Ch.5353. What’s the Point If Everyone Dies!?

CLANG-!

The masked man dispatched the imperial knight and immediately swung his sword at the Etherian Princess.

Reflexively, I found myself bracing against the table and leaping across to confront him.

“I’m going to dispose of the princess first and then you next, so don’t interfere.”

“Who are you?”

What in the world is happening?

He’s a formidable opponent, leaving me no time to think.

The masked man took a slight step back, twisted his sword, and aimed for my neck.

Clang-!

CLANG-!

After parrying his attack seamlessly, the masked man quickly retreated and spoke.

“Ha, to think a mere family knight has such skill. Now I understand why my men were defeated.”

I don’t know who this masked man is, but he’s clearly connected to the assassins who attacked the carriage earlier.

But why is he attacking the Etherian Princess?

Weren’t they on the same side?

I tilted my head slightly, still holding my sword.

“Wasn’t it the Etherian Princess who ordered the carriage attack?”

“Oh? You knew that much?”

“Yes, but why are you suddenly attacking the princess?”

At that moment, the Etherian Princess hastily raised her right hand.

Despite the feeling that something was about to happen, the atmosphere remained eerily quiet.

Then came the masked man’s laughter.

“Hahaha! Princess, I’ve already taken care of all the knights you stationed in the forest.”

“How dare you…”

“How dare I? You’re the one who betrayed us. After the carriage attack failed, you called the imperial knights to our hideout to silence us.”

“…Well, you shouldn’t have failed.”

“If I hadn’t been away, we wouldn’t have been wiped out. Still, I’m lucky to be able to take my revenge so soon.”

Now I roughly understand the situation.

The assassins who attacked the carriage weren’t directly under the Etherian Princess but hired mercenaries.

As the masked man said, she tried to silence them in case something went wrong.

The masked man leaped high into the air once more and brought his sword down toward the Etherian Princess.

CLANG-!

The overwhelming force nearly dislocated my wrist.

How could a mere assassin possess such strength?

He emanated power far greater than the assassins I’d dealt with in Lake territory.

The masked man retreated again and spoke with an irritated voice.

“Hey, don’t you understand the situation?”

“Thanks to you, I understand perfectly.”

“Do you think it’s a coincidence that knights were secretly stationed here? She’s the princess who tried to kill you twice!”

I know that too.

If I just let Wellsran, who has left this place, be dealt with, the Etherian Princess would die by the assassin’s hand, and any connection to me would disappear.

However, several problems remained.

Honestly, the original story was already twisted, so I shouldn’t care.

But if the princess were murdered, the imperial family would conduct a thorough investigation, and I had entered the palace under a false identity.

Moreover.

Though the Etherian Princess was trying to appear calm, her body was trembling like an aspen leaf in fear.

Why am I feeling emotional about someone who tried to kill me?

Is it because she was one of the few characters I was attached to in the original story?

My body kept reacting on its own.

CLAAANG-!

“Ha! This bastard… Fine, I didn’t have anything against you anyway, and we were the ones who attacked first, so let’s pretend none of this happened. Will you step aside now?”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why the hell not?!”

The problem is that I can’t readily answer the masked man’s question either.

Of course.

Even I don’t understand my own actions.

Right, I need to give this meaning.

If the Etherian Princess dies now, not only will the original story be disrupted, but I and Jawill Wilson, having concealed our identities, could become prime suspects.

That sweet life I wanted?

No, I’d become a fugitive from the imperial family, living each day in agony.

Seeing that I had no intention of backing down, the masked man’s aura grew even stronger.

It made my entire body tingle.

If I hadn’t built up my stats in Evis territory, the pressure would have been suffocating.

Supporting my sword with one hand, I hurriedly opened my other palm.

“Fireball!”

I launched a fireball while our swords were locked, hitting the masked man in the chest and pushing him back.

The flame was larger due to my increased magical power.

With no time to marvel, I pushed forward with strength in my lower body.

“Th-this bastard isn’t a knight but a mage?!”

To be precise, I’m neither—just a nobleman—but what’s the point in explaining?

I swung my Raiden Sword with all my might, and a blue light flashed toward the masked man.

“Kuhack-!”

In terms of swordsmanship and experience, my opponent was a step ahead of me.

Magic and the Raiden Sword were my only trump cards.

“Kuk!”

“Huh, euk!”

The masked man’s sword pierced my body in several places.

