The Male S*ave of the Count Sianella Family

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“Damn it.”

My expression twisted involuntarily.

The strong impact traveled up my wrist with the clash of blades.

That bastard’s strength, amplified by magic, made it hard to tell if he was human or orc.

How could an ordinary person defeat the strength of an orc? If I hadn’t borrowed the power of mana, the outcome would have been disastrous.

“I’m going crazy.”

How is it possible that for three days and nights, incidents keep happening without a break?

Deep inside my heart, intense frustration bubbled up.

Unfortunately, there was no time to cool my head.

Even now, the sharp pain I felt in my hand was warning me to stop wasting time and move quickly.

As soon as I parried the sword, I checked on Adelhaite’s safety.

After all, she was in a situation where a sword was sticking out of her back.

I expected to see a startled expression from her due to the sudden ambush.

But it seemed from the very first meeting, Adelhaite had been far crazier than I imagined.

“You—”

The expression tinged with her usual ennui broke, revealing a new emotion.

“You could handle mana, huh?”

Rather than confusion or embarrassment, her response was that of a scholar exploring the unknown.

It was pure interest and joy.

Perhaps because her blood mingled not only with human blood but also with that of a giant lizard, she didn’t seem to grasp the crisis of this chaotic situation.

Instead, with a smile that didn’t match the circumstances, she stared at me with piercing eyes.

“If it were merely a level of mana awakening, you shouldn’t be able to deflect a sword tainted by such magic.”

Moreover, rather than thinking about how to overcome this situation, she continued to ponder my mana.

It was clear that paying more attention to Adelhaite would yield nothing but stress.

I turned to Shione, who was looking at me with a worried expression, bewildered.

“Princess Shione, please take care of the Princess.”

“You mean… you plan to stop that person?”

“Yes, in this situation, who else but me can stop them?”

At my words, Shione bit her lower lip tightly.

She bit down so hard that I could see blood welling from her lips.

Her frustration about not being able to help in this moment was evident.

Seeing Shione, who always hung back, now thinking of helping me, made me smile slightly in appreciation.

“It’s dangerous. I’ll try to block them, so hand over your sword and stay back to protect the Princess.”

I straightened my stance, shaking my head at Shione’s words.

“As dangerous as it is, shouldn’t I, the knight of Princess Shione, take the lead?”

“But—”

“Trust me. I will protect her just like when we caught Arachne.”

At the mention of Arachne, Adelhaite’s lips lifted from their previously heavy state in amusement.

Shione stiffened her expression, trying her best to appear calm.

However, she bit her lips even harder, causing a small droplet of blood to trickle down her delicate jawline.

I had no time to spare for their concerns.

I faced the crazed assailant, pouring out a terrifying aura.

“It was a perfect opportunity to stab the royal Princess in the back! How dare you, a mere filthy rat, interfere with my great plan!”

The woman sent out a terrible grudge.

She wasn’t even a true demon; just a pathetic bastard consumed by magic.

I had faced worse malice during past A-grade dungeon raids, so a little of this felt trivial to me.

With a scoff, I jeered at her.

“I’ll kill you and achieve great deeds with the martyrdom of my comrades!”

She ducked low and charged towards me.

The tip of her blade, prepared to stab Adelhaite, was infused with dense magic and aimed at my throat.

At that moment, the unique revulsion of magic gripped my heart tightly.

Park Shin-woo… no, Ray. Focus!

That dark magic emitting from her blade was dangerous, even just grazing me.

“Huh!”

I held my breath as the blade aimed at the sky.

Just as I thought, I saw—

A wicked dagger scattering dark energy came piercing towards my throat.

With a quick twist of my body, I not only blocked her attack but aimed to slice her wrist as I dodged to the side.

Clang!

Unfortunately, I felt not the sensation of cutting through flesh but rather, a strong impact reminiscent of metal colliding with metal.

“I intended to sever your wrist.”

“How…!”

As the woman before me showed signs of confusion and surprise, I decided to seize her neck quickly.

