But Lucas couldn’t immediately swing his sword at my neck.
SWISH!
A blade of killing intent flew in from both sides, colliding where Lucas had just been standing.
SHING!
If a person had been in between, they might have been shredded to pieces. This was a genuine killing intent, completely different from what I had seen during training with Claire.
TCH…!
Lucas, stepping back, let out a sound as he slightly bent at the waist.
That was—
“That’s right.”
Noticing my gaze, Emperor Arthur III spoke.
“There was indeed a reason to come equipped like that.”
Lucas was injured. That meant he couldn’t unleash his full power yet.
Was it an injury from acquiring that priestly robe and sword?
If he intended to face the Order of Knights all at once, it would make sense. Even if he could take them all down, he couldn’t expect to go unscathed in a single attack.
And among those wounds, some were probably beyond simple healing magic.
“Heh, did you really think that’s all there was to it?”
Lucas laughed, and the masked woman flinched slightly.
“Even if I look like this, I know much more than the emperor here. You aware that rumors about your true identity are already circling in the Papal State?”
“…….”
That might be true.
With the Verati incident… well, Verati would have been caught even without me around.
Slowly, I rose and took my stance.
I couldn’t keep sitting on my rear no matter how much I wanted to.
“Shall we do this?”
Lucas grinned at me.
“Aren’t you curious? Why you have to be like this. Usually, you’d dodge my sword without a second thought.”
“…….”
“At least one question that the Papal State had has been answered.”
It seemed Lucas had come to some sort of truth on his own. Something far more significant than the fact that the blood of the emperor flowed through his veins.
“What on earth are you talking about—”
As I tried to say a few more words, BANG! the door burst open dramatically.
At the same time, Alice, Claire, and Leo rushed in. Knights poured in behind them, filling the room.
“I told you to seal off the room!”
At the emperor’s words, the knights flinched.
“I insisted on coming in.”
Alice stepped out beside me as she said that.
“Do you really think you can help? Honestly?”
The emperor scolded harshly, but Alice only glanced at me.
“Alice.”
“Lucas.”
As Lucas called Alice’s name like a greeting, she responded. It seemed casual at a glance, but her eyes were far from smiling.
“And are the folks from Baron Grace’s estate here too? No matter how many of you there are, you won’t be of any help at all. Instead, you’ll just become a nuisance. You won’t even be able to unleash your killing intent at will.”
“Well, if that’s the case, it’d imply that having a large number of people in battle is always a hassle, doesn’t it?”
The Sword Saint responded, seeing Leo and Claire go pale at Lucas’s words.
“No matter how crazy a guy throwing around blades might be, in the end, he’ll bow down before a majority.”
“Hmph, really?”
Lucas smirked, lifting one corner of his mouth.
“Then let’s give it a shot. I confirmed what I needed to confirm anyway.”
With that, Lucas charged straight at us.
Simultaneously, all the knights in the room rushed at Lucas—
WHOOSH! suddenly, my vision was tinged red.
Several knights who charged ahead of me collapsed. I didn’t have the time to check if they were critically injured.
My hands were already moving. Like a video game where I kept pressing the same button, my hands drew the automatic pistol from beneath my armpit,
BANG! BANG!
Two shots in quick succession.
My aim was spot on.
But I caught a glimpse of Lucas’s gaze moving toward my gun.
Lucas was already moving his body before I pulled the trigger.
A monster.
That was the thought that flared in my mind at that moment. Not the usual slack demeanor of Lucas but a genuinely deadly expression, as if he intended to kill me.
Yet, at the same time, his expression was oddly joyful.
As Lucas dodged my muzzle, he spun to the side, unleashing his killing intent.
Two more knights fell.
TCH…!
With a sound like a boxing punch, the masked woman was pushed back. Some of the ki I couldn’t entirely block grazed her arms, leaving shallow cuts.
CLANG!
Before I could even process that, the sound of swords clashing filled the air. It seemed Emperor Arthur III had swung his sword and had it parried by Lucas.
The tip of the emperor’s blade dug into Lucas’s sword halfway.
“Is that killing intent? Truly impressive, Father…!”
Does this mean that because of the killing intent surrounding the blade, it wasn’t cleaved in two?
“Oh dear…!”
Lucas easily dodged another blade of killing intent swooping in from the side.
“Old man, keep worrying about those around you and you’ll end up dead.”
