As Ignis approached and closed in on Dealous, he saw how easily he destroyed the jail gate and entered. Ignis's pace quickened, and in this chaotic battle, he could hear the shouts of knights and the knight captain, who earlier had shouted to save a girl in that jail.
He could hear everyone's panicked shouting, " Protect the young lady!"
He was still too far away to reach the girl in time if Dealous decided to kill her. Ignis gritted his teeth in frustration, cursing his own agility for not being enough to close the distance quickly. As desperation set in, an idea struck him. He thought to himself, 'I hope this works...' The thought of failing to save the girl made Ignis's heart race.
With a swift motion, Ignis retrieved his katana, unleashed [Mana Surge], and launched it like a javelin, impaling Dealous's hand just as he was about to grab the girl.
The moment the katana penetrated Dealous's hand, he jolted in surprise, caught off guard, as he was about to savour the feeling of catching his prey and playing with it a bit.
Dealous spun around suddenly, a long whip hurtling towards him, but before he could react, a searing pain shot through his right hand that was moments ago reaching for his prey. As he struggled to register the sudden pain, the whip lashed out at him once again, delivering another stinging blow to his left hand. It was then that he caught sight of his attacker—the same man he had anticipated to be a worthy opponent, "Daze."
UURRGH!
Pain seared through his body, and he collapsed to his knees, unleashing a bloodcurdling scream that echoed through the halls. His body convulsed and writhed, drenched in a cold sweat, as he processed the reality of his situation. With a sickening thud, both of his arms were severed by the whip, and grey blood sprayed onto the floor in a grotesque display.
Ignis, without doing anything else, directly approached the girl.
Meanwhile, the chaotic battle halted for a moment as everyone heard the bloodcurdling scream of Dealous.
Lazer abruptly stopped the ongoing battle with the golden-armored knight, quickly took several steps backward, and fixed his intense gaze towards the jail. A blazing fury coursed through him as he witnessed his once-trusted subordinate being outmaneuvered and effortlessly defeated.
However, his face remained stoic, revealing no emotions, and no one knew what he was thinking.
Suddenly, a strong and very loud voice thundered throughout the battle hall: "FIGHT!!! That young man has done his job, and let's not disappoint him."
All eyes turned towards the source of the commanding voice, the golden-armoured knight, and the stunned warriors snapped out of their stupor.
"Haaa!!!" Every knight roared and charged into battle with renewed vigour, their eyes burning with a joyous fury as they remembered the sight of the large dinosaur losing both hands to a single lash of the whip. Their bodies exuded even more confidence as they fiercely engaged in combat with the viciously behaving dinosaur.
Golden-armoured knight glared at the emotionless Lazer and through gritted teeth declared, "You will pay for what you have done to the young lady."
The veins on the knight's hand, arms, and head bulged as he seethed with rage, remembering how the bandits had attacked and kidnapped the young lady.
He never expected to find her two days later, not in a bandit hideout but inside a massive cave that looked like a mountain from the outside.
The presence of a laboratory and the discovery of these dinosaur-like creatures had left him utterly bewildered.
But without dwelling too much, he prepared himself and charged towards Lazer. Meanwhile, Lazer shut his eyes and reminisced about the reason they were there.
Even before the knight's attack had reached him, he had already contemplated the experiment and all their actions. Now that they were exposed, but their work was almost finished, he knew what he had to do in this situation.
…
In the well-maintained garden, beautiful trees with leaves in shades of red, pink, and light colours created a serene and exquisite ambience.
A 9-year-old girl with two braids of dark blue hair and chubby baby cheeks eagerly called out to her grandmother, "Grandma! Grandma! Grandma!... Hear me out!"
The grandmother, who shared a striking resemblance with the young girl's dark blue braided hair and youthful looks, exuded elegance, arched her eyebrows, and exclaimed in a serious yet sweetly smiling tone, "Sourin! Don't address me as grandma! It makes me sound old!"
The girl named Sourin erupted into laughter, revealing her missing front two milk teeth, and retorted, "But father told me not to be fooled by your looks."
The eyebrows of the grandmother twitched, and she thought to herself, 'That bitch of a son-in-law, it looks like I'll have to tell my daughter to discipline him more.'
