Chapter 26
A cold sensation burrowed into my skin. At the sa ti, I took a deep breath in.
Soon, along with a familiar sense of déjà vu, the world slowed down.
Without a mont to hesitate, I reversed the grip on the sword I was holding, barely managing to block the greatsword that was cutting toward my neck.
Ggrrk—
The greatsword trying to dig in and my sword trying to push it away bared vicious fangs at each other, locked in a deadlock without yielding even an inch.
At the sa ti, blood flowing down from my neck soaked my upper garnt. The greatsword had sunk about half a finger’s depth into my neck.
Whether I was lucky or not, it seed to have missed any vital spots, but judging by the amount of bleeding, if ti dragged on like this, it could beco dangerous.
‘But if I show an opening, she’ll push in all at once.’
The force coming from the greatsword was no joke.
No matter how much of a protagonist one was, it was impossible to build up this level of strength at such an early introductory stage.
‘It seems what changed wasn’t just the gender.’
Now, she was neither the protagonist nor anything else.
She was an ‘unknown enemy’ fighting against .
I flicked my gaze toward Alice.
The gentle expression she had shown at the Academy was nowhere to be seen; in its place was a cold-blooded figure who looked like not even a drop of blood would co out if pricked with a needle.
“…You’ve got so strength, huh?”
Thinking I might glean even a bit of information, I casually opened my mouth.
Alice seed to think it was a ploy to escape the crisis, and spoke back with a chilling smile.
“Stop your pointless struggle. You’ll only die in pain.”
“…So that’s your true self. You weren’t bad earlier, but you’re more attractive now.”
“If that’s your last will, it’s a bit boring.”
“Unfortunately, I’ll live a long life until I’m saring shit on the walls, so—!”
Taking advantage of the exchange, I put strength into the hand gripping my sword.
Veins bulged on the back of my hand, and at the sa ti, a dazzling aura blood along the blade and wrapped around the sword.
“Aura isn’t sothing only you can use.”
As if mocking , golden aura also gathered on Alice’s sword.
‘This part’s the sa as the original.’
Golden aura was a sacred blessing that only a hero chosen by the goddess could wield.
The process was different, but in any case, it ant she had properly followed the protagonist’s route.
Pajijijik—
Aura collided with aura, spraying sparks.
Alice calmly poured strength into her greatsword as if she had already predicted the outco, but that was exactly what I wanted.
“…Ugh?!”
The aura rising from my sword began to gnaw into her greatsword little by little.
Cracks ford at the point of contact, soon spreading across it like a spider’s web, and with a sharp shriek, it lost its form.
Kang!
Half of the greatsword shot high up into the air. Without even checking where it landed, I kicked off the ground hard and twisted my body.
“……!”
The sword strike, loaded with the rotation of my waist, lashed at her like a whip. Perhaps shocked by her sword breaking, Alice reacted a beat too late, and the end of her sleeve, which she failed to evade, was torn long and wide.
Tadat-!
She quickly moved her feet and retreated, as if trying to recompose herself, but I had no intention of giving her that leeway.
A protagonist awakened at monts of crisis. If I decided the match before she even realized the crisis, she wouldn’t have ti to awaken.
Sswaeaeaeik-!
With mana throughout my entire body activated, I hurled myself at Alice.
Seeing
burrow into her personal space in an instant, panic was clearly visible on her face.
I exhaled a single breath and swung my sword with all my might.
Kang-!
“…Ugh!”
But at the decisive mont, she played an unexpected move. She threw away the greatsword she was holding without a shred of hesitation.
When I knocked aside the half-broken greatsword that had surged toward my chest, in that brief interval Alice steadied herself and pulled sothing from her bosom, hurling it to the ground.
Koom-!
Pitch-black smoke instantly filled the clearing.
Smoke that would have been swept away quickly by the wind soon covered the surroundings so thickly that I couldn’t see an inch ahead.
‘Petty tricks.’
In case there was poison, I held my breath and used mana to raise my body’s resistance.
At the sa ti, I scanned the surroundings with a sharp gaze, focusing my senses to detect Alice’s presence.
‘She didn’t run away. It’s probably the sa technique she used earlier when she took my back. Judging by her use of assassins, she either learned stealth-related skills or has a special artifact.’
Usually, that kind of stealth broke the mont it emitted any presence. In other words, the instant she moved was my chance.
Chrak—
I sheathed my sword and quietly took a stance with my body lowered. This entire clearing fell within my effective range.
After the recent exchange, Alice must have grasped my ability to so extent as well. Which ant the outco would be decided by the next move.
‘Co.’
She was the protagonist of this world. What would happen if I defeated her? But regardless, the fact that I had to make her mine did not change.
For this world to move forward, the protagonist was an indispensable existence.
Sswaeaeaeaeik-!
When the black smoke reached its peak, blocking all sight, a sharp sound of air tearing brushed past my ears.
However, it wasn’t just one.
‘Front, left, right.’
As if trying to deceive my senses, killing intent surged in from three directions, stabbing toward .
