“Princess?”

“Champion?”

The knights and students both mumbled the most important points in confusion, looking between me and each other, wondering if this was true or not. Since it was a pivotal point to persuade them, I pulled out my amulet of Aurena, given to me all the way back from my second visit to the Firwood temple during my first few months in civilization.

Having it dangle over my neck, I also shoved my robe to the side a bit, showing everybody the dragon head emblem painting on my chest armor by Grimnir, signifying my status as an actual Kargryxmor. I even pulled out my ID from my storage, showing it to everybody around me and shocking them. They did not think I was a void-touched.

“If you still question me, I can show you my Profile. Unchanged; fully exposed. I am [The Light], a Champion of Goddess Aurena. I am also a [Bearer of Kargryxmor’s Blood]—my blessing given to me by my grandfather, Dragon God Kargryxmor, the Black Tyrant of the Sky.” I played with my ID like a casino chip, waiting for anybody to say something. “Or, we can stop this and just talk, unlike last time when I got attacked before I cou—”

“HERETIC!”

Oh come, let’s jus—Woah!

I stomped my foot down and dug my tail into the ground as I noticed wind suddenly pulling me closer towards the Knights of Aurena group. Royce had his sword held down and pointed backwards, with his back bent down. It had a been a while, but I would recognize that pose and the effect instantly, especially after Franz told me he was from Artorias.

[Artorian Lionheart Swordsmanship] attack, [Calling Wind]!

Farron, being my humanoid combat mentor until I met Yorshka, made me ingrain his swordsmanship abilities in my bones throughout my training with him. I couldn’t replicate it, as I never practiced his moves, but I could identify the style if somebody else used the attacks. Royce was legitimately a knight of Artorias’s Lionheart Order—the royal knights—before he joined the holy knights, huh?

Royce then changed his pose as his two companions charged forward. However, I decided not to move here; instead, I just took out my glaive from my storage, inevitably agitating everybody. But, that was okay, for I had people around me to protect me.

“Grrwaoooooooooh!” Rajah let out a high-pitched tiger roar, snarling at the knights as he raised his tail, hardening it. Almost as if he was trying to intimidate everybody, he shook it, causing some rattling noises from all the hardened fur.

“…” The knights stopped as Royce glared at me and Rajah. It was silent for a while until I noticed him strengthening his grip on his sword. “Go—!”

[“Now!”] I gave the order before he spoke, prompting Rajah to shoot out his fur, forcing the knights to parry the missiles before using [Gale Steps] forward, but were instantly stopped as Kyouya stepped forward and turned his armor into a giant black wall, blocking their path forwards.

Lautrex sliced right through it with his lightsaber though, before aiming at me with his gauntlet, only for Vifi’Yok to throw my glaive at him, forcing him to dodge aside due to the force. Slightly caught off-guard by the sudden strong wind pressure, I recalled my glaive through the catalyst embedded on its tip, pushing him further on the defensive by the boomerang effect.

Vifi’Yok caught my weapon and aimed at Lautrex, but was instantly marked by the two other holy knights, only for her to slip right past them, ignoring them like two nuisances to engage Lautrex. Noticing this, both shouted at her but Tatsuya challenged them by jumping into the sky with [Dragoon Jump] and forcing them to pay attention to him by [Dragoon Dive]ing into the ground and used [Druidification] to transform into a werewolf.

“Woah?!” The students waiting on the side gasped as they saw their classmate pounce at the two knights in his new form.

However, his assault immediately stopped when Royce came in, cleaving right into the middle and kicking Tatsuya back before using another sword ability. Blood was spilled from Tatsuya’s body as multiple lacerations appeared over his arms and legs—the areas where his Grimnir-made armor was the least protected.

Royce clicked his tongue, probably realizing his blade hadn't managed to slice through the armor. Nevertheless, his interference gave his comrades the time to cast spells, buffing themselves and Royce up before attacking Tatsuya with spells, forcing Kyouya to come up and tank all the spells with a shadow shield. Royce didn’t give up on the pressure, so I decided to actually step in.

