The Princess's Desperate Light
Instinctive magic burst forth, yet it remained unstable, refusing precise control.
Even so, the desperate certainty that she had to do something drove her forward.
"Ghk…!"
She thrust out her hand, trying to force the spell into being, but agony crashed through her. Blood surged up her throat and her vision swam.
The lingering damage from her wounds and shattered mana still held her in its grip.
So I still can't use it…?
Terror erupted from deep in her chest. When she had first awakened after the mana rampage, the realization that she could no longer command the mana that had once been as natural as her own limbs had plunged her into despair.
Now an even deeper despair seized her—the knowledge that she could not move to aid Adolf Kareha, the man who had saved her. With a raw, furious cry she forced the words out.
The monster was about to deliver the finishing blow to Adolf Kareha.
"I… I am the princess of the empire!"
Aisia Lil Shuhain stretched her palm toward the ogre.
She could cast no attack magic capable of drawing its attention, yet the most basic illumination spell—Light—flared from her hand. Instantly the cave flooded with a brilliance so pure it seemed the entire world had turned white.
The ogre and every other living soul flinched in shock at the sudden radiance.
Aisia Lil Shuhain…!
Adolf Kareha seized the opening. He forced himself upright once more and, like a matador guiding a charging bull, barely twisted clear of the ogre's strike.
Blood streaked his forehead. One arm hung wounded. He dragged a shattered shield behind him. Still he refused to retreat a single step.
The moment the beast gathered itself to charge again, he lured it toward the wall, then slipped to its flank. In a voice rough with exhaustion he gave the order:
"Now! Drive the monster into the corner and pour everything you have into it!"
At once the knights, archers, and mages who had kept their distance inside the cave unleashed a coordinated assault.
Magic circles waiting behind the wall ignited; searing beams of light slammed into the creature. Archers loosed arrows in rapid succession. Knights lunged into every opening, driving their blades home.
Kwoooaar—!
The ogre howled in agony, the sound shaking the very stone of the cave.
Wave after wave of attacks followed. The final blow belonged to Adolf Kareha.
He summoned every remaining scrap of strength, set his blade against the side of the monster's skull, and finished it. The ogre screamed once more and slowly toppled.
"We did it!"
The adjutant and the soldiers erupted in cheers, yet Adolf Kareha simply sank to the ground where he stood.
"Haa… haa…"
His breathing came in ragged gasps. The wounds had already reached their limit; pain had stolen command of his body.
Had the ogre not turned its attention toward Aisia, his own power might somehow have decided the fight. Now, with injuries layered upon injuries, he tried to rise again, leaning on his sword.
"General!"
Soldiers rushed forward to support him.
"We need a healer!"
"Is the princess… unharmed…?"
She had used magic. The aftereffects of the mana rampage had never fully healed, and the backlash would be catastrophic.
Worry clouded his fading vision as he scanned the surroundings.
Aisia sat slumped against one wall, gasping for breath. She too was nearly spent, yet her injuries appeared comparatively light.
"General, you need not worry. Her Highness the princess is unharmed."
The adjutant reported with clear relief.
Adolf Kareha managed a faint smile and closed his eyes. Even as consciousness slipped away, the simple knowledge that she was safe filled him with quiet peace.
Aisia, who had watched every moment, drew shuddering breaths through trembling fingertips.
"Hoo… hoo… So I've incurred another debt…"
Slowly she pulled herself free of the shock and murmured the words to herself.
This battle had shaken her heart to its core. She could not yet lower every guard, yet she had begun to trust Adolf Kareha—both because he had proven he was no empty hypocrite of fine words, and because she herself had moved for his sake.
"No one would sacrifice themselves that far for nothing."
Guilt and regret rose from the deepest part of her chest. The wounds he now bore were the clear price he had paid to protect her.
Soldiers swiftly laid Adolf Kareha upon a stretcher and began treatment. Aisia watched, feeling a tangle of unnameable emotions churn inside her.
"It's becoming hard to keep blaming him… hard to keep hating him…"
She rose unsteadily to her feet and, supported by others, took shaky steps forward.
"Um… are you all right?"
A medical orderly asked anxiously. Aisia answered in a trembling voice.
"I'm fine. Look after that man more carefully for now…"
She moved slowly toward the place where Adolf Kareha lay. Her thoughts were a storm. Why she cared so deeply about his condition—even she could not say.
What am I supposed to do now?
She asked herself the question in silence.
Does Adolf Kareha truly want that from me?
She could find no certainty in her own heart. Would she remain nothing more than a trophy princess? Uncertainty about the future tangled with the bitter sense of betrayal from the homeland she had once trusted.
Time had blurred the boundary between day and night deep within the Ancient Ruins. Only the faint glow of torches lit the underground dark.