Narrowing my eyes and focusing to discern which was real, I caught sothing else falling from the sky, separate from them.
“Predictable.”
Shaaaak-!
The sword drawn from its scabbard cleaved through what was falling from the sky with a bluish flash. But from the sensation at my fingertips, I instantly realized it was a decoy, and at the sa ti, a single thread of killing intent—far more covert than anything before—aid for my heart from behind.
It was too late to react by moving. Yet throwing myself aside was risky, with whatever was flying in from three directions still concerning .
Still, unable to suppress a leaking chuckle, I murmured softly.
“No one can harm .”
Woom—
For an instant, light flickered from the Necklace of Achilles hanging around my neck.
At the sa ti, in less than half a second, a bluish-golden suit of armor covered my entire body.
Tangtatatang!
The things that had charged through the smoke slamd into the armor and lost their force, falling away—perhaps throwing knives.
I paid them no mind at all and turned my body toward Alice, who was aiming for my heart.
Kang-!
“……!”
The short sword imbued with golden aura bounced off without piercing my armor.
As her hand holding the sword drooped limply in midair, I seized that opening and swung my elbow with full force.
Tak-!
Dropping her sword, Alice clenched her teeth and threw her body into the air. It looked like she was trying to retreat and reset her stance, but I kicked off the ground before she could.
Koom.
I mounted her fallen form, clad in heavy armor.
I pinned both of her arms with my legs so she couldn’t move, and with my free left hand, I grabbed Alice by the chin.
“Feeling like talking now?”
“Eek!!!”
But she seed to have no intention of giving up, struggling desperately to break free from my restraint. But with both arms bound, there was nothing she could do.
She flailed her relatively free legs, but it was nothing more than aningless thrashing.
“I……”
For a mont, her movents stopped.
Thinking she had given up, I let out a light sigh and slightly loosened the strength in the hand holding my sword, but unfortunately, that was nothing more than a misunderstanding.
“…I can’t lose. Ever.”
Within Alice’s two pupils, distorted golden radiance began to creep upward.
“Tch.”
That warped golden radiance was a precursor to awakening, the hero’s special privilege. I had said it jokingly, but I never imagined awakening would truly occur at this point.
More and more power gathered in her two arms that I had pinned down.
After a brief mont of consideration, I reversed my grip on the sword I was holding. Then, pointing the tip at her neck, I spoke in a low voice.
“Do you think you could still say that with a hole in your neck?”
“…….”
When I glared at Alice with thick killing intent, her golden-lit eyes wavered pitifully. But soon she clenched her teeth and accepted the awakening once more, and I swung my sword without hesitation.
Thud.
“…….”
With a light sound, Alice’s body, which had been struggling, lost its strength and went limp.
Her flailing arms dropped to the ground, and after confirming that her consciousness had clearly been cut off, I finally stood up and threw myself down beside her.
“Hoo…….”
I struck her head with the flat of the blade. Awakening occurred while one was conscious. It was a classic but reliable thod—if I knocked her out, awakening would stop no matter what.
And it worked perfectly.
“Good thing I avoided the worst-case scenario.”
If the protagonist died, what would happen to this world? Even if nothing happened, the consequences of her death promised nothing but a bleak future.
“Release.”
When I tapped the necklace and spoke, the golden armor that had covered my body vanished.
The Necklace of Achilles was one of the three treasures I had chosen from the Imperial Palace Treasury, and it was the one I used most frequently.
Elixirs were consumables, so I saved them as spare lives, and Blessing of Invisibility was sothing I would only use in situations right on the brink of death—but so far, the only ti I could call a life-and-death crisis was when I had sparred nonstop with the Sword Saint for seventy-two hours and passed out.
Even so, the Sword Saint had told
to avoid using the Necklace of Achilles whenever possible. When the body’s defense beca complete, the senses that guarded against one’s surroundings dulled.
That could lead to fatal results due to unexpected variables.
I agreed with that point as well.
That was why I only used it at decisive monts like now, and used it to induce complacency in opponents who thought they had landed a finishing blow.
“Up we go.”
I couldn’t stay here forever with assassins’ corpses strewn about, so I picked up Alice’s limp body and stood up.
Where had all the strength and montum from earlier gone—what I felt in my arms now was only the weight of a girl who seed barely old enough to be a high school student.
‘What she must have gone through all this ti.’
It was nothing but heartbreaking.
The original protagonist, Kim Junyoung, had gone through his own share of storms after coming to this world.
The sa was true for , and thanks to that, I had been able to grow this much.
But Alice’s case was different. She was not the originally destined protagonist.
That irrational strength she had shown earlier—it wasn’t purely from her stats, but born from the experiences and toughness she had accumulated until now.
How strong could a Korean high school girl really be.
Which ant she had endured unspeakable hardships after coming to this world and grown again and again.
‘How much must she have suffered alone in this small body.’
A sigh escaped
on its own. If the author were standing in front of , no matter if it was Oneulnal, I would have thrown a punch at their face.
“I’ll make sure you walk nothing but a flower-strewn path now.”
Just trust this big brother.
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