Had I ever experienced such pain since possessing this body?

No.

I was always a calculating person.

As a reader, I always found it frustrating and anxiety-inducing to watch protagonists engage in evenly matched fights.

Most protagonists in novels have overpowered abilities, so I’d wonder, ‘If they just built up a bit more strength, they could win easily. Why fight now?’

They could have avoided the fight entirely.

To gain experience facing death?

Bullshit…

What’s the point if you die?!

My thoughts haven’t changed much now.

But if I don’t defeat the masked man, greater misfortune awaits.

This was a decision made after careful calculation.

The only problem is that he’s stronger than me.

“Kuhak-!”

“Huh, heuk…”

Thigh, arm, and chest.

Wounds were everywhere.

Of course, the masked man was in a similar state.

It was the first time in my life I realized that losing blood makes your mind hazy.

“What’s your reason for doing this? Do you think she’ll give you a good position in the imperial court for this?”

“I don’t need it. I already declined such an offer.”

“Then why! Why are you interfering with my revenge?!”

A small opening created by that momentary outburst.

I put all my strength into my wrist and launched the Raiden Sword toward the masked man’s head.

Whirrrr-!

“This is nothing…”

“Enchant.”

*Enchant – Creates illusion and confusion in the target.

Using an “enchant” skill on a man feels repulsive, but I need to survive, don’t I?

If I had used skills recklessly from the start, they wouldn’t have worked.

I saved my mana, waiting until we were both exhausted.

“Kuhuk!!”

The Raiden Sword pierced the masked man’s head.

I breathed a short sigh of relief as my body staggered.

And then.

“Huh, heuk…”

With labored breathing, the Etherian Princess approached me, gripping the masked man’s sword tightly with both hands.

This is too much.

I tried so hard to save her.

My body was already in tatters.

I had used all my strength to launch the Raiden Sword and couldn’t move a finger now.

My vision gradually blurred.

‘Am I going to die like this?’

I grinned at the trembling Etherian Princess before me.

She flinched in surprise.

And then I uttered my last desperate words—the final line spoken by my small father, whom I had followed like a brother, before he was killed by the current Emperor Malius Silonia…

“This is your only chance to kill me.”

*

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An unfamiliar ceiling came into view.

The relief of being alive was momentary as memories of the numerous battles before I collapsed flooded my mind like thick smoke.

“Ha…”

After letting out a short sigh, I heard a familiar voice.

“M-master… ahem, are you awake?”

Eyes swollen from being beaten—or perhaps from crying for me?

Thinking that raising him had been worthwhile after all, I unconsciously smirked as I half-raised myself from the bed.

“There’s no need to act when no one else is in the room.”

“…Master, are you really alright?”

“Yes, how long have I been unconscious?”

“You were out for three full days.”

So the imperial event is already over?

That’s actually fortunate.

There was a possibility of encountering someone who knew “Selden Alphonse” there.

Twisting my body this way and that, I spoke.

“My body doesn’t feel as uncomfortable as I expected.”

“The Etherian Princess assigned her personal physician and even a saint to tend to you.”

The Etherian Princess?

So triggering her trauma worked, I thought.

She probably saw her small father, who died at the Emperor’s hands, in me.

It couldn’t be helped.

I needed to survive too.

“You must have been tired keeping watch.”

“N-not at all.”

“By the way, what did the princess say about how I got injured?”

“I heard that while taking a walk, you suddenly encountered assassins. You saved her…”

The situation seemed to have turned out better than expected.

Although I was concerned about forming a connection with the Etherian Princess, at least I survived.

“I see.”

“Princess Saireen and Emperor Malius also visited several times.”

Given the nature of the incident, it must have reached Emperor Malius’s ears.

Well, if she wanted to save me, she needed a plausible excuse, and there was no other way to cover it up.

“Really? It’s surprising my identity wasn’t exposed.”

“Who do you think I am? I’m Jawill Wilson, who completes every mission perfectly. If anything, I was disappointed not to be discovered!”

As I chuckled at Jawill Wilson’s banter, there was a knock at the door.

Knock-knock!

Who could it be?

The Etherian Princess?

Or Princess Saireen?

At that moment, Jawill Wilson, who had checked outside, looked at me.

His pupils were wide with shock.

Just as I wondered who could have arrived, Jawill Wilson trembled and raised his voice.

“H-His Majesty the Emperor is entering!”