Ch.296The Acknowledging Princess NPC. (3)

A direct hit, but how did she survive? I didn’t see her dodge. I definitely saw her completely vaporize from an attack stronger than gunfire—no, artillery fire. She survived that attack?!

“What is this now?”

“Pl-please… *cough*!!”

“…Mac?”

The voice that appeared behind me without warning, and the Saint’s hand that flew precisely toward my head, stopped in a red blur right in front of my brow. What blocked it was—

“You crazy monster!! Die!!!”

-SLASH!!

Mac, who had promised to continue escorting me, took the attack meant for me with his body and was impaled. Dolph, who had rushed over urgently, jumped behind the Saint and sliced her in half as he landed. I, whose mind and body had frozen for about a second, quickly moved to draw the sword at my waist, cut off the Saint’s arm, then grabbed Mac and retreated as fast as possible.

“*Cough*… I, I’m finished… Your Highness should escape…”

“Stop talking nonsense!! Potions!! Bring all the potions I gave you!!!”

When I shouted to the covert operatives around us, several of them abandoned even the people they were treating and brought all the potions they had.

“Don’t pull out the arm! If you remove it, he’ll die instantly from excessive bleeding!! Feed him potions to restore his health, and doctor! Find at least three doctors who can suture the wound while removing the arm!! Hurry!!!”

“””Yes!!”””

The mobile covert operatives began to move urgently at my voice, which sounded like a scream, and I moved Mac to the back with the operatives who were feeding him potions. Ugh…!!

“Who, who told you to protect me?! Why would you do something so stupid…!!!”

“…*cough*! I, I told you… didn’t I? I’ll pro-protect… you….”

Looking at Mac, who had begun to cough up blood so severely that he was vomiting even the potions he’d just consumed, I gritted my teeth. You idiot!! Who are you trying to protect?! I, I never intended to return as royalty, as a princess!!!

“*Cough*! I, indeed. What you said earlier, that’s what you meant…”

“Shut up!! Don’t talk!! Eat the potion, force it down even if it won’t go in!! You! Pour the potion you have directly on the wound!!”

“Uh, yes? If, if I pour it directly on the wound, with this arm still embedded, it will heal…”

“He’ll just have an extra arm on his body!! That’s better than waiting to remove this and dying from blood loss!! Hurry!!!”

“Y-yes!!”

One of the operatives, who seemed to have some medical training, began applying the potion while trying to control the bleeding as much as possible, despite his hesitation. The amount of blood spurting from Mac’s mouth started to decrease.

“…If you die, I’ll kill you.”

“*Cough*. If I hear such words from my lord, I won’t even be able to die honorably…”

“Bullshit. Who’s your lord? I told you. I have no intention of returning to the royal family. So…”

I took out my gun from my waist, entrusted Mac’s back to another operative, and stood up.

“If you don’t die, I’ll at least be your drinking buddy. Think about it.”

“…Given how much you drink, I might die anyway, Your Highness.”

“Then your grave will be in front of a wine glass.”

Since there are no wine glasses here. After saying that, I move toward Dolph, who is desperately swinging his sword to prevent the Saint from recovering. Is this what Jack called the annoying “phase two”? I never expected to witness a human completely vaporize and then come back to life. No.

“A monster should be killed by a monster.”

That thing is no longer human. Until just now, it had a good balance of holy power and demonic energy, but now the demonic energy is at 8 and the holy light at 2. It seems the attack wasn’t completely ineffective. What’s reviving that crazy woman is probably the holy power. In any case, it means that monster has depleted some energy too.

-SWISH!! CLANG!!!

“Ugh?!!”

“Ha! There are people willing to die for a monster, and people fighting on its behalf? What are you? You’re in the way. Just di—”

-BANG!!

“……”

“The one who’s going to die is you. Even if you came back to life once, you haven’t forgotten the difference in our strength, have you?”

The Saint recovered faster than Dolph could swing his sword, grabbed his blade with her bare hand, and with her other hand aimed for Dolph’s head—but I shot and blew that hand apart. The resurrected Saint ignored Dolph in front of her and began staring at me with pupilless eyes. Yes, I’m your opponent.

“…For a monster, you’re trying to save people?”

“For a monster, you’re trying to defeat humans?”

As I pretended to talk to the Saint while looking in her direction, slightly shifting my gaze, Dolph noticed and immediately abandoned his sword to retreat.

-BANG!!!

“?!!”

