My Beloved Princess ~The Boy Called Incompetent Rises with Only a Sword and the Princess's Devotion~ - Chapter 027: Death Struggle (Part 1)

A turtle. Yes, a giant—mountain-sized turtle.

Why a turtle in the forest? Everyone must have thought so.

As a fundamental issue, turtles weren’t beasts. In other words, by definition it wasn’t a magical beast, and that thing emitting [Miasma] and sitting ominously was a monster. Before the discomfort of a turtle existing in the forest, the very existence of a monster in the Beast King Forest itself was impossible. If monsters existed as a matter of course, it wouldn’t be called the Beast King Forest.

Moreover, it emitted [Miasma] on a different level from previous magical beasts. That [Miasma] quality clearly greatly exceeded the level that should exist in this forest. If such a monster were an original resident, the forest’s ecosystem would have been destroyed long ago.

After all, the magnitude of [Miasma] easily differed by two digits compared to this forest’s magical beasts. It was easy to imagine it probably corresponded to the top-tier “Apocalypse” grade. “Apocalypse” grade referred to extraordinary monsters with power to topple nations.

A massive body towering like a mountain. The shell sitting proudly on its back. The transformed forest scenery spreading behind. Where its massive bulk had passed was deeply gouged and leveled as if graded. Not a single tree—not even a blade of grass grew. The tremendousness of that power was conveyed by that alone.

And what came to mind was the black soil path with two wheel tracks.

“Wait, that thing made those?”

Though Kishō reflexively retorted, the Princess who’d undertaken the response wasn’t being so carefree. Swiftly drawing her practice sword and wrapping it in navy blue [Sword Aura], she slammed it into the turtle’s head. By any measure, that was the only weak point. Swift, accurate judgment. But—

—CLANG!

With a heavy metallic sound like striking iron, the Princess’s practice sword was easily deflected.

“Tch, such hardness. Then! Lead to the underworld—[Death’s Scythe]!”

A great scythe appeared from the void arced to reap the turtle’s head. But the result was the same. Deflected with metallic sound.

“GYAAAAAAAAAAH!”

The turtle roared in fury.

Limbs and head retracted, holing up in a shell hard as diamond.

The next moment, it began rotating at speed unthinkable for its massive size. Scattering and raising wood fragments, stones large and small, and surrounding black soil, it approached high-speed rotation.

—ROAR!

A gale blew.

Kishō leaped greatly backward, putting Ōka down on the ground.

“Sorry, but keep your distance and evacuate.”

“Huh? But I can fight too.”

“No. You saw, right? Even Kuroyō’s magic didn’t work.”

The Princess was a true genius with not only swordsmanship but also breath and magic of the highest caliber. If her attacks didn’t work, that monster’s threat level skyrocketed quadratically. Probably that monster could easily level a small city.

“Then let’s run. You’re in danger too, Shō-kun.”

Realistically thinking, escape might be the safest option. But there was no guarantee they could escape, and even if they did, the three would be scattered. That crisis situation would generate new threats, and then he truly couldn’t extend a helping hand. And above all—

“The monster’s targeting Kuroyō who took hostile action. If we run now, we’d be pushing all that hate onto her. I can’t do that.”

“That’s…”

Ōka fell speechless. Taking that as consent, Kishō charged toward the shell continuing high-speed rotation. He manifested purple-flame [Sword Aura] in his practice sword. He’d had time to refine [Ki]. Decide in one strike. Raising his arm high—

“—Wait, no way!?”

Linear motion was suddenly added to rotational motion. The hard shell spinning at high speed was now a blade that would slice whatever it touched. That blade-chaos that would make even Thousand-Armed Kannon pale had set as its target—the approaching Kishō. Charging straight without any hesitation.

Since he’d assumed it was targeting the Princess, his expectations were completely off. At the last moment, Kishō leaped, escaping into the air and avoiding disaster.

“It’s coming at me!? Wait a minute.”

Kishō had charged by the shortest distance—in other words, straight without detours. So charging to meet him head-on meant—necessarily, Ōka was on that path.

