Chapter 22 – A Radiant Heroine

The Monteverde mansion lay in ruins. Soldiers were sprawled across the floor, unconscious. Even the adventurers who had tried to stand against him had fallen without being able to do a thing.

Phantom stood motionless in the center of the hall, staring at his right hand as if watching something invisible fade away between his fingers.

“This day has cost me dearly…” he muttered. “Looks like I overdid it again.”

He turned slowly and walked toward the master bedroom. Silence guided his steps to the bed where, like a cornered rat, Count Monteverde hid beneath the frame.

“Come out, Count,” Phantom said in a deep voice, dragging him out by the foot. “It’s time to put an end to your tyranny.”

“What do you want from me?” the man stammered in panic. “Money? Take it! Take it all—everything!”

The specter didn’t answer. Lifting the man as if he weighed nothing, he hurled him through a dimensional portal. The nobleman tumbled through the air, only to emerge in the middle of Urus’ central plaza, landing face-first before the stunned eyes of the townspeople.

Phantom stepped out of the portal an instant later. His silhouette, wrapped in a long blue coat, stood against the glow of the rift as it sealed behind him.

“People of Urus…” his voice rolled through the square like a restrained thunderclap as Monteverde crawled along the ground. “My name is Phantom—the Specter of Judgment.”

Doors creaked open, windows cracked ajar, and dozens of faces peeked out to witness the scene.

“For years, Monteverde has profited from the slave trade, hiding behind a rotting façade of legality. But he never told you that he also sent his own men to raid nearby towns…”

“That’s a lie!” the count screamed, his voice breaking. “This man is insane!”

“Tell them the truth, Monteverde…” Phantom’s tone turned to ice. “Tell them how you repeatedly attacked Albus, Lumius… or even here, in Urus itself.”

“I won’t hand over my city! Someone—help me!” he pleaded, scrambling away.

“This city is no longer yours. I’ve come to claim it… and no one will stop me.”

Just then, the night began to fade. The sky shifted to warm tones, and the first rays of dawn spilled into the plaza.

“Hate to crash your little party, ghost!” a firm, commanding female voice rang out from the top of the bell tower. “But Urus is a free city!”

Ada Schubert stood bathed in light. Her crimson armor gleamed with the sunrise, and her golden hair shone like an extension of the dawn itself. In that moment, she looked like a heroine descended straight from the sun.

“A solar paladin… well, now, that’s a surprise,” Phantom remarked. “I thought they were all gone.”

“Release Count Monteverde, or else…” Ada warned, her voice heavy with authority.

“Or else what?” Phantom shot back.

“Prepare to bear the weight of the sun. I am Urus’ defender.”

A short distance away, Atilius—who had been tending to the injured inside the Monteverde mansion—turned his head. The brilliance surrounding Ada blinded him for a moment… and then he saw it: Ren Sinclair, darting through the crowd, carrying boxes, reuniting lost children with their parents, helping the wounded.

“If that brat’s here…” Atilius muttered, frowning. “Then who’s fighting Schubert?”

In the plaza, Ada raised her sword high toward the sky. The dawn’s light pooled onto its blade, as though the sun itself were pouring into it.

“What are you doing?” Phantom growled. “The plaza’s full of civilians. And I’ve got the count right—”

When he looked down… the count was gone.

A few meters away, Mirai was sprinting off with him slung over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes—the rabbit had snatched him without anyone noticing.

“Damn pawns of the nobility!” Phantom spat, drawing his katana.

“Too late,” Ada replied.

“Rising Sun… Solar Punishment!”

Her sword unleashed a torrent of blinding energy—a concentrated solar beam that came crashing down with the force of a thousand suns, aimed straight at Phantom.

The specter raised his katana, the blade coated in frost, to meet the strike.

The beam fell with crushing force. Phantom held his ground, katana raised, the ice along its edge crackling as the solar energy drove him backward.

The ground beneath Phantom’s feet began to crack. Heat seared through even his gloves, while icy vapor hissed upward where frost clashed with sacred flame.

The townsfolk watched with bated breath. Some shielded their eyes; others, entranced, couldn’t look away.

“Impressive…” Phantom muttered through clenched teeth. “So this is the power of the Sun.”

Ada gave no reply. The light on her blade swelled to its peak.

A final burst of energy broke through Phantom’s defense. The impact hurled him several meters, smashing him through a side wall and sending him crashing into a cloud of dust and debris.

Silence fell.

Lowering her sword, Ada stepped forward, the lingering sunlight still crackling along the blade. She walked toward the drifting cloud.

Murmurs began to ripple through the crowd.

“Did she… beat him?” someone asked.

“She beat him!” another voice answered.

“Ada Schubert, Defender of Urus!” an elderly man shouted, and soon the murmur swelled into a roar.

From within the rubble, Phantom stirred—just enough for Ada to see him. He gave her a look weighted with a meaning only she would understand… then let his body fall limp once more.

Atilius arrived at the scene, watching as the crowd erupted in cheers for Ada. He said nothing, but his eyes flicked toward a narrow side alley… where he thought he saw a dark rift sealing shut.

Phantom was gone.

Ada raised her sword high into the sky, bathed in the first light of morning. The entire plaza chanted her name.

“Urus… is free!” Ada declared, and the people’s cry thundered like a storm.

“Schubert! Schubert!” The crowd’s chant wove together into a single roar of victory.

That day, a legend was born: the Heroine of Urus. The dawn bathed her crimson armor, and the glow in her sword still pulsed like a heart of light.

Everyone seemed overjoyed… except for Count Monteverde. Though he had been saved, he felt no delight at seeing a fellow noble turned hero. He knew that title carried power—and in the hearts of the people, Ada had already surpassed him.

Because if the cheering didn’t stop, sooner or later… Schubert could replace him as ruler. And he would not forget the threats to his authority.