Halo of Consecration.

I snapped my finger, drawing not only Royce’s attention but also Lautrex, only for the latter to grimace as Vifi’Yok kept up the pressure.

“You really suck for a Hand of Heaven! Haha, I knew my instincts weren’t off! You’re losing to a one-armed girl, haha!”

“Grk! The nerve!”

That girl really can’t help herself from insulting a HoH, huh? That Warbringer side of hers, man …

Disregarding those two, a halo of white flames appeared over my head before it blasted a wave out. It did not burn anybody, but instead, it healed Tatsuya from his wounds and simply brushed against any “enemy” of mine like some stage mist. Once again, everybody was stunned by this display and it allowed the boys to regain some ground against the highly skilled knights.

“H-holy magic?! Holy fire?!” Due to their helmets, I couldn’t really tell the two lower knights apart.

Only Royce was distinguishable due to his more feature-full armor. This person, too, was stuttering by what I was doing. “W-white grace?! That white flame can heal?! W-who—!”

“Graooow!” And in that little moment of surprise, everybody somehow forgot about the bus-sized Rajah who had turned invisible. He reappeared and slammed his hardened tail onto the ground, sending the knights falling down and giving Tatsuya and Kyouya the chance to take advantage of everything.

“Dammit! Get out of the way.”

I slowly turned my head around as [Foresight] warned me of an attack, only to take a step back to avoid the greatsword of the [Savior]-boosted Takuma as he swung at me. I couldn’t see his face through his hood, but the little silence between us was enough for me to understand—he was in a slight panic.

His angelic feathered wings moved, helping him recover from the swing of his attack, enabling him to throw another slash at me, only for it to be blocked by Franz. With his normal sword in one hand and a …spectral blade in the other, he parried Takuma, kicking him back before covered his blades with his mana.

“There are only two keys. Where is my party, Takuma! Where is Yuuko-san’s?!” Franz demanded to know. Up until now, he had been the one to hold back Takuma. “Were you planning on leaving them all to die to protect your own and the knight’s?! Answer me!”

“Tsk! I know your unique skill’s effect, you idiot. You think I’m saying anything?”

Ooh, smart. If he lied, Franz’s unique skill would give him a 10% boost in stats.

“Oh? I don’t need you to lie to know the truth. Good luck being a [Hero] after letting everybody else die. You certainly fit the role.” Franz showed a smirk as he finished his trashtalk.

This, clearly, pricked Takuma’s pride. “Bastard!” he shouted before charging up, prompting me to jump back as the two continued their fight. A greatsword user versus a dual blader; pure power against flexibility.

At this point, both should have nearly two years of experience fighting in this world, using their weapons and other techniques to bolster their strength. Neither were using magic, but they were clearly using weapon abilities to try to inflict small injuries in preparation for an inevitable mistake. With trained movements and instincts clearly developed through multiple fights, these two weren’t pushovers.

“Dammit! Aiko-chan! Everybody!” Takuma suddenly shouted as he noticed whatever injury he inflicted would be healed by my white flames. “The dragon can’t transform back! You saw the System message! We need to push back now, or we won’t survive! Fight! I will fight, but I need your help! Don’t forget what she did to Yuuko-san!”

Yikes … I grimaced at that last point before looking over to the four students who were still unsure if they should fight or not.

Remembering the list of students, I was somehow able to identify them. The priestess-looking girl in a white robe made for a noble clergy woman was Aiko Hasebe, a “saint candidate” to Aurena like Asaka. Only it was the demonkins who gave her that idea. It wasn’t true. Although, she certainly did have the look and aura that a Saintess should have, considering how sparkly her blond-dyed hair looked.

