"Don't we need to stop this?" Beseeched Sarah anxiously.

"...We might. Who knows, things might go out of hand..." Replied Howard stoically.

"Then," Peeked Sarah at Sister.

"Helena," As if to oblige to her friend's pleading gaze, she called out to Helena. "Remember the deal? No trouble."

"...Tch. I know." Grumbled Helena with an annoyed look, clicking her tongue.

"That's it, Alyson? What if she got hurt? I've heard how talented the fifth Princess is. But so does he. Moreover, he's almost an adult, Alyson. His mana pool alone is a league above her." Reasoned Sarah, trying to shove in some sense at her friend, yet my Sister remained unfazed in the slightest.

"Oh, Sarah...You just don't know how scary that little girl there..." Exhaled Sister ruefully.

'Hear, hear...' I nodded inwardly.

"If what he has shown so far is already near to his best, then we got nothing to worry about. He needs a whole lot more than that to defeat her, Sarah." Added her.

Wasn't fully convinced, Sarah mumbled. "Are you really sure? If something goes wrong, then..."

'Ah. She's worried since it might implicate her family if something happens to the Royal Princess.'

I finally realized why she was so jittery.

Clearly, my Sister also knew the root of her friend's dilemma. "In the off-chance that she does lose, I can guarantee you that there won't be so much of a scratch on her. So you can rest easy." She hugged the chubby girl lightly.

"Why? Are the Royal guards that capable? That is reassuring. Phew..." Expressed Sarah, finally breathing out the tension that had taken her hostage since a while ago.

My Sister only smiled in reply, and her eyes found me.

I knew what she meant, so I nodded in return. 'Well, with me here, there's no way in hell I'll let such things fly.'

If something did happen to her, I think that Robert wouldn't get off lightly. Also, if Helena did get hurt, it could be used against us by the Royal Family. They could cook up some bullshit justification and demand something from my Father, and I don't want that. At the very least, revealing a bit of what I could do would be worth the hassle.

"Oy, you're sure you don't need to rest before we start?" Mocked Helena.

The gallery gasped and murmured in response to her taunt.

It was very apparent to us, who knew her habit and temperament well, that it was just the result of Helena's craziness starting to leak out.

"Rest assured, Princess. I believe my mana pool is bigger than yours. It won't look well upon my face if I can't at least do this much." A glint of savageness flashed inside of Robert's eyes.

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"Yeah, you do you, slick bastard." And the ruby-haired Princess ignores him nonetheless.

She reached out to the teal-colored hair ornament that bound her silky hair and yanked it off. Her wavy hair flew down to her shoulder and lower, almost reaching out to her hips. The way it glistened under the changing sky left most of the onlookers breathless at her surreal appearance.

None of them could deny Helena's charm, and one movement of hers was just about enough to make them realize all over again just how fatal the beauty of the so-called fifth Princess was to everyone there.

All the more so for her self-proclaimed fanboy, who was bordering a dangerous place with the way his expression twisted.

'Hm...You know what...I kinda want to punch him once.'

Honestly, the man had tried on several occasions to tick me off. None had been successful, but oddly enough, he finally did it this time. He finally made it to my list...

Anyway.

Holding the gem ornament, or should I say, a mana crystal, in her hands, Helena started her own incantation. A complex-looking sigil materialized soon before long on the ground before her.

"O' Mighty spirit of Fire and Earth. To the union of the high Two that oversees both creation and destruction, give me the denizen of your holy land. Lava Hound!"

The ground rose up and formed a vessel, answering Helena's call, while a cloak of blazing flame gushed madly from the sigils, licking the doll of dirt tightly.

I could spot the body of a large hound, one and a half-meter tall, from the writhing soil. The fire that hugged its body from the outside like a cocoon soon seeped inside the body.

Cracks of flame appeared all over its body, pulsating in extreme heat; the four limbs had turned into searing lava that torched the ground, having only its thick tail of flame swaying freely, following the rhythm of the gentle breeze.

The menacing air that came out from the hound's red eyes was freaking daunting, especially the rows of sharp teeth that seemed capable of shredding and melting everything mercilessly.

The hound stood on all fours, a head taller than Helena, its master. It was by no means small, but compared to Robert's towering Golem, it looked like a baby.

"A summon by combining two elements...For someone that my Master said to have no interest in summoning magic, you seem to have the knack for it. But are you sure it is up to the task? I'm afraid your dog would perish if it took but a blow from my Paragon."

Slowly, a confident grin blossomed on Robert's visage.

"To make this more fair, I won't be using my staff in this match. And I will control my Paragon from afar, not within. And since its movement will be greatly limited without me in there, surely this will serve as enough handicap, won't it, my Princess?"

"Tch! Can I start, or do I have to wait for you to sing a damn poem first, huh?" Helena gritted her teeth and hissed.

"Huhu...That gap between your looks and your tongue really gets me going, Helena...I can't wait to have you." Robert whispered lightly, thinking no one was there to catch it, but unfortunately for him, I heard everything.

'...Patience, Alexander...If you go on a rampage for every fucking pervert out there, you'll waste so much time instead of saving the world...'

I took a couple of deep breaths to calm myself, feeling my emotions spiking dangerously.

"Are you okay, Alex?" Queried Sister, sensing the peculiarity.

"Hm? I'm fine, Sister. I'm just excited seeing how cool Helena's magic is."

She cast a dubious look in reply. "...Alright. Tell me if you feel sick, okay?"

"I will."

Fortunately, she chose to believe me and dropped the matter off.

'Now, back to the two...' I mused.

"By all means, do begin, my dear Princess."

Following that prick's words, Helena's hound blitzed through the open space, piercing through the whistling air, leaving nothing but a scorched trail in its wake.