Raid (3)
Raid (3)
The carriage carrying the Princess and the Grand Archduchess did not get far.
Boom!
Though it had been racing forward under the knights' escort, the ground beneath it suddenly exploded, sending the carriage tumbling across the dirt.
"Aaah! "
The Princess's maid, who was inside with them, shrieked as she tumbled along with the carriage.
The coachman's neck broke when he was crushed beneath a fallen horse, while the knights following behind scrambled frantically to avoid the crashing carriage.
After the carriage came to a stop, its occupants emerged.
The Princess, the Grand Archduchess, and even Balea—as well as the Princess's maid, whose clothes and hair were a disheveled mess—were all uninjured.
This was thanks to the Princess and the Grand Archduchess holding on to the maid while Balea kept the carriage's interior stable.
Balea's ability had grown significantly since before.
She was now capable of turning even the interior of a moving carriage into her domain.
But once the carriage came to a stop, she needed time to establish her domain again.
Standing beside the overturned carriage, she scanned her surroundings.
The knights were engaged in battle with the enemy.
With their formation shattered by the carriage's sudden stop, the knights seemed entirely occupied with the enemies right in front of them.
"They aren't ordinary mercenaries, are they?"
"There is no way common mercenaries could go head-to-head against the royal knights of the Kingdom and the Duchy."
The Grand Archduchess shook her head at Balea's question.
Though her words carried a note of pride in the Duchy Knights, there was no lie in what she said.
Even if the Duchy Knights were considered slightly inferior to the Kingdom's knights, they were still far superior to average knights.
About half of the Duchy Knights accompanying the Grand Archduchess were nobles with special abilities.
The enemy's unexpected skill was a problem, but the bigger issue was the steady stream of reinforcements joining the fight after the carriage fell.
When figures clad in black armor arrived, the tide of battle shifted dramatically.
"They are knights. Properly trained noble knights."
Having propped her maid against the side of the carriage, the Princess returned and spoke as she watched the newly arrived mercenaries in black armor.
The Grand Archduchess chimed in after the Princess.
"Judging by the shouts earlier, the faces I recognize, and even the awakened knights... Is it indeed the Empire?"
The Grand Archduchess checked her accessories once more.
"We must flee! We cannot handle this!"
The Duchy's Senior Knight shouted as he ran to the carriage, but neither the Princess nor the Grand Archduchess showed any intention of fleeing.
"Where would we flee? This road isn't even a main highway."
The Princess swept her gaze around.
Everyone headed their way had already arrived, and the encirclement was complete.
On top of that, this was unfamiliar territory to both the Princess and the Grand Archduchess.
All the horses were down, and though the Princess might be able to escape on foot, the Grand Archduchess—who had no physical enhancement abilities—could not.
"Come to think of it, was choosing an unfamiliar road part of their plan, too?"
The Grand Archduchess muttered, but the Princess raised her sword and pointed it at the enemy.
"We can look into that after we survive. For now, we must fight the enemy."
Enemies were already cutting down the knights and charging toward them.
Men in black-painted armor. Knights clad in black armor.
The Senior Knight's expression darkened, and the Princess gritted her teeth as she stepped forward.
The Grand Archduchess also touched her accessories, seemingly trying to activate something, but unfortunately, there appeared to be no way to stop the charging enemies.
At that moment, Balea let out a sigh.
"Phew, I guess I have no choice if I want to live, right?"
She extended her hand toward the charging knights.
Though not much time had passed, she had managed to build her kingdom—her domain—right here.
Bang.
Trees shifted, and the ground surged upward.
Roots burst from the earth to bind the charging knights' feet. At the same time, the earth crumbled beneath them, trying to bury them alive.
A wall of earth shot up in front of a leaping knight, while a howling wind swept in to drive back the advancing knights.
Startled, the knights hurriedly retreated.
"It's a high-tier inherited ability User!"
As panicked shouts rang out from all directions, the knights who had been charging forward stopped and began to approach cautiously.
The Grand Archduchess looked at Balea with wide, surprised eyes.
"Could it be... did you have another escort?"
But the Princess was staring at Balea in astonishment, too.
"No, Balea isn't an escort, she's..."
"A friend."
Balea cut in before the Princess could finish.
When she called herself the Princess's "friend," she was thinking of someone else entirely.
"Yes. A friend."
Though the Princess agreed that Balea was her friend, she shook her head as she looked at her.
"She is my friend, but even I had no idea Balea was this skilled."
"Well, it's a good thing to have an ally who can fight well."
"The Grand Archduchess is right."
Balea nodded vigorously.
Even as they spoke, the knights were frantically swinging their swords, trying to break through Balea's domain.
They severed roots, shattered walls, and chopped down trees.
"I won't be able to hold out for long."
Balea grimaced as she watched the approaching men.
