My Beloved Princess ~The Boy Called Incompetent Rises with Only a Sword and the Princess's Devotion~ - Chapter 029: "Beware of Elesia Ignoosis"

Kuroyō, who’d crumpled to her knees, no longer had the stamina remaining to stand up again.

As if mocking that pathetic sight of her crawling on the ground, the person Kuroyō had never let her guard down against to the very end—Alice—raised a voice of delighted laughter.

“I told you, didn’t I?”

Advancing her steps as if treading each one carefully, Alice showed a mocking laugh.

“Beware of Elesia Ignoosis.”

It was equal to a murder notice.

Without fear, Kuroyō raised her face and glared at the approaching reaper.

“Information only the culprit could know made them the culprit, was it? Then, if you are Elesia Ignoosis, that story you told us itself was a confession only the culprit could know.”

Alice, who’d closed in right before her, smiled with a serial killer’s face.

“Yes, precisely. And the urban legend has a continuation. ‘Beware of Elesia Ignoosis’—those who hear these words become the next victim!”

A serial killer who’d committed many murders yet perfectly concealed everything and escaped. If such a cunning and cautious culprit revealed herself, it was an absolute statement of intent that she had no plan to let them leave alive.

“Kuhah!”

The toe of a leather boot was mercilessly stabbed into Kuroyō’s abdomen.

Her delicate body floated, and her breathing stopped for an instant.

Alice crossed both arms and sighed as if exasperated.

“Moreover. To think you’d defeat the Tempest Turtle with just two people without proper equipment—how surprising. That’s a monster the Adventurers’ Guild certifies as Apocalypse grade. Of course, now you’re covered in wounds all over. Like a worn-out rag.”

“Three people. Don’t mistake it, fool—kuhah!”

Again, the leather boot drove into her abdomen. Immediately following, Kuroyō’s temple was violently struck with something like a stick. Her consciousness nearly flew away, and she rolled onto her back on the ground.

“Those eyes irritate me greatly. It seems some discipline is necessary.”

A follow-up kick entered her fallen side, and Kuroyō bit her lip and endured that intense pain. Trampling that beautiful face with her shoes, Alice floated mad excitement.

“Really. You’re such a troublesome person. You’ve been wary of me from the start. And not just wary—you were watching so no harm would come to your friends.”

Dropping her gaze to the dark red blood-stained right sleeve of the dragon robe, Alice placed a hand on her cheek and murmured “Oh my,” then moved the foot that had been trampling her head to the base of her right shoulder. And then—she trampled mercilessly without a shred of hesitation.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Looking down in ecstasy at Kuroyō gasping in pain, she said “It seems your right arm is no longer usable,” then kicked Kuroyō’s head again. The head that had been facing right was forcibly turned left with just the toe’s power, and her temple was trampled as is.

“Though. When you said you’d sleep with the man out of wariness, I couldn’t help but laugh.”

Alice laughed through her nose and carelessly threw away the stick that had broken when she’d struck. Then the heel on the boot trampling Kuroyō’s temple received even more force. She was pressed to the ground as if being tormented. Unpleasant sounds echoed through her skull—creak, creak. Kuroyō desperately maintained consciousness that was about to fly from the intense pain, extended her left arm trembling with pain, and grabbed the ankle of the boot kicking her temple.

“Hah?”

Alice frowned as if looking at filth. Before her true intent could be understood, she released breath.

“[Curse Erosion]!”

“Wha—”

The breath shot from her palm—a dark wave—blew away both of Alice’s legs, and the excess energy punched straight through to blow away the trees behind as well. A roar. But those seemingly severed legs were drifting around as black mist. Alice floated in midair despite having lost both legs.

“You bitch! You still had this much power left!”

The time both legs were missing was less than even one second. When the black mist gathered and converged, the original healthy beautiful legs reappeared. By some principle, even the blown-away clothing had been restored.

Again, an intense kick was driven into Kuroyō’s abdomen. A merciless kick from above like trampling, trying to rupture her organs. She was struck persistently many times.