An overwhelming lump of violence closed on Ōka while gouging and engulfing the ground.

Ōka was excellent among dragonkin girls, but in addition to her fundamentally gentle nature, she critically lacked combat experience. Her body couldn’t move reflexively. Those eyes widened in surprise and fear, trembling legs remained rooted to the ground at attention. Unable even to scream, she just waited for that moment.

—ROAR!

The gale generated from rotation struck Kishō’s ears. He himself was airborne. He could do nothing. He wanted to curse his powerless self without long-range attack means.

“Restrain—[Dark Chain Binding]!”

The Princess activated magic. A shadow deeper than darkness appeared directly beneath the shell that was the typhoon’s eye, and many black chains flew out toward the night sky. The jet-black chains converged on the shell continuing high-speed rotation, trying to restrain prey. But that didn’t stop the disaster-class attack. Chains trying to wrap around were severed into pieces and scattered. Yet it still had an effect. Progress speed slightly decreased.

“Ōka!”

“Huh?”

The approaching massive lump of violence—Ōka’s body was knocked out of that trajectory. Instead, standing there was—

“Yō-chan!?”

Ōka raised a heart-rending cry.

The delicate body danced through the air. Not head-on but diagonally as if caught by the shell’s edge. Blown away while spinning. Breaking two trees, slammed back-first into the third large tree, finally stopping there. Collapsing with both legs thrown out, the Princess didn’t move an inch as if unconscious. Fresh blood dripped on that beautiful face, and her right arm that took direct hit bent in an unnatural shape ignoring joints.

“Y-you bastaaaaard!”

—Kill it.

Dragonkin instinct whispered.

“I’ll definitely kill you.”

Upon landing, Kishō dashed as if bouncing. Absolutely unforgivable—only that single thought drove him.

Meanwhile, the giant turtle that had knocked the Princess away and continued straight movement for a while popped out its head and all four limbs, slowly turning around.

“You’re full of openings! Drop dead!”

He’d refined [Sword Aura] to the normally activatable limit. The main current of tsunami-like [Sword Aura] that bisected the Black Dragon Stone wrapped the practice sword.

The giant turtle retracted its head. Mirror-like armor closed the hole housing the head with a turnabout mechanism. Intending to hole up in impregnable castle defense. Then he’d cleave through that prized shell.

The magic core’s location was vaguely understandable from [Miasma] density. Precisely on the shell’s underside, near the most heavily armored top. The aim was solely that one point.

Raising his arm high, he leaped. Making full use of waist twist and full-body spring, he released his full-power strike.

—Screeeeeech.

Unpleasant metallic sound echoed through the night curtain.

There was impact. But—

“Shallow… you’re kidding!?”

A large crack entered the shell. But that wound hadn’t reached the contents—the monster’s main body.

“No way. The armor’s too thick.”

Clicking his tongue, the instant he cursed in midair, the shining mirror-like shell flashed. He intuitively knew it was a light attribute attack. Wide-area attack released from the entire shell. He was airborne. No escape. No—immediately after releasing his full-power strike, he didn’t even have leeway to interpose defense.

Flash illuminated the dark night forest brilliantly. Just for an instant, all darkness was dispelled.

“Guh!”

Impact and flash enveloped his entire body.

Landing from the left shoulder—more like falling. The dragon robe heated by rays smoldered. Numerous burns all over. Honestly unbelievable that it easily penetrated dragonkin flesh with high heat resistance and still inflicted this much damage. Kishō gritted his teeth hard and tried to somehow raise himself with arm strength.

“Damn. I can’t believe the practice sword handicap would matter at a time like this.”

If he’d been using an ordinary real sword, he could have definitely finished it with that earlier strike. That it wasn’t accomplished was because he fought with a toy, not a weapon. That was the difference between a real sword and a practice sword.

The giant shell began high-speed spin again.

