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~

Chapter 9: What Steps In Between Masters Is—

An intimidating burst of laughter echoed across the area.

A huge man wearing armor different from our knight order’s, holding a greatsword, and spitting out words that insulted the Atlas Kingdom. No matter how you looked at him, he was the enemy.

On top of that, a pale green aura rose from his body… an enormous amount of ki. I could tell he was a very powerful opponent.

All right. In that case—

“Call squad, prepare for com—”

“—Wait a second, Albert.”

“…? Princess?”

Why are you stopping me? Our allies are in trouble.

“Albert… The only thing you were requested to handle was the case of an enemy mage. If that’s true, then this falls under their responsibility.”

“But Princess, several knights have already been knocked out of the fight. Even if we’re from different groups, they’re still comrades from the same country—we have to help them…”

Also, it might sound a little shameless, but… moments like this were exactly the chance to build achievements for the princess’s faction. For the princess’s safety too, I really wanted to jump in.

“……”

“Princess?”

“Then… at the very least… wait until that woman… Scarlet is in danger.”

That woman, huh.

“The opponent is a swordsman…? I know you’re strong, Albert, but I’m worried. Normally, a mage should never face an expert swordsman head-on. So please… I’m begging you…”

Next, Ignatz-san reacted to the princess’s words.

“She does have a point there… Setting aside how abnormally fixated Her Highness is on a single court mage. Squad leader, going against what Her Highness says would be…”

“Indeed. Master, Her Highness is correct. In that chaotic melee, there’s even a chance your magic could hit our own side. Besides, if you carelessly draw their attention here, they could wipe us all out in close combat.”

“! …!!”

Even Keirens-san and Lily-san.

Sure enough, the standard rule was that magical support in a chaotic melee was strictly forbidden. …I was confident I could pierce only the enemy, though.

But it couldn’t be helped. Nothing the princess or the others said was wrong.

“…Understood. In exchange, if Suu-san ends up in danger, I’m going in.”

“—Suu…san…… ……!!”

“Princess?”

“Y-Yes, I understand. Scarlet is a precious asset to the kingdom—I have no intention of letting her die pointlessly.”

Good. Then I’ll start up the mana furnace and stay ready to move at any moment—

As I turned my eyes forward, I caught sight of the enemy—who had been blasting knights away one after another—finally facing off against Suu-san.

“…………I’d be in trouble if you lost. But… the only one who should receive Papa’s worry… is me alone……—”

“Princess? Did you just say something… Karen-san, you’re sweating a lot?”

“N-No, no, this is normal for me…!?”

? Well, whatever. More importantly right now—

“—Ha! Finally, a knight with some backbone shows up. State your name, young lady.”

“I’ll pass. My name isn’t cheap enough to be thrown around to someone like you.”

“—Tch. Then at least don’t let it end in one hit!”

“Of course— Right now, I have someone I need to protect…!!”

For a brief moment, Suu-san directed a burning gaze toward me. Sure, mages were the ones who got protected by knights on the battlefield.

…That’s what she meant, right? Somehow the intensity felt a little off…

And right after Suu-san’s words, Karen-san gave a sharp twitch and broke out in even more sweat.

—Okay. Given the situation, I should probably just stop thinking about it.

More importantly, I needed to focus on Suu-san’s fight right now.

“All right then, woman. Here I come—”

“—Come.”

And so, the battle between the two sword masters began.

——BOOM!!

With an explosive roar, sword met sword.

Normally, clashing with that much force would shatter the blades, but both swords stood firm without a tremor. Immediately afterward, the shockwave erupted into a violent gale.

Then, in the very next instant, the two fighters—who now used even the air itself as footing—crossed paths in midair, leaving trails of sword-sparks across the sky.

As the fight continued, the sword ki from both of them sent rubble and injured people flying in all directions, turning more and more of the battlefield into bare ground.

“I-I can’t see it. What kind of fight is this!? How can swordsmen do something like…!”

In front of the shuddering Ignatz-san’s eyes, Suu-san swung her sword once. Right after, behind the enemy she had dodged, a house-sized chunk of rubble was sliced into dust.

“No way—why!? Why are flying slashes just happening like it’s normal…! And clearly it’s the result of just one swing!!”

“Indeed… M-Master, is this…?”

“Master, you mean magic Master, right? This has nothing to do with magic…”

Well, if they just wanted to know the knowledge, I could explain.

“The incredible movements those two are doing, and the flying slashes—their true nature is—‘ki’.”

“‘Ki’… so that’s what it is!”

Both of them opened their eyes wide as if they’d heard of it before. It seemed this was their first time actually witnessing it.

But that made sense. After all, people with a talent for ki were only about one in a thousand compared to mages—a truly rare power.

However, in exchange, its versatility in close combat was on a completely different level from mana.

Extremely high amplification, automatic enhancement of physical ability and weapons, no-charge mid-range attacks, and even temporary materialization.

Things mana couldn’t do, or the same things done without spell formulas—when it came to close combat, ki absolutely surpassed mana.

“HAHAHA!! A woman, and an Atlas knight no less—you’ve got some guts!!”

“I already told you. I have someone I need to protect…! And it looks like I’m the only knight who can stop you. So—I’ll cut you to pieces!!”

“!? …Kuh! What is this ki!”

“Haaaaaaaahhh!!”

The moment Suu-san roared, a massive amount of ki surged out from her slender body and compressed into the sword she held ready.

Both were extremely skilled warriors, but when it came to the talent for and handling of ki, it looked like Suu-san was ahead. From her sword—now charged with absurd amounts of energy—ki occasionally burst out like lightning.

That was… similar to the way vaporized mana burst out from my mana furnace. In other words, the density of ki packed inside was incredible.

If so, then the next strike would surely—

“—I have to admit it… For the first time in ages, I’ve met someone on my level with ki. Looks like I was the frog in the well.”

“—…… Words are pointless now.”

“Hmph. Yeah, you’re right. I’ve got nothing left to say to Atlas scum anyway.”

With that, both of them fell silent.

They took their stances again and held perfectly still for a moment.

Then—almost simultaneously—they swung.

…The one who moved his sword just slightly faster was the enemy giant. A clearly visible jade-green slash shot straight toward Suu-san’s neck.

But right after that, Suu-san murmured softly.

“—Sword Release: Bitter Realm.”

What appeared was a dome of slashes centered on Suu-san. The entire hemisphere that covered the ground became a storm of impossibly fine flying slashes.

“Guh, ooooo—!!”

The enemy’s slash was swallowed instantly, and the dome continued expanding as if unaffected. What was happening inside wasn’t clear, but only a bizarre sound—like air being shredded and churned—echoed out.

And its speed had already become impossible to evade.

Eventually…

“…Damn it.”

Leaving behind that small mutter. The dome, which had swollen until it was about to swallow the man along with everything and drag in the scattered knights around him, suddenly vanished without a sound at a certain moment.

And in the very center of the perfectly flattened ground stood Suu-san.

“Al-kun…!! Did you see that just now? I worked so hard for y—”

At the same time.

Behind Suu-san—whose face had suddenly lit up with joy—stood the giant man, already preparing a human-sized magic circle.

—…This is bad!

I spun my thoughts as fast as possible, feeling time slow down, and poured every ounce of strength into my entire body.

Wrapped in golden light, I exploded forward through the air straight toward Suu-san.

“U, wah…!”

I closed the distance in an instant. The moment I caught Suu-san—who still hadn’t noticed the situation—in my arms,

the man—who hadn’t seemed to notice my sudden arrival—chanted.

“See ya. —【Transfer】”

And so, while shielding Suu-san in my arms, my vision was swallowed by pure white light—