Due to the intense exertion, I could feel my mana depleting faster than expected.

There was no reason to prolong a fight against a demon.

I couldn’t waste this golden opportunity.

“I will seize the victory somehow.”

As the swords rebounded from our mutual strength, I tightened my grip on the hilt.

Simultaneously, I shifted the blade from pointing skyward to horizontal with the ground.

Casting aside regrets about losing my wrist, I aimed the tip of the sword towards her neck.

Swish!

The sharp sound of steel clashing echoed through the garden.

Just before my sword could touch the wicked creature—

“You’re nothing but a man!”

With a distorted expression, the monster swatted my blade aside.

Swish.

I had indeed cut her.

Yet, dodging my attack by tilting her head led to only a shallow wound.

“Tsk.”

Clicking my tongue in disappointment, I saw blood trickle from the gash that had grazed her cheek.

Since she was imbued with demonic power, I expected her to bleed black.

However, the long gash etched along her gaunt cheek was flowing with a vibrant red.

I moved my arm to deliver another diagonal attack.

“Do you think such an obvious attack will work on me?!”

Unfortunately, the creature quickly regained her posture and thwarted my attack.

Tsk… I had intended to slice through her chest.

The demon quickly came closer to me by pushing my dagger aside.

Hearing the sharply piercing sound of metal against metal, I returned the blade to its original position and created a defensive stance.

As the dagger came within inches of me, I hooked her sword with mine, halting its advance.

Thus began our contest of strength.

“Ugh…!”

“If I had my bow—”

In an instant, I gathered more mana and unleashed it explosively.

A profound sense of euphoria washed over my body—

“I should have already pierced your brow!”

I twisted my sword to strike her neck again.

Her vision, which had encased me, tilted, and she breathed her last while staring at me in horror.

“Haah… damn it…”

After confirming that I had killed the demon without the aid of Spirit Magic, I steadied my breath and muttered a curse in Korean.

I had been able to do this because she wielded a short dagger.

Had her sword been of comparable length to mine, it would have obstructed my blade before it reached her neck.

I felt a wave of exhaustion creep in after a rather tense battle that had exhilarated me.

As much as I wanted to run away from this quest and situation, there were still things to do. It was too early to let my guard down.

“Adelhaite.”

Originally, Adelhaite was meant to bear the sword in her back, but her fate began to twist due to me.

Moreover, from the looks of that damned girl rolling on the floor, it seemed like all the demon-worshippers here were targeting Adelhaite.

Considering history’s course, it seemed Adelhaite was destined to suffer greatly from this incident.

To change the history of this damned world and return to Earth, I needed to protect Shione and Adelhaite.

The Royal Knights Order and the Wizards would swarm in to protect Adelhaite, but—

Due to the simultaneous appearances of these demon-worshipper bastards, they could hardly get here quickly.

I had to intervene and protect them until they arrived.

I lowered my sword and calmed the mana I had been frantically wielding.

I redirected just enough mana to be readily usable and turned to check on Shione and Adelhaite.

Shione was running towards me with a troubled expression, furrowing her delicate brows.

“Princess Shione?”

Without even a moment to respond, Shione dashed past me, lowered her stance, and picked up the dagger of the monster I had killed.

In a moment, as Shione burst forth towards the creature who had lost itself to dark magic, I couldn’t help but feel a strong intent to kill radiating from her.

With a low hum—

The lingering magic within the dagger was washed away by the power of vanquishment, and as her newly surging mana harmonized with the dagger—

Thud!

Shione’s dagger plunged into the enemy’s throat.

“Uugh… guh…”

As Shione twisted the blade again, the demon gurgled and collapsed, her blue dress turning crimson.

Shione looked at me and asked, “Ray… are you okay?”

Though Shione, in that moment, appeared cold like my sister, I could tell.

After watching that bastard for so long, not recognizing this was impossible.

I noticed my timid lord’s eyelids were subtly, continuously twitching.