Gale blew, black soil rose. That attack again. If he didn’t get up quickly, it was the end. The Princess’s miserable state floated in his mind. The Princess who should be pure, noble, transcendent, and strong. That gallant figure now seemed like a lie. Changed into something that had become miserably wretched, painfully weak.

“Damn it. Don’t screw with me. I’ll definitely kill you.”

Compared to the Princess’s wounds, this was nothing. Telling himself so, encouraging and scolding himself, he somehow got up.

Then, barely dodged the strike of the shell rapidly approaching while spinning by leaping sideways. Since he didn’t know when that earlier wide-area attack might come, he judged vertical leaping dangerous.

The giant turtle that continued straight while greatly carving the forest stopped its movement once, then popped out its head to confirm Kishō’s position, immediately retracting. Then began rotating again. Apparently wary of having its head targeted. The opponent wasn’t just a fool either. It was learning.

Overall, rotation stopped for only a few moments after charge ended.

With this, there was no opening to drive in attacks.

◇◇◇◇◇

“…chan… …yo…”

Someone was calling someone far away. Kuroyō tried to gather her muddled consciousness.

“…yo… …chan…”

(Is someone calling me? Whose voice is this? Who’s calling me? Ah, I’m sleepy. Departing to dream world like this might be happiness. I want to talk more with Kishō. I want to know more about him. Ah, speaking of conversation, Ōka. She’s good at talking and has many friends. In the future, she’ll surely excel as a domestic diplomat. Talent I don’t have. She’ll become a reliable companion supporting Kishō. Then what can I contribute with? It’s decided. Using these rare and diverse special skills, I’ll support him in combat. That’s right. Like mother Rakuyō, I’ll support militarily. That’s what gentle Ōka can’t do. Ah yes, this voice is—)

“Yō-chan, Yō-chan.”

Opening her eyes, Ōka’s tear-swollen face was upside-down. Large tears dripped from brown eyes. Noticing Kuroyō’s consciousness had returned, Ōka gently embraced Kuroyō’s pitiful body lovingly. Apparently she was being held in Ōka’s arms. Tears fell pitter-patter on her forehead. She was trembling and crying with sobs.

“Ōka is spoiled. Ow!”

Intense pain ran through her right arm. Looking, it was completely broken.

“I’m sorry. Because I was spacing out…”

“Don’t worry about it. That was our best choice.”

“But if I could have moved. If I’d evacuated…”

Large drops fell on her forehead with sorrowful words. Those were tears of her regret. Ah, Kuroyō thought. The choice she’d made saddened Ōka. She felt very apologetic about that. But she didn’t regret it. That choice might not have been best, but she was certain it was the right choice. Even deploying [Magic Barrier] at the moment of collision, she’d taken this damage. If defenseless Ōka had taken it, she’d certainly have died.

“The idea of mutual assistance. Pack basics.”

Mutual assistance—those belonging to the same pack, helping each other to live. Ōka was already a member of the pack Kuroyō envisioned—moreover, in Kuroyō’s mind, she’d been arbitrarily appointed as an initial member when forming a pack after academy graduation, considered an extremely important existence to the pack—so she had value worth protecting with her life.

But Ōka had no way of knowing such circumstances. How much got through was unclear. Unusually for Ōka, she shouted in a loud voice.

“But if Yō-chan dies, it means nothing!”

To Ōka’s tear-swollen face, Kuroyō brought her left arm that she could barely move.

“I only fulfilled my duty. It’s not for Ōka to feel bad about. Besides, I’m still alive.”

Above all, she was a benefactor who’d called out to isolated Kuroyō and reunited her with Kishō. On top of that, she’d even accepted Kuroyō’s unreasonable wish to relinquish the first wife position. For dragonkin girls, the first wife position was very important, and wasn’t something light enough to easily relinquish when asked.

That heart was generous and embracing like Mother Earth, and Kuroyō even held respect for her. Even aside from pack matters, she’d probably still risked her body to help.

Ōka still seemed unconvinced, shaking her head no.

Wiping tears pooled at her eyes with her thumb, Kuroyō smiled.

“The battle isn’t over yet. I have a request.”