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Chapter 24: First Princess Assassination Attempt (3)

A bloody battle raged, flesh and blood splattering everywhere.

The only sounds that echoed through the banquet hall were the clash of steel and the gruesome tearing of flesh.

Students cowered, too terrified to even scream, overwhelmed by the horrifying atmosphere.

Knights stood guard, their faces tense with vigilance.

Amidst the chaos, Lucy sat on the floor, her body trembling uncontrollably.

Shattered table fragments and blood-soaked arrows lay scattered before her.

The sight of the carpet, stained with chunks of intestines, sent a chilling wave of reality crashing down on her.

‘I… I almost died…?’

Terror, delayed but potent, gripped her mind.

She hadn’t noticed anything.

Not even a hint of the incoming arrows.

If that student hadn’t saved her, she would have…

‘Died… pierced through by those arrows…’

For the first time in her life, she had felt the presence of death.

The realization that death had brushed past her so closely made it difficult for Lucy to maintain her composure.

Even as the Empire’s princess,

she was still a young girl.

‘Don’t cry… Don’t cry, you’re the Empire’s princess… Pull yourself together.’

Lucy desperately tried to calm herself with self-affirmations,

but tears welled up in her eyes, betraying her efforts.

She bit her lip hard to stifle the pathetic sounds of her ragged breathing.

‘I’m scared… I don’t want to die…’

Panic consumed Lucy.

What brought her back to her senses

were the sharp sounds of the ongoing battle.

-Clang!! Crash! Thud!!

-Damn it…! Where the hell did this kid come from?!

-If only we could use mana, this little brat would be…!!

“Ah.”

Lucy snapped out of her daze and abruptly lifted her head.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Her gaze fell upon a young man engaged in a fierce battle with the assailants.

-Don’t worry, Your Highness.

-Your knight is here.

While most people seemed oblivious to the identity hidden behind the mask,

Lucy recognized him instantly.

How could she not?

It was the voice she had cherished and resented so deeply.

“Ra-iden…?”

Lucy whispered his name, her face blank with shock.

She couldn’t understand the situation.

Unanswered questions flooded her mind.

Who were these assassins?

Why was Raiden fighting them?

Neria had been on the other side of the hall, was she safe?

As the questions piled up, Lucy’s anxiety intensified.

Yet, despite the chaos unfolding around her,

she couldn’t bring herself to move.

“…”

A persistent weakness clung to her limbs.

Her fingertips still trembled faintly,

and her legs felt numb and heavy.

Surrounded by her knights, she was acutely aware of her own helplessness.

“Ugh, uh…”

Lucy swallowed back her tears, clenching her fists, when she heard a cracking sound from the center of the hall.

-Crack!!

An ominous noise pierced through the air, prompting her to look up.

She saw Raiden stumbling, losing his balance.

Fragments of his shattered mask lay scattered on the floor beside him,

and blood streamed down his face from a long gash.

One of his eyes seemed severely injured, the eyelid drooping motionlessly.

Lucy couldn’t help but scream.

“Raiden!!”

But then,

her eyes met his, and she froze.

A grotesque smile flashed across his face, visible through the broken mask.

It vanished quickly, but the image was already seared into her mind.

Raiden was smiling.

Covered in blood,

brightly,

as if he were enjoying this entire situation.

***

-Crack!!

A sharp cracking sound coincided with a powerful impact that slammed into my face.

My vision blurred for a moment.

I staggered, forcing my eyes open.

If I let my guard down for even a second, this fragile consciousness would slip away.

“Ha… ha…”

The metallic scent of blood filled my nostrils with every hot breath I exhaled.

Fragments of my broken mask lay scattered on the floor,

and my hand gripped a sword, slick with blood.

“Damn it, cough, hack… shit…”

I coughed violently, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

The blow to my head seemed to have cleared my mind somewhat.

‘…Damn it.’

For a brief moment, I had lost control, consumed by Raiden’s rage.

It was fortunate that Extrasensory was activated.