That guy never shuts up.
With that, Lucas twisted his sword. DING! With a clear sound, the tip of the emperor’s sword split apart, and Lucas slipped his blade through the widening gap.
“Hmph…!”
Reacting quickly, the emperor slashed down hard on the now-swirling killing intent, splitting it in half.
COUGH…!
But that wide killing intent was enough to slice through all those around.
BANG BANG!
Two more shots. But I must have hurriedly turned the gun, as I only grazed Lucas’s shoulder. The priestly robe tore a bit and stained red, but Lucas paid it no mind, maintaining his gaze on me.
Grinding my teeth, I pulled the trigger once more—
PING!
A clear sound rang out.
In that moment, I couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.
Was that the sound of Lucas deflecting the bullet with his sword?
“Impressive. Just seeing that expression of yours made coming here worthwhile!”
Lucas continued swinging his sword with that same grin.
And then, a wave of killing intent came rushing toward me.
I couldn’t dodge.
For a moment, that’s what I thought, when—
“NO!”
…My sister’s golden hair, whom I’d never defeated without cheating, blocked my view.
SPURT! Blood splattered.
Huh…?
The person who had blocked my path collapsed. My slow reaction time, barely at the level of an average person, made it feel like her fall was in slow motion.
“Alice!”
A scream echoed through the air.
The masked woman charged at Lucas, and once more, Lucas swung his sword. Carelessly, just like swatting at dog grass, left and right twice.
Screams filled the air again, and blood sprayed.
My abdomen felt hot.
Looking down, I saw it stained red.
My vision slowly shifted sideways, downward…
But what filled my mind wasn’t my own condition.
Alice.
Alice, who lay on the ground in agony, bleeding.
Alice’s gaze turned toward me. Her expression was painted with despair.
Much worse off than I was.
Alice looked up at me with a pained expression.
I could hear Claire’s scream, Leo’s battle cry.
Probably, in the next moment, the two of them—
In my fading vision, I saw their backs as Lucas swung his sword—
No!
Everyone can’t die because of me—
“Again!”
The words exploded from my mouth like a scream.
*
THUD! A sensation I had experienced so many times before.
My head buzzed as if it had collided hard somewhere, and my breath escaped.
As the tinnitus gradually subsided, the twinkling stars in my vision let in light again, and what met my eyes was the back of a girl with blue hair rushing ahead.
“Again!”
*
THUD!
The sensation was like crashing my body straight into a rock.
Strangely enough, it felt like my head was clearing a little. I hadn’t been able to effectively use that ability every time I met the masked woman.
But was it truly like that?
Had my ability been completely blocked?
Thoughts, thoughts.
Again, the girl running ahead. The two bleeding princesses.
“Again!”
*
THUD!
CRACK!
For a brief moment, I felt the space.
As if I had fallen into the center of a kaleidoscope. Light passing through a prism, splitting into colors like a rainbow, creating a world where everything was indistinct.
But even while observing such a world, I could understand one thing.
I had definitely experienced this world before.
By crashing hard against it.
By breaking through space, I was certain I had turned back time at that moment.
I had rewound to just before my battle with the masked woman.
If that hand grabbing my collar hadn’t held me back, I—
“Again!”
*
THUD!
My whole body resonated.
But I still felt it wasn’t enough.
I think I understand why I couldn’t turn back.
It was clear that something was blocking a path that should have allowed me through. But it wasn’t a barricade so strong that I couldn’t break through it.
Rather, it was unstable enough that I could crash through without much effort.
It hurt a bit when I crashed into it, but if I just weren’t scared—
Right.
If I wasn’t scared, I could definitely break the barrier.
Ha, this is just ridiculous.
Nobody deceived me outright; it was just me whimsically imagining things.
The reason I was able to break the ruins then was because of one simple fact.
Because I didn’t know.
I didn’t know how painful it would be to crash into it.
Like someone charging at a window that showed no indication of being a window, I just crashed through that barrier.
After the first collision, I was the one scared.
Well, I probably wouldn’t come out unscathed. Crashing that hard would take a toll.
But back then, I had gotten a bruise but didn’t die.
That’s true.
Watching the swaying blue ponytail in my line of sight, I thought.
Then there’s only one thing I need to do.
Hit harder.
Go farther.
With all my might.
If I go back, that’s all there is to it.
“Again!”
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