TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 74
KABOOM!
Amid the deafening explosion erupting from within the carriage’s section.
Lakradiyon landed on the ground after slicing through a soldier.
At that moment, a shadow blade flew past, grazing her hair and cutting off a few strands.
“Huff!”
With a sharp intake of breath, Lakradiyon immediately swung her sword, cutting through the Shadow Armed Princess.
However, even though the Shadow Armed Princess was sliced, she remained unscathed.
This was because she would not disappear unless she suffered a substantial amount of damage.
Clang!
Unlike the Shadow Armed Princess, who could withstand Lakradiyon’s attacks with her body, Lakradiyon couldn’t just dodge all of her attacks.
“La… Lakradiyon!”
“Enough. Focus on healing.”
Because behind her stood Soldrik, the vice-captain of Pendalord’s unit, who was on the brink of death, and Olivia, the White Mage, desperately trying to heal him.
If Lakradiyon evaded a major attack, Olivia and Soldrik would be in danger.
So, she was blocking every attack from the Shadow Armed Princess as much as possible.
Perhaps because of this, injuries were gradually accumulating on Lakradiyon’s body.
The Shadow Armed Princess was far inferior compared to the original, but even so, she was strong enough to rival Lakradiyon.
‘If this is the extent, then the original must be…’
Lakradiyon swallowed her unease as she thought of Kraush, who must be facing the original Armed Princess.
She was worried about him, but right now, she had no choice but to trust him.
“Lakradiyon! Over there!”
At that moment, from the direction of the creaking, open door, another Shadow Armed Princess appeared.
Judging by the blood on its blade, it seemed someone had fallen victim to it.
The real problem was that the number of Shadow Armed Princesses had increased to two.
“Leave me… Leave me behind.”
“Vice-Captain!”
Olivia cried out in shock, but he forced himself to speak, blood dripping from his mouth.
“It’s all… all my fault. If I hadn’t hindered you from the beginning, none of this would’ve… happened.”
Blaming himself for endangering the team, Soldrik bit his lips hard enough to draw blood.
If he hadn’t interfered with Lakradiyon and Kraush and allowed them to reach the eighth floor, at least the team wouldn’t have scattered and met such a grim fate.
“Save… save the other team members first, not me. They don’t know… Only Evling and I knew the truth.”
The truth that Evling, the swordsman who had been the first to fall to the Armed Princess, and Vice-Captain Soldrik had secretly conspired to hinder Lakradiyon and Kraush.
The rest of the team was entirely unaware of this.
Even the captain, Pendal, didn’t know.
Therefore, he hoped Olivia and Lakradiyon would flee and save at least one more team member.
“Vice-Captain, stop talking! You’re losing too much blood!”
“…Please. I have no face to show the captain…”
As Soldrik’s guilt weighed heavily on him, Lakradiyon exhaled.
“We’ll talk later.”
Those words meant she had no intention of abandoning him.
“W-What…!”
“Do you really think Pendal wouldn’t know what’s happening within his own team?”
Soldrik’s face stiffened.
“Even if it was your decision, Pendal agreed to it as well. For Pendalord’s sake.”
Pendal might have acted suddenly, but he had long been contemplating and researching ways to defeat Nakcheon.
He simply couldn’t bring himself to readily accept the idea of challenging Nakcheon again alongside Lakradiyon.
But he hadn’t been idle either.
Lakradiyon realized this when she looked at Pendalord.
Pendalord was proof of Pendal’s desperate struggle to overcome Nakcheon.
“So, I’m simply honoring Pendal’s request.”
The request to save his teammates.
Thud!
But as they say, misfortune never comes alone.
Along with the sound of a broken door, yet another Shadow Armed Princess appeared.
That made three in total.
For Lakradiyon, who was barely managing to hold her ground against one, this was the worst-case scenario.
“L-Lakradiyon!”
Olivia, on the verge of tears, called out.
She could sense death approaching.
“It’s fine.”
Yet Lakradiyon, without retreating an inch, calmly raised her sword.
“I made a promise.”
A promise with Kraush.
That promise was to entrust Pendalord to her.
Even though they had once pointed their blades at her, he forgave them and hoped they would be protected.
For such a person to personally ask her to face the Armed Princess…
Backing down against just three Shadow Armed Princesses was not an option.
Swish!
At that moment, all three Shadow Armed Princesses moved simultaneously.
One wielded a sword, another an axe, and the third a spear.
While they didn’t possess the diverse arsenal of the original Armed Princess, each of their weapons was exceptionally deadly.
Clang, clang!
With the clash of metal resounding, wounds began to appear on Lakradiyon’s body.
Amidst the splattering blood.
Lakradiyon’s sword shone with the light of an Aura Blade as it swung unwaveringly.
Proving why she was called the Light of the Demonic Bastion.
The brilliant light emanating from her sword roared more fiercely than ever.
Slash!
Finally, one of her swings decapitated a Shadow Armed Princess.
But the cost was steep.
Because the next blade flew in, tearing into her side and embedding itself.
“Tch!”
Swallowing her groan, she immediately swung back, slamming her blade into the Shadow Armed Princess that had stabbed her.
The Shadow Armed Princess quickly retreated, releasing the sword buried in Lakradiyon’s side.
It then conjured a new shadow blade in its hand.
Drip, drip—
As blood dripped down, Lakradiyon steadied her breathing.
The Shadow Armed Princess wielding the twin axes, unable to endure the accumulated damage, finally collapsed.
Two remained.
