After barely escaping from her alcoholic father, she lived her life as a street orphan. A life of barely surviving each day like a stray cat. She had no hope.
Then, thanks to Mano, she walked the path of a knight.
For her, the Principality’s royal castle was another home and a land of opportunities. She sincerely loved the royal castle, even volunteering for castle duty.
Most of her colleagues preferred the borders where they could achieve great merits, but not Julia. The people of the castle were her family, only without blood ties. She wanted to spend her life protecting them.
To achieve her dream, she honed her skills every day.
She became the youngest commander of the Zenos knight order in history, not because of innate talent but because of her relentless effort.
Then a crisis struck her life.
Heden. The day Tenua attacked Leticia.
Her lifelong efforts were useless in the face of the overwhelming difference with the wings.
She could only watch as her comrade, Banessa, died. It was maddening, horrible.
Luckily, the battle ended in victory. Banessa was chosen as the wing of the goddess. Thanks to this, she could protect all her precious people.
“The goddess chose you as a wing? You? Even as the wing of purification? You must have heard wrong?”
“Ha, the goddess has an eye for people.”
She felt relieved yet slightly disappointed.
Banessa was chosen, but why not her?
What was she lacking?
Was it perhaps a lack of desperation compared to Banessa?
It wasn’t petty jealousy.
She wanted to be strong because she realized her own weakness.
It didn’t matter whose power it was, as long as she could be strong.
She never wanted to lose anyone again.
She wanted to protect everyone until she became a laughing, chattering old woman.
“Julia, can you see the fire spirit? Wow, that’s amazing. Spirits are usually invisible to ordinary people’s eyes. The stronger the saint’s power or divine power, the clearer they can see spirits.”
“Haha, there’s no way a Principality person like me has divine power. Maybe it’s because Her Highness is getting stronger, and I’m being influenced.”
“Julia must have something special too. I hope that power helps you greatly someday.”
Despite her desperate resolve never to lose anyone again, Julia was defeated by Seidel.
Once again, her opponent was a wing.
The saving grace was that she protected the person she had to protect this time.
Unlike Leticia, whom she failed to protect in time, the doctor escaped safely.
Even as she was dying, that was a sliver of solace.
In her fading consciousness, she thought.
If I were a little stronger, could I have defeated the wing?
Could I have survived?
Could I have protected the Principality’s royal castle until the very end…?
At that moment, a strange voice was heard.
“Julia from Zenos. Your desire has reached me. My power and your pain, our shared desperation, must have been sufficient.”
“If you truly wish, I will grant you power. Just like when I chose nine long ago. Just as your comrade accepted my offer and became a wing.”
Listening to the voice, Julia muttered blankly. Why me, of all people?
“Because you are desperate. Desperation makes anyone special.”
“Moreover, the blood of my children flows through you. One of your distant ancestors must have been a priest.”
“But that doesn’t matter. The blood of priests is everywhere. Only nine are chosen to become wings.”
“To you, who have protected the Principality’s royal castle with loyalty all your life, I want to give the power to protect my child. Will you take my hand?”
“The power to ward off all evil. That is the power bestowed upon the new wing.”
Julia accepted that power.
With her new power, Julia easily repelled the wolf.
The wolf, regaining its senses, lunged at the doctor again, but bang!
Yelp! It was bounced back once more by a blue barrier that stood in front of the doctor.
The doctor blinked in confusion.
He quickly turned to look at Julia.
“Knight, did you use magic?”
Julia, without answering, lightly tapped the barrier she had created. A soft ripple spread out, as if touching the surface of water.
A picture naturally came to her mind. She imagined this barrier growing large enough to cover the entire Principality’s royal castle.
No evil force would ever cross the boundary of the castle.
Her people would always be safe under the power of protection.
“Goddess, thank you so much.”
Such a beautiful and sweet power. Her heart swelled with joy.
‘By the way, if you were going to make me a wing, you could have done it when Banessa became a wing…’
Thinking that dying and coming back to life twice was not something she could do again, Julia smiled.
Then she immediately charged at the wolf.
* * *
Meanwhile, going back in time, as the battle between Dietrian and Seidel began and the doctor had just helped the fallen Julia stand up,
The princess, who had been chasing Della on a demonic beast, finally spotted her target.
A slender figure in white holy knight armor moving swiftly.
