"Incredible..."
The word slipped from Rosemary's lips, an honest, unvarnished reaction.
In the Amelia Kingdom, even female royalty were thoroughly drilled in martial arts and magic from early childhood. Never leave the battlefield to the people alone. In any hardship, take up sword and staff to stand for your subjects. That was the injunction left by the founding king, a tradition handed down unbroken for generations.
Because of that, she took pride in having a discerning eye for martial combat. Yet the swordsmanship on display far exceeded Rose's comprehension.
A sharp slash unleashed by Arnold drove toward Zignir as he stepped in, only to slice past the very tip of his nose. And when Zignir slipped inside Arnold's reach to deliver two flashing strikes, Arnold swung his greatsword with sheer brute force, blowing him backward.
Utilizing his natural agility, Zignir darted at high speed between the air and the ground, unleashing a furious flurry of attacks from blind spots. Arnold met and weathered every single blow with his massive blade.
Illuminated by the moonlight, the dance of the violently clashing longsword and greatsword was breathtakingly beautiful.
"So this is the battle between the Lion King and the Sword Emperor..."
Beside her, Anna voiced her awe with a dazed, hollow expression.
"Yes. It is my first time witnessing a life-or-death battle between true masters as well. To think it would be so formidable."
The swordsmanship of the two had reached the pinnacle of human capability. What was more, their skill with the blade appeared perfectly matched. In addition, Arnold was deflecting every single one of Zignir's sword strikes with his greatsword. Which meant—
"Princess, can he win?"
Her face painted with deep anxiety, Anna asked the very question Rose had just resolved in her own mind.
"The Sword Emperor cannot defeat Arnold."
"Huh? But isn't it an even match no matter how you look at it?"
"Because it is an even match, he cannot win."
"Umm, err..."
Rose gave a wry smile at Anna, who tilted her head in confusion, before explaining.
"Arnold is deflecting all of the Sword Emperor's high-speed slashes using only a greatsword. Between a greatsword and a longsword, the greatsword has overwhelmingly superior destructive power. Besides, the Sword Emperor cannot possibly maintain that level of exertion indefinitely."
Look, the cracks are already beginning to show.
Arnold's greatsword whipped up a tempest, bearing down to cleave across Zignir's torso. Zignir tried to leap into the air to evade it, but his footing slipped, delaying him by a fraction of a second.
"Ooooooaaahhh—!!"
Letting out a beastly roar, Arnold shifted the trajectory of his greatsword and swung through toward the spot where Zignir had leaped.
The greatsword struck cleanly and solidly; though Zignir blocked it with his blade, the sheer momentum sent him spinning through the air. He broke his fall and scrambled to his feet immediately, but Arnold was already sprinting toward him, greatsword poised high overhead.
It's useless. He was a breath too slow. The match is decided. Arnold wins.
Arnold was completely uninjured. If the Sword Emperor fell, they should at least be able to escape.
However, Rosemary's faint glimmer of hope—
"Guh!"
—was shattered to pieces by a single snake sinking its fangs into Arnold's right leg.
As Arnold's movements abruptly seized, Zignir's sword came sweeping down in a diagonal slash, sending Arnold crashing face-down to the ground.
Zignir stood over the fallen Arnold for a moment, his shoulders heaving. But when the snake still latched onto the man's right leg caught his eye, a thick vein bulged on his forehead.
"Enz!! Why the hell did you interfere in our duel!!?"
He flew into a rage at the gray-haired, bald man.
"This is part of a war waged under His Imperial Majesty's decree. If you were to fall here, the princess might escape. While that possibility is low, unforeseen events do happen. Compared to that, your petty pride is a trivial matter."
"Trivial, you say? You bastard, are you mocking my pride as a swordsman—!!?"
With a cold, furious glare, Zignir leveled the tip of his sword at the gray-haired bald man, Enz, and dropped his stance low.
"I have no such intention. However, if you come at me, I will resist with all my might."
Enz cracked his knuckles with a dull pop and braced himself.
