[V11C31] The Responsibility-Dodging Princess
Translated by Jodas 11: Envoy of the Abyss“Ah, I knew it. You’re the one from back then…”
Tia and Sevil made their move before Jill could finish his sentence.
Tia launched into a kick with the assistance of the Magical Flying Device, while Sevil struck with her curved sword. However, those attacks stopped midway and, as if struck by invisible hands, Tia and Sevil fell to the ground.
(What was that just now? An invisible wall… Some kind of defensive barrier?)
Hütter wasn’t a mage, but he knew about the basic kinds of magecraft.
That said, Jill’s defensive and offensive tricks looked fundamentally different from human magic.
(The rock Sevil threw did no damage at all, but Tia’s kick knocked him off balance. What made that different?)
It must not have been a defensive barrier he had permanently deployed.
When Sevil threw that rock, it was just after Wren showed himself, so he must have had his guard up to some extent.
With Tia, however, he was probably so focused on that stupid song of his to impress them that he didn’t even notice Tia approaching.
(An invisible wall, huh… No, it tossed them down way too smoothly. Is it some kind of hand instead?)
The moment Tia flew up to open the distance, Jill reached his hand out and mimed grabbing something. Suddenly, Tia was thrown on her back in midair.
“Shoo.”
With a gentle wave of Jill’s hand, Tia’s body slammed into the ground.
“Gyah!?”
Tia twisted around as she fell so she landed on her side instead of her back. She must have taken the hit to protect the Magical Flying Device.
Wren and Hütter ran to Tia’s side, and in exchange Sevil lunged at Jill.
However, just as Sevil lifted her sword to strike, she froze. Sevil focused all her strength into swinging her curved sword, but as if something was holding on to her arms and legs, she barely budged.
(I knew it, it’s an invisible hand…!)
When Jill flew, he actually just made invisible platforms and walked on them.
So he could make invisible hands and some flat object that could serve as a platform or a shield. It wouldn’t be out of the question for him to make a weapon as well.
(Despite the distance between him and Tia, the invisible hand worked just fine. It’s got quite a bit of range, it’s stupid strong, and you can’t even see it! What the hell are we supposed to do about it!)
Jill chuckled as he held Sevil to a standstill with his invisible hand. Like one would when teasing a child.
“I’m one of the stronger Greater Monsters out there, you know? I just don’t like fighting the same way Gramps does. That doesn’t mean I’m any weaker than Gramps, you got that? Oh, you know who Gramps is, right? He’s the one you folks call ‘the Primordial Beast.’”
Jill lightly lifted his right hand up. All of a sudden, the trees around them burst out of the ground and started floating up.
Witnessing Jill’s powers firsthand, Hütter’s body and mind shuddered.
(Assuming his ability is invisible hands… And he just uprooted ten trees at once… Then he’s got a lot of them. And they’re strong!)
He feared that an invisible hand could come tear his head off at any moment.
But then Tia, who had just been thrown to the ground, waddled furiously up to Jill.
“LET GO OF SEVILLL!!”
Running right up to him and swinging a punch would be the height of recklessness. Tia may have been reckless, but she wasn’t an idiot. Once she’d closed the distance, she ducked down and pulled the lever on the Magical Flying Device. The metal wings popped out and Tia flew off at top speed, her head aimed straight for Jill’s chin.
Hütter panicked, worried she was about to break her neck doing that, but he needn’t have worried. Tia bounced off at an angle and tumbled back to the ground.
“I saw that before you know. It’s not going to work again, little bird.”
Jill had held out his invisible hand and deflected Tia’s headbutt attempt. That showed just how quickly and precisely he could control his powers.
(He’s unbelievable… There’s no way we’re getting out of here!)
They could try to run in different directions all at once, but Hütter struck that idea off the list. If Jill could really control that many hands at that range, he would have no trouble catching all four of them at once. The only reason he hadn’t already was because he found it entertaining.
“It’s my first time seeing a real human princess, but you’re not half bad! M~hm, that angry glare you got there is just adorable!”
“Likewise, it is my first time seeing a real Vampire… You’re tougher than I expected. The vampires in the stories all died to the sunlight.”
“Oh, you know the vampire stories? Really?!”
Jill’s voice suddenly perked up. This Monster simply could not help himself getting excited when it came to humans telling stories.
His smile exposed his pale glimmering fangs.