The other three were … Chifuya Agano, a magic swordswoman looking at the sword in hand, the catalyst embedded in her left gauntlets, and the many scrolls hanging on her belt. Natsume Otonari, a mage—probably the offensive one in the party, since she didn’t need to heal with Aiko around. Then we had Hayato Yodogawa, clearly the rogue of the party considering he was kitted up in a black gambeson, some knives, and shortsword for protection. He even had a crossbow!

Now this looked like a well-rounded party! With Takuma going crazy in the front, the rest could just follow up on him. Damn, it was clearly the party made to support the “hero!” … Okay, I had no right to tease like that, considering Saori and Tasianna mostly focused on supporting me during our early months together as a party.

“I recommend you stay back,” I spoke to them as they were about to make a move. “I am not here to fight you, as I said. I am—”

“We heard the reports!” Surprisingly, the girl called Aiko interrupted me. “W-we heard it all! The church told us you will try to speak us down! Y-y-you brainwashed Tatsuya-kun and Kyouya-kun, y-you vixen!”

… What?

“You nearly killed Yuuko! One of our friends! Do you really think we can solve this situation that easily? She’s scarred; disfigured because of you! We barely managed to keep her alive with how the flames kept burning her even after we used water spells on it. She would have died weren’t it for Saintess Fleindia! N-now you are trying to brainwash Light!”

… I could understand the hatred she felt towards me at this very moment. I found it extremely hard to forgive Vifi’Yok after meeting her again in Elyonda after she nearly killed Tatsuya. My PTSD of seeing Eshe die by the hands of a demonkins made it impossible for me to stop fighting Vifi’Yok, at least until I got roped into that dimension hole and witnessed Mom’s memories, which made me to want to forgive Vifi’Yok and create a bridge with the demonkins.

However, the scars were still there. Tatsuya disliked and distrusted the demonkin girl, giving her no leeway. Now, Yuuko’s friends were naturally affected by the accident I caused. But, as mentioned, it was an accident.

“Aiko-san!” Kyouya shouted, only for him to be pushed back by the pressure from the knights. “Misunderstanding! It’s a mis—argk—understanding! Hestia-san didn’t mean to!”

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Shaken by Kyouya’s words, I used this chance to confront Aiko and the students on their accusations. This was the time to resolve the issues.

“It’s as Kyouya said, it was all an accident,” I stated firmly, putting on my princess persona. “I know all of you were sent by the church to kill me. I read the newspaper, I heard it from Franz. I expected it, after all the reports I heard about dragonslayers coming to Inkoran-Tazul for the Event. Do you think it’s fair for me to just stay quiet and let you take my head? I value my life, and I have too many people who care for me to just die.”

I reached my hand out, forming the magic circle for [Major Heal] to showcase it to everybody in attendance. “Yuuko used her [Magic Breaker] on me, stopping my spell song [Dragon Fire] that allowed me to give everybody I recognize as allies complete immunity to my flames. She used it the moment I activated my heatwave attack, dispelling my song through a [Warp Point: Entry] portal. It was an accident. An unlucky timing that caused her to be burned, and due to how my flames work, they cannot be doused unless I ordered them to. At that moment, my arm was sliced off by that dragonslayer. I think you can give me the benefit of the doubt that I couldn’t focus when a deadly dragon poison was surging through my body, which probably would have killed me if the boys hadn’t given me my antidote to save my life!”

I was proud of [Inferno Coating] and [Fire Abnormality Effect: Dread] which prevented my flames from being doused and stopped healing, respectively. I loved how overpowered my fire was, but when I heard Yuuko’s screams, the guilt crushed me.

“LIES!” Takuma smacked Franz away, before charging at me, swinging his blade semi-wildly to cleave me in half. “We heard about how that grimgarian army destroyed Elyonda! The capital of Yeos was leveled and the new Champion of Yeostar barely survived! You led them! We are the Heroes of Aurena! You and the demonkins will fall by my blade! You think you can fool us into thinking that you actually care about us—W-what?!”