The passage, seemingly built of marble, had collapsed in places into heaps of rubble. Moss and trailing vines sprawled wildly across walls and floor.
The deeper they went, the thicker the reek of rotting earth and dampness grew. Somewhere a cold draft seeped through, chilling the spine.
"Is this the correct path?"
The adjutant asked quietly. His voice echoed along the corridor and returned from the distance like a ghostly reply.
"According to the records, it is."
Adolf Kareha wiped the sweat from his brow as he answered. Fatigue from unbroken tension and combat haunted his eyes, yet the firmness in them had not faded.
They were on the third day of exploring the deep interior of the ruins.
In the endless maze-like structure they had faced countless monsters and traps, endured enemy raids, and now every one of them was exhausted to the bone. Still they could not stop advancing toward their goal.
That goal was the ancient relic known as the Tear of Life. Adolf burned with the will to find it no matter the cost, so that he might heal Aisia.
Yet exploring the ruins was never simple.
Traps lurking at every turn had repeatedly thrown the soldiers into danger; anyone who let their guard slip for even a moment had nearly lost their life. No one knew when another monster might burst forth or when some unnoticed mechanism might spring. Every nerve remained stretched taut.
Throughout it all Aisia remained surrounded by her escort detail, while Adolf Kareha kept his distance exactly as before—as though refusing to allow her any direct part in the fighting.
That sight slowly kindled anger within Aisia at her own helplessness.
Over the past several days she had watched with her own eyes how Adolf repeatedly threw his body in front of her to protect her, and how he rescued soldiers trapped by monsters or snares.
I thought he would use me as a shield… yet this man acts as though he himself has become the shield…
Even so, complicated emotions battered her from every side.
In particular, the recent battle against a pack of monsters refused to leave her mind—the moment Adolf had taken a crushing blow and fallen, and she had rushed forward to give him emergency aid.
That fight had taken place in a vast hall at the heart of the ruins.
The place looked like an ancient ruin long abandoned. Hieroglyphs of some forgotten age were carved everywhere, and at the center stood a crude stone altar. Strange monsters that seemed to guard the altar had roared savagely and attacked.
"Everyone, scatter!"
Adolf shouted to his commanders. The soldiers split left and right, moving to their assigned positions.
Yet the monster proved far more ferocious and massive than expected. In the first moments of close combat several soldiers went down at once.
"We have to strip that thing's armor! Its shell is too hard—swords aren't biting!"
The adjutant cried out almost in tears. Archers fell back and loosed arrows, but the monster's violent thrashing made accurate shots impossible; the shafts simply bounced off its plating.
Adolf signaled his elite knights to fan out to the flanks and attempt a pincer attack.
"Now—drive it!"
His voice rang across the battlefield. The knights charged as one.
But the monster slammed its heavy forepaws into the ground, sending a shockwave that hurled several knights backward with groans of pain.
"Damn it… it's this strong?!"
Even the adjutant could not hide his dismay.
Adolf wiped the sweat from his brow inside his helmet and tightened his grip on the sword.
"I will draw it. The rest of you fall back and strike its weak points the instant you see an opening."
"It's too dangerous, General!"
The adjutant tried to stop him forcefully, but Adolf had already broken into a run.
He closed the distance in a few strides and deliberately unleashed a powerful slash.
Thud!
A shallow wound opened on the monster's foreleg. Rage flared in its eyes as it swung at Adolf.
He twisted just in time to evade the first blow, yet when the second strike came his body staggered under the attempt to counter.
The impact slammed him hard against the edge of the altar.
He clenched his teeth and forced himself upright again. Part of his armor had been wrecked; metal creaked and groaned, yet he never let his gaze drop.
"Now, archers!"
The adjutant seized the chance and shouted.
The archers waiting in the rear loosed a simultaneous volley. Arrows sank into the monster's flanks and waist. It screamed and reeled.
"Our turn!"
Knights on the side charged in, hammering the lower half of its body. The monster howled as though in real pain, swaying heavily as it tried to change the direction of its attack.
"Good. An opening."
Adolf launched himself forward once more. He slipped in beside the foreleg and drove a precise strike into the joint.
Even through the hard shell the impact rang heavy and solid. Blood sprayed as part of the plating ruptured.
"Now we finish it!"
He roared and raised his sword high.
In that very instant the monster twisted its body in a final, desperate counter. Both forepaws swung at once, carrying an enormous force straight at Adolf.
"Look out!"
Soldiers around him cried out, yet his reaction came half a beat too late. Fatigue had piled up, and the continuous assaults had robbed his body of its former speed.
"Ugh!"
He groaned as the monster's paw slammed into him, sending him rolling across the floor. Armor tore open; red blood welled from the exposed flesh.
Pain exploded from his heart and his breath turned short and ragged, yet he still clenched his teeth and refused to yield.