Though she had revealed her true strength, unfortunately, she had only bought them a little time.
In the meantime, the Grand Archduchess's accessories radiated light, erecting a protective barrier around the group.
The Princess and the Senior Knight also swung their swords fiercely against the black knights who broke through the domain.
But that only let them hold out a little longer.
The Senior Knight ultimately collapsed, and the Princess lost her sword as a heavy impact sent her flying backward.
"What the hell? Why is the Princess so strong? Didn't you say she only inherited her mother's family's ability?"
The knight who had slain the Senior Knight and sent the Princess flying rotated his wrist as he spoke to another knight.
The knight chopping down trees shrugged.
No matter how strong the Princess was, how strong could she really be?
It made no difference to the operation anyway.
Now the knights were moving calmly once again.
Though they had been startled by the sudden appearance of a high-tier ability user, she was well within their capacity to handle.
Her ability was impressive, but it was still the power of a young student. All they had to do was calmly wear her down until her mana ran dry.
If there had been only one or two knights, they might have been defeated, but more than twenty had been deployed here alone.
About half had been killed or injured and put out of commission, but the rest were more than enough to finish the job.
"Surrender. If you keep resisting, we cannot guarantee your lives."
From outside Balea's domain, a middle-aged knight spoke, his gaze fixed on the Grand Archduchess.
The knights protecting the Princess and the Grand Archduchess lay fallen on the ground. Many of the mercenaries and black knights who had fought them were dead as well, but—
In the end, the black knights were the ones still standing.
The Grand Archduchess looked around.
The Princess was barely managing to push herself up from the ground, and Balea, who had displayed such formidable power, looked utterly exhausted.
Though the Grand Archduchess still had mana left to activate the relics she wore, it was clear she wouldn't last long relying solely on her own mana reserves.
The Grand Archduchess couldn't understand the situation.
They were clearly knights of the Empire. Why had they come after her? And judging by what they were saying now, they hadn't come to kill her, either.
Which meant they intended to abduct her.
The Grand Archduchess gritted her teeth and spoke to him.
"Then let Princess Aisha and Lady Balea go."
The Grand Archduchess offered a trade, but the knight refused.
"That is impossible. We cannot leave witnesses at the scene."
The Grand Archduchess lowered her head.
As expected, she was the only target.
Absurdly enough, they even intended to kill the Princess of the Carlos Kingdom.
"I'm so sorry, everyone. It's all because of me."
She knew the attack had been orchestrated to kidnap her, but she still couldn't fathom why they wanted to kidnap her in the first place.
Was it because she had refused to study abroad in the Empire? Did they intend to blackmail her father? Or did they covet her ability?
Regardless, she couldn't surrender here.
As the Grand Archduchess steeled herself for death, Balea let out a deep breath.
She smiled and looked back down the road they had traveled.
"Hoo, in the end, I managed to buy time."
At Balea's words, the Princess, who had barely managed to stand, also looked in the direction Balea was facing.
Balea's words had brought a certain person to mind.
As the two turned their heads, the Grand Archduchess and the other knights involuntarily looked in the same direction.
A thick cloud of dust churned along the road.
At the head of the dust cloud, a single person was sprinting toward them.
He wasn't moving at a human's running speed.
He ran like a horse—no, even faster than one.
From his clothes alone, the Princess could tell who was approaching.
"Young Lord Alex! Young Lord Alex is—Eek! Young Lord's face!"
But she gasped in horror when she saw his face.
On closer inspection, it wasn't just his face.
His body was a ghastly mess of severe burns, and his clothes had been charred into ragged tatters.
His face was contorted beyond recognition.
The Grand Archduchess was equally shocked by his appearance.
Only Balea was unfazed by his gruesome appearance.
"I knew you'd come. Alex is different from Father. When I'm in danger, when I need him, Young Lord Alex comes running like this, doesn't he?"
Instead, she muttered under her breath.
The black knights were also stunned to see the running boy.
There was no way anyone should have survived coming from that direction.
On top of that, the boy was burned from head to toe. Which meant he had fought against Knight Vid.
And the fact that only the boy was sprinting toward them meant Vid had lost.
The middle-aged knight bellowed.
"Enemy! Block him! Do not underestimate him just because he's young!"
In a flash, the boy closed the distance and crashed headlong into the black knights.
Gasp. Ugh. Gasp.
My breath came in ragged gasps.
My mana was draining rapidly.
If the distance had been any greater, I would have collapsed before I even arrived.
It was a relief.
I could see the carriage in the distance.
I could see the enemies surrounding the carriage.
I could see the wrecked terrain where Balea had used her power without holding back.
Pain kept making my consciousness waver.
If I hadn't grown accustomed to pain, I wouldn't have made it this far.
Still, I wasn't too late.
