Tiana, though just a low-ranking knight, faced off alone against the ten or so Masquerade members.
“Haaaaaah!”
Her fist flew as she spat out blood. Her feet kicked as her flesh tore. Tiana burned her own life as fuel for her fight.
By pushing Gleipr’s power to its limit, she sent her nerves into overdrive, pushing her physical abilities to dozens of times their normal levels.
“Diiiiiiie!” she roared as she raged through the enemy, her limbs honed into lethal weapons. Her every attack was mortal, and though the masked figures were superior to her in terms of fighting ability, she could go toe-to-toe against them.
And thus she did, until she reached her limit.
“Ugh!” she groaned as a severe shock rattled her heart. Her pulse rose painfully, then suddenly plummeted.
As she clutched her pained chest, it dawned on her that every part of her hands, all the way down to her wrists, had been crushed to a pulp. Suddenly, she couldn’t stand, her knees barely held together by torn skin and nerves.
“Damn...it!”
Such was the price for exerting far more than her usual strength for a prolonged period of time. What was more, she’d taken the full brunt of multiple enemy attacks, and her body was covered in bleeding wounds. Her nerves were in such a severe state, however, that she wasn’t even aware of her condition.
“Obstruction neutralized. Proceeding with target elimination.”
As soon as her body stopped moving, the group of assassins turned its attention to the fallen Crow.
“D-Don’t touch my Crow!” she yelled as one of them approached his unconscious form.
Tiana forced herself to her feet and charged the figure, tackling them to the ground. Swinging her partially torn leg, she kicked the other assassins away from the young man.
“Crow’s a hero!” she roared, spitting out blood. “He defeated a dragon! He’s a beacon of hope for our country! Don’t you dare touch him!”
The masked figures faltered for a moment at her frantic cries. Was it fear of someone who was prepared to lay down her life? Or was it something else?
Whatever the reason, their hesitation lasted but a moment.
“Brave girl. Young hero. We will eliminate you both,” they declared.
It was the end of Tiana’s struggle. The masked figures fell upon them both all at once, and she no longer had the strength to intercept their attack.
“I...” Her senses were numb. Even without taking another blow, Tiana was already finished. Still, she refused to give up. “I...won’t...”
No matter whether her body decayed, whether her life reached its end, she would still push on.
“I won’t let you! I’ll protect Crow!”
Against all odds, she pushed herself to her feet, ready to confront the assassins, forcing her dying body to react through the power of her aethereal arm.
“In that case, we will end your suffering swiftly!” they said.
This was it. The bearers of death raised their lethal arms as one.
“You’ve done well,” a voice rang out. “Thank you for protecting him. I’ll handle the rest!”
A brilliant white flash of a blade cut down every foe in an instant.
“Huh?!” Tiana exclaimed, her eyes wide open.
Her consciousness was waning from blood loss, but she could still recognize the female swordsman standing before her, smiling with a pure white sword in her hand.
The most powerful of all female knights, current wielder of the holy sword.
“L-Lady Iris Zehirete!” Tiana exclaimed.
The elite magus knight of the Imperial Order, Iris of the White Blade, had descended upon them—a trump card to overturn their hopeless situation.
The sliver of time that the low-ranking knight Tiana had bought that day would alter the course of the empire’s fate.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Lady Iris!” Tiana called out.
Iris gently caught the young knight in her arms. The soft touch brought tears to the peach-haired knight’s eyes. This wasn’t a dream. Iris of the White Blade truly had come to her rescue!
“Why are you here?”
“I heard about Crow’s plight from a certain individual,” Iris explained as she took out a blue potion Tiana had never seen before. “Don’t worry. Even among royalty, there are still decent people.”