〈 Chapter 156 〉 Siege Battle (5)
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“Ugh…”
Activating the Royal Sword was a good move.
But the next moment, the Royal Sword resisted like it was going to explode from within the body of the Demon King, who was the fake princess.
And Elsie, held onto the sword, was thrown back by the shock and slammed against the wall.
‘I need to… pull myself together.’
Her head was throbbing, and her body ached as if it would shatter at any moment, yet she somehow got back on her feet.
She hadn’t finished yet.
So she couldn’t afford to lose consciousness here.
As she stood up, Elsie strained her eyes to refocus her blurry vision.
Finally, the scene in front of her came into view.
Perhaps due to the impact, the floor was now cratered, and at its center lay a mass of blood.
‘That’s…’
It was the fake princess, now unrecognizable in form.
Thanks to a tremendous explosion of light from her stomach, she had turned entirely into meat paste.
Yet still, she continued to writhe.
It was a sight both tragic and horrifying.
Having learned of her unfortunate fate, even disdain turned to some sympathy.
But an end had to be reached.
Despite her tragic fate, she was still the Demon King who had aimed to destroy the world.
Just then, as Elsie lifted the Royal Sword, an overwhelming power radiated from it, proving it to be a 5-star relic when she swung it.
Suddenly, an anomaly occurred.
–KRAAAAH!
The deafening scream filled the space.
The shockwave from that scream made Elsie lose her balance.
At the same time, the mass of blood began to swell with an immense light.
–Ershiarah Rodeleim! The true princess!
In an instant, her gigantic eyes widened.
Those bloodshot eyes were glaring at Elsie.
–I curse you! I curse your father!
In fact, it wasn’t just the eyes that had grown.
Her body had swelled tremendously, reaching up to the ceiling of the wide white room.
–And I curse the kingdom! I curse this damned world as well!
With colossal black wings.
And reptilian body adorned with steel-like black scales.
The sight seemed familiar, as if she had dreamed of it once.
‘What should I do now?’
Energy was beginning to gather at the mouth of the creature that had just unleashed a torrent of curses.
Meanwhile, Elsie had already passed the duration of the Awakening Pill, and the penalty had been applied.
Her body felt much heavier than usual.
‘If I took a direct hit like that right now, I’d be done for.’
But she couldn’t retreat.
There was a barrier behind her, containing the Barrier Stone of the Leim Kingdom.
And that barrier could only be deactivated by one who had activated the Royal Sword.
Deactivation didn’t mean it couldn’t be destroyed, though.
“If the 72nd succeeds in awakening, that creature will destroy the Barrier Stone of the Leim Kingdom. If that happens, the destruction of the Leim Kingdom is inevitable. So ensure that creature never awakens.”
According to Allen’s command, she must never allow that creature to awaken.
But the creature before her clearly seemed to have succeeded in the awakening.
Then there was only one option left.
‘I must make sure it can’t break the barrier.’
The 72nd Demon King then asked her.
–Do you wish to disappear along with the Leim Kingdom?
“No, the Leim Kingdom will not disappear.”
At least as long as she was there, it couldn’t be allowed to vanish.
–Nonsense. Look at your condition.
Certainly, Elsie’s body was not in a normal state.
Though she used potions to heal her critical wounds, the hasty treatment had left much to be desired.
Moreover, since the collision with the wall earlier, her vision had been shaking.
–Do you think you can do anything in that condition?
To be honest, she wasn’t sure of herself.
But Allen always had one saying.
“We won’t know until we try.”
–Do as you wish. If I can take you down too, I wouldn’t mind.
In that moment, the energy gathered at the creature’s mouth erupted forward.
And Elsie gritted her teeth, plunging the Royal Sword before her.
Instantly, a massive curtain of light formed in front of her.
‘I will hold on.’
Just blocking wasn’t going to improve the situation.
But it was all she could do right now.
Even blocking felt overwhelmingly burdensome.
With determination, Elsie held the sword imbedded in the ground.
If her spirit faltered for even a moment, the creature’s attack would sweep her away.
Even so, she didn’t give up and continued to block the creature’s attacks.
Whenever a bit of energy seeped through, she could see the barrier behind her tremble, prompting her to expand the curtain of light further.
That meant the amount of incoming attacks she had to absorb multiplied, and so did the amount of mana consumed.
It would have been impossible without the Royal Sword, a 5-star relic.
–I thought I had drained almost all its power…
Yet, the 72nd Demon King released energy once more toward her.
–Was that damned sword still holding power?
