Princess
Juhyeonseong stared down at his leg, blood dripping steadily from it, rapidly calculating his options in his head. In his current state, he couldn't even beat Joker—let alone if the White Knight joined the fray. That would truly be game over. The one silver lining was that the Princess wasn't on Joker's side. To the Association, Joker was a massive thorn in their side too. If he could just escape this mess somehow, she might give up chasing him and turn her attention to Joker instead. Of course, she could just as easily ditch Joker and come after him, so it was a coin toss at best. Even with one leg wrecked, if he resolved to sacrifice it and activate his ability, he still had enough juice left to put some distance between them.
While Juhyeonseong furtively watched the Princess for an opening, Jeong Yuseong was thinking the exact same thing.
'If I just bolt from here, maybe she'll go after the real terrorist mastermind instead of me?'
Yuseong shot Juhyeonseong a sidelong glare, and their eyes met. As if reading each other's minds, they both gave a small nod and bolted in opposite directions, back-to-back.
"Oh my. For two guys who were just beating the crap out of each other, you're getting along awfully well all of a sudden?"
The Princess watched Yuseong and Juhyeonseong flee without lifting a finger.
"Rook. Bishop."
With her short mutter, two knights in steel armor materialized at her feet. The one called Rook chased after Yuseong using acceleration ability. Bishop used telekinesis to lift Juhyeonseong's fleeing body into the air and yank him back to her side. Juhyeonseong flailed desperately in midair, but with his feet off the ground, his struggles were pointless. He was dragged helplessly right in front of the Princess. Bishop then drew his sword and plunged it straight into Juhyeonseong's heart.
-Boom.
A knight in armor suddenly charged at me with insane speed and slammed into my body. My breath caught in my throat for a second, but I sprang back up the moment I hit the ground, regaining my stance.
"Fuck."
A quick glance sideways showed another knight stabbing the boss right in the heart. I'd gone through all the trouble of seasoning him up nice, and now this guy stole the finishing blow. Things were going straight to shit. Damage was secondary—the real problem was my stamina hitting its limit. And my opponent? The so-called strongest hero in the country. No way I had a shot in this condition. I couldn't even be sure I could outrun that steel knight. The damage from fighting the boss still lingered, making my body creak.
"Hey, as an intellectual living in modern society, shouldn't we talk things out before throwing punches?"
"Sure, you're as chatty as they say. But I don't like talkative guys."
"Is that so? I prefer women who are easy to talk to."
"Too bad. I like handsome guys over beastly types."
"Good thing I don't like princess types either, so snap out of it."
"Oh? I was gonna let you go since you weren't in my plans, but now I guess I'll have to kill you here."
"Your tastes change fast. Now you think I'm kinda okay after all?"
I didn't really think she'd let me walk. If she was gonna, she wouldn't have attacked in the first place. I'd nearly died because of it.
The Princess giggled at my words, halting the knight and addressing me directly.
"Last time, my disciple owed you one."
"Your disciple? Who's that?"
"The guy you kicked right in the family jewels. He almost ended up crippled—my precious disciple."
Only one guy fit that description: that thick-headed hero called Night or whatever. Who would've thought a punk like that was the White Knight's disciple? His skills were sloppy, but his ability was solid—maybe that's why she took him on. Skills can be trained, after all.
"In a way, I'm practically his lifesaver. No chance you'll let me go out of gratitude for that?"
"I'd love to, but as a hero, I have to separate public from private. What can I do?"
"Tch. Should've crushed him for good back then."
While we bantered, the knight who'd been standing there idly drew a mace and raised it overhead. Guess she wasn't gonna go easy after all. Damn it. I was worried about Spica and Marie too, but right now, my own neck was priority one. I dodged the mace swinging down at blinding speed and slipped to the knight's side. No choice but to fight. Slim odds in my state, but given how fast he'd chased me, running was off the table anyway.
I slammed a fist into the knight's empty flank the moment I evaded. The second my knuckles hit the armor, a weird sensation made me grimace.
"...What the hell? It's hollow inside."
Nothing beyond the armor. No one inside. The knight who'd killed the boss used telekinesis. This one used acceleration. I'd assumed it was summoning allies to its location, but nope. These knights were something the Princess conjured up herself.
The knight spun and swung the mace at me. Caught off guard, my reaction was slow. I barely raised my arms in guard, but the mace shattered both.
"Gahhh!!"
Danger. The knight's upraised mace came crashing toward my head. One hit and it'd be lights out. Death filled my vision. Even as it closed in, I racked my brain desperately—then Diana burst from my shadow and smashed the knight's head. Just as I'd guessed, the shattered helmet was empty inside. Not a living thing, so even headless, it kept coming. The knight swung again. Diana kicked me away, saving me from the blow, then charged the knight herself. In a flash, she severed both arms, booted the chest plate clean off, and toppled it. The fallen knight flickered weakly—either out of power or dismissed by the Princess—then faded away.
"...Who'd have thought Headhunter would show up. Or is it more surprising that she's protecting Joker?"
"..."
"If Joker and Headhunter are in cahoots, I can't just stand by. Joker aside, Headhunter's a seriously dangerous villain."
"Go home quietly, White Knight."
"Heh. No thanks? Can't walk away from an S-rank freak right in front of me."
The Princess showed no sign of backing down, so Diana pulled the unconscious Marie and Spica from her shadow. Spica looked badly hurt, but thankfully alive. Diana must've stepped in to save them. I wanted to ask if they'd seen her, but this wasn't the time.
"If you won't leave quietly, I'll kill these two."
Wait, hold up. That's a joke, right? Just a bluff?
"..."
For the first time, the easy smile vanished from the Princess's face. She hesitated, but couldn't ignore fellow heroes, so she sighed and accepted Diana's terms.
"Fine. I'll let you off special this time."
Diana stepped aside from Spica and Marie, as if saying take them. "Pawn."
At the Princess's call, another knight appeared and approached Spica and Marie. We backed away slowly. The new knight scooped them up, and Diana dragged me into the shadows. It felt like only a moment inside, but when I came to, we were far from the hideout, at the Jamryong base. Never failed to impress.
Beneath the soft moonlight and the chirping of crickets, the tension finally eased as I realized we'd escaped. Wincing at the pain from my wrecked arms, I asked Diana,
"Did Spica or Marie see you by any chance?"
"No. I moved right after they passed out, so they didn't see me."
"Good."
"But the Princess saw me, so word'll get to them eventually."
"Can't be helped. Still, glad we saved Marie and Spica."
The White Knight crashing the party had made things messy, but in the end, Marie was safe, I was alive, and we'd taken out the organization's boss. No more terrorism from them. They were just one group in the alliance, but crushing them as an example should warn the others. And after seeing the White Knight up close, no sane villain would tangle with her. That's why they'd been laying low all this time. Peace at last. Tonight, the moon hanging in the sky seemed especially beautiful.