The Talentless Wicked Prince Wants To Survive ~ The Only Way For Me, Reincarnated As The Punching Bag Third Prince In A Romance Smartphone RPG, To Live Is To Not Break Off My Engagement With The Duke’s Yandere Daughter Who’s Stronger Than The Heroine~

“Ugh…! Don’t falter, everyone! We are knights of Capetien! There’s no way we’ll lose to Dehaubarz’s whelps!”

The Knight Commander shouted his rallying cry, trying to inspire the knights still fighting, but they were hopelessly outnumbered. In this cramped space, the Dehaubarz forces kept forcing two-on-one situations, and the Capetien knights were being cut down one after another.

“Sandra.”

“Yes.”

With my partner, the Shadow Shield Casparieg, in hand, I headed toward Jean alongside Sandra. I’d left Monica to guard Lisette, who was still loudly “encouraging” the others.

“Uoooooooohhhhhh!”

“You’re in my way.”

“Gwah!?”

A knight who came charging at us with a roar was sent flying by a casual swing of Sandra’s Balmung. Yeah, this was about the level of treatment a mob enemy usually got.

I glanced at Sandra just to be sure, but no, her eyes weren’t glowing red like during the incident with Saint Christia. Good.

Step by step, we advanced. One knight after another tried to block our way, only to fall to Sandra’s blade. And the few attacks that made it through were all absorbed by me and Cass.

After all, ever since earning my title and bond with Cass, my defense was among the highest in EnHaza. No way was I taking damage from random mob knights.

And then…

“Prince Jean… no, Jean Christophe de Capetien. Your dream of usurping the throne ends here. Surrender.”

“Ha… hahahaha… To think that a so-called ‘talentless wicked prince’ would ruin my plan…”

Jean covered his face with both hands and let out a dry laugh.

“So tell me… how did you figure out I was plotting a coup?”

“Come on. When someone glares daggers at King Salomon right beside me, the goodwill envoy, it’s pretty obvious. I’m more surprised you thought no one would notice.”

Jean’s question was apparently sincere, so I answered with deliberate exasperation. Though honestly… I’d known about his plot from the very start…

“Anyway, we really should be heading back to Dehaubarz soon, so could you just give up already?”

I said it in a bored tone, but of course, this man wasn’t about to surrender quietly. In EnHaza, even after the protagonist foiled his coup, he still kept struggling until the bitter end…

“Prince Jeaaaaaaan!!”

The Knight Commander came charging in, swinging his sword wildly to protect his master. Loyalty until death, huh? Apparently, he intended to die with Jean.

“We… we have not yet lost! As long as His Highness lives, he can still lead this nation!”

“I see… You’re right…”

Oh, come on, don’t take that seriously. Even if they escaped now, there was no future waiting for them.

Still… it figured.

“Haru-sama, allow me to clear the way.”

“Sandra… please be careful.”

Facing the Knight Commander who stood before Jean, Sandra leveled the tip of Balmung. I knew it would be over in an instant, but I couldn’t help worrying anyway.

“Prince Harold… or rather, you meddlesome fool who stands in the way of my conquest! You’ll pay with your blood!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

With a grand roar, Jean drew his sword, which was thin, long, and familiar.

It was probably the SR weapon, the Sword of Aramis, obtained by defeating Jean, the event boss in EnHaza…

Wait, what?! That sword!?

“Th-that’s…!”

“Oh? You recognize it? Yes, this is the legendary blade, the Holy Sunlight Sword Durandal.”

Why the hell did Jean have a UR weapon!? That was supposed to be another heroine’s exclusive sword! Give it back!

“Hahaha… your shield seems decent enough, but it won’t stand against this blade’s edge.”

“…”

Yeah, I wasn’t worried about that, but seriously, of all people, him with a UR weapon?

Granted, Event-Boss Jean in EnHaza was only about as strong as Lorenzo from the Saint’s Kidnapping Incident event, not exactly terrifying.

He specialized in fire-element ranged attacks, nothing a shield-type like me couldn’t handle.

Durandal was a close-combat sword. Its unique skill, [Fanfare], coated the blade in holy light and tripled attack power. It was great if you were a melee fighter.

Jean, being a ranged type, wasn’t one however. So yeah, not that useful for him.

Oh, well. If it made him easier to beat, all the better.

“All right, bring it on.”

“Oh?… Confident, are we? Let’s see how long that lasts!”

Jean lunged, closing the distance in a burst of speed. He was fast, kind of, but compared to Sandra or even the Holy Knight Carla, he was sluggish. He was a ranged-type fighter, so it was only natural that his physical stats weren’t that high.

Besides…

“W-what!?”

I caught his strike easily on my shield, and Jean’s eyes went wide in shock. Of course he couldn’t handle it, his own affinity was fire, while Durandal was a light-element weapon. They didn’t mix at all.

“Damn it! Damn it!”

He kept slashing over and over at me, but it was pointless. A total waste of a good weapon…

“Haru-sama! Do your best!”

Sandra, having already kicked aside the near-dead Knight Commander, smiled cheerfully as she cheered me on. Yeah, my fiancée really was the best and the strongest. Though technically, that guy she’d just stomped on was the Capetien Knight Commander.

“So… what now? I think we both know how this ends.”

I called out to Jean, who was panting, his sword arm trembling. Any more of this would just feel like bullying the weak.

“Not yet! It’s not over yet!”

“No, it’s over. The Knight Commander’s been taken down by Sandra, the rest of your forces are subdued, and you’re the only one left.”

Jean still refused to accept it, snarling in defiance. To him, claiming the world as king had been his dream. And now that dream lay in ruin, he just couldn’t face it.

Then…

“…So, it comes to this… just as that man said… I have no choice…”

“What!? Everyone! Get away from him, now!”

Jean pulled something from his breast pocket, a small vial, inside of which floated an eyeball. The instant I saw it, I shouted.

And in the next moment, Jean swallowed the eye.