“Aaaah… aaaaaah…”

A cry of anguish was expelled from pale pink lips. Alice looked down with an enraptured expression at how that beautiful face was dyed in agony.

“Ah… wonderful. That expression. I might just come.”

Alice, embracing both her shoulders, showed a shudder. Blue eyes looked down at the beautiful prey in rapture.

“Beg in sorrow. If you do, I might be kind to you.”

“Who would beg to scum like you? I’d rather die than show such an unsightly display.”

“Oh, is that so!”

The boot heel swung down with all her might onto the left elbow joint. Bone and ligament screamed simultaneously. The heel came down powerfully like striking iron on an anvil many times, as if severing that joint.

“Guuh… auuh… haaaaaaah…”

From the excessive pain, tears were forcibly secreted. Unable to forgive herself for crying so pathetically, Kuroyō distorted her face in humiliation.

“Ah, that face. It’s so wonderful. I’ve decided on you after all. You have high magic aptitude, and your physical abilities greatly exceed typical dragonkin. And furthermore, your face is beautiful enough to be entranced by, and that body has developed lewdly and obscenely beyond what one would think from a young girl. Enough to arouse the lust of even me, the same sex!”

Alice casually kneeled and licked once with her tongue tip as if scooping up Kuroyō’s tear. Kuroyō averted her face in displeasure. Not minding that rejection at all, she pressed down on top of Kuroyō lying powerlessly on her back. Though she tried to resist, both arms were completely destroyed and couldn’t move, and there was no way to protect her defenseless body.

The dragon robe’s sash was undone smoothly.

“What are you doing? Stop.”

Pushing open the collar’s gap, Alice’s cold fingertips were inserted. Kuroyō’s body jumped in revulsion. And Alice slowly caressed the line from her slender waist to abdomen as if stroking lovingly. Shivering revulsion raced through Kuroyō’s entire body. The fingertips crawling on white skin stopped their movement around below her navel as if confirming body temperature. Alice reddened her entranced face—

“I’ll take your kiss. It’s fine. You’ll feel good soon.”

“——!?”

Alice’s face closed in, leaning forward to steal Kuroyō’s lips. She averted her face with slight resistance, but her jaw was grabbed and turned back. Alice’s face, possessed by mad excitement, closed in nearby.

And there, Kuroyō opened her mouth wide as if accepting her love.

“Oh my, how cute. If you’ll submit, I’ll dote on—”

ROAR!!

Dark breath was shot from the widely opened mouth.

It blew away Alice’s face that had closed in before her, and the dark wave was fired up into the night darkness. But despite having her face blown away and being headless from the neck up, Alice was still moving. Mounting atop Kuroyō who could no longer resist, she strangled her neck with inhuman strength.

“Kuuh… still not enough?”

The blown-away face became black mist, regathered, and was already regaining its original form. Fighting against the pain of strangulation, Kuroyō lowered her neck as if nodding. The aim was Alice’s chest. Once more, she shot breath toward that body. ROAR! Piercing through the chest along with the arms trying to strangle her neck, she opened a large hole in the center of the body. The blown-away flesh fragments became black mist as if evaporating. There was no end.

But Kuroyō continued releasing breath without giving up.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Sounds like penetrating thin-membraned liquid continued in succession.

Countless holes opened in Alice’s body, and before that regeneration finished, the next hole was bored.

“Give it a rest already. You braaaaat!”

Only the regenerated lower half of her face shouted madly in rage. Alice’s hole-filled body mounted on top showed retreating movement for the first time there. Tilting her body backward and moving outside the firing line of breath released from the mouth, she escaped by rolling as is.

Taking distance, Alice, having completely regenerated her body, cursed.

“Damn brat… oh, pardon me. That’s right, wasn’t it? Breath originally inherited the dragon’s breath from the mouth as a special skill. Only for breath from the mouth, its original use, you can release it without voicing the words to heighten concentration. I let my guard down.”

Kuroyō couldn’t move a single finger. Gazing up at the night sky, she murmured as if moon-viewing.

“Breath from the mouth isn’t elegant after all. No one prefers using it.”

“Oh my, how composed. But what more can you do in your current state?”

