The Invincible Aloof Yandere Princess Falls in Love with Her Younger Court Mage's Fatherly Warmth! ~She Clung to Him So Much That the King Fired Him. When He Made Marriage His Official Reason for Resigning Under Royal Order, the Light Vanished from the Princess's Eyes~ - Volume 2 - Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Canopy of Stars

“Wh-what the heck is this? This isn’t the same place as before…… it’s night? Did we teleport again……!?”

“Nope, that’s not it, Suu-san. This isn’t that guy’s doing. I’m the one who did it.”

“Al-kun did……!?”

And it’s not a transfer either.

Everything around us is wrapped in faint, dim darkness, and when I look up, countless stars are twinkling in the night sky. It’s exactly like the one I used to gaze at alone back in my hometown——.

“……You painted over the space with your magic, huh……! A mental landscape, or maybe you built this scenery from scratch just now……? Either way, I’ve never heard of any magic like that. Is it a Reality Marble!?”

“I don’t have anything like a Reality Marble.”

“You’re saying you don’t have a Reality Marble? Someone with your level of skill……?”

Come on, there’s no way I’d just happen to have a Reality Marble that’s perfectly convenient for dealing with this particular guy. I put this whole thing together specifically for him.

If the people I have to protect are luckily standing at a distance where I can actually keep them safe——then the least I can do is pull something like this off.

“……Well, whatever. More importantly, right now I wanna hurry up and deal with that woman so I can secure the second Star Oracle user. You can never have too many, after all!”

“That’s not okay. I don’t really care what you say about me…… but talking about Suu-san and the princess like they’re just objects——”

“Ha! So that pisses you off that much!? For someone with such a cute face, that’s one seriously vicious-looking Star Oracle. Can’t stand that I messed around with your dumbass division commander, huh? And what about your precious princess——wonder if she’s still in one piece——”

The huge man kept talking while a thin smile spread across his face.

Funny…… for someone with such a dignified, heroic appearance——.

“You sure talk a lot. If you’re scared of my magic————if you apologize right now, I’ll forgive you.”

Of course, only if you give the princess back too.

I knew perfectly well he’d never accept that, but I still spat the words out on pure emotion. Honestly, maybe I’m even hoping he’ll come at me.

Ahh, my head’s getting hot. Calm down………… no. Maybe I should just let this heat keep burning——.

And sure enough, the huge man’s expression grew even more intense as he roared.

“How dare some snot-nosed brat talk down to me——Leo Bastard, the man who once led a thousand soldiers……!!”

The intimidation was so strong it almost felt physical.

Green waves surged stronger, mixing with white magical power and rising from that muscular body. He readied his huge sword, taking a stance like he was about to charge and cut me down any second.

I kept my eyes locked on him——on Leo——without dropping my guard, and then.

“……Here we go!”

Along with the swelling fighting spirit.

Right in front of Leo, one magic circle appeared. His massive body vanished instantly, and the next moment he showed up——

“Wha——me……!?”

——in a stance with his sword raised, right behind me, right at Suu-san’s spot.

Suu-san’s startled voice rang out together with the sound of the greatsword ripping through the air.

After all those cocky lines, the first thing he does is a sneak attack on an injured person? If he can take Suu-san down like that it fits his original plan, and even if I jump in to help he can just cut me too.

It’s hateful, but on a battlefield you can’t really call it cowardly. For all his attitude, the guy’s actually pretty clever.

But. Even without looking directly, I had Suu-san’s crisis completely grasped.

And of course…… I can deal with it.

“——Meteor Meteora”

Without moving my hand, my fingers, or even my line of sight, I simply willed one of the stars I’d readied in the night sky to fall to the ground.

To eliminate the threat closing in on Suu-san, a meteor with a tail of light plummeted toward Leo’s head at insane speed——

“!? ……khh……!”

With a loud GAKIN sound.

Along with the huge metallic clang, Leo let out a pained grunt.

When I turned around, my eyes caught him——sparks flying as he locked blades with the falling meteor.

“Al-kun! Th-thank you……——!”

“Leave it to me, Suu-san. But…… he actually reacted to this…… It’s really moving at the literal speed of a shooting star, y’know, not just a figure of speech.”

“Cool as a cucumber, huh……!!”

He looks seriously pissed. But I’m just as annoyed, and honestly even more——.

“——You took your eyes off me…… right in front of me……!”

Suu-san exploded with a transparent fighting spirit from her whole body.

Her eyebrows shot up as she swung her sword so fast it left sound behind.

But.

“RAAAH!”

“Guh!?”

Did Leo’s power just jump again? He brute-forced the meteor away and even knocked Suu-san’s sword back with the same motion.

That’s ki enhancement layered on top of…… magical body reinforcement stacked over it.

“Like I thought, gotta take out the annoying one first……!”

He’s about to follow through with a slash at Suu-san, who lost her balance from the surprise, but——

I add two more meteors.

“Khh! Stop getting in the way……!”

“I came here——to protect them.”

“Tch……!!”

……The output’s higher than before, so he easily swept both of them aside.

Okay then. I dropped five more stars, but right before they hit, Leo’s figure vanished again.

Transfer again.

When he uses it for short distances, the activation time and the delay before reappearing are practically zero. Makes sense why he’s so confident in close combat.

……But sorry. The reason I brought out this magic Orion in the first place——

“——is to seal your transfer.”

Just by shifting my awareness a little, I can feel everything in the entire space I’ve deployed like the back of my hand.

Where everyone is. What movements they’re making. Even the creak of muscles, breathing, all the way down to body temperature.

And even if I can’t sense the caster himself, the signs of a transfer………… I can still see them!

“Behind……!”

“——Wh-what!? I was completely behind——!!”

From the tiniest warp in space, I can predict exactly where he’ll appear next. So all I have to do is drop a falling star at that spot before he even gets there.

“Meteor Shower Meteora Legion”

“Big move right at the transfer point!? ……What kind of bullshit is this, you’ve gotta be kidding me!”

I’m not doing just one or two this time, none of that cheap stuff.

What rains down from the sky is literally a shower of stars. The ceaseless violence of light crashes down with roaring noise, not giving Leo a chance to even get a word out.

“Al-kun, th-that’s amazing…… With this even he——!”

“……No. Not yet.”

The dancing particles of light are hiding Leo’s figure. But thanks to this magic’s special trait——complete grasp of the deployed space——I can see exactly what’s happening even if I can’t visually.

Hmm, he’s somehow enduring by holding his reinforced greatsword up like an umbrella. Each of these meteors packs serious power…… about the same as ten of those lightning spears I once fired at His Majesty and the former Court Mage Commander.

He mentioned something earlier about “once leading soldiers,” so maybe he really was a general somewhere. He’s honestly that strong.

Oh. He’s getting used to the star rain now, and he’s transferring again…….

But that’s the same as before.

I sense the warp in space again and prepare to drop a star at the spot where Leo’s about to appear.

The meteor shower didn’t work, so…… okay.

I layer multiple meteors, stacking them over and over. And right when they’re about to burst——from the sky straight down to the ground.

——A massive beam of light big enough to swallow at least ten people whole.

“——Stellar Hammer Astera Breath”

Right after, the reappearing Leo gets bathed in blinding light.

“……No matter how you look at it. This is just too unfair……!!————”

He turns a resentful face toward me.

And gets swallowed by the light.

———

Basically it’s just a territory expansion.

There’s no true “guaranteed hit” effect or anything, but by combining spatial awareness, my own accuracy, and a magic format that doesn’t need charging time, it effectively becomes a guaranteed hit.