"Then I’ll leave the combatants to you. I will defeat that scum——!"
"Leave it to me! Now, if you’re coming, come——!"
The combatants took a step back.
They did not fear the deaths of their allies.
They did not fear them — but they did fear their own deaths.
Even though the lives of the other combatants had been consumed like water, the return was only about giving Knuckle a scratch.
That was only natural.
Sacred were strongest against beings who possessed the power of darkness. Normally speaking, there was no path to victory.
If it had only been Knuckle, it might have been possible to crush her with numbers. Since she only had high physical strength and output of light magical power, surrounding her and beating her down would have given a possibility of victory.
But the problem was Saber. If a Sacred who had resistance to dark magical power nullified physical attacks, they could not properly deal damage. If her movements had been slow, there would have been the method of stacking damage with magic from a distance, but she was overwhelmingly fast even compared to other Sacred.
But — were the Sacred absolute invincibles? Beings that the dark residents of Lemora could not defeat? Really?
If that were truly the case——
"Now then, it’s about time — tremble in fear before my magic! ’Black iron, shatter!’"
——Why had she become the prey of the Poison Monster Villain several days ago?
The answer would be clear at a glance if one looked at the figure of the girl who had received the iron ball created by magical power that had been fired toward the school building — and twisted her face in agony.
"Kuh——...!?"
Although it had been created by magic, what had been fired earlier was an iron ball — nothing other than a physical attack. An attack that Saber could have nullified with the power of the spirit.
But she had deliberately received it.
Because if she liquidized, she would not be able to stop the iron ball Alter had created — she would not be able to protect the school building behind her, and the people trembling there.
——Yes, she could not abandon those she must protect.
She could not do something like allowing a small number of sacrifices and defeating the Diabolic before her eyes.
The corners of Alter’s mouth twisted.
Ah, as I thought——
"You are that kind of woman — I swear upon the name of Queen Fine! Combatants, I ’abandon command’! Move as you wish, plunder as you wish, violate as you wish! Even if you flee from the Sacred, I will not hold any of you responsible!"
A moment of silence.
The combatants stood frozen for a moment, unable to understand the meaning of those words — and the moment understanding reached them, they raised cheers and dashed off.
All of them, toward the school — breaking formation, as they wished, freely, chaotically.
"Wha—— O-Alter, you...!"
"Now, my protection is gone. What’s wrong, won’t you come kill me?"
It was true that the Sacred girls were lovely and beautiful.
There would be those who wanted to pin them down and violate them.
...But just as there were few who reached for a flower on a high peak — there were currently few combatants who wanted to lay a hand on the Sacred.
They wanted to raise achievements, violate women, and have a good time, but they did not want to walk a difficult path.
Therefore — toward the easier direction.
Because if it was young girls... there were plenty of them in the building behind the Sacred!
The combatants dashed off.
Passing right by the Sacred, toward the school building.
Until a moment ago, they could not have done such a thing out of fear of being punished for fleeing before the enemy.
But now that command had been abandoned.
There were plenty of easier ways to satisfy their desires than deliberately fighting a strong enemy.
"...Eh? Ah, over there are everyone, my friends, Senpai Shusawa... I-I won’t let you...!"
For a few moments Knuckle had been in a daze, but with a desperate face she attacked the combatants.
She slammed her right fist and exploded them.
While turning, she swung her left fist and pulverized them.
Her powerful fists purified about a dozen combatants with each blow.
The difference in strength was overwhelming. If it was a battle, Knuckle would not have lost.
But the combatants had abandoned combat and begun attacking non-combatants — with her main method of attack being fists, it was difficult for Knuckle to interfere with that.
"What’s wrong, Saber, Knuckle? Won’t you come? If the two of you work together, you might be able to kill me — though I don’t know how many men will be killed and how many women will be violated in the time until you take this head."
"Alter...!"
She gritted her teeth and raised a voice of resentment.
Right now, there was only one thing Saber should do. She just needed to purify the Diabolic who had violated the princess.
Even Saber understood that much. She could also calculate that destroying this man here and now would result in less damage in the future.
The combatants could be eliminated after defeating Alter. In the first place, the one maintaining the barrier was Alter. If only he were killed, the barrier would disappear, and the combatants would be unable to adapt to Earth and would die on their own.
That would be the end. Sacrifices would be kept to a minimum.
But even so — the burning castle passed through her mind.
Therefore she could not allow the people she must protect, the people she had to protect, to be oppressed, and it was painful...!
"I won’t—— allow it! I! This time I will not let anyone slip through...!"
She turned around.
Saber turned her back on Alter and prioritized eliminating the combatants.
