When the Villain Joined the Knights to Avoid Doom Flags, but Somehow the Heroines Started Approaching Him - Chapter 28: Fight with the Intruder

Chapter 28: Fight with the Intruder

Suddenly, intruders appeared right in front of them.

The shattered debris and booming noise sent the nearby students into a panic.

“W-What’s going on?!”

“Just run! It’s the Royal Knights’ business!”

“Move out of the way! Staying here is definitely dangerous!”

The students in the classroom and the hallway alike scattered, running for safety and leaving the intruders behind.

And then—

“Damn it! We’re speeding straight toward a bad ending!”

“S-Sir Yulis?!”

Yulis, holding Fia tightly, jumped straight out of the window.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!”

“Don’t bite your tongue! This is a necessary action, no complaints allowed!”

As they fell, Fia’s shrill scream rang out.

But Yulis managed to land smoothly without a jarring impact, immediately taking off across the wide courtyard.

(Why is the end credits for my school life rolling so soon?! And why is one of the twins here when this isn’t even supposed to be an event?!)

This was an event meant for Fia’s route.

At a party hosted by the academy, hired assassins attacked the protagonist and Fia.

What stood out about them was that they were twins, and one of them was positioned as a major boss in Fia’s storyline—an opponent who even managed to defeat the protagonist the first time around.

“This was… quite the experience. A rather intense attraction, wasn’t it?”

“Meanwhile, my heart’s pounding out of my chest for all sorts of reasons!”

A beautiful girl in his arms and the looming shadow of death chasing them from behind.

Yulis couldn’t help but grumble to himself as he sprinted, wondering if there was anyone in the world who wouldn’t have their heart racing in a situation like this.

“Still, it seems we won’t be able to continue our academy life for a while… Though I imagine that’s probably a relief for you, Sir Yulis.”

Fia had insisted on attending the academy despite the bounty on her head, purely for the sake of the kingdom’s pride.

No one knew who had placed the bounty or why.

But the royal family couldn’t afford to bow down to such threats. Showing fear or retreating would only embolden those behind the plot.

However, that stance only held weight as long as she could live a peaceful, uneventful life within the academy’s walls.

(…I was actually looking forward to experiencing academy life a little.)

Fia gave a small, resigned smile as she thought to herself.

She then glanced at Yulis, her smile turning faintly strained as she spoke softly.

“If it ever comes to the worst-case scenario, and the academy’s students are at risk, you can hand me over. We can’t let more people suffer just because of our pride.”

To this—

“Ha?! Like hell we’re doing that!”

Yulis snapped, scolding Fia with an intensity that left no room for argument.

“No way in hell am I handing over a girl who’s making a face like that!!!”

Fia was stunned. She didn’t understand.

Why was Yulis Blanche, of all people, saying something like this?

Hearing such sincere and determined words from him left her momentarily speechless.

“Besides, after all that commotion, there’s no one left who hasn’t fled, and even the seniors are handling things! Whether we can win or not isn’t the point—if the princess steps outside, it makes the whole ‘preventing harm’ thing pointless!”

“T-That’s true, but…!”

“Then stop making that face, trying to shoulder everything by yourself! A princess should act like a princess—wish for help, say you’re scared, say you want to live your school life! And if you’re a beautiful girl, then look up at me with teary eyes and say it, instead of putting on that smug ‘I know everything’ face!”

“H-Hey—?!”

Fia’s face flushed bright red at his blunt words.

But—

“Listen to me. I’ll protect you, no matter what… I’ll make sure you can smile and enjoy your life at the academy!!!”

She couldn’t understand it at all.

Fia couldn’t take her eyes off Yulis.

Her cheeks, warm from embarrassment, should’ve been cooling down from the chill of Yulis’s lowering body temperature. Yet, they didn’t cool at all.

“…Even if they’re an opponent the protagonist couldn’t beat, there’s no way I, a villain, am losing to them.”

From the frost-covered ground beneath Yulis’s feet, a shadow began to rise.

“I’ll defeat them myself and crush this ridiculous event before it even starts.”

♦️♦️♦️

On the third floor, where the chaotic intrusion had occurred, Celia clicked her tongue loudly and swung her arm.

(Damn it! I let her break into the academy!)

Luckily, the flashy commotion had driven everyone away, leaving no sign of other people on this floor.

The threads extending from Celia’s fingertips sliced through windows and walls alike as they closed in on the mesh-haired girl—Ronye.

“Aha! Hey, hey, how are you doing that?! The walls are cutting apart like butter—it’s like magic!”

But just before the threads could touch Ronye, her hand shot out and firmly grabbed them.

“She grabbed it—?!”

“Well, it doesn’t really work on me though♪”

Celia’s threads emitted a constant, delicate vibration that sliced through anything they touched.

Unlike a sword, which required a precise swing or pull, these threads were unparalleled in cutting power, making it impossible for anything—or anyone—to touch them directly.

And yet, here was this girl, easily gripping the very threads that could cleave through outer walls.

“This is going to be a real pain!”

