouds spiraling into a vortex as dozens of dark solar flares ignited in the air, burning orbs of black and crimson fire raining down toward Cedric like a meteor storm.

Cedric glanced up, his expression unreadable as he observed the descending barrage.

”Fallen Dawn, huh? Hmm...” He shook his head, disappointed, before raising one hand with casual grace. ”Not bad. But not enough.”

”Aegis of the Immortal.”

A towering, translucent wall of pure light materialized before him, stretching high into the sky. Its surface shimmered with divine runes, humming with an unbreakable, eternal presence. The black solar flares slammed into the wall, and one by one, they vanished, dissolving into harmless sparks the moment they touched its radiant surface.

The girl’s eyes widened in disbelief, her arms still raised, her breath coming in ragged gasps.

”Impossible... that’s... that’s one of my strongest skills...”

Cedric lowered his hand, his smirk returning as he met her gaze.

”Strongest? Hmm... I’ve seen better from my little brother’s fireworks display~”

( End Of Chapter )