I caught his greatsword just as it was about to hit my neck and stopped his attacks, much to his astonishment. With [Draconic Barrier] and my scales perfectly blocking the damage, I kept a tight grip on the blade, prompting Takuma to struggle, even kicking me to try to get me to let him go. Sadly, everything he was doing did literally no damage. He was just too weak.

I pulled him closer and smacked him right into the stomach with my tail, before sending my scales to pin him on the ground. I walked up to him, looking down at this idiot.

“… You think you can fight the demonkins with that strength? You think yourself a hero? How many people have you saved? How many people have you seen die before your eyes because you weren’t strong enough to protect them? How often have you had to accept that there are stronger people than you out in the world, Mister ‘Hero?’” I chastised him for his self-righteous mindset. “Here’s the thing, I actually don’t care about the 14 other students sent to this world to ‘fight for humankind.’ I care about Tatsuya, Kyouya, Haruka, Tamae, Nishio, Misaki, Kazumi, and Kohaku. Daichi and Asaka are a bit weird, but I do care about them too. They are all my friends.”

I pointed at the five students before me. “You all are strangers,” I declared before looking at heavy-breathing Franz, exhausted from that short bout with Takuma. “He … is important to me.”

“Huh?” Everybody seemingly tilted their heads, but I didn’t let this moment stop my speech.

“The only reason I am even trying to speak with you, even care for you enough to the point I feel guilty for what happened to Yuuko despite it nearly causing my death, is because of my best friend Saori Segawa! The same Saori who is your sensei! The same person who wanted to meet you all again in this world!”

Silence. Even the fighting behind me has stopped from what I had revealed. Seeing everybody so flabbergasted, I gestured for everybody to come back to me, to Vifi’Yok’s chagrin. However, she endured it and just sat on the ground. While she didn’t look tired at all, Tatsuya and Kyouya looked defeated. They didn’t have any wounds, but it seemed like the knights really taught them a lesson. If they performed any less, the value of the Knights of Aurena would just plummet.

I turned to Lautrex, who was slightly out of breath. I gestured at him with a finger, telling him to come at me. “I can’t change into a dragon. So, how about this—I’m level 107. I know there are two people here who outlevel me.”

I pulled out the key, revealing the data chip to everybody around. “Here’s the deal. Sir Royce and Sir Lautrex; come at me, both of you at once. You win, you get the data chip. You lose, you start changing your tune and work with me.”

“You dare insult us?!” Royce was naturally agitated, although I still couldn’t see his face. “You want to duel a Hand of Heaven and a Knight-Captain of Goddess Aurena?! Who do you thi—”

“I repeat, I am Princess Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor. I am a Champion and Idol of Goddess Aurena herself, not a blessed under her subordinates. I am a direct blessed. I know who exactly I am, and the last time I checked, I rank above you two when it comes to religious importance. Thankfully, I don’t care, I respect your seniority, but you want to kill me. This is the perfect time, no?”

“You have nothing to say to us you heretic! You dare call yourself a ble—”

“Sir Royce.” Lautrex stopped him as he took a step forward, taking his helmet off to show me his aloof expression. “We accept this duel, my lady.”

“Sir Lautrex! You cannot earnestly put yourself down to this-this blasphemer! She put the name of the Goddess in her mouth, despite being the cause for Elyonda’s near destruction! Neither the Pope nor the Holy Emperor would scorn us for not listening to this woman's mind washing words! She has set a trap! I swear, she has something planned!”

… Is it paranoia, or did he really guess what I was trying to do?

Slightly unnerved by this guy’s constant rambling, I put my gauntlet on the table once again. “Then, how about this? I won’t use my glaive. I won’t use my spells. I won’t even use my draconic abilities. I will only use my limbs, my armor’s runes, my voice, and my head. How about that?”

“Now you’re looking down on us!”

Oh, come on! Shut it!

