"Of course it's terrifying. That is a Divine Beast, after all."
A young woman's voice rang out from behind Su Mo.
Dressed in an ornate crimson gown, with a gleaming longsword hanging at her waist, a blonde girl landed gracefully on the ground—clearly having leapt down from a nearby building.
"If you can see that thing, you must be a mage. But judging by your appearance, you don't look like one of our local guild members."
Narrowing her sky-blue eyes at Su Mo's black hair and dark eyes, the girl's gaze turned sharp with suspicion.
"An unfamiliar mage standing at the site of a Divine Beast's rampage… I have to ask—did you summon that monster?"
She rested her hand lightly on the hilt of her sword, already prepared to draw it should Su Mo admit guilt.
If he was the summoner, then she had just stumbled across the true culprit. Even if he denied it, the timing was just too coincidental to ignore.
Su Mo, however, wasn't particularly fazed by being mistaken for a criminal. Instead, he calmly glanced at the girl in front of him.
"And you are?"
He had a good idea of who she was already—but he wanted to confirm it.
"Erica Blandelli, Knight of the Bronze Black Cross."
She declared her name with bold pride, not a hint of hesitation.
"I'll say this upfront—if you're really the culprit, now's your chance to confess. You might get a lighter sentence."
A foxlike smile curled at the corners of her lips as she tried to coax a confession from him.
If any criminal was naïve enough to fall for that line and spill everything, they'd quickly discover just how cruel the world could be.
Unfortunately for her, such tactics didn't work on Su Mo.
Not to mention—this entire incident had absolutely nothing to do with him.
"Sorry to disappoint you," Su Mo shrugged. "You've got the wrong guy. I'm not involved."
He turned his gaze back to the Divine Beast—the massive wild boar wreaking havoc in the distance.
"Although… I am thinking of stepping in now."
"Oh?"
Erica raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"You're saying you want to take down the Divine Beast too?"
Before Su Mo could answer, she quickly shook her head.
"Apologies, but I don't usually fight alongside strangers. And as a knight sworn to defend Italy, I won't stand by and watch while that thing runs wild."
Her eyes flicked toward the buildings being demolished one by one by the beast. Even though the civilians had been evacuated, the economic damage was mounting by the second.
"I'm sorry, but I'll have to ask you to stay here for now."
"There's no need to worry," she added, her voice steady. "My uncle's fought a few Divine Beasts before. I may not be at his level just yet—but handling one on my own shouldn't be a problem."
Without waiting for Su Mo's response, Erica activated her magic—Hermes' Sandals.
Like a bird taking flight, she soared up the face of a towering skyscraper in a single bound, heading straight for the Divine Beast.
"Reinhard!"
As she sprinted across the rooftops, she summoned her enchanted sword, already preparing herself for a hard-fought battle.
In truth, Erica had fought alongside others before.
The reason she refused Su Mo's help wasn't pride—it was caution. She didn't know who he was, and in high-level battles like this, an untrustworthy partner was a liability. One moment of betrayal could mean death.
Better to fight alone than risk it all.
As one of the most prodigious young mages in the magical world, Erica had already reached the rank of Grand Knight at the age of sixteen. She had inherited the title of "Crimson Devil", and it was a name well-earned.
That's why she had complete confidence in her abilities.
Even if she hadn't yet reached the level of a Paladin like her uncle Paul, she didn't believe the gap between them was insurmountable.
If her uncle could protect Princess Alice from six Divine Beasts at once, then as his niece, Erica felt it was only right that she should at least be able to handle one.
Only then would she be worthy of the title "Crimson Devil."
More importantly…
She had just made a rather bold declaration in front of that unfamiliar mage.
If she couldn't take down this Divine Beast after all that boasting… how could she possibly save face?
With that in mind, the young Erica charged forward with unwavering determination.
What she didn't know, however, was this—
The boar she was charging toward was no longer the passive, half-awake avatar from the original text. It had already been provoked.
After being struck head-on by the [Wind] avatar earlier, this boar avatar had been completely enraged.
And a rampaging boar avatar was at least three times more dangerous than its passive state.
So yes, Erica charged in bravely.
Yes, she drew her sword with courage.
Yes, she struck out boldly toward the beast.
But—
She didn't even get close.
"BOOM—!!"
The Divine Boar roared furiously, unleashing a shockwave from its mouth.
The blast, wreathed in a violent gale, surged outward like a natural disaster.
"—!"
Erica was immediately swept off her feet and sent flying several hundred meters by the sheer force of the shockwave.
Then—
"Thud—"
She hit the ground hard, tumbling across it like a rag doll.
By the time she managed to struggle upright and brush the dust off her clothes—
She looked up and saw a very familiar figure standing before her.
That same black-haired, dark-eyed mage to whom she'd just been making all those bold claims.
Right now, that annoyingly handsome mage was looking at her with… an unreadable expression.
Erica, recalling every word of her earlier bravado, flushed bright red.
If there were a hole in the ground nearby, she would've gladly crawled into it.
This was humiliating.