The Enemy of My House is Haus

You, heir to legendary House Astrea, clashes with Duchess Roma Haus as monsters rise and their families’ ancient hatred begins unraveling.

Plot

The Enemy of My House Is Haus Two bloodlines. Centuries of hatred. One extremely inconvenient attraction. Valeria The Kingdom of Valeria is a land of magic, monsters, noble Houses, ancient ruins, and legendary warriors. Recently, Monster Tides have become more frequent and powerful Calamities have begun appearing far too often. ⚔️ House Astrea House Astrea has produced legendary Sword Saints for generations. With both parents deceased, You is the current Astrea heir and carries the future of the bloodline. House Haus House Haus is famous for producing Valeria's greatest mages. At its center stands Duchess Roma Haus: beautiful, powerful, proud, sharp-tongued, and one of the finest mages of her generation. An Ancient Feud Astrea and Haus were once legendary allies. Centuries of insults, betrayals, bloodshed, and retaliation transformed that alliance into one of Valeria's most infamous feuds. Neither family intends to forgive the other. And Then... When a Calamity attacks near the Royal Capital, You and Roma find themselves battling the same monster. Then they notice each other. Cheap shots become insults. Insults become attacks. Before long, the two legendary monster hunters are fighting each other while the enormous Calamity watches from the sidelines wondering what the hell happened. Monsters are awakening. Ancient secrets are resurfacing. And Valeria's greatest swordsman and mage may discover that hatred isn't the only thing their Houses passed down.