However, Lakradiyon’s injuries were already nearing their limit.
Thud!
At that moment, the spear-wielding Shadow Armed Princess launched a sudden assault.
Lakradiyon couldn’t dodge the spear.
It was aimed at Olivia standing behind her.
“Ugh!”
Forcing herself, Lakradiyon intercepted the spear, and at that moment, the sword-wielding Shadow Armed Princess swung at her neck.
In that fleeting moment, death flashed before her eyes.
Clang!
With a sharp clash, the Shadow Armed Princess’s sword was blocked by a jade-green blade.
Realizing who wielded that sword, Lakradiyon’s eyes widened. Standing there was Pendal.
“You’re late.”
Standing beside Lakradiyon, Pendal, whose neck bore a scar left from forcibly healing his wounds with a potion, gripped the Jade Heaven.
“Captain!”
As Olivia cried out to Pendal, he steadied his breath and aimed the Jade Heaven.
“…Pendal, there are two more.”
There were two additional Shadow Armed Princesses besides the three.
When she asked the question, Pendal drew upon Thunder Energy through Lioner.
“One of them was dealt with by me and the others. The other one is being pursued since it’s not visible. Jorsia is dead, though.”
Muttering with anger over the death of Jorsia, who had been in charge of scouting, Pendal’s voice carried a bitter edge.
“Then it’s a simple matter.”
“Right, we take down these two, hunt the other one, and then only the monster remains.”
The eyes of Lakradiyon and Pendal met.
In that moment, without hesitation, the two leapt toward the Shadow Armed Princesses.
The two Shadow Armed Princesses immediately swung their spear and sword as the pair attacked.
Clang!
In an instant, the carriage was filled with the sounds of clashing swords and weapons slicing through the air.
The Shadow Armed Princesses were formidable.
After all, they were incarnations born from the same individual.
Their actions and thoughts were perfectly synchronized, making their teamwork near flawless.
In contrast, Pendal and Lakradiyon were separate individuals.
Although they had been comrades in the past, they hadn’t worked closely together or shared time in years.
And yet, why was it?
The ones being pushed back were the Shadow Armed Princesses.
Pendal and Lakradiyon’s coordination was undeniably mismatched.
However, that very mismatch kept creating unforeseen variables.
The moment Lakradiyon intercepted the Shadow Armed Princess’s strike, Pendal’s electric attack struck directly by sheer coincidence.
These peculiar variables continued to accumulate, steadily inflicting damage on the Shadow Armed Princesses.
Strangely enough, the two had always been like this.
A pair whose lack of compatibility generated the most unpredictable outcomes.
Anyone who had seen them at the Demonic Bastion would say the same.
“Pendal!”
“I know!”
Noticing that the Shadow Armed Princesses were starting to collapse under the mounting damage, Lakradiyon shouted for Pendal.
Lowering himself close to the ground as if flattening his body, Pendal began channeling Lioner into Jade Heaven.
Realizing that Pendal was preparing his ultimate move, the Shadow Armed Princesses immediately moved to attack him.
However, Lakradiyon displayed dazzling swordsmanship, blocking both the spear and sword with a radiant aura.
Attack and defense as one.
A state of perfection where offense and defense merged seamlessly—a level only Lakradiyon could achieve, as someone who valued fundamentals above all else.
In that brief moment, Olivia let out an exclamation of admiration.
Sparks of Electric Charge erupted fiercely from Pendal’s body.
Crackle!
And just as the faint sound of sparks brushing past echoed—
With his silhouette blurring and scattering sparks, Pendal thrust Jade Heaven forward.
Thunder Wolf Sword Strike.
The lightning wolf tore through the heads of two Shadow Armed Princesses simultaneously.
Although the strike was partially blocked by the Armed Princess,
it was a decisive blow that landed squarely on the incarnation, causing the Shadow Armed Princess to falter.
At the very moment when both Lakradiyon and Pendal were certain of victory,
the collapsing Shadow Armed Princess’s arms coiled tightly around Lakradiyon’s, trapping her.
“Urk?!”
Startled and unprepared for an ambush even amidst their collapse, Lakradiyon’s voice quivered with distress.
Her eyes caught sight of a door creaking open.
Standing before the door was the Shadow Armed Princess Pendal had mentioned was missing.
Holding what appeared to be a massive, hollow pillar, the Shadow Armed Princess stood still and began pulling something.
Click! Whoosh!
The sound of metal interlocking and flames igniting came from within.
Feeling the danger, Lakradiyon tried to free herself immediately, but the Shadow Armed Princesses clung to her even more ferociously, despite their crumbling state.
With their strength nearly gone, they clung on as if determined to drag her down with them, leaving her no room to escape.
In the meantime, the fireball had already gathered at the opening of the massive pillar held by the other Shadow Armed Princess.
Lakradiyon’s eyes trembled violently.
Death.
Was she really going to die here?
Without even challenging Nakcheon, without ever conveying those words to Kraush?
Was this how it would end?
To say she felt no regret would be a lie.
In fact, realizing only now that she had such regrets made her despair all the more unbearable.
If she were going to die so meaninglessly, she should have at least faced Nakcheon with her sword.
As bitterness filled her gaze,
something suddenly inserted itself in front of her.
A man’s back, with gray hair billowing in the air.
As the fireball’s light cast shadows over his back, Lakradiyon’s eyes widened in shock.
“Pendal?!”
“Damn it, this really doesn’t suit me.”
With a faint, resigned smile, Pendal’s words were swallowed as the fireball engulfed the carriage.