Eventually, Lautrex managed to persuade Royce as both took their stances in front of me. Everybody on my side moved away, while Takuma pressuring the knights to let him join in the duel. I had no problem with it if his ego prevented him from seeing how badly he was outmatched, but the two knights stopped him, telling him to stand down. That probably hurt his pride more than anything I could have done!

I began to stretch, wanting to look as nonchalant as possible but kept my eyes on the two. Now, the question was, was Royce better than Farron and was Lautrex anywhere close to the ex-Hand of Heaven Larent? If not, then this was about to end very badly, and not in their favor.

“Banish the evils of the world, forc—”

Too slow. Gale Steps.

They could cast spells, but without a high enough [Chant Revocation], it was far too easy for a fast fighter to get close to them. I charged right in front of them, claws ready to slash at them. I targeted Lautrex first, using my hands, feet, and tails in a hurricane of claws, forcing him to cancel his spell.

He reacted well, using his lightsaber to block and parry, but I could see he realized my hands weren’t taking any damage despite touching his sword of holy mana. I even kept up my end of the bargain as [Draconic Barrier] wasn’t turned on. This was my base wisdom and my ridiculously high holy element resistance doing work. [Venerated Saintess], [The Light], and plain old [Sacred Resistance] made it so that his attacks dealt zero damage to me.

At the same time, I was suddenly blasted by a [Banishment Beam] by Royce from the back. It was large enough to completely consume me as all I could see was white. However, looking at my health, it didn’t even need to regenerate. That [Sacred Magic] spell had zero oomph behind it.

“In the midst of the desert ♫

A bright ray of light shines ♫

Pure and brave, that she was, as she walked ♫”

[Music Resonation (Minor)] [Stage Fever (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

As the spell was beginning to die out, I began to sing [The Heir of Hope]. Sadly, it only gave me the 10% stat boost and elemental power up. [Shield of [The Light]] could only be applied if at least one ally of mine was scared of somebody or somebody was strong enough to make me feel threatened. Despite being 13 levels above me, I didn’t think Lautrex was a real problem here.

Which was immediately turned around when the spell dissipated and I saw the knight floating above me on discuses made from light. Blades of lights formed around him before he shouted “Heaven’s Rain” and sent the barrage of blades at me.

I immediately went into my fighting stance, ingrained into my body by Neill’s close-combat training. Parry a light blade, slight side step, block a blow to the vitals, tank a blow using scale-armored area; everything I learned from Neill was used in this moment. Having a pretty high agility, even in my dragonewt form, was also helpful, but it still didn’t help me avoid every single attack.

I could have just run away with [Gale Steps] or used [Dragoon Jump] to catch Lautrex, but this was a statement. “You two can’t hurt me!” was the message. If the Empire wanted to kill me, they would have to send people who could directly counter me, like those dragonslayers. Sadly for them, they weren’t here and now all the students and knights were stuck on this floor with me.

Having had enough of these attacks, I dug my tail on the ground and threw pebbles at Lautrex before seeing my slightly damaged health bar instantly restored to full due to my general regeneration. I didn’t even need [White Flames] here! I then charged over at Royce, forcing him to use the Artorian Lionheart style to defend himself.

[Stabbing Charge], [Storm Devastation], [Calling Wind], [Vortex of Talons], [Griffon’s Claw], and [Bird of Prey]; I knew them all. Unlike Lautrex, though, I had to take care of the many wind-based sword Abilities. My vitality was still not the highest, and even if the chip damage was barely noticeable, I couldn’t be too careless, although my chestplate tanking up so many attacks made it very easy to be lax.

Multiple sword stomps by [Storm Devastation], a dome of slashes with [Vortex of Talons], and an aerial slash down with [Bird of Prey]. The dance between Royce and me continued until Laturex joined up, adding onto the pressure. I was forced to go onto the defensive until Royce made a big mistake.

“What?!”

I caught his leg with my tail while blocking his vision with my wings. He didn’t have any experience fighting against a dragonewt, while I had plenty against humans.

