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Volume 7 Chapter 152

Holy Knight Shin

Greetings, my name is Shin, a Holy Knight.
Although my status shows me as still only a knight……
In the Holy City, Sanctum, soldiers who protect the Holy Maiden are bestowed the title of Holy Knight.
The term Holy Knight can be confusing as a job in terms of status, but in reality, one can hardly become a Holy Knight unless they’re heroes from another world. That is beside the point.
Becoming a Holy Knight, a guardian soldier for the Holy Maiden in Sanctum, is an incredibly difficult endeavor.
Combat capability, aptitude tests, loyalty to the Holy Maiden, and faith in the Creator God are among the assessment criteria. Moreover, even if one passes the assessment, the days of rigorous training that follow are grueling.
Overcoming all of these, I finally became a Holy Knight assigned to protect the Holy Maiden last month.
I was incredibly happy.
The Holy Maiden is astonishingly beautiful, you see.
She’s the one I’ve admired since I was young.
I pledged to the Creator God that I would protect the Holy Maiden no matter the cost.
The duties of a Holy Knight involve not only guarding the Holy Maiden within the Holy City but also providing escort when she ventures outside to various countries.
About once every three months, the Holy Maiden leaves the Holy City to travel to different nations, using her miraculous deeds to save people. I consider this to be a highly honorable endeavor.
This time was my first expedition escort as a newly minted Holy Knight. There were no issues during the journey or the stays in various countries.
On the way back, however—- when we had reached a point where the outer walls of the Holy City were visible in the distance, we were ambushed.
Around thirty men who appeared to be bandits attacked us.
The Holy Knights guarding the Holy Maiden, including me, numbered ten, and ordinarily, mere bandits wouldn’t stand a chance even if they were a hundred strong.
—-Ordinary bandits, that is.
These bandits were unusual.
Even when one of the bandits had his arm cut off by a senior Holy Knight’s attack, he didn’t falter and instead lunged at the senior Holy Knight, biting into his neck.
In the first clash, five of the senior knights were defeated.
The bandits seemed to feel no fear. Even with limbs severed, they attacked as if manipulated like puppets.
Crushing their heads or severing their necks didn’t bring them down permanently, but after much effort, the remaining four senior knights and I managed to defeat about twenty of the bandits.
Eight bandits remained.
At this rate, we could protect the Holy Maiden.
Just as I was thinking that—-
The senior knights began to fall one by one.
The weapons the bandits were using seemed to be coated with potent poison; even a graze from their attacks proved fatal.
The only Holy Knight left was me.
But I’m determined to protect the Holy Maiden.
I hate to boast, but I’m quite strong. I think I could take on the nine seniors who I went on this expedition together with and likely win.
You see, I possess the ability to see an opponent’s magical power with my 『Magic Eye』.
Those who are strong all attack by manipulating their internal magical energy. And the magical power of the strong moves faster than the physical body. In other words, if I can see the flow of magical power within their bodies, I can predict their next move with ease.
It doesn’t work on those who attack without moving their magical energy, but usually, such individuals are weak, so I don’t lose to them.
I’ve trained tirelessly since I was young to protect the Holy Maiden.
So, without allowing the enemies to graze my defenses, I managed to defeat about ten bandits on my own. Though I couldn’t protect the seniors.
……. I’m sorry.
Eight bandits remained.
Out of them, I can take down seven.
The problem is the man who seems to be the leader in the farthest back.
His level of contained magical power is on a different scale from the others. It was magical power like I’ve never seen before──an amount of magical power that’s unimaginable for a human.
Probably a demon, I guess.
I had heard about them, but it’s an unbelievable amount of magical power.
If there were ten of me, I think we could somehow handle that leader.
I believe this demon is controlling the bandits. I could see the leader’s magical power entwined with the minds of the bandits.
The leader was using his minions to attack us, while he himself hasn’t moved yet.
In that case, I thought of defeating all the bandits first, then somehow luring the leader and during that time, have the Holy Maiden escape──
「You guys, go capture the Holy Maiden. I’ll deal with this guy」
The leader stood before me.
…… This was bad.
Despair in human form is right in front of me.
The leader decided to fight me, his magical power rapidly surging.
I can’t take my eyes off him.
Probably, the moment I look away, I’ll die.
The bandits slipped past me on both sides, heading toward the carriage where the Holy Maiden is riding──
「Holy Lance!!」
Magic was cast from the carriage, and four bandits were pierced by it and vanished.
It’s the Holy Maiden’s magic.
