I glared at the two annoyances as I exhaled the air in my lungs, then crimson barriers appeared from thin air around my body. They formed and connected to each other like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle into some sort of armor.

But of course it did not cover my entire body. I still need some space to nimbly move around. Truth be told, I didn’t want to expose my abilities like this, but I needed to be safe myself. These two non-humans were willing to die just to kill me here and now. I cannot take any chances against cornered pests.

Do not underestimate suicidal maniacs.

My personal knight stood guard right beside me, he eyed me both in surprise and puzzlement at the ‘armor’ I was wearing. Pretty cool, huh? So convenient. Fairly costly on mana though, good thing I have an abundance of that.

Damn, I really want to keep the image of a defenseless, cute, and harmless princess. But it can’t be helped, and this was precisely why I hated these kinds of situations, ones that I have no other choice but to pay some price for doing something that must be done.

“Vernon, if the beast gets close, you handle it. While you, Rogan, watch out for the elf, you’ll handle him.”

I returned my eyes to the enemies to observe them closely as vines protected them, they were doing nothing for the moment, perhaps still thinking on how to get to me without dying instantly.

Hm?

When I looked closely at the beastman, I noticed something different about its barrier. Some pieces were missing, in contrast to the amount of barrier that covered its body earlier. Currently, there were no barriers on a small part of its forearms, no armor on the calves, and the waists were exposed. Also, the barrier seemed to be dimmer than usual, or rather to be more specific, it was more transparent.

Oh, I see. It’s weakening.

Of course, the barrier was using mana, but it would seem it couldn’t sustain it for long. And now, that barrier was almost gone. But the question was, how much impact can it still take?

Hm, that aside, the elf was a problem. He appeared to be using as much mana as he could now just to survive long enough to kill me. From my understanding, the elves were more on spellcasting, telling how much mana they have and how much magic they can cast was still uncertain. But surely like every human, their mana capacity was different to others.

This one here may have more than the knights. Or not. We could never be sure.

The elf brandished his sword, and the vines laced with sharp thorns lashed out blindly in all directions. With a wave of his hand, a hail of sharp winds scattered in front of him, aiming at my men. The winds even hit vines in the way.

Some vines caught and wrapped a few of my men, squeezing them tight. It was shocking to see that even those damn vines were able to dent armor, that’s such bullshit.

Now that the path to me was somewhat clear, the beast, with stomping steps, charged towards me. My men that were still standing intercepted it, with a few attacks landing. But even if some attacks were aimed at its unarmored parts, the beast would either shift the barrier, or use its arms to block them.

Then as if the beast was annoyed, its barrier shattered and blasted its shards outward. My men were blown away, injuring those with weak defenses. Even if there were those that endured, the elf would send both his wind and vines to neutralize them as he trailed behind the beast.

These guys were really going for it.

Elson threw his dagger towards the elf through the vines, perhaps because he was an easier target than the beast as he was without any barrier. However, in quick reflex, the elf parried the dagger mid air with his sword. The moment the blade touched the dagger, the latter glowed for a moment before a swirl of magical slashes erupted around it.

However, given the distance, the magic slashes merely made contact with the elf’s sword. It didn’t end there, as a couple of more daggers followed. Surprised, the elf quickly retreated to the side with the help of his wind propelling him, causing the daggers to miss.

The elf sent vines and wind towards Elson. Elson tried fighting back, but was later on overwhelmed. Vines lashed at him like whips, and wind scarred his armor, and he was later on blown away to a building with a powerful impact.

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Hm, is it just me or were my men getting um, weaker? Well, they have been fighting for quite a while and were injured in all that. And, the enemies were giving their all now, no intention of minimizing the expenditure of their mana just to get to me. Still, isn’t that quite short sighted? If we survive long enough, their mana will reach zero sooner and then they’ll be dead — except for the beastman of course, we’re getting it alive.

But then again, if they managed to kill us before running out, good for them then. But, in the end, it all came down to luck… and skills.

The two non-humans went on to charge towards me.

“Let’s go.”

I said to my two servants and we sprinted away together. I heard a thud from behind me, I turned my head slightly and saw the beastman mid-air coming towards me. My boots slid as I forced myself to stop and turn in another direction. At the same time, the beast landed violently, but Vernon made contact with it, his fist planting into its barrier.

I should have been able to get away, but vines suddenly erupted in front of me, writhing disturbingly, before lashing at me with intense power. Rogan met those with the blade of his spear and in a sweeping motion, lightning shot out in an arc, burning the vines into ashes.

