The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent – 146
EP.146 Ambush (3)
However, Lucas did not immediately strike at my neck.
A sword energy sliced through the air from both sides, colliding exactly where Lucas had been standing a moment ago.
Had someone been caught in between, they would have been torn to shreds—this was a sword energy filled with true intent to kill.
It was completely different from the controlled strikes I had seen in Claire’s duels.
“Tch...!”
Lucas retreated with a sharp click of his tongue, his posture dipping slightly.
That—
“That’s right.”
Noticing my gaze, the Emperor spoke.
“There was a reason he needed to bring such equipment.”
Lucas had been wounded.
It meant he couldn’t exert his full strength.
Had he been injured while acquiring that priest’s robe and sword?
If he had taken on an entire order of knights by himself, it made sense. He could have defeated them all, but it would have been impossible to avoid every single attack. And among those, there must have been wounds that couldn’t be healed by simple healing magic.
“Heh. You really think that’s all there is to it?”
Lucas smirked, and the masked woman flinched.
“Believe it or not, I know more than His Majesty over there. Word is already spreading about your true identity in the Papal State."
“…...”
He could be right about that. I mean, with the Verratti case, they probably would have figured it out eventually.
I slowly pushed myself up, adjusting my stance.
No matter what, I couldn’t just stay sitting on the floor like this.
“Shall we begin?”
Lucas grinned at me.
“Aren’t you curious? Why you’re like this right now? Normally, you would have dodged my sword with ease.”
“…...”
“Well, at the very least, one of the Papal State’s burning questions has been answered.”
Lucas had seemingly arrived at some truth—something far more significant than the fact that the Emperor’s blood ran through his veins.
“What are you talking abou—”
Before I could finish…
Bang!
The door burst open as if it had exploded.
At the same time, Alice, Claire, and Leo rushed in. Behind them, knights flooded into the room, filling the space.
“I believe I ordered this room to be sealed off.”
The Emperor’s voice carried a sharp edge, making the knights flinch.
“I insisted on entering.”
Alice stepped forward to my left as she spoke.
“And you truly think you will be of help? Do you really?”
The Emperor reprimanded her sternly, but Alice merely glanced at me.
“Alice.”
“Lucas.”
Lucas greeted her by name, and Alice responded in kind. At a glance, it seemed like a casual exchange, but her eyes were anything but friendly.
“And you must be the brats from the Baron Grace family. No matter how many of you there are, it won’t make a difference. If anything, you’ll just be in the way. You won’t even be able to use your sword energy freely.”
At Lucas’s words, Leo and Claire visibly paled, but the Sword Saint responded instead.
"No matter how madly a person swings their sword, they will eventually succumb to the power of the masses."
"Hmm, is that so?"
Lucas smirked, lifting one corner of his mouth.
"Then let's do it. I’ve already confirmed what I wanted to know anyway."
The moment he spoke, Lucas charged straight toward us.
At the same time, every knight in the room lunged at him—
Whoosh!
For an instant, my vision turned red.
Several knights who had rushed ahead of me collapsed.
There was no time to check if their injuries were fatal.
My body was already moving.
As if replaying the motions I had practiced over and over, my hand reached under my arm, drawing my automatic pistol.
Bang! Bang!
Two shots in quick succession.
I was sure my aim was dead-on.
But then, I saw it—
Lucas’s eyes shifting toward my gun before I even pulled the trigger.
He had already begun moving before I fired.
A monster.
That was the first thought that flashed through my mind.
His usual laid-back demeanor was nowhere to be seen.
The expression he wore now was filled with pure killing intent, as if he genuinely intended to end my life.
Yet, at the same time, his grin—like he was enjoying this—felt disturbingly out of place.
Lucas twisted his body mid-dodge and sent out a slash of sword energy.
Two more knights fell.
"Tsk…!"
The masked woman let out a sharp breath, her body forced backward.
She had blocked most of the attack, but a thin cut had opened on both of her arms.
Clang!
Before I could even process that, another clash of swords rang out.
The Emperor’s blade had met Lucas’s.
Lucas’s sword had partially sunk into the edge of the Emperor’s weapon.
"Sword energy? As expected, you really are impressive, Father…!"
Did that mean the Emperor had coated his blade in sword energy to prevent it from being cleaved in half?
"Oh dear…!"
Lucas dodged a slash from the side with effortless ease.
"Old man, if you keep worrying about those around you, you’re going to die."
