In a Female-Dominant World with a 5:1 Gender Ratio, I Saved a Girl as a Kid, and She Said She Wanted to Be My Bride—Who Would’ve Thought She Was a Princess… - 54

Chapter 54: The Executor’s Descent and His False Justice

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(Alto’s POV)

The campfire’s flames had dwindled, becoming glowing embers that flickered red. Lilianna rested her head against my shoulder, breathing softly in peaceful sleep. It was probably the backlash from an unfamiliar motorcycle journey and the release of all that pent-up tension. Her sleeping face was filled with an innocent vulnerability that made me want to protect her.

…I will protect her.

I adjusted my jacket over her shoulders and looked up at the night sky. A sky full of stars. Silence. But deep within my heart, that “mechanical alarm” would not stop ringing.

『—Warning. Rapid approach of a high-energy entity detected.』

『Target velocity exceeds Mach 3. Time to contact: 10 seconds.』

…What?

I sprang to my feet as if jolted, staring hard into the night sky. Among the twinkling stars, there was one abnormal light. It glowed an ominous red and was heading straight toward us at a speed incomparable to a shooting star.

“Hey, wake up, Lilianna! It’s coming!”

“…Mm, huh? Alto?”

The instant I grabbed her arm—

Kiiiiiiiiiiin—!!!

A piercing shriek tore at our eardrums, and the night sky was dyed red. The shockwave arrived a moment later.

“Get down!!”

I scooped Lilianna up and threw us to the ground. The next instant…

ZDOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!

An impact like a meteor strike slammed into the very spot where we had been sitting around the campfire moments earlier. The blast wave struck us, and a cloud of dirt stole our vision. Sleipnir was blown onto its side, and the ground was violently gouged out.

“Kyaaah!?”

“Are you okay, Lilianna!?”

I immediately deployed a barrier, shielding her from the flying debris. The dust slowly settled. At the center of it all, in the middle of the crater, stood a single figure. A man with an aura like jet-black wings erupting from his back, his left eye glowing with an eerie red light.

“…Found you. My cute little runaways.”

At the sound of his voice, Lilianna gasped.

“L-Leonardo-sama…?”

“Hello, Lilianna. Camping out in a filthy place like this? Hardly fitting for a princess.”

Leonardo spoke in a flippant tone, as though he were on a picnic, and slowly floated up into the air. The magical power radiating from his entire body was on a completely different level from the “fireplay” earlier that day. An overwhelming pressure that made my skin prickle as if it were being scorched. This was close to what I had felt in the Demon King’s castle.

“…What did you do, Leonardo?”

I positioned myself in front of Lilianna, guarding her as I readied myself.

“That magic power output is nothing like before. …Did you sell your soul to a demon or something?”

“Careful how you talk, you con artist cheater.”

Leonardo rotated the red pupil of his left eye and looked down at me.

“I simply went through the ‘proper procedures’ and reclaimed the power that should have been mine. …Unlike a criminal like you, who illegally tampers with the system.”

“The system…?”

“Don’t play dumb. That power of yours is a bug that violates this world’s rules, isn’t it? I can see it all. Your filthy source code.”

Leonardo raised his right hand. A magic circle of intricate geometric patterns unfolded across his palm.

“I am an executor of justice, granted authority by the Administrator. …Alto, I will ‘delete’ you.”

A chill ran down my spine. So he made contact with the Demon King’s remnants.

“It’s coming! Stay back, Lilianna!”

The moment I shouted, Leonardo snapped his fingers.

“『Gravity Field』, deploy.”

DOON!!

A crushing pressure, like a massive iron slab, slammed down on my body alone. The ground cracked, and my knees nearly buckled.

“Guh… uuuugh!?”

“Alto!?”

“Oh? You’re still standing? …But how long do you think that will last?”

Leonardo laughed coldly and poured in even more magic power.

“『Coordinate Lock』. 『Thermal Compression』, disappear.”

Countless black fireballs materialized around him. They were nothing like the lighter flames from before. Each one was ultra-dense plasma capable of melting rock. They rained down on me.

“Damn it! 『Barrier』!!”

Enduring the gravity, I deployed a golden barrier above my head.

GAGAGAGAGAGA!!

Violent impacts rang out. The barrier screamed under the assault, cracks spreading across it. Heavy. Hot. My magic power had not fully recovered yet. In contrast, Leonardo’s current magic power seemed limitless.

“Hahahaha! What’s wrong? Where did all that bravado from earlier go? Is that all you’ve got!?”

Leonardo laughed loudly as he looked down at us from the sky. That figure was no hero. He was nothing more than a monster, intoxicated by newfound power.

“Stop it! Please, stop, Leonardo-sama!”

With a desperate cry, Lilianna tried to rush out in front of me.

“Stay back! Don’t come out!”

“…Oh?”

Leonardo’s gaze shifted to Lilianna. His red eye scanned her coldly.

“How pitiful. Lilianna, it seems there’s a ‘bug’ infesting your mind as well. You’re incapable of making proper judgments.”

“A bug…? What are you talking about…?”

“Your thoughts have been poisoned by that man. …But don’t worry. I’ll ‘fix’ you.”

Leonardo pointed his left hand at Lilianna.

“『Marionette』.”

Kiin.

The light vanished from Lilianna’s eyes, and her body jerked upward like a puppet suspended by strings.

“Uu… Ah…?”

“Lilianna!?”

“Come here, my princess.”

As Leonardo beckoned with his finger, Lilianna’s body was pulled into the air, ignoring gravity, and settled into his arms.

“No… Let me go…!”

“Don’t struggle. You’re sick. You need treatment.”

Leonardo wrapped an arm around Lilianna’s waist and gently—yet obsessively—stroked her cheek.

“You bastard…! Take your filthy hands off her!!”

Enraged, I detonated all the mana in my body and forcibly tore through the gravity field. Wrapped in a golden aura, I leapt toward Leonardo in the air.

“Oops. Savages like you aren’t very popular, you know?”

Leonardo caught my fist with one hand.

GAGIIN!!

A shockwave exploded through the air. Yet he did not budge an inch.

“…『Output Limiter』, released.”

The instant he muttered those words… A shock like an invisible stake being driven into my abdomen tore through me.

“Gah—ha…!?”

“You’re too slow. Your thoughts, your reactions… They are all so slow.”

THUD! CRACK!

In the blink of an eye, several kicks and punches struck me. I couldn’t react. His movements ignored the laws of physics.

“Fall.”

The final blow came crashing down from above my head, and I was hurled toward the ground like a bullet.

ZDOOOOOON!!

I slammed into the earth on my back, the breath knocked out of me. My vision blurred.

“Altooo!!”

Lilianna’s scream echoed down from the sky. Looking up, I saw Leonardo holding her, staring down with cold eyes.

“Do you understand now? This is ‘real’ power. …Someone who relies on cheap tricks like you can’t even reach my feet.”

Leonardo’s red left eye glowed ominously in the darkness.

“Now then, it’s time for the execution. …I’ll erase that filthy existence of yours from the data itself.”

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