“Earlier, because I blew away your entire body, I gave you the chance to resurrect like this and even let you get behind me, but not this time.”

I immediately blew off the shoulder that was holding the sword with my gun and continued firing rapidly. The naked woman’s upper body and head—without destroying her head—I blew apart only her limbs: arms, legs, shoulders. While preventing her from taking any action, I focused on the woman’s holy power and demonic energy. It’s not at the level when she completely vaporized, but still. The holy power is definitely decreasing.

“Urgh!! Ugh!!! Aaagh!! Why, why! WHY!!! Why does someone like you have more [Skills] than me?!! I was!! I was chosen by God!! I’ll violate you too!!! Give me yours too!!!”

“You fool. I know at least four more people who have more skills than you. You, and I. We’re not such extraordinary monsters after all.”

“AAAAARGH!!! Don’t make me laugh!! Don’t make me laugh!!!”

Is it because all her actions are completely blocked, or because of what I just said? The monster once called a Saint screams as if throwing a tantrum, trying to do something, but I calmly continue to blow apart her regenerating limbs as if performing a routine task. Now, the demonic energy is at 9. No, it’s thick enough to be called 9.5, and the light of holy power is barely visible.

-BANG!!!

“GAAAH?!!”

Finally thinking that the right leg wasn’t regenerating, I shot the right hip area to confirm, and the monster began screaming in pain. Has the holy power finally hit rock bottom? Due to her blown-off limbs, she’s pinned to the ground like a doll with only the upper body, looking at me with hateful eyes as I approach even closer.

-BANG!! BANG!! BANG!!!

“…Now, you don’t even have the strength to regenerate your limbs?”

“Don’t make me laugh!! Don’t make me laugh!!! Do you know how many apprentice saints I’ve embraced?!! 200!! I stole the abilities of nearly 200 saints!!! And!! And!!!”

“I see, that recovery is the holy art of healing that saints possess. With around 200 of them, I suppose it’s enough to revive even the dead. And you didn’t just steal from apprentice saints, but from priests too, right? That physical enhancement holy art—I thought you were significantly stronger than the priests fighting our troops since earlier. But it seems you didn’t have 100 or 200 priests.”

When I point my gun at her head, increasing the power of my skill in the gun a little more than usual—easily penetrating her physical enhancement—the Saint, who now shows no signs of recovery, begins to growl, gritting her teeth until blood comes from her mouth. This really is a monster.

“And you can’t even be called a Saint anymore. Disappear, demon.”

-BANG!!

With an explosive sound, the Saint’s head bursts. If she doesn’t die from this and recovers again, at least her upper body remains, so I can keep watch and prevent another ambush like before. This time it’s really over…

[Jealous, jealous, jealous, jealous. Always, always, always. Always, I am. I am. I aaaaam!!!]

“…What?”

Startled by the Saint’s voice suddenly coming from around me—despite her head being blown off and having no vocal organs—I look around. I could see that the flesh chunks and blood splattered from shooting the Saint’s body were speaking. What is this? Could it be that the remaining demonic energy has truly turned her into a demon…?!!

The blood and flesh chunks begin to bubble and swell. I quickly start shooting to destroy them, but the speed at which they multiply and spread is overwhelmingly fast. Even if I try to clear them with a wide-area attack like before, they’re not gathered in one place, making it difficult to aim. If I’m not careful, I might end up attacking in the direction where the civilians fled. Did this crazy woman calculate this?!!

[You too!!! You’re a monster like me, so why!! WHY!!! Why are only you protected?!! Why are only you revered?!! I’m so jealous!!!]

“Ugh!!!”

Reminiscent of the black shadow tentacles used by the dark mages and demon worshippers who attacked us on our way to Aigram—but these tentacles, incomparable in size and range, begin to rise, crushing even nearby buildings. If Jack had seen this sight, he would have said, “Why is an ep.1 boss causing havoc in an ep.5 map?” But for Ragni, without that knowledge, it’s simply a disaster.

Ugh, for now…!!!

“Everyone retreat!! Don’t get caught up!! The tentacles can multiply through shadows too…!!!”

“Imperial Army!!! Save Her Highness the Crown Princess and the guard unit!!! Kill the demon!!!”

“””For Her Highness the Crown Princess!!!”””

“What?!!”

As I was shouting to the unit guarding Mac and the wounded, a group appeared from the completely opposite direction, shouting nonsense and charging with weapons. No, who told them to come here?! Didn’t they see that blue light earlier?!! I, I clearly told them to stay and treat the civilians…!!!