Footsteps came close, and Rogan thrust his spear backward, the bottom tip of his spear parried a blade coming at me. The elf holding that sword clicked his tongue and stepped back when Rogan started attacking him.

The two fought intensely, the elf sending both plants and his wind while swinging his sword. Rogan moved with swiftness, and lightning constantly cackled and fired.

Now was my chance to retreat. As I turned around, however, the elf seemed to have noticed my attempt, and thus he shouted at me.

“You’re not getting away!”

With a wave of his hand, the air changed, and the area around us darkened. I stopped just in time when I noticed a violent wind formed and appeared in front of me.

Aw come on.

I looked around, only to realize that a storm of wind formed all around us like a dome. It was not that big, it only managed to take all the way to where the beast and Vernon were fighting. The elf either intended to stop me just in time or catch me in the wind where I’ll be torn apart. For the latter, even with my shields, I don’t know how I’ll fare.

A slash of light made its way to the elf. He used his wind to block it and backed away.

Elson was here, pursuing the elf with his sword, and Rogan with him. He got inside just in time in the dome it seemed.

The elf’s blade shone, then thorny vines grew from the ground and attacked the two knights. With a grunt, he swung down his sword heavily towards Elson. The knight was about to swing at the elf, but before it happened, vines wrapped around his arms to restrain him. And the elf slashed through his armor.

Rogan immediately interfered and stopped the Elf, making him back away.

As my personal knight engaged the elf, Elson groaned in pain as he kneeled to one knee on the floor.

“Elson,” I called to him. “Come to me.”

He glanced at me, hesitation clear on his face.

“Hurry!” I continued.

He had no choice but to come quickly towards me while limping, his blood dripping to the floor. When he got close, I immediately cast healing magic on him, it would be a waste to let him die here.

As I healed the dagger kin knight, I looked at the battlefield. I watched Vernon, he was wounded all over and breathing quite heavily, but he should be fine for now. But then, the beast thrust his fist forward, and Vernon used his arms to shield himself.

My butler was blown away, but it didn’t end there. The beast extended its hand, and a small piece of his barrier shattered and shot towards Vernon. The butler’s face contorted in pain after several shards of the barrier stabbed into his skin. They didn’t cut deep, perhaps because of his physical enhancement, but given the quantity of the shards, it would still be very painful.

Vernon took a deep breath as he glared at the beast, blood dripping from his numerous wounds.

“Agh!”

A scream came from the elf, when I shifted my eyes I saw Rogan managed to stab his spear into the elf’s forearm. The elf forcefully pulled his arm away as vines grew and lashed out at the knight. Then, the movement of the wind dome slowed down. The elf was losing his focus.

The beast then proceeded to run, not towards Vernon, but instead towards me. He was quick.

Vernon rushed and stood in his way, but the beast seemed to give its all and shoved him aside mixed with some shards. “Agh! — No!”

My butler was sent flying.

“Princess!” Elson pushed me away and received the claws with his blade, he groaned from the sheer strength of the enemy he had to bear.

I stepped away.

They ended up in a contest of strength, however, a moment later, Elson’s blade broke apart, and the beast slammed its fist down on the man. Elson laid flat on the ground, unmoving.

The beast heaved and raised its eyes towards me. “Y-You need to die.”

There was no one to save me now. Vernon was blown to the edge of the dome, and thus he was severely injured from the raging wind, and barely able to take a step. Rogan was being held by the elf, vines tying him down. Indeed, there was no help.

Then, as the beast was about to attack, with my thoughts alone, the barrier covering my body promptly moved to engulf the beast’s hands, and a second later, another set went on to protect me.

This guy is now not too different from the werewolf I fought.

“This won’t hold me!”

That’s what the wolf said too… or wait, did it? Eh, it doesn't matter.

It tried freeing itself from the shackles. Its barrier shattered into pieces, it must be trying to shoot me with those. I conjured more barriers and sent them towards the beast, covering its body. To prevent it from doing what it was intending to do.

It glared at me.

I smiled back.

“What?” it muttered, puzzled.

Now why was I smiling? Easy… it was killable now! So killable! My men did a pretty good job weakening it!

But, I will not do the killing. I am the pure princess, after all. And well… the plan was not to kill it, but I still have a little intention in the corner of my mind.

Cold mist emanated from around me before bursting outward in all directions. It took only a moment for it to spread and engulf the entire dome, all sight obstructed.