As Blaine eyed the approaching enemy soldiers, he instinctively stepped forward, shielding Cecelia behind his back.
One of the 2-Star soldiers, a young blonde-haired woman, watched Blaine's antics with an amused tone.
"I see you aren't done playing around just yet."
Holstering her handgun, she pulled off a blood-stained war scythe that was strapped to her back.
As soon as she pulled out her weapon, her companions followed suit as a black-haired man grabbed a mace while a black-haired woman with similar features pulled out a crossbow.
Unlike the blond-haired woman, who looked to be in her late twenties, the black-haired pair looked much older.
They were both at least in their mid-forties.
Given their similarities in both appearance and age, the two were most likely siblings.
Twins at that.
Observing his enemies, Blaine quickly noticed something.
All of them were injured in some way or another.
Some of them had horrible gashes, while others had colourful bruises.
Although the monster they encountered earlier failed to kill them, it hadn't let them escape scot-free either.
While their injuries weren't bad enough to the point that they were reduced to a level Blaine could fight, it was still better than nothing.
The black-haired woman threw Blaine a sympathetic look as the three 2-Stars from the coalition walked towards the pair of youths.
"You're quite impressive, kid. From your appearance… You're still a teen, aren't you? I have a brat your age, but there's no way he could do half the things you can."
The black-haired woman lifted her crossbow and pointed to Cecelia behind him.
"How about this? If you step down and give us the princess without a fight, we'll let you go," turning to her companions, the black-haired woman gave them a glance.
At their companion's silent question, the blond woman nodded while the black-haired man simply shrugged.
A small smile formed on the black-haired woman's cherry-red lips as she redirected her gaze back at Blaine.
"My companions are willing to uphold their words. I know it's not smart to trust the words of your enemy, but right now, you don't have any other options. So… Will you take up our proposition?"
As the woman studied Blaine's emotionless face, the auburn-haired youth paused for several moments, seemingly in thought.
While Blaine had already somewhat inferred that their enemies knew Cecelia's real identity, it was quite a shock for the princess.
However, given their current situation, Cecelia had no time to guess how they found out.
So she simply asked instead.
"How?"
The blonde-haired woman smiled mockingly in response.
"Who do you think leaked the information about there being a 'holy temple' here?"
Cecelia felt baffled by the revelation.
However, sadly, her mind was too muddled to realize the glaring falsehood in the woman's words.
She was far more concerned with the direness of their predicament to notice.
Turning to her bodyguard, Cecelia felt a lump form in her throat.
After closing her eyes for several seconds, Cecelia resolved herself, and her quivering mouth slowly parted.
"Leave me here and save yourself… This is a Royal Order!"
In response to the princess's selfless declaration, the black-haired woman added:
"Don't worry, we don't have any intentions of hurting the princess. She's infinitely more valuable alive than dead."
However, Blaine still looked at the trio of 2-Stars without a reaction.
The black-haired man gave Blaine a confused look.
"What? Are you struggling to make a decision? I know you may love your country, but is it worth dying over?"
Despite the irony of such a statement from a soldier, no one bothered to point this out.
After all, everyone here wanted the same thing.
For Blaine to give up and surrender.
Cecelia looked at the auburn-haired youth with eyes full of rage.
"Why? Why don't you just abandon me? I'm nothing more than dead weight! I've never been anything more than a burden! Someone like you… Someone who actually has talent, a person who could actually do good for the Kingdom… You aren't someone who should die on behalf of someone like me!"
Pouring her heart out, tears began to spill from Cecelia's eyes.
Blaine was almost guaranteed to become a 3-Star in the future.
Perhaps he could even overcome the fourth divine trial and become the first 4-Star of humanity.
The hopes and expectations that people placed on the auburn-haired youth were anything but modest.
However, Cecelia, on the other hand…
She was nothing but a failure.
Although her ability to create inventions was admirable, it didn't change the fact that she was inherently weak.
Someone who needed to be protected and coddled.
A damsel in distress.
That's all she was, is, and ever will be.
Witnessing the princess's heart-rending display, the blond-haired woman blew a short whistle.
"Wow… That was quite the moving speech."
The black-haired woman shot her companion a quiet glare, but the blond-haired woman didn't notice or even care.
Instead, the blond-haired woman observed Blaine with a scrutinizing look.
"Hey… You don't think he's just staying quiet to buy time, do you?"
As soon as her black-haired companions heard her words, the siblings narrowed their eyes.
Turning back to Blaine, the black-haired woman sighed.
"I'll give you ten seconds to make your decision."
Although she was trying to be reasonable, there was no way she'd let herself be taken advantage of.
"Te-"
Before she could even finish counting her first number, Blaine suddenly kicked off the ground and swung his sword at her.
The black-haired man clicked his tongue.
"Crafty b*stard. Played us for fools."
But before Blaine's blade got even remotely close to her, the black-haired man blocked Blaine's blow with the body of his mace.
However, Blaine wasn't done there.
Channeling his mana, he flooded it into his sword, causing it to glow bright white, filling the surroundings with intense light.
Although he did this, it didn't make a difference.
Unlike 2-Stars who could enhance their bodies with mana, 1-Stars like Blaine couldn't.
Winning in a battle of pure strength was impossible, even if his enemy wasn't putting in all their strength.
It seemed they had reservations about fighting and killing a child.
After all, there was no way a 1-Star could hope to beat a 2-Star.
…Which is why someone like Blaine needed to rely on every tool he had at his disposal, no matter how underhanded or dirty.
At least that's what his father, the man hailed as the 'Supreme Sword,' taught him.
Opening his mouth, Blaine hawked a mouthful of spit directly at the black-haired man's face.
Caught off-guard by the youth's surprise attack, the black-haired man tried to dodge and hastily stepped back.
But just as he tried to, something seemed to catch his foot, causing him to trip.
As he fell, the black-haired man noticed a small translucent green object by his feet.
It was an object that closely resembled a knotted rope.
And that very same rope that was the reason for his current predicament.
Not wasting the opportunity, Blaine fell on top of the man, aiming to plunge his glowing white sword straight through the man's chest.