Sophia’s hair flowed down through the cracks of her broken helmet, and the black sword in her hand drooped toward the ground.
However, neither the Bunny Tribe soldiers of the Carat Dutchy nor the soldiers of the Andras Empire noticed or cared.
Part of her helmet was broken, making her face difficult to see, and both sides were too preoccupied with their battle to pay attention elsewhere.
However, from the top of the wall, I was looking down at Sophia, and she, from the plains, was glaring straight at me.
We had eyes only for each other.
When I shifted my gaze slightly, I saw O’Brien, who had been among the mages, moving toward Sophia.
“Ravi, Lenis. Our targets are those two. Don’t take your eyes off them. They’re the ones who turned Aldebaran into ruins and orchestrated this armed conflict between the two nations.”
At my words, Ravi and Lenis’ eyes turned fierce.
“Those people… they attacked our soldiers…”
“So those bastards are the ones who destroyed the city we stayed in for two weeks? They dared to turn our city’s heart into rubble… they’ll pay for this.”
Ravi and Lenis burned with fighting spirit, preparing for battle, and our opponents did the same.
“You wield some bizarre power, don’t you? Makes me want to kill you even more.”
“Don’t be careless. That power just now… It seems to be the same one our clients described as belonging to the top assassination target.”
With O’Brien joining Sophia, two key figures of the Black Shadow Mercenaries were now gathered in one place.
I confirmed that the soldiers, caught up in their battle, were in no state to hear me.
Then, standing on the wall, I spoke to them.
“You turned Aldebaran into ruins, and that wasn’t enough? Now you dare to lay hands on the Carat Dutchy? Did your master order you to collect human blood and lives? You parasites.”
Sophia snorted.
“Did you think provoking me would make me lose my temper and spill valuable information? Too bad, I’m not such an amateur. However…”
Narrowing her eyes, Sophia extended her black sword several meters and swung it toward the wall where I stood.
“I can’t stand being looked down upon as if you’re above me!”
BOOM!
A section of the wall’s battlements collapsed, forcing me, Ravi, and Lenis to jump down to the ground.
Only then did Sophia smirk, a mixture of satisfaction and arrogance in her expression, as she sneered at me.
“Finally decided to crawl down, huh?”
“Getting worked up over something so trivial… Deep down, you’re more childish than a snot-nosed brat.”
“…This bastard has been getting on my nerves for a while now.”
“Pfft.”
O’Brien, who had remained silent until now, let out a light chuckle.
Sophia shot him a murderous glare.
“You’re laughing? Should I kill you first?”
“If even a stranger who’s just met you can see through your nature, then the problem lies with you, Sophia. Now then…”
O’Brien’s gaze swept over the three of us, as if assessing our strength.
“A Bunny Tribe princess… Hooh, and this one here—aren’t you that clueless noble brat from the kingdom who was making a fuss in Liberta back then? I see, things are starting to make sense now. That day, a sudden flash of light ruined my chance to kill you. So, it was this guy’s doing?”
“And if it was?”
“Then you must be the assassination target our clients have been searching for. They’ll be pleased. We had no leads on your whereabouts, but now you’ve gone and shown yourself so openly.”
“That’s only if you manage to leave here alive and report back to your masters. But I have no intention of letting you go.”
As I gripped my lightsaber and pointed it forward, O’Brien raised his rune-covered gloves and sneered.
“Seems like we’re in agreement on that point.”
“Hah, our clients were so desperate to get rid of you that I was curious what kind of great warrior you’d be. But turns out, you’re just a snot-nosed brat who hasn’t even shed his baby fat.”
Sophia licked her lips as she readied her black sword.
“I wonder what your blood tastes like.”
“If rotten souls like yours so much as touch my blood, you’ll burn your tongues.”
“AHAHAHA! Listen to this little brat run his mouth!”
With that, Sophia swung her black sword violently.
BOOM!
But the razor-sharp chains flying toward me were knocked away by Ravi’s punch, clattering noisily to the ground.
“I’ve heard about you. In Liberta, if we had been just a little late, you would’ve killed Lenis. And after ruining Aldebaran, now you’re trying to drag our nation into war? I will never forgive you.”