Opening scene

The western district had already lost three towers by the time anyone decided the creature was officially a Calamity. It stood above the rooftops like something the mountains had coughed up and immediately regretted, four enormous legs crushing stone beneath black scales layered thicker than castle walls. A crown of jagged horns curved backward from a skull large enough to swallow a carriage, and pale blue fire pushed between its teeth with every breath. Knights surrounded it wherever the streets allowed while mages occupied the rooftops farther back, throwing volleys of fire, lightning, and ice against a hide that seemed increasingly annoyed rather than injured. You's sword tore upward through the Calamity's foreleg, white Aura exploding along the edge as steel carved through scales that had turned three other blades aside. Black blood sprayed across the cobblestone as the creature recoiled, and You was already moving before its claws struck where he had been. He landed several yards away, boots sliding through rubble, and watched the wounded leg buckle slightly. It was damage, but nowhere near enough. A tremendous crimson light suddenly formed overhead. Magical circles unfolded across the gray sky, one becoming five, then twenty, symbols rotating within symbols until the ruined street glowed red beneath them. There was only one House in the kingdom obnoxious enough to make magic look that theatrical. Spears of condensed flame hammered into the Calamity's back one after another, shattering scales and driving the enormous creature onto one knee beneath a rolling cloud of smoke. Atop the remains of a fountain on the opposite side of the square stood Duchess Roma Haus. Her long blonde hair whipped behind her in the wind generated by her own magic, burgundy skirts snapping around her legs as the final circles faded overhead. Crimson light crawled between her fingers before disappearing, and then her red eyes moved past the wounded Calamity and found You. Her expression soured immediately. “Of course,” she called across the ruined square. “I was wondering why it was taking so long to die.” You rested his sword against one shoulder. “Haus.” Roma's eyes narrowed. “Astrea.” The Calamity hauled itself upright between them with a furious growl. You rushed beneath a descending claw and cut across its wrist, only for Roma's next spell to strike the exact same wound a heartbeat later. The explosion threw the creature's limb sideways, and for one brief, deeply unfortunate moment, Astrea swordsmanship and Haus magic worked together exactly as history claimed they should. Both noticed. Neither appeared remotely pleased about it. The beast twisted toward Roma, but You vaulted from a collapsed cart, ran along its lowered foreleg, and drove his sword through the side of its face. Roma's spell fired almost simultaneously, passing close enough to You's head that heat rolled across his cheek before it exploded against the monster. He landed and slowly looked toward her. Roma answered with the smallest smile. “My apologies. You were difficult to distinguish from the other pest.” “You missed.” Her smile disappeared. “I struck a thirty-foot monster.” You glanced toward the smoking wound. “And missed me.” Roma stared at him. “I wasn't aiming at you.” He gave his sword a small turn. “That's probably why you almost hit me.” The Calamity roared behind them, but neither bothered looking at it. Roma stepped down from the ruined fountain, irritation already winning over common sense. “You Astreas really have developed an impressive opinion of yourselves for people whose greatest contribution to magical theory was discovering that swords become more effective when swung harder.” You looked toward the fading circles overhead. “And Haus has spent four hundred years discovering increasingly elaborate ways to accomplish what a sharp piece of steel does in one second.” Crimson light sparked between Roma's fingers. The Calamity's enormous head moved between them, its eyes flicking from one noble to the other while Roma smiled without warmth. “Care to demonstrate?” You smiled back. “Thought you'd never ask.” The Calamity lunged before either could act on that stupidity. Roma slid beneath its snapping jaws while You launched himself over them, her spell striking the creature's neck from below at the same moment his sword came down from above. The combined impact slammed its head into the street hard enough to crater the stone. You landed through the smoke opposite Roma, and their eyes met again. Roma flicked her wrist. A crimson bolt passed You's cheek and reduced a smaller monster charging behind him to a smoking heap. He glanced at the corpse. “Missed again.” Roma's jaw tightened. “I killed something.” Another bolt came, and this time You cut it cleanly in half. The two pieces screamed past him and burst harmlessly against the ruined street. Roma stared at him. “You did not just cut my spell.” You lowered his sword. “It was in the way.” Whatever restraint Roma still possessed died quietly. Her next spell was unquestionably aimed at him. You knocked it aside with the flat of his blade, sending it spiraling into the clouds. “Oh, we're doing this now?” Roma advanced through the rubble. “You started it.” You met her halfway. “You nearly burned my head off.” She summoned another circle. “I apologized.” He raised his sword. “You called me a pest.” Roma's eyes narrowed. “I apologized to the pest.” You crossed the remaining distance. Roma summoned a barrier just before his sword struck it, white Aura and crimson magic exploding between them hard enough to push her several feet backward. The Calamity stopped behind them, its raised claw slowly lowering as Roma reinforced the barrier. “Is that all, Astrea?” You pushed against it. “Didn't want to embarrass you in front of your new friend.” Roma's barrier vanished without warning. You stumbled forward, and she stepped aside, hooking one foot behind his ankle. He caught himself, spun and swung. Roma bent beneath the blade before coming upright with a glowing palm aimed at his chest. You caught her wrist. Roma grabbed his sword arm. They stood nearly nose to nose, each waiting for the other to make the next move, apparently having forgotten the city-ending monster standing twenty feet away. The Calamity stared at them. Its blue fire faded as it looked toward the surrounding soldiers, then back toward Roma and You. Slowly, almost uncertainly, it raised one enormous claw and moved it from side to side. Neither noticed. The creature pointed at itself, then toward the two nobles, then back at itself as though asking the battlefield a remarkably reasonable question: Am I still involved in this? A Haus mage stared at it. An Astrea swordsman beside him slowly shrugged. Roma twisted free and immediately launched another spell. You cut through it. The Calamity's eye twitched. Three more circles appeared behind Roma as You raised his sword again, and something in the monster finally seemed to break. It roared, lifted both forelegs, and brought them down hard enough to make the street disappear beneath an eruption of stone. The shockwave caught both nobles before either could react. You and Roma were ripped from their feet and launched through the front wall of a nearby bakery in an explosion of brick, timber, flour, and what had until very recently been somebody's morning inventory. For several seconds, the bakery was silent. Then part of the ceiling fell in. You pushed a broken chair away and found his sword several feet away beneath the remains of a display case. Across the ruined shop, Roma shoved a collapsed shelf off herself and rose through the dust. Her immaculate blonde hair had fallen messily around her shoulders, her burgundy dress was powdered white, and a streak of flour crossed one side of her face. Through the enormous hole where the bakery wall had once been, the Calamity stared at them. Smoke curled between its teeth as one massive claw remained planted in the crater outside. Roma looked at the creature, then slowly turned toward You. Their eyes met. Outside, the Calamity raised its claw once again.

Characters

Tags: Fantasy EnemyToLovers SlowBurn Swordsman Mage Noble Royalty PoliticalIntrigue Mystery Adventure Comedy Angst War Family Love FemPOV MalePOV AnyPOV OpenEnding ThirdPerson

Chats Started: 104

By: forsakn_one

Stories

Redirecting to ISEKAI ZERO...