It was definitely Della.
“A little faster!”
At the princess’s command, the demonic beast pounded the ground harder. The speed was exhilarating, making her feel as if her insides were being blown away. The princess, who had been repulsed by the two horns just moments ago, grabbed them and burst into laughter.
“Alright, pup! Let’s show that fake wing how terrifying a resurrected wing can be!”
At the same time, rumble! The ground on both sides of the charging beast rose up. Sharp horns emerged, moving quickly. The princess had summoned another demonic beast.
“Come on, my babies. Hurry and bring me that fake wing. Go on!”
“What the…!”
Della, who had been tracking Irene and Dietrian’s traces, turned around in surprise. The princess, adorned with glittering jewels and a dress, was approaching with gleaming eyes. She looked like the queen of demons.
‘Princess Dana? Why is the princess here? How did she get so close!’
“Hahaha!”
At the princess’s cheerful laughter, Della’s face showed dismay. A fight between wings. She had no confidence.
‘Princess Dana is a real wing!’
Moreover, the princess was the sixth wing, and she was the seventh. She was outranked in order as well. Della bit her lip, recalling how she was trampled by the superior wing, Kun, in the past.
‘Fighting back would be a pointless death. I need to escape first! I have to use the power of the wing!’
She halted abruptly. As she turned toward the princess, she invoked the power of the wing. The air vibrated with a heavy hum, and the surrounding leaves trembled. Shadows on the ground began to spread like paint.
“Kill them all. Quickly!”
The swamp of shadows rose, forming a legion that stood before Della.
“You’re putting on tricks for a fake? Well, that does make it more fun. It’d be too boring if it were too easy!”
The princess laughed like a villain as she unleashed her power. The demonic beasts scattered throughout the temple turned their attention to her command. Soon after:
Screech! Growl! Roar!
Demonic beasts perched on the temple’s outer walls took flight, and mid-level beasts crossed over the walls. Beasts pretending to be plants slithered along with their roots. Della, seeing the beasts reveal themselves one by one, shouted:
“Don’t underestimate me! The night is the time of shadows!”
It wasn’t just bravado. The time when Kun overpowered her was during the day.
Shadows in the bright sunlight couldn’t withstand the beasts’ attacks and fell.
But now it was night. The light was faint, and the shadows were deep; it was the time of darkness. Furthermore, the princess had only recently become a wing.
She wouldn’t be accustomed to using her power yet.
“Princess Dana. I’ll make you regret coming back from the dead!”
Simultaneously, the demonic beasts that were tearing at the ground leaped at Della.
“Stop them!”
The shadow of a statue moved sluggishly and punched a beast. Thud! With a sound like a metal club being swung, the beast was sent flying. That was the signal for the battle to begin.
Screech! Scream!
Bang! Crash! The demonic beasts surged endlessly from the ground. The statue’s shadow kept punching the beasts. A black tree branch extended and grabbed the beast’s leg like a whip.
Some were dragged away, and some tore apart the shadows.
Screech!
The shadow let out a painful scream and vanished. Another shadow swiftly took its place, and the beast bit into the shadow again. Beasts and the shadow legion. At first glance, it seemed to be an even match as Della hoped.
But upon closer inspection, it wasn’t. Della’s initially pleased expression gradually twisted.
“The mid-level ones haven’t even joined the fight yet!”
They were waiting for the princess’s command, observing the fight between beasts and shadows. The princess watched from the highest point among the beasts, smiling at Della. That smile seemed to mock her, and Della couldn’t contain her boiling anger.
“Don’t underestimate me. Your choice will dig your own grave!”
The princess had indeed summoned an enormous number of beasts. Far stronger than Kun. It was certainly impressive, but the princess overlooked something.
“The more beasts there are, the more shadows increase!”
However, there was a problem. She didn’t yet have enough power to control all those shadows simultaneously. She wasn’t a real wing yet.
“I have to find a way somehow. If not, Lord Rehir will kill me…!”
As she thought this, Della paused. The name Rehir brought a sudden, plausible plan to mind.
“The child Lord Rehir ordered to kill. That child must be nearby.”
Della quickly commanded the nearest shadows.
“Spread out throughout the temple right now. Find the child Lord Rehir was looking for and bring them to me. Hurry!”