“Ehehe, I may look like this, but I didn’t become a guild executive just for show☆!”

Sweat began to bead on Celia’s forehead.

Even so, she pressed on, attaching her threads to nearby rubble and hurling the debris toward Ronye with sheer force.

“Obstacles are meant to be smashed through!”

However, the girl who should have been crushed under the debris stood perfectly fine.

Ronye brought both hands to her mouth, took a deep breath, and—

“BOOO!!“

“!?”

Celia’s body was thrown back.

It was just a shout, yet the sheer force of it sent her tumbling down the hallway.

(What kind of logic is this?! I don’t have the knack for unraveling magic tricks with time limits here!)

She couldn’t see it, so she couldn’t understand it.

Without being able to see the attack, she couldn’t predict the next move.

And on top of that, none of her own attacks were landing.

Without missing a beat, Ronye yanked her arm downward.

Reacting instinctively, Celia pulled her threads to retreat backward, but it didn’t matter.

The moment she tried to create distance, her head was slammed hard into the ground.

“Gah!?”

“Figuring it out without a reveal is impossible, isn’t it? That’s why delicate little girls like you are meant to be pounded into the ground—punch, punch, punch~!”

“…”

It was completely one-sided.

Ronye’s cheerful voice echoed through the hallway, making the imbalance all the more frustrating.

(…Annoying.)

The thought burned in Celia’s mind, stirring her irritation.

(This brat… she’s having her fun tormenting me. Maybe I should pull out that and mince her into pieces, damn it!)

A vein throbbed visibly on Celia’s forehead.

But the brief moment of blankness caused by being slammed into the ground allowed her to regain a measure of calm.

(…No, I can’t use that. There are still students in the building. I can’t risk dragging them into this.)

Calm down.

That’s why I have to deal with this using what I’ve got now.

Steeling herself, Celia extended her threads again toward the smirking Ronye.

But then—

“Alright, alright! Time to meet the next punching bag! Stay still and die already, will you?”

Suddenly, the ceiling above Ronye collapsed in one loud crash.

From the falling rubble emerged Iris, swinging a segmented sword downward in a bold motion.

“Iris!? What are you doing here?”

“Why, isn’t it obvious? The punching bag you set up for me ran out too quickly, so I came to find another one. Oh, and by the way, the sly fox went to call the teachers and is helping evacuate the students~♪”

Her tone was far too carefree for the situation.

But Celia had to admit—she was incredibly thankful for her arrival.

Because—

“Ow, ow, ow! You idiot! What the hell is this, it huuuuuuurts!!!”

CRASH!!!

Iris, along with the rubble, was slammed into the ceiling in a brutal counterattack.

“Ha?”

“There are way too many obstacles around here! But hey, a little thrill makes it more fun, don’t you think!?”

As Iris fell from the ceiling, her face filled with shock, she swung her segmented sword with force.

The blade gouged into the ground as it surged toward Ronye, but even under the relentless assault, Ronye dodged with a smile still plastered on her face.

She reached into the air, where there was seemingly nothing, and pulled.

A split second later, a heavy impact struck Iris’s side, sending her flying in the opposite direction of Celia.

Her body bounced along the hallway, tumbling all the way to the far end.

“Cough… hack… This is a much more rebellious punching bag than I expected… Can’t believe I showed up like that just to get tossed around…”

“Don’t let your guard down, Iris…”

There was no room for carelessness, not after the first blow she’d taken.

This was an opponent stronger than anyone Iris had faced in a long time. Despite her petite, almost childlike frame, Ronye grinned with an unsettlingly cheerful and unhinged confidence.

Every instinct in Iris’s body screamed danger, her survival instincts kicking into overdrive.

“Alright then! Let’s keep enjoying the obstacles until the next competitor catches up!”

From the front, Iris’s segmented sword lashed out.

From the rear, Celia’s threads slashed forward.

The combined assault, capable of cutting through the very structure of the building, targeted Ronye all at once.

But she dodged every strike, caught them barehanded, and swung her arms to slam their attacks into the ground.

It wasn’t working.

Their relentless attacks couldn’t land on a girl who appeared so much younger than them.

“Hehe, so this is all the Royal Knights of the capital can do, huh? Not very impressive.”

Unlike Celia and Iris, whose focus and tension were palpable, this little girl showed nothing but carefree smugness, as if none of this was a threat to her at all.

“I’m the best, the ultimate champion, super outstanding! But it’s still not enough—I want more! This isn’t exciting enough! Give me thrills! Make the audience roar and give me chills, moooooooore!!!”

Ronye’s shout echoed through the hallway.
In the middle of the chaos, the entire corridor began to shake unnaturally.

And then—

“Fine. Let’s heat things up for you, little troublemaker.”

In an instant, Ronye’s body was encased in a pure white sculpture of ice.

“Stop dragging the audience into your mess. It’s about time the organizers stepped in and gave you a lesson, you little brat.”

There was no need to ask who.

Standing atop the ice, exhaling frosty breaths, a boy appeared, gazing down at the frozen Ronye with an imposing presence.