「Shin, you need to escape」
Before I knew it, the Holy Maiden had gotten off the carriage and ran up to me, saying so.
Her voice was trembling a bit.
She probably realizes that this bandit leader isn’t an ordinary opponent.
Still, the Holy Maiden glares at the leader, pointing her rapier at him.
Remembering my name despite having been assigned recently, even in this crisis, made me oddly happy.
「Protecting the Holy Maiden is my duty. There’s no way I’ll run──」
Behind the Holy Maiden, three bandits with daggers were stealthily approaching from both sides. My Magic Eye sensed it.
「No!」
I took down the three bandits.
Thanks to the Holy Maiden keeping her gaze on the leader and her rapier pointed at him, the leader’s attention shifted and I could move.
The situation has gotten a bit easier.
All that’s left is to get the Holy Maiden to escape.
Defeating this leader──demon is absolutely impossible for me right now.
The Holy Maiden might have a chance against the demon.
If the holy magic given by the Creator God remains──
However, the Holy Maiden, who had traveled the land performing miraculous deeds, has almost no divine magical power left.
Probably, this demon attacked us here knowing that.
But we can already see the Holy City. If the Holy Maiden can escape there, all I need to do is to hold the demon off.
I can’t defeat the demon, but I can keep it occupied.
My magic eye’s ability isn’t just about seeing others’ magical power.
My magic eye’s other ability──is the power to stop time for what it is within my gaze.
Well, using it for a second would cost me ten days of life, though.
My status board, which has this magic eye, also displays the remaining lifespan.
Skill: Magic Eye〘Lifespan: 3050 days〙
I have around ten years of life left.
I’ve used my magic eye quite a bit, so it’s considerably reduced.
Still, if I use up all the remaining lifespan, I should be able to stop the demon’s movement for about five minutes.
「Holy Maiden, I’ll stop the demon’s movement. Use that opportunity to run with all your might to the Holy City」
Once she enters the Holy City, even if it’s a demon, it can’t touch her. If she reaches the Holy City, and if my lifespan holds, I win!
「Shin, you wouldn’t possibly……」
The Holy Knight can’t hide things from the Holy Maiden, so she knows about my magic eye.
She seems to have figured out what I’m planning.
「Thinking I’d be the only one to survive while my seniors risked their lives, that’s a bit too selfish, don’t you think? I’ll definitely protect the Holy Maiden. For the sake of my seniors, for Seira-sama, I want you to escape!」
I called her by her name for the first time.
Well, it’s the end……. It’s fine, right?
「Hmm, whatever you’re planning, don’t think you can escape from us」
「──!?」
Suddenly a voice from behind startled me, and as I turned around, there’s another demon there.
Judging from their magical power, this one is almost as strong as the first demon.
And, the ability to stop time with my magic eye only works on one target. Moreover, it takes a few seconds to switch targets.
It’s over.
Since there are two demons in front of me, I have no choice but to use my magic eye to immobilize them in exchange for my lifespan.
「Sorry to summon you like this. I want to make sure to eliminate the Holy Maiden who could be an obstacle to the future Demon King here」
「Oh, doesn’t matter. We should also get rid of this guy, he was able to take down your puppets all by himself」
「That’s right」
Two demons began conversing, sandwiching me and the Holy Maiden.
The demon mentioned the revival of the Demon King.
They’re talking quite casually, considering they definitely intend to kill us.
Well, there’s no way to convey this to the Holy Capital.
Both demons started gathering a vast amount of magical power in their respective hands. It was so much that it could be seen without using my magic eye.
That magical power formed spherical masses above the demons’ heads. They were balls of malice and death.
「Farewell, Holy Maiden, and proud knight. I don’t dislike your loyalty and the strength of your souls」
Even if the demon praised me, I didn’t feel happy about it.
Actually, I’d prefer they didn’t praise me at all.
The demon swung its hand down.
Death was approaching.
In the end, as a knight, I became the shield of the Holy Maiden──
This is strange.
There was an explosion, and the magic unleashed by the demons undoubtedly exploded…….
But I’m still alive.
So is the Holy Maiden.
When I opened my eyes, a translucent dome covered us, protecting us from the demons’ attacks.
Looking at the Holy Maiden, she shook her head, so this wasn’t the Holy Maiden’s barrier.
Moreover, even with the Holy Maiden’s abilities, she couldn’t block the attacks of two demons without the support of priests.
So, who set up this barrier──
Actually, I already knew the answer.
Inside that barrier, besides me and the Holy Maiden, there was one more person──a young man with black hair.