To avoid detection that some shadows had disappeared, Della squeezed out her last bit of strength to summon more shadows. Using too much power at once started to overload her body, but she had no other choice.
“I will survive and get out of here. Then I’ll become a real wing!”
Della had always been an incomplete wing, and as a result, she had been ignored by other wings all her life. It was humiliating and infuriating, but she had to accept it. The order of the wings never changed until a wing died. Unless the miraculous event of all superior wings disappearing occurred, she had to live in disregard until death.
“But that miracle did happen!”
Calisto, the first wing, betrayed Josephina, and Tenua, the second wing, died. The third and fourth wings, Ahwin and Kailas, sided with Leticia. The fifth wing, Lansen, burned to death, and Kun was crushed under the collapsing temple, leaving no trace of his body.
“I have the chance to become the first wing!”
If she could escape from this place, if she could kill that child, if she could return to Rehir! She could become the first wing!
“Daddy, I want to see daddy…”
The shadow finally found Irene. The door to the prayer room was securely locked, but the shadow could seep through the crack.
“Don’t worry, kid. I’ll soon let you see your daddy! You’ll cross the river of the dead holding hands! Hahaha!”
Della laughed maniacally, grabbing Irene by the back of her neck and lifting her up.
“Princess Dana! Stop attacking immediately! Withdraw your beasts! If you don’t, I’ll kill this child right now! Surely you, as a wing of the goddess, wouldn’t ignore the death of an innocent child!”
The princess’s laughter abruptly stopped. She looked at Irene, who was held by Della, in horror. Why was there a child in the temple? She had heard that the search was completed! The princess glared at Della fiercely.
“That wretched human! How dare you take a child hostage? A human who once led the holy knight order that served the goddess? Do you think you’ll die peacefully after committing such an act? You **** **** ****!”
The princess spewed unbelievable curses. The beasts around her, responding to her emotions, snorted. Some nearly charged at Della.
“Stop! Don’t take a single step until I give the command!”
The beasts halted. Della pressed her sword to Irene’s neck and laughed hysterically.
“Hahaha!”
Indeed, the true servants of the goddess were foolish. They were foolish and thus perished, losing their positions to fakes like her. Even now, their compassion was causing them to mess up.
“Princess Dana! I’ll give you thirty seconds. Leave this place immediately. If you don’t, I’ll cut this kid’s throat!”
“Do as you wish!”
At that moment, the princess spoke.
“Kill or spare the kid, do as you wish!”
“…What?”
“But!”
The princess roared fiercely.
“For every drop of blood that child sheds, I’ll carve into your body. You know the new saint has gained the wing of healing! I’ll personally ask the saint. Until my dying breath! I’ll kill you every day, over and over!”
“What, what did you say?”
“Make your choice. Kill the child and face my wrath in agony, or let the child go and die a less painful death. You decide which is better!”
Della’s plan wasn’t bad. It would have worked if her opponent were another wing. But the princess was not an ordinary wing. She had lived her entire life as an heir to the royal family. Leading a nation required constant readiness for battle, be it against internal enemies or foreign invaders.
One of the most crucial principles in such battles was never to lose momentum. Even if the opponent’s blade was at your throat, staying composed gave you a chance. And another principle was:
“A ruler must be cold-hearted.”
A ruler must not fear the sacrifice of the few for the greater good. Letting Della go would only lead to more deaths. Remembering everything she had learned all her life, the princess glared coldly at Della. She felt only regret for Irene, whom Della was holding.
“Kid, I’m sorry. In the name of the royal family, I will repay this debt.”
As she gripped the horns of the demonic beast tightly to steady herself, Della’s face twisted demonically, realizing the princess would never back down.
“Fine. I’ll kill you!”
“Noooo!”
A pitiful cry. And at that moment, a burst of white light erupted from Irene’s small body.
“Argh!”
Della, startled, let go of Irene and closed her eyes tightly.
“My eyes, my eyes!”
Rubbing her eyes frantically, Della screamed at the shadows.
“Catch the kid, don’t let her escape! Without her, I’m finished!”
But something was strange. The surroundings were eerily silent. No sound of shadows could be heard.
Della opened her eyes with a sinking feeling and gasped.
All her shadows had disappeared.
It was because of the enormous orb of light floating in the air, like a new sun had risen.