Because she had lived there as a student, because she knew what kind of people were in the school building, because her past failure was grinding against her heart — she had no choice but to do so.
Saber herself understood that it was a foolish choice.
As long as Alter was not defeated, countless combatants would appear from Lemora. She should allow a small number of sacrifices.
But.
But she——
’——Ah, Leas... you came... for me...’
She could not forget the figure of the princess she respected and loved.
The person she had sworn to protect.
Looking at her with vacant eyes, stained white with filth.
This time, this time for sure, she would not let anyone suffer like that. She hated it. She had people who were precious to her. She wanted them to be happy.
Therefore Leas Lot — Sacred Saber — would protect them to the end.
Yes, she had sworn it.
Therefore she cut down the combatants.
Abandoning beautiful slashes, in order to scatter the trash even one second faster, she swung her sword, swung, swung——
"Senpai! Hey, Senpai! I-it’s impossible, Saber-senpai! With these numbers, we...!? What should we do!? At this rate, at this rate, everyone...!"
But reality was merciless to the end.
Knuckle raised a scream that sounded as if she was about to cry.
Saber could not answer her. She herself understood that she had made a foolish choice, and that she and Knuckle alone could not fully protect the school building.
It was not that the two were weak. Absolutely not.
Saber was among the top ranks of the Sacred, and even Knuckle, although a novice, possessed sufficient combat ability.
But—— the two lacked techniques for mowing down multiple enemies.
They were originally Sacred who possessed the ability to defeat Monster Villains that appeared on Earth before they could cause major damage.
If it was only about defeating the Monster Villains that appeared, the two of them were the optimal solution. If the concept was facing a small number of strong enemies and defeating them, the two possessed sufficient ability.
But the current situation — a battle of protecting a base from a large number of enemies — was not suited to them.
They could not burn many at once with a single strike, nor could they erect a barrier around the school building for defense. They were simply strong.
Therefore — no matter how much they stirred themselves up, no matter how much they thought they did not want to lose anyone, no matter how much they wished to protect, victory would not come to them.
"Nooo, s-someone——!"
Therefore it was inevitable that the combatants who had slipped through would enter the school building and attack the female students who had been slow to escape.
But the Sacred could not go there. If they headed there now — if they stopped their hands, even more combatants would attack the school building.
Even though she had gone on the defensive because she could not allow a small number of sacrifices, the reality was that she was forced to allow a small number of sacrifices. Saber continued swinging her sword with her raging heart as it was. While wishing to annihilate the enemies even one second faster and go help.
But she could not reach them.
No matter how much she swung her sword, the newly appearing combatants were more numerous.
Therefore, there was not a single person who could go to help——
"Wait!"
——No, there was one.
Only one person was there.
"I will be your opponent. Release that hand, you scum——!"
It was a boy from the kendo club.
Saber — Leas — knew the figure dashing forward while raising a wooden sword. The male student she had met several days ago just before the Monster Villain incident, Niekawa Kazuki. The pleasant man who had carried the unwell Senjumaru to the dorm in her place.
Therefore.
There was no way such a person could abandon a girl who was about to be violated right before his eyes.
"Even if I cannot... defeat them...!"
He must have understood.
That an ordinary human could not properly deal damage to combatants.
Therefore he slammed the wooden sword down on the crown of the head of the combatant who was about to violate the girl, from behind.
The blow from the wooden sword swung down with the momentum of the dash. With a bursting sound the wooden sword shattered, and the combatant staggered.
If this had been a human, it would have been a blow that crushed the skull and killed them — if it had been a human, that is.
But the combatant immediately stood back up.
Although there had been no damage, the combatant who had been interfered with right before the act was enraged. What is this man, he’s in the way.
Niekawa gritted his teeth and stepped forward as if protecting the female student.
It was a courageous action, a correct action, and if this had been a proper story he would have become the protagonist.
"Out of the way, man."
But—— such an action had no meaning.
This world was a violation story. A man who held courage and righteousness in his chest had no value.
The combatant’s sword flashed.
In order to kill the man who had interrupted.
"No...! Stop, no, don’t——!"
Leas’s scream echoed emptily.
Her sword could not reach.
The shockwave released from the sword would involve both the hostage female student and the male student who had come to help.
Checkmate.
No matter how she struggled, she could not save that male student herself.
(...Ah, I... am a fool.)
Why did she always make the wrong judgment at the critical moment?
Why could she not protect the people important to her?
What "greatest swordsman among the Sacred"? What "transformation heroine of justice"? Was she not just hopeless trash?
Even though she was such a fool that she had to desperately save people, even though she had to do so — why, always, always, could she not protect anything at the critical moment....