After taking the mental note, the grandmother looked at her cute, adorable granddaughter, and all the bitterness in her heart vanished. and she beckoned to her cute granddaughter and welcomed her to sit close. "Tell me, what is it that you want to ask?"
The grandmother lounged in a lavish armchair, a table overflowing with scrumptious delicacies and refreshing drinks before her.
Sourin eagerly reached for her grandmother and plopped onto her lap. With a swift movement, she retrieved a picture book from her bracelet and flipped through the pages until she found the one she wanted.
Then, she gazed up at her grandmother with her stunning round and bright green eyes, full of excitement, and spoke in her cute, childlike voice, "Grandma, look! Look! See this prince? He saved the princess from the scary monster!"
She then began showing her grandmother what happened in the picture book enthusiastically, and her grandmother listened to her closely and followed her through the whole story.
The most interesting thing in this picture book was that the prince had dark-scarlet hair.
After the story finished, Sourin turned to her grandmother and, in a sugary-sweet voice, asked, "Grandma, do you think a brave prince will save me if I meet a scary monster?"
The grandma looked at Sourin with an amused expression, then flicked her finger and tapped her forehead.
"Ouch! Grandmaaa!!!" Sourin's eyes welled up with tears as she felt the tap on her forehead. She looked at her grandma with a puppy face, teary eyes, and pouted cheeks.
The grandma pulled on Sourin's chubby cheeks, shaking them, and said, "Don't call me grandma."
Sourin asked, "Then what should I call you?"
"Call me Qu-"
The grandma began to say something but then stopped and shook her head. With a defeated look, she said, "Okay, you win. Call me whatever you want."
Sourin looked at her grandma with cheeky and narrowed eyes; her grandma could rarely come to visit her, and when she came, she would always make a fuss about not calling her grandma, but when she asked what she should call her, she would never give her a definitive answer.
The grandma avoided Sourin's mischievous gaze and cleared her throat nervously. "Um, about the question you asked earlier..."
Sourin's demeanour changed, and she sat up straight, ready to listen intently to her grandma's response.
Taking a deep breath, the grandma spoke with confidence and a smile on her face. "No monster in this world could ever harm you, sweetheart. You don't need a prince to save you because you have me. I'll protect you from all the baddies out there."
The grandma had a smug face as she spoke, and as she finished, she looked as if she just wanted to hear praise from her granddaughter, as she didn't need a prince as she had her.
"But grandma! I want a prince who's strong and powerful, not some old person who doesn't even look strong!" Sourin protested as she heard her grandma's response.
Upon hearing Sourin's protest, the grandma inwardly let out a deep sigh. She, one of the most feared and revered people on the continent, never expected to be told by her own granddaughter that she didn't look powerful.
She had many enemies, but none dared to openly confront her one-on-one, and those who met her either trembled in fear or admired her greatly.
She gazed at her granddaughter's bright green eyes, free from any malice, and realized how much she wanted to shield her from the harsh realities of the world. She remembered the number of enemies she had to deal with and how much politics she had to navigate.
With a heavy heart, she sighed and made a promise to herself, "You won't need any prince as long as you have me. I will always protect you."
A sudden urgency filled her mind as she received a message. Her previously calm expression turned to a cold intensity, her eyes sharpening as she nodded without speaking, acknowledging the message.
She looked towards her precious granddaughter, feeling a reluctant tug at her heartstrings as she knew it was time for her to leave.
After a moment of silence, she stood up and lifted Sourin into her arms, speaking with a gentle expression that exuded warmth instead of her earlier coldness. "Sweetheart, I wish for you to find your prince someday," she said, before muttering under her breath, "But don't worry, you have me."
As soon as Sourin heard her grandmother's response, she beamed with happiness, and joy radiated from her face. 'Yayy!! Grandma!!' she exclaimed, planting kisses on her grandmother's cheeks in excitement.
…
The girl in the jail staggered back against the wall, seeing no sign of escape. But when she witnessed the dark-scarlet haired man easily taking care of the large dinosaur, she remembered what her grandmother had told her: "Sweetheart, I hope you find your prince someday…"
As the man approached her, her heart raced, and there was only one thought in her mind: 'MY PRINCE!'