“The evacuation of civilians is already complete!! Having received the opportunity for atonement and being called the Imperial Army!! We have no intention of failing our duty to our lord again!!!”

“You fools!! This is not something you can handle…!!!”

The adjutant who had been leading the Marquis’s army rushed toward me, and multiple soldiers with shields began attaching themselves to one of the tentacles. No!! Even without Gorge to check their levels, this isn’t something ordinary humans can…?

-SLASH!!

[GYAAAAA?!!]

“Our attacks are effective!! Ten shields per tentacle!! The rest, don’t miss the opening after attacking and cut through steadily!!!”

“Huh, what?”

I stand dumbfounded, unable to even fire my gun, as I watch the soldiers begin to deal with the multiplying tentacles by stabbing them with swords and spears that aren’t particularly fast or strong. How? Even though it was an enemy that troubled me. Something with a level over 400…?

“Our Marquis’s army—no, the Imperial Army hasn’t been idle all our lives! We’ve properly subjugated raid monsters when they appeared nearby. And though it was years ago, we have veteran soldiers and knights who fought to expel demon worshippers who infiltrated the Empire!! This technique was definitely used by those called the Followers of Jealousy, wasn’t it?!!”

“Ah.”

[Since I was in the Empire, I filtered out most of the demon worshippers, you know?]

I recall my past self, who boasted to the demon worshippers we met on our way to Aigram. When I was still a princess, I certainly did spread methods for filtering out hidden demon worshippers, combat methods, and subjugation techniques. Could it be that…

“Watch out for shadows behind you!! Small tentacles or spikes might shoot out!! Troops who are fighting worshippers for the first time, focus on your own shadow!! Don’t let your shadow be behind you, make it appear in front!! The power can be sufficiently blocked with shields!!!”

“This tentacle is quite heavy!! Request two more shield bearers for support!!!”

“Rookie! Don’t freeze up!! If dealing with shadows is difficult, move to protect the guard unit members in the back!!!”

“It’s the blood on the ground!! It’s using blood as a medium to multiply!! Cover it with dirt or scatter it with swords!!!”

“The building is collapsing!! Deal with that tentacle later!! It looks threatening because of its size, but it can’t move from its spot!!!”

The soldiers and knights move in perfect coordination to counter the tentacles. Though slower than me shooting with my gun, they’re definitely suppressing the multiplication rate and appropriately dividing the combat area to perfectly block the tentacles’ movements. Ah, ah.

[AAAAARGH?!! Why, why! WHY?!! Why are there people helping a monster like you?!! I too, I too once had a normal woman’s body!!!]

All the tentacles scream simultaneously. A voice that seems angry, jealous, almost crying. Perhaps I’m not the only one who feels this. The soldiers also furrow their brows and begin to throw remarks at the voice coming from the tentacles.

“Is this bastard crying?!”

“Who told you to become a demon worshipper in the first place!!”

“Who are you calling a monster? What else is here besides this freak?”

“With no eyeballs, maybe it can’t see straight!”

“Who’s a woman? This tentacle monster?!”

“By the way. Do we get promoted for killing demons?!”

“You idiot! We were traitors until just now!! Just keep moving!!!”

“Don’t leave a single tentacle!! If you’ve cleared all the blood, next are the flesh chunks!! Don’t cut them with swords, burn them all!!! Subjugate the demon, the monster!!!”

[AAAAH!!! NO!!! STOP!!! Don’t, don’t call me a monster. Don’t call me a monster!!!]

“””Are you crazy, you ARE a monster?!!”””

The soldiers completely suppress the multiplying tentacles and begin to erase them one by one. It’s so absurd, yet somehow touching, that I find myself standing still, unable to shoot, just watching. As the situation begins to calm down, the adjutant who had been giving orders from behind slowly walks toward me.

“…Your Highness. Though we disobeyed your orders. This time, we—I believe we did not point our swords in the wrong direction. What do you think?”

“Ha.”

I can’t help but let out a laugh at the knight who smiles at me as kindly as a parent, and at the same time…

“This is the last one!! Thrust!!!”

“””THRUST!!!”””

[AAAAARGH?!!!]

I see the soldiers finishing off the largest tentacle by stabbing it with dozens of spears and swords. Ha, haha. Really…

“I told you I’m not a princess.”

I shouldn’t cry. Jack said I look ugly when I cry.