I Will Never Abandon You
Rage flooded Jessica’s chest!
She raised her sword and advanced, determined to cut Joseph into pieces.
Seeing this, Joseph’s legs turned to jelly, his voice trembling with panic.
“Jessica, what are you doing? I am your father! How dare you raise a hand against me? This is unfilial!”
“A scumbag like you deserves to lecture me on filial piety? When you poisoned my mother with drugs, did you ever think about your duties as a husband and father?”
Jessica swung her sword from a distance, unleashing a wave of sword energy!
Where the sword energy passed, raging flames erupted.
But a scimitar suddenly plunged into the ground, and the Eliana Doll appeared before the sword energy, blocking it steadily.
Jessica focused her gaze, her brow furrowing.
She looked at Henry not far away. Henry now had no weapons in his hands, and even had a thin, shallow blood mark on his face.
Only then did Jessica realize what price Henry had paid to hold off the doll.
She rushed to Henry’s side, worried he was injured.
“Henry, are you hurt?”
Henry shook his head, a smile on his face.
“I’m fine. Probably still strong enough to beat two tigers to death.”
When Selina had trapped Jessica in the black mist earlier, he had been worried Jessica couldn’t handle it alone, so he had been distracted trying to help her.
He hadn’t expected the Eliana Doll’s aggressive assault to be so hard to handle, rapidly consuming the weapons in his hands.
But Henry also hadn’t anticipated that Selina would be psychologically broken by his words, exposing her position within the black mist and attacking him directly.
The consequence, of course, was being instantly slain by Jessica.
Jessica hadn’t disappointed him either. If she had chatted with Selina for even a moment longer, he might have been worn down to nothing.
Looking at the current situation, the doll’s most fundamental command was probably to protect Joseph.
Realizing he wasn’t dead, Joseph’s face broke into a smile of relief.
“Ha… Hahaha! I knew I couldn’t die so easily! I’ve worked too hard to enjoy all this; how could I fall here!”
He staggered over to the Eliana Doll, placing a hand on its shoulder.
“Jessica, are you sure you want to oppose your mother? Your mother was a powerful alchemist and a high-level mage. Her existence is far beyond what little brats like you can touch.”
“So, even such a legendary figure couldn’t earn your approval, Joseph? You are truly pathetic.”
Henry sneered, his eyes filled with nothing but contempt for Joseph.
But Henry’s smile was like a needle, deeply piercing Joseph’s fragile self-esteem.
He clenched his fists, his voice turning vicious.
“What could a little brat like you possibly understand about me? When everything you have is stolen from you one day, you’ll probably be even crazier than I am!”
“Is that so? Don’t you all always say the most important thing to me is the Rumelter family name? Well, it’s been taken away, and I’m not crazy. But you? You’re always making excuses for your actions, just trying to cover up your own incompetence, aren’t you?”
“What nonsense are you spouting! I am a great figure of the Empire! Without Eliana, everyone would be singing my praises!”
“Hah, when Empress Eliana died, why did everyone sing her praises? Why did the Empire develop so steadily under her, but under your rule, it’s been plunged into misery, and you can even sell out an entire city? A beast like you, still making excuses even at death’s door, truly proves the saying: a bad guy’s elaborate schemes are no match for a fool’s simple inspiration.”
Hearing Henry incessantly insult him, Joseph clearly couldn’t take it.
As the ruler of a nation, being pointed at and cursed like this—if he didn’t kill Henry to vent his rage, where would his dignity be?
“Eliana, kill him! Cut out his tongue for me!”
The doll’s eyes flashed with blue light upon receiving the command, immediately assuming an attacking stance aimed at Henry.
Jessica stood in front of Henry, warily watching the doll’s movements.
As much as she hated to admit it, Joseph was right.
They were currently no match for the doll.
“Henry, we might need to retreat from here! As long as we hold out until Lady Reina arrives, everything will be over.”
It was remarkable that Jessica could maintain such clarity in this situation, instead of being single-mindedly focused on killing Joseph.
Henry could understand why so many players liked her.
He was about to speak when a voice suddenly rang in his mind.
【Ding! On your path to becoming the World’s Strongest Sword Immortal, you have encountered a powerful enemy. Most would choose to flee, but you choose to stay, face the strong foe head-on, and choose to defeat it!】
Hey? He didn’t remember saying he definitely wanted to stay!
And what did ‘defeat it’ mean?
He was supposed to be the World’s Strongest Sword Immortal, but he didn’t even have a decent sword! What kind of ‘Strongest Sword Immortal’ was that?!
Shouldn’t this lazy dog system reflect on why he still didn’t have a single usable sword?!
Henry roared internally.
The system seemed uncharacteristically awkward.
【Host, don’t be impatient. Actually, you haven’t yet comprehended the Primordial Sword Heart.】
What did that mean? Was it implying he wasn’t trying hard enough?
Damn? Now it was blaming him?!
Slacking off, he was going to slack off right now!
【Wait, wait, wait! The realm of the World’s Strongest Sword Immortal is about having no sword being better than having a sword. As long as your Sword Heart is strong enough, even without a physical sword, you can unleash a world-shaking strike!】
Hearing the system’s explanation, Henry was stunned.
He had previously looked at the explanation for the Primordial Sword Heart and simply thought it was a passive skill for resisting mental attacks.
He never imagined the Sword Heart could be cultivated!
No wonder the Primordial Sword Heart had such a strong reaction when he absorbed spiritual energy before.
So, did that mean he could condense sword intent?
Thinking of this, Henry’s gaze sharpened.
Just as Jessica was about to help Henry escape, the Eliana Doll, holding its scimitar, began advancing towards them.
“Jessica.”
Henry’s voice sounded beside her.
Jessica turned her head in confusion, only to see Henry looking at her seriously.
“Can you buy me some time?”
“Are you going to get Lady Reina for help? No problem, I can do it!”
“No!” Henry suddenly grabbed Jessica’s shoulders.
Their faces were close, close enough to feel each other’s breath.
“I will never abandon you and leave you to face this alone!”
Hearing this, Jessica’s heart seemed to skip a beat, her eyes filled only with Henry’s figure.
He said he would never abandon her.
Jessica’s heart beat wildly. If the situation weren’t so inappropriate, she even felt that if Henry proposed to her right now, she would agree.
“I need you to buy me some time, to let me prepare. I’m confident I can defeat it.”
Hearing Henry say this, Jessica’s eyes instantly lit up.
It was Henry, after all. He really had a way!
“Henry, I will always believe in you!”
The two turned around simultaneously, facing the approaching doll.
Jessica stood in front of Henry, raising her sword to point at the doll.
“Come on, Mother! In your name, I will not fall here!”
The only response to Jessica was the sound of gears turning within the doll’s body.