His mouth never stopped moving.
With a sharp twist of his wrist, Lucas wrenched his sword free.
Clang!
A clear ringing sound echoed as the tip of the Emperor’s blade cracked, Lucas’s sword slipping through the widened gap.
"Hmm…!"
The Emperor immediately countered, swinging his blade down to slice through the approaching sword energy.
"Kugh…!"
But the sheer force of the attack was enough to cut down those around him as well.
Bang! Bang!
Two more shots.
But I had turned my gun too hastily—
The bullets only grazed Lucas's shoulder.
His robe tore slightly, the fabric darkening with blood.
Yet, Lucas didn't even flinch. His gaze remained locked onto me.
I clenched my teeth and pulled the trigger again—
Ting!
A crisp, metallic sound rang out.
For a moment, I couldn't understand what had just happened.
Had I seen sparks fly from Lucas’s sword at the same time?
Beside me, Alice inhaled sharply.
"What do you think? Looks like magic, doesn't it?"
Did… did he just deflect the bullets with his sword?
"Amazing. Just seeing that expression on your face made coming here worth it!"
Lucas, still grinning, swung his sword.
A wave of sword energy came rushing toward me.
I couldn't dodge it.
That was my only thought in that split second.
"No!"
…Golden hair, belonging to the sister I could never defeat without cheating, filled my vision.
Slash!
Blood splattered.
Huh…?
The person who had shielded me collapsed.
My ordinary eyesight, which was barely better than a regular person’s, made it feel like everything was happening in slow motion.
"Alice!"
A scream tore through the air.
The masked woman lunged at Lucas.
Lucas swung his sword again—
Two careless, almost lazy slashes.
More screams. More blood.
Heat flared in my abdomen.
When I looked down, I saw red.
My vision began tilting, shifting sideways and downward…
But my mind wasn’t focused on my own condition.
Alice.
Alice, lying on the floor, bleeding, writhing in pain.
Her eyes met mine, filled with despair.
Even though she was far more gravely wounded than I was, she was looking at me with a pained expression.
Claire’s furious shout. Leo’s battle cry.
In my fading vision, I saw them rushing forward—
Lucas’s sword cutting through the air toward them.
No.
I couldn’t let them die.
Not because of me.
"Again!"
That word erupted from my lips like a scream.
*
Thud.
The familiar sensation, one I had experienced countless times before.
My head throbbed as if I had collided with something hard, and my breath escaped me.
The ringing in my ears slowly faded, and the dazzling stars in my vision began to return to focus. What I saw now was the back of a girl with blue hair running ahead.
"Again!"
*
Thud.
It felt like I was smashing my body against a rock. Strangely, my mind felt a little clearer after that. I've never been able to use my ability properly whenever I encountered that masked woman.
But was that really the case?
Was my ability just blocked?
Think. Think it through.
Ahead of me, the girl was still running. Two princesses were bleeding.
"Again!"
*
Thud.
Crack.
In that instant, I felt space itself.
It was like I had fallen into the center of a kaleidoscope. Light passed through a prism, breaking into a rainbow of colors, making the world seem completely incomprehensible.
Yet, amidst such a surreal world, there was one thing I understood.
I had seen this world before.
By forcefully colliding with it.
Breaking through space, I had definitely turned back time in that moment.
I had turned it back to just before my fight with the masked woman.
If it weren’t for that hand grabbing my collar and dragging me…
"Again!"
*
Thud!
My whole body trembled.
But it wasn’t enough.
I think I understand now. Why I couldn’t go back.
There was definitely something blocking the path I should have been able to take. But it wasn’t a barricade strong enough to stop me from breaking through.
In fact, it was something unstable enough that I could break it with my body.
It would hurt, but if I gave it my all, yes…
If I wasn’t afraid, I could shatter that barrier for sure.
Ha, how ridiculous.
No one had deliberately tricked me; I had just been fooling myself all this time.
The only reason I had been able to break through that ruin back then was because I didn’t know.
I didn’t know how painful it would be to collide with it.
Like someone charging at an invisible glass window, I simply broke through without thinking.
After that first collision, I had become scared.
Well, I wouldn’t be completely unscathed. After all, it was a brutal hit.
But back then, I wasn’t dead, just bruised.
So that was it.
Looking at the blue ponytail fluttering in my vision, I thought to myself:
If that’s the case, there’s only one thing left to do.
Harder.
Farther.
With all my might.
If I return, it will be over.
"Again!"