The knights had fallen, but the people I needed to protect were still safe.
Even if I died, I would come back to life once I regressed to the past.
Even if I were reborn, I had decided that I would never give up on people until the very end.
Whether because of the idea of parallel worlds, my own conscience, or simply because I didn't want to feel guilty when looking at those who survived, I shouldn't give up. But even setting all those reasons aside, I would do my utmost until the very end.
To just give up...
'My past lives fucking sucked way too much!'
Leading up to this death, I'd lived countless lives. Every one of them was a life I'd experienced myself.
I couldn't just throw away all those lives like a video game.
Even now, I haven't given up.
A knight wearing black-painted armor lunged at me.
Though my mana was draining rapidly, I pushed even more of it into my necklace.
The world slowed once more.
A barrage of well-practiced sword strokes rained down on me.
If it had been a style I'd never seen before, it wouldn't have been easy to deal with, but just a moment ago, I'd fought someone far superior.
Besides, that guy had wielded a sword engulfed in flames, so I'd already gotten plenty of practice.
The greatsword in my hand deflected the opponent's blade.
A layer of skin peeled away from my hand, which had half-fused to the sword hilt because of the burns, but by then, my opponent had already collapsed, stabbed by my dagger.
I tore off the loose skin and engaged the next knights.
Two of them this time.
Of the two swords flying at me simultaneously, I dodged one and parried the other slightly off course.
The burned skin along my flank was sliced open.
Burns or cuts, damage was damage.
But the same couldn't be said for my opponents.
Diving between the two, I cleaved them both with my greatsword.
Thud.
Perhaps because my mana was gradually turning into a volatile mess, the knights struck by my greatsword exploded half-apart instead of being cleanly sliced.
Debris sprayed into the air, and I pushed farther forward, showered in gore.
Even after that, I kept swinging my sword.
Knights collapsed, and I continued to sustain injuries.
They fell, blood spurting.
As I fought on, before I knew it, only one person remained standing in front of me.
Clang!
It was the middle-aged knight.
Unfortunately, he managed to block my blade.
No—maybe my sword could no longer bring down an opponent.
My mana was finally running low, making it hard even to keep my mind clear.
After swinging my sword to drive the knight back, I looked toward the carriage.
The Princess, the Grand Archduchess, and Balea were looking at me.
Their expressions were all somber.
Looking at my condition, they must all have realized that I couldn't survive much longer.
Yet seeing the ladies' somber faces actually made me feel a little better.
Contrary to what they thought, this wasn't the end for me.
And I couldn't let them end here, either.
I shouted at the top of my lungs.
Perhaps because my throat was burned, too, my voice came out extremely raspy.
"It will take some time! Go on ahead!"
"But..."
The Princess hesitated at my words, but the Grand Archduchess and Balea followed my command.
And I called out to someone else, too.
"My lord! Now is your chance! Take the Princess and the Grand Archduchess and get out of here!"
Everyone was bewildered, but as soon as I finished speaking, the Viscount emerged from the wall of the broken carriage.
I had no idea how he had managed to board the Princess's carriage, but he had been hiding all this time by assimilating himself into the carriage.
Considering that even my own detection had barely picked him up, he seemed to have a pretty decent ability.
Unless you were an assassin, it didn't seem particularly useful.
Perhaps embarrassed, the Viscount hurried along with his flushed face lowered.
He grabbed the Princess's arm and moved swiftly down the road.
The group gradually pulled away.
As they moved farther away, the black knight's swordplay grew increasingly fierce and desperate.
But he couldn't pursue them without striking me down first.
I couldn't win, nor did I intend to.
My only intention was to pin down the knight in front of me.
My sword gradually slowed.
Time no longer slowed around me.
I could no longer feel the perception I had extended far into my surroundings.
Perhaps sensing this, my opponent's attacks grew exceedingly ruthless.
"Damn it! If not for you, bastard!"
Yet he must have realized it, too: even if he killed me, it was far too late to catch up to the Princesses.
He must have realized that I was holding him back by burning the final spark of my life.
Wielding my sword in a trance-like state, I soon became aware of the world fading to black.
A pitch-black world.
I no longer felt any pain.
Am I dead?
<You have died. Restarting from the Automatic Save Point.>
Ah, I really did die.
Dying while swinging my sword was a pretty badass way to go.
I'd bought plenty of time, so the Princesses must have escaped safely, too.
Watching the world gradually brighten, I waited for the impending pain.
It had been a thoroughly satisfying death, but next time, I had no intention of ending things like this.
While I waited for the agony to hit, with that thought in mind— another message window popped up in front of my eyes.
<You performed splendidly until the very end of this life. EXP significantly increased. Level up due to accumulated EXP.>
Even as my body trembled from the overwhelming pain, I kept glaring at the message.