“Then you know, don’t you? Exactly how I suck blood…”
Jill undid the top button of Sevil’s shirt. His hands moved gracefully, like he’d done this many times before.\
From the ground, Tia growled “Gugiiiii…” The reason she was unable to get up from the ground where she lay was an invisible hand pressing down on her.
Wren tried to jump out and help, but he too came to a halt. An invisible hand wrapped its way around Wren’s neck.
“Sit there and watch, little prince. Your princess will be my dinner.”
Still believing that Wren was royalty, Jill’s lips drew closer to Sevil’s neck.
That moment, Tia felt what she thought was another Monster approaching. And fast.
This presence kicked off of the trees Jill picked up and, jumping from tree to tree, struck forth with a sword.
Something crashed down to the ground with a thud. Spewing blood across the dirt was Jill’s arm, from his right shoulder on down.
The next moment, the invisible hands released their grips.
(Now!)
Tia leapt to her feet and activated the Magical Flying Device. Simultaneously, Sevil broke free of the Vampire’s grasp, sheathed her curved sword, and raised her hand to the sky. That was the signal.
“Piuuuuuu…!”
Tia adjusted the angle of her wings to fly just above Sevil’s head. At just the right timing, Sevil grabbed Tia by the ankles and made her exit.
As tall and muscular as Sevil was, along with the sword, it was a little heavy to carry, but still far lighter than Oliver. The experience of flying together with Oliver during the magic battle came in handy.
“Perfect timing, Tia! Well done!”
Tia was about to cheerfully reply “Piyopp!” but she held her mouth shut when she saw what was going on below.
Down on the ground, the Vampire, missing an arm, displayed his power. It might not have looked like he was doing anything in particular, but he was definitely letting loose with many invisible hands.
Meanwhile, avoiding every hand and slicing through with a sword at every opportunity was a tall young man with pale blond hair.
Invisible hands reached out to grab his limbs, but he dashed to the side as if he could see them clearly.
The Vampire with a missing arm did not lose himself to pain nor to rage, instead commenting with sincere curiosity:
“You dodge well. Can you see my ‘hands’?”
“I could just tell something was there.”
The Vampire laughed at the man’s words.
Tia quietly shuddered. The Vampire’s invisible hands disturbed the winds when the moved, so Tia could tell that ‘something’ was there as well. That said, even a Monster like Tia would never be able to sense and avoid all of them as precisely as he was.
“Hahaha!” Below her feet, Tia heard a delighted cackling voice.
“Let us leave this to humanity’s strongest! Tia, fly onwards!”
“Piyopp! Mr. Hütter! Wren! Follow me!”
“Got it!” Wren answered from below before he and Hütter started running.
Tia spun around to fly North and tilted her wings. As she did, Sevil shouted down to the surface.
“Impeccable timing, Lord Henrik! You’re as dashing as ever!”
The man who dashed through the invisible hands with superhuman movements looked up and shouted while swinging his sword.
“That voice… Princess Adelheid!? What are you doing here…!”
Apparently he wasn’t here to save Sevil.
Regardless, in stark contrast to the ferocity of his blade, his voice was downright pitiful. Just as Sevil had said, the man was like a mangy dog.
(…But his battle prowess is on par with a Greater Monster. This is a much stronger, scarier creature than I am.)
The blood pouring out from the Vampire’s shoulder changed into a slender spear, aiming for Henrik’s face.
It looked unavoidable, but then Henrik stepped on something and leapt out of the way. Tia was stunned.
(That human just used the Vampire’s invisible hand as a platform!?)
It was theoretically possible, but no sane man would have the guts to try jumping off of an invisible hand like that.
Needless to say, the Vampire was impressed.
“Well done, human. It might just be my first time seeing someone who could move like you do.”
“Mm-hm!” Sevil chuckled from beneath Tia’s feet. With pride.
“Vampire! If you wish to make me yours, first you must defeat my fiance over there!”
“Ehhh…?” The weak voice reacting negatively to that declaration came from Henrik, the ‘fiance’ in question.
“Hold on, Princess Adelheid! Is His Majesty aware that you are here…?”
Rather than answer, Sevil blew a kiss towards him with a charming wink.
“I’ll leave the rest to you, darling!”
The Empire’s vaunted Barbarian Sword Princess shamelessly tossed all her responsibilities to him as she flew off to the North, dangling from Tia’s feet.