“If you meant to kill me, you’d have killed me already. In other words, you have a purpose. Until you achieve that purpose, you can’t kill me. Isn’t that right?”

A silver knife appeared from the void. Alice, holding the silver knife in reverse grip, licked the blade emotionally with her long, lewd tongue.

“How cleverly your mind works. But I don’t like that composure. Yes, it truly angers me. Even if I can’t kill you, I can torment you. I’ll thoroughly carve up your body.”

Even about to be tormented further in her body covered in wounds all over, Kuroyō’s eyes weren’t dead at all. Despite being unable to move a single finger, she smiled fearlessly.

“Heh. I wonder if that much time remains. Wipe your mouth.”

Bringing her hand to her mouth suspiciously. Only there did Alice finally notice her own abnormality. Blood. Blood adhered to the finger that wiped her mouth. Alice distorted her lips in frustration.

“Kuh, this is why fragile human bodies—gofu!”

Vomiting blood. Vivid red scattered to the ground.

Alice’s body began trembling as if convulsing.

Capturing such a state at the edge of her vision, Kuroyō spoke somewhat like it was someone else’s problem.

“That magic—you can’t regenerate your body unconditionally, can you? More accurately speaking, it’s a technique that defends against attacks by assimilating your body with darkness. After all, no one can cut darkness itself. That breath and magic don’t work is the same logic. But since it has the property of assimilating with darkness, that magic isn’t invincible. Right now the moon is out, so the assimilation rate with darkness is at most 90-95% at the limit. In other words, 5-10% of damage is properly reflected. On top of that, it’s like a secret art equivalent to advanced magic. If abused in a human body, you can’t withstand the burden on the body. Thinking about it together, that body is at its limit even more than mine.”

The hand covering her mouth transmitted blood, dyeing her clothing red.

Drip drip. The blood vomiting didn’t stop. It was getting worse and worse.

That rapid symptom deterioration backed up Kuroyō’s deduction.

“Why do you know that… geho geho...”

Feeling Alice’s life light rapidly weakening, Kuroyō looked up at the night sky and closed her eyes.

“Your mistake was touching me directly. Through the touching skin, I reverse-detected and analyzed your magic formula.”

“Lies! There’s no way you can do that… it’s not even a matter of being Upper School valedictorian or that dimension… No, if that’s truly possible, I must render you unable to recover here!”

Murderous intent lit in Alice’s blue eyes. Holding the silver knife ready, one heavy step forward—

The situation was already reversing. In a long-term match, Kuroyō, who hadn’t suffered a fatal wound, would definitely win. But in a short decisive battle, the result was completely opposite. Alice hadn’t collapsed yet. Even with a tattered body, she could still fight.

Kuroyō opened her eyes. That face wasn’t the face of one suffering near-fatal injuries. Truly at peace. A face that had obtained absolute relief.

“Too bad. It seems time’s up.”

“What are you saying? I still have stamina left to carve you up.”

“No. Your life is already finished. Because my master has come.”

The sound of kicking the ground and leaping powerfully.

Next, whish—a wind-cutting sound from behind.

Those two sounds were the last sounds Alice heard.

And Kuroyō’s consciousness also cut off there.

◇◇◇◇◇

She thinly opened her eyes.

The face of the person she loved most was right nearby.

The sensation was numb beyond pain. Not only could she not move a single finger, even making her vocal cords vibrate wasn’t possible. She only felt warmth. Being held securely in large arms, being carried preciously. Running through the night forest carefully so as not to make Kuroyō feel burden, yet swiftly. In her hazy consciousness floating as if suspended, she could somehow only perceive that much.

(Ah. I’m being held the same way as Ōka.)

When he noticed Kuroyō had her eyes thinly open, he shouted something toward the rear. That voice sounded so distant, so distant and faint, as if issued from the sea bottom toward the surface. A shout returned from behind. It reached Kuroyō’s ears, but still, that sound was faint and vague, not forming the shape of words.

Somehow, she felt she was being called by name.

Kuroyō called their names with only lip movement.

The person she loved most was crying.