The black-robed figures were entirely focused on the two of them, their attention drawn away from Rose and her companion. Now was the only chance: hoist Arnold onto her shoulders, flee into the forest, shake them off, and cast healing magic. That was the only option left.
(Now!)
Just as Rose moved to run toward Arnold, she was easily seized from behind.
"No can do~ We can't let you escape."
Looking back over her shoulder, she saw one of Fracton's subordinate knights looking down at her with an ecstatic grin.
"L-Let me go!!"
Anna's furious shout struck Rose's ears. Turning only her head—the only part of her that could still move—toward the voice, Rose saw a chubby, bearded, older knight pinning Anna to the ground.
"Hey, we can have this woman, right?"
At the chubby, bearded knight's sickening question, Enz replied without even glancing their way:
"I don't care. Do as you like."
"Ooh, he said we can do whatever we want! First come, first served!"
"S-Stop this!"
Rose cried out frantically, but none of them paid her any heed.
"Princess, why don't you watch the moment Anna becomes a woman~"
One of the chubby knight's companions pinned down Anna's thrashing arms, while the older knight straddling her tore away at her armor.
"No! Let go! Let go of me!!"
Anna's voice had already dissolved into desperate tears.
"Get away from Anna!! Do you people have no shame?!"
"Of course we do~ But you see, the defeated yielding to the victor is simply the way of war, isn't it?"
When the chubby older knight ripped Anna's tunic apart, her chest was bared to the cold night air.
"Noooooo!!"
Anna's scream echoed through the clearing.
Zignir cast a brief sidelong glance at Anna being assaulted, clicked his tongue, sheathed his sword, and began walking toward the forest. Shrugging his shoulders, the gray-haired bald man dropped his stance and signaled the black-robed figures with a nod.
Several of them slowly approached Rose.
This is horrible! It's too cruel! Gilbert is my own flesh and blood. Yet he sold me out to the Empire so easily. And his subordinate knights are committing such atrocities against a girl who is like a precious little sister to me. If I am taken to the Empire, these men will surely return to their everyday lives as if nothing happened. No, Gilbert will probably reward and favor them for their success in this outrage.
—Even after violating Anna!
—Even after selling Rose to the Empire!
They would defile this Amelia Kingdom to the absolute limit.
Unforgivable! There is no way I can ever forgive this! Every last one of these shameless bastards should just die!
God, no, a demon is fine too. Anyone! Someone protect Anna from these shameless fiends!!
"Save us!!"
Rose screamed with all her might, tearing at her throat.
—Suddenly, the body of the chubby older knight straddling Anna and reaching for her was hoisted into the air. More accurately, he was lifted entirely by his skull, held in an iron grip by the right hand of a man dressed in foreign black garb. From her angle, Rose could only see his back; all she could tell was that he had a medium build and dark hair.
"Gyehh!! It hurts! Gigagagaga!"
The shriek devolved into an unidentifiable, guttural rasp. By the time Rose blinked, the older knight's head had burst like overripe fruit. The headless corpse dropped heavily to the ground.
"Oh my, so it shatters with just this much? Just as I thought. He has even less durability than the weakest monsters in the labyrinth. The gap between the strong and the weak in the real world must be considerably vast."
Even though he had just killed a man, the newcomer showed absolutely no aversion to the act. It was as if he had merely plucked a piece of fruit from a branch. That seemed to be the full extent of his concern.
"Hyaaahhh!!"
Seeing his comrade slaughtered, the man pinning Anna's arms let out a piercing shriek.
"Quiet."
While shaking the blood from his glove, the black-haired man kicked upward into the screaming knight's head.
Just as before, the skull burst open, spraying blood like a fountain.
Rose's mind could not keep up. Two knights had died from casual motions that hardly even counted as attacks.
Moreover, the two who had just been crushed like vermin were seasoned, capable knights within the kingdom. The Amelia Kingdom was undeniably a major power, and its high-ranking knights possessed some of the foremost martial prowess in the world. For them to fall so effortlessly...
For the first time, the black-haired man cast his gaze across the surroundings. The moment Rose caught sight of his face, her heart thudded violently against her ribs.
It was Kai Heinemann—the boy who had been scorned as incompetent.