“And what will you do if you can’t forgive us, you half-baked excuse for a human? Kill us?”
Clang!
As the black sword lashed out again, Ravi leaped high into the air, performing a graceful arc before landing in a backflip.
She adjusted her stance, her eyes filled with unwavering determination.
“Yes. I don’t like that kind of method, but I’m not soft enough to hesitate when necessary.”
“AHAHAHA! So this pathetic place calls itself a kingdom, and you’re playing princess? I can’t wait to see what kind of face you’ll make when your flesh starts getting torn apart!”
Meanwhile, Lenis was engaged in a standoff with O’Brien, another mage like himself.
O’Brien, with rune-engraved gloves on both hands, conjured a complex magic circle, pressing down on Lenis with overwhelming force.
“Originally, your death was supposed to spark a civil war within the kingdom, which would then escalate into a conflict between the Empire and the Kingdom. But now… I’m not sure whether to call this good luck or bad luck. If you’d just stayed hidden, you might’ve been able to keep that borrowed life of yours. But instead, you crawled all the way back here to die.”
“Shut up! We saw everything you did in Aldebaran! So many innocent people… If that was the will of those who hired you, and if you actively participated in their plans, then every single one of you must die here!”
“That’s the kind of thing only those with power can say, little girl.”
O’Brien unleashed a barrage of spells at Lenis, who retaliated in turn.
The two mages engaged in a fierce battle of magic.
Meanwhile, Ravi and Sophia clashed in earnest—Ravi lunged forward with explosive leg strength, while Sophia swung her black sword, keeping her distance.
The battlefield descended into chaos.
“I won’t let you get away!”
“Hah! Just because you half-baked humanoids are a little fast and a little strong, you think you’re something special? And yet, even with those abilities, this is the best you can do. Pathetic.”
“Shut up!”
“You must’ve received some elite education as a princess, right? I heard you were the first Bunny Tribe student admitted to the Academy. You must’ve been so proud of yourself.”
BOOM!
The chain blade of Sophia’s black sword lashed out, targeting the spot where Ravi had just been standing.
Though she managed to evade it, the ground beneath shattered and cracked—had she been a moment slower, the consequences would have been dire.
Clang!
As Ravi dodged through the air, Sophia swung her black sword horizontally with her other hand, aiming straight for Ravi.
Still mid-air, Ravi had no way to avoid the attack. She raised both arms to guard herself, but the chain blade struck her forearms, slicing through her skin.
“Argh…!”
“But this is reality, you second-rate humanoid! You and that naïve little noble brat over there! The number of life-or-death battles we’ve survived is on a completely different scale!”
BOOM!
On the other side, a massive explosion erupted between O’Brien and Lenis.
Lenis, her skin and clothes smeared with soot, tumbled backward twice before finally managing to stand.
“Ugh… Damn it…”
“For all that big talk, you’re not much, are you, little lady?”
“Shut up! I just haven’t shown my full strength yet!”
“Oh? You’d better hurry then—if you don’t want to die. Hmmm… I like that look in your eyes. Even while getting overwhelmed, you haven’t lost your fighting spirit. It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a good expression. I wonder how that fire in your eyes will change right before I take your head off.”
“You psycho bastard…”
BOOM! BOOM!
CRASH!
“Urgh…”
“Agh…!”
Sophia and O’Brien’s relentless attacks sent Ravi and Lenis reeling backward once again.
The difference in combat experience was obvious.
Ravi and Lenis struggled to gain the upper hand, and every slight mistake brought them dangerously close to a fatal wound.
If this continued, things would only get worse.
I had no choice but to intervene.
â–¶By choosing to intervene in battle, you will suffer a Level 2 backlash.â—€
Thud!
‘Guh… You’ve got to be kidding me…’
At that moment, the dormant bomb inside my body flared up again.
A crushing pain surged through my organs, as if they were being wrung out.
My body trembled uncontrollably, and I dropped to one knee from the sheer agony.
▶Your comrades are fighting a crucial battle. If they win, they will grow stronger. However, if they fail… they will die.◀
“!!!”
This was just like the Companion Strengthening Event from Crusader Bryden NX—
—an event with a 0% success rate.