With a wide smirk, I tripped him, grabbed his arms and disarmed him, before slamming him right on the ground. I then saw Laturex trying to come to help his companion, but I kicked him away and used my wings to fly up. With my rocket boosters, I kept myself in the air as I caught Royce in an arm lock, choking him before doing a seismic toss—essentially a pile driver from wrestling, only that I flew up in the sky instead of twisted my body. I slammed his head on the ground, knocking him out and taking his helmet off, smirking as I finally caught a glimpse of the brown-haired forty year old man.

Once done, I dashed over at Lautrex with [Gale Steps] and stepped on the gas, relentlessly chasing after him while ignoring any damage he sent my way. A sword stab? Take the hit and land a right hook, leaving the wound to be healed up for later. While I couldn’t imitate Neill’s kirin abilities, I could empower my punches and kicks with mana, strengthening their power as I landed dents and claw shaped rents all over the knight’s armor.

With my claws, I ripped through his gauntlet, disarming him and forcing him to unsheathe his sword, only for my tail to grab it and pull it towards me. Losing his balance, I smacked him with my wings, using them as a fist until I grabbed his face and pulled it closer to land a knee kick. With my oponent disoriented, I jumped up and landed a kick into his chest.

He instantly recovered, but he was bruised up at this point. Seeing him stand up, I charged at him once again and continued my onslaught. Level-wise, he might have the advantage, but from the look of it he lacked the stats and skills to really challenge me, unlike the many enemies and mentor’s I’ve fought. I was used to Neill using her abilities during fisticuffs; an inexperienced brawler like Lautrex was an easy target.

Once I got him on the ground, I dislocated his right arm before holding his throat up with my tail, essentially giving him the chance to give up now or going unconscious like Royce. What did he choose?

“Arrghh—I-I gi—guurp!” He couldn’t even speak! The poor guy wanted to give up but it was too inaudible for me to notice until my parallel minds told me to let go.

As compensation, I healed him and Royce up with [Major Heal], once again showing I was a holy mage.

“Good enough, but I really am the worst enemy you could have fought against, Sir Lautrex.” I reached my hand out to help the knight up. Flabbergasted, he didn’t take it at first, so I decided to continue speaking. “I had enough mentors to teach me how to fight properly without magic. Not to mention, people like Sir Larent really showed me where I needed to improve.”

“S-Sir Larent! Antonodius!” He grabbed my hand almost instinctively, allowing me to pull him up. “Hand Guardian Larent Antonodius?! Auegor’s Blade?! You know him?”

“Fought with—with—him during the Elyonda siege. Instrumental when it came to the city’s protection and without his expertise and command, the city would have probably fallen before I could have helped out without him taking command.” I patted Lautrex’s shoulder as I walked back to the others, noticing their shocked faces.

Takuma and Aiko, especially, had this weird look on their faces as they stared at me, looking almost mortified, actually. On the other hand, their classmates looked mostly cautious, apprehensive of me. The two other Knights of Aurena, though, were furious, looking like they were about to attack me but were held back by Vifi’Yok tapping my glaive on the ground.

She smiled. “Once again, I like your style. That’s exactly how you bring people down and put them in place.”

I opened my mouth, wanting to answer back, but seeing her smile only made me more worried of her. I couldn’t really tell how genuine she was about it, so I instead took out a donut and gave it to her. “Thanks for listening.”

She accepted it reluctantly, knowing I only did that to avoid an awkward conversation with her. At least when it came to pastries, she showed her true self.

I then turned to the knights, ordering them to pick up Royce and follow us, before I mounted Rajah. The boys, Franz, and Vifi’Yok decided to follow on foot, wanting to make sure the students and knights wouldn’t backstab us.

“I don’t know what your plan was, but I’ll just make it clear here: I will bring us all out of this floor, even if I have to find a loophole in the rules. So, hop on the ride and let’s make sure everybody gets back home!”

With that, two objectives were fulfilled. We now only had to find the three other parties and obtain the last key. It was time to move to the next temple.