Never Die Villain

Clang——!

"Ugh...?!"

Just as Anastasiya thought she had finally found Aleksei defenseless, a pitch-black sword suddenly appeared in front of her.

She barely registered the weapon before it moved, batting her sword aside before she had a chance to react. Anastasiya had been so focused on the chains that she had forgotten one obvious fact.

Aleksei was still a swordsman.

The blade struck her squarely in the stomach.

Boom——!

The defensive aura surrounding Anastasiya shattered on impact.

"Gah...!"

Her body folded around the blow as all the air was driven from her lungs, blood bursting from her mouth as Anastasiya was sent hurtling backward through the corridor.

She crashed hard against the floor and bounced several times before finally rolling to a stop dozens of meters away.

For several seconds, she couldn’t breathe.

Her sword slipped from her fingers as Anastasiya curled onto her side, one arm wrapping around her stomach while she coughed continuously. Blood dripped from her lips and splattered across the floor, and when she tried forcing air back into her lungs, a sharp pain below her ribs made her entire body tense.

"Cough...! Haa..."

That one hit had nearly knocked her unconscious.

Anastasiya slowly raised her head, vision swimming as she looked toward the other end of the corridor. Through the haze, she could make out Aleksei standing exactly where she had left him, the pitch-black sword now hanging from one hand while the chains surrounding him slowly writhed.

"...Of course he had a fucking sword."

Aleksei Dmitrievich Karskin had been trained as a swordsman his entire life, and Anastasiya had somehow allowed herself to become so preoccupied with his chains that she had forgotten the most obvious thing about him.

The chains had never been his only weapon, and worse, they had done exactly what they were supposed to do by exhausting her, controlling her movements, and making her believe that reaching Aleksei himself would finally put her at an advantage.

She had willingly entered his preferred range.

——Anastasiya. Anastasiya. Anastasiya...!

Aleksei slowly walked toward her, his sword dragging along the floor behind him. Only now did Anastasiya get a proper look at the weapon, a massive pitch-black greatsword.

Anastasiya spat the blood gathering in her mouth onto the floor and reached for her sword, only for her fingers to close around empty air.

The weapon had fallen several meters away, and the moment she shifted her weight to retrieve it, another stabbing pain tore through her abdomen and forced her back down.

"Kh..."

Her expression darkened as she pressed a hand against her stomach, feeling the remnants of her defensive aura struggling to reform around her body.

One strike had been enough to shatter it completely and leave her barely capable of standing, and the realization became considerably worse when Anastasiya remembered that Aleksei hadn’t even struck her with the edge of his sword.

——Anastasiya...!

The greatsword stopped dragging.

Aleksei lifted it.

Anastasiya stared up at him, then glanced toward her sword lying several meters away. Her heart was still beating erratically from the repeated use of Acceleration, her abdomen screamed whenever she tried to move, and there was no chance in hell she could reach the weapon before that greatsword came down.

"...Goddamnit."

A word she often heard from Ilya.

——I’ll kill you!

"Yeah, I heard you the first fucking time..."

Anastasiya planted one hand against the floor.

If she accelerated from this position, she had no idea whether her heart would tolerate it. If she didn’t, however, the enormous blade hanging over her head made the alternative considerably easier to predict.

Aleksei swung.

Clang——!

But something intercepted the greatsword before it could reach her.

Anastasiya’s eyes widened as the impact rang throughout the corridor, and when she finally registered what had happened, someone was already standing between her and Aleksei.

Of all the people she had expected to come rushing to her aid, Elder Karskin was certainly not among them.

"...Elder Karskin?"

Aleksei’s father held his sword with both hands, its blade locked against Aleksei’s enormous greatsword.

"Aleksei... that’s enough..."

———!

All at once, knights emerged from every direction.

They came through adjoining corridors, damaged rooms, and even the staircase farther behind Aleksei, surrounding the Distortion before he could turn his attention away from his father.

There was no need for anyone to announce what they were doing, because the instant Elder Karskin held Aleksei’s sword in place, every knight nearby recognized the opening and struck together.

Clang——!

Blades crashed against Aleksei’s armor from several directions.

One knight went for the back of his knee, another drove his sword under the chains wrapped around Aleksei’s shoulder

None of them attempted anything as foolish as overpowering him directly, targeting his balance and joints while constantly shifting positions before the chains could retaliate.

The North was not called the North for nothing.

Even ordinary knights serving under the Belozersky banner were skilled in their own right.

They were accustomed to monsters larger and stronger than themselves, and bringing down an opponent through coordinated attacks was practically second nature.

"Second formation!"

The knights moved immediately.

Half withdrew while the others advanced, never allowing Aleksei to focus on a single target for more than an instant.

The moment one of his chains moved, someone called its direction, and the others adjusted without needing further instruction.

——Father!

Aleksei roared. The chains moved outward all at once, sweeping across the corridor in an arc that forced the knights to abandon their positions.

"Scatter!"

The formation broke apart an instant before they could be caught, the knights throwing themselves into nearby rooms or retreating beyond the chains’ reach.

Elder Karskin finally disengaged as well, twisting his sword away from the greatsword before retreating several paces toward Anastasiya.

Then more footsteps came from behind them. Dozens of footsteps.

Anastasiya looked toward the sound and saw more members of House Belozersky pouring into the corridor, swords already drawn and aura burning around their bodies.

The same relatives who had been raising glasses to her succession less than an hour ago were now advancing alongside their knights without the slightest intention of leaving the fighting to them.

At their head walked Valentin.

"Daughter, you have done enough."

"F-Father..."

Anastasiya stared at him.

Valentin walked past her without another word, drawing his sword as he placed himself between his daughter and the Distortion.

He didn’t ask whether she could continue fighting, nor did he bother reprimanding her for running into the palace alone, because one glance at the blood running from her mouth and the way she struggled to remain upright told him everything he needed to know.

"Get her outside," Valentin ordered. "Have the healers examine her immediately."

"I can still fight."

"No."

Anastasiya frowned.

"Father, I said I can still—"

"And I said you’ve done enough."

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