I had barely managed to dodge their combined attack, which would have sliced my face in half.

Although I avoided the worst,

my left eye was completely mangled, my vision on that side plunged into darkness.

-Don’t be consumed by emotions.

-The moment your sword is guided by emotion, it loses its fluidity, leading you towards defeat.

My father’s voice echoed in my ears, as always.

Damn it… lecturing me even in a moment like this.

Neither he nor I was in our right minds.

I considered myself quite adept at controlling my emotions,

but I had been completely swallowed by Raiden’s killing intent before I could even react.

Raiden Lishite… this dangerously alluring bastard.

“Ha… cough, ugh…”

I wiped away the bloody tears that streamed down my face and focused my remaining eye.

Although my plan had gone slightly awry,

I had managed to eliminate three out of seven assailants in a short time.

Not a bad start.

Taking a deep, ragged breath, I calmly deflected the flurry of incoming sword strikes.

Now that I had regained my composure, my movements felt noticeably lighter.

My defenses, which had loosened, tightened once more.

My swordsmanship, which had become wild and aggressive, regained its original form, flowing with a newfound calmness.

“…!!”

The assailants seemed to sense the shift in my demeanor and began to hesitate in their attacks.

It was only natural.

The aura of raw savagery differed greatly from that of controlled ferocity.

I coldly addressed the robed figures I was facing.

“Those clumsy attacks won’t work anymore.”

It was a form of trash talk.

A statement meant to pressure my opponents and disrupt their focus.

It might seem like a trivial detail,

but building momentum was all about accumulating these small advantages.

“Ha, you’re quite the smooth talker.”

“I’m glad you noticed.”

“If it weren’t for this damn barrier, you’d be mincemeat in a minute…!”

“And which side is currently being turned into mincemeat?”

“Damn you!!”

One of them lost his composure, his pride wounded by my words.

As expected of a mage, his sword hand trembled pathetically.

I dodged his attack and pointed my sword at him.

“Wait, Ravi…!”

-Thud!!

The others tried to intervene, but it was too late.

My sword had already pierced his throat.

Ravi, was that his name?

Probably an alias, but whatever. Farewell, you idiot.

-Slice…

I pulled my sword out, and his severed head tumbled to the floor.

I kicked the gruesome object towards the leader of the robed figures.

“Ugh, ha… ha… Now, only three remain…”

“…Ha.”

The leader let out a hollow laugh, his face grim.

His eyes, fixed on me, held a mixture of complex emotions.

Yes, he must be dumbfounded.

His meticulously planned operation had been thwarted by a single boy.

The elite force he had brought with him was being slaughtered so easily, it must have been a crushing blow to his ego.

And to top it all off, he was trapped by a legendary magic scroll, an encounter so rare it might only happen once in a lifetime. He must have felt incredibly frustrated.

But what could he do?

Life and death were inherently like this.

Fleeting, fragile,

vanishing without a trace.

Without even a shred of resentment left behind.

My mother, my sister Jihye, they had all left this world in the same way. And…

“The Duchess Lishite, murdered by your hands, was no different.”

My actions were a form of revenge.

I wanted them to experience the despair and helplessness that Raiden, that poor boy, had endured.

‘Still… I think I did a pretty good job, Raiden.’

I wasn’t sure if he would be satisfied, but…

I hoped that the blood staining my hands

brought him at least a small measure of solace.

I let out a bitter chuckle and wiped the blood off my sword.

‘I need to clean up this mess and hand these guys over to the Academy… I guess I’ll capture the remaining three alive.’

Just as I was about to finish off the remaining assailants,

the leader’s eyes, which had been clouded with complex emotions, suddenly flickered.

He muttered something to himself, as if struck by a sudden realization, then turned his gaze towards me.

“Lishite… Raiden Lishite… So that’s how it is. I understand now.”

“Surrender peacefully.”

“Hey.”

“I won’t listen to your bullshit…”

“Does it hurt so much that your mommy died by our hands?”

This son of a bitch.

He started spouting words I couldn\'t have imagined.

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