Her mana was already depleted.
That attack started to eat away at Elsie’s life force.
Yet, she still didn’t back down.
‘Even if I vanish, it’s fine.’
As long as she could protect the kingdom.
She could sacrifice herself for that.
That would be the greatest revenge of all.
Of course, she wanted to kill the hateful Captain of the Knights.
And if possible, she wanted the fake princess dead too.
But the best way to get revenge on all of them was ultimately to become the king herself and protect the kingdom they intended to seize.
Still, the truth was…
She didn’t want to disappear.
If she vanished, Allen would surely feel lonely.
Yet she had asked Yusera to prepare for such a situation ahead of time.
If she didn’t return, she had asked her to comfort Allen in her place.
She had taught Yusera well enough to do it, so she believed she would manage.
‘Am I reaching my limit now?’
Her vision was becoming increasingly hazy.
Relying only on the Royal Sword in her hand, she was simply blocking the creature’s attacks.
So probably the next attack would be the limit.
–You little…!
The good news was that it seemed her opponent was also reaching its limit.
Its voice sounded quite exhausted.
Well, no matter how much it had awakened, it probably couldn’t fully recover from the damage caused by the explosion from the Royal Sword within.
Moreover, it had been stationary, spewing energy from its mouth without moving from its spot.
‘Nameless King.’
With her last ounce of strength, she recalled the legend of the Nameless King.
The one who had sacrificed her existence to protect the kingdom.
‘Were you happy too?’
Of course, there was no answer.
But one thing was certain.
Departing may be sad, but Elsie was happy in her own way.
‘Thank you, Allen.’
Without him, she wouldn’t have any happy memories at all.
It would have been impossible to protect the kingdom even at the cost of her own existence.
Thus, she felt satisfaction.
Having received love that didn’t quite match her worth.
Thanks to him, she had enjoyed happiness.
So now…
It was at that moment.
“Sky Cleaving!”
A familiar name for a technique.
Yet it wasn’t Yusera’s voice.
It was a voice she had longed to hear.
“Allen?”
Through her blurred vision, she caught sight of his sword, shattering from overload.
That was definitely his beloved sword, Relic Gravitas Replicant, which she had playfully felt jealous of.
With that strike, he canceled out the 72nd Demon King’s attack and rolled to land beside Elsie.
“Elsie!”
Tears were flowing from her eyes without her realizing it.
She knew it wasn’t the time to cry, but she couldn’t help it.
Her already blurred vision quickly filled with tears.
“Allen…”
“Sorry, I was late coming back after defeating that thing above. If I had been a bit stronger, I could have come sooner.”
“Al…”
She wanted to say it was okay.
But the overwhelming emotions rendered her voice unsteady.
All she felt was the warmth of Allen’s hand as he gently stroked her head.
“Elsie, it’s time to rest now.”
His warm hand reached for the Royal Sword she was still clutching tightly.
“You’re done now. Just let go of the sword.”
However, her hand seemed frozen, refusing to let go of the sword.
Done? It wasn’t over yet.
She could still block at least one more attack.
“Elsie, you passed your limit a long time ago. If you keep this up, you’ll die.”
Dying was okay.
In that last moment, she was so happy to be with Allen.
So…
“Allen, run away.”
“Elsie?”
“You have to survive. The Central Sea System still awaits you.”
She could die happily.
“Miss Gwen, Lady Yusera, they all need you. In your homeland, the innkeeper and Miss Weiss are waiting for you too.”
Allen mustn’t die; so many were waiting for him.
Meanwhile, she was now all alone.
She already knew that her father had died three years ago during the coup.
So if she could use her life to save Allen, that alone was worth it.
“Elsie.”
But Allen’s hand gently held hers.
“What did I tell you?”
“…Not to be swept away by anger?”
But why was he bringing that up suddenly?
“Right, but it’s not just anger you shouldn’t be swept away by.”
His hand was warm.
That warmth began to spread from her hand, gradually making her body warm again.
And soon, her emotions began to settle down.
“No matter how good emotions like joy or love are, if they become excessive, they can cloud your judgment.”
“And all of a sudden, what does that mean…?”
“You told me directly. We are all the same human beings. The way I think about you and how you think about me aren’t different.”
In that moment.
Suddenly, her hand started to thaw.
“Yeah, you taught me that.”
He gripped the Royal Sword, now freed from her hand, with both hands.
“From here on out, I’m going to prove it.”
He lifted the Royal Sword.
“That you don’t need to die.”
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