Chapter 463: The Selfish Siblings (2/2)

Automatas can put a heavy load on their wrists and elbows, but they don’t feel pain. Therefore, the guard simply tried to force its own arm free from Edgar’s lock.

However, doing that while its arm was being twisted hadn’t been the right choice. A heavy load was applied to the elbow joint, and although it managed to shake it off, it suffered great damage while doing so. The guard’s left shoulder broke, and hung from its half-disconnected joint.

Albert apparently was more than just a selfish prince, as he instantly recognized how dangerous Edgar was by seeing him fight.

“Four of you, attack him together.”

Three more guards rushed on Edgar. They came at him in all directions.

Back in the Shouro Empire, Edgar had taken on two puppet soldiers owned by Elsa’s father Georg, but these automata guards were different.

Edgar was able to easily dodge the attacks by the first two of them, but the third’s attack shook his right shoulder. The impact caused him to slightly lose his stance, and as a result, the attack from the fourth guard, which should have been avoided at the last moment, struck him directly on his back.

“Edgar!”

Elsa shouted.

As Edgar staggered forward, one of the automata guards kicked Edgar in the face. The automata guard behind him kicked his head after he had leaned backwards.

As the impact sent his head forward, a second kick came at his face.

However, Edgar caught its attacker’s foot with both hands, and half-twisting his body, threw himself at the guard behind him, tackling it with his back.

Still, his opponent was considerably heavy, so the impact only managed to make it stagger. Conversely, Edgar ended up being grabbed from behind.

Another automata guard approached the restrained Edgar and raised its right fist for an attack.

“Watch out, Edgar!”

However, Edgar used his legs to propel himself back, bent his knees, and used his backward momentum to kick forward with both legs, using his restrainer to support his body.

Naturally, the kick connects with Edgar’s rushing attacker. With the recoil, the guard that was restraining Edgar fell on its back.

The two automata fell on the ground, bouncing off each other. Twisting his body, Edgar freed himself from his restraint.

However, the remaining two automata guards finally pulled out their short swords.

“A-Are you going to go that far!?”

Saki had been dumbfoundedly watching the entire scene, but finally reacted. Elsa was being protected by her two Covert Units, so there was no need to worry about her. In that case…

“Ehr, go assist Edgar!”

Beatrix responds to her voice.

“Oh, you’re sending reinforcements? Then I shall do the same.”

With a sign of her hand, four of Beatrix’s personal automata guards took a step forward.

Ehr’s battle performance was slightly inferior compared to Edgar’s. The battle between Edgar and Ehr versus eight automata guards seemed to have a clear victor.

“Ugh! Jin! Come quickly!”

Before they realized, the passersby had already fled the area, and the shops had already closed their doors. Meanwhile, there were three people running towards them.

“…Is everyone okay?”

They were Jin, Hanna, and Reiko.

“Brother Jin…”

“Jin! Thank goodness…”

“Jin…”

Elsa ran towards Jin, and Saki and Stearleana breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Hmm? Who’s that? …Stop attacking!”

Since an intruder had stepped in, the selfish siblings ordered their automata guards to stop attacking as a simple temporary ceasefire, and they came to a sudden halt.

“I heard the details from Reiko. Seems like you’ve had quite a rough time…”

The Covert Units used their built-in Mana Comm to contact Laojun, who then relayed the information about what was happening onto Reiko.

Upon learning of the situation, Jin and the others came running.

Jin’s complexion changed completely after finding that Edgar seemed to have sustained some damage.

“…Edgar? Are you fighting against those guys?”

“That’s right, Jin! That guy was trying to take Elsa with him, and when she refused, he tried to take her by force!”

“Got it.”

Jin looked at Elsa, who was hiding behind him, and then at Albert. Then, he looked at Elsa’s knife, which Beatrix was still ??holding to herself.

“Reiko, first of all, retrieve that knife.”

“Understood, Father.”

Beatrix simply wasn’t quick enough to react, and right after hearing those words, Reiko had already snatched the knife away from her and instantly returned to Jin’s side.

“Well done. …You can’t take Elsa away with you anymore. Barrier…”

After noticing that the knife in her hand had disappeared and was now in the intruder’s hands, Beatrix cast a spell at Jin.

“Fire Bullet!”

However, the spell was completely blocked before Jin and Elsa, and not a single bullet managed to reach them.

“…Hey, what’s the deal with you? Why are you shooting fire bullets at us all of a sudden?”

Hearing Jin’s words, Beatrix chuckled.

“You just stole my knife, that’s why!”

Jin was taken aback.

“…Wait, wait. This is Elsa’s knife, isn’t it? The only thief here is you.”

“Whaat!? How dare you call me a thief! Prepare yourself!”

“…Say, are these guys out of their mind or something?”

They seemed to be impervious to words. Jin turned to Stearleana, who was standing beside him, and asked her that question. In response, she shook her head with a disappointing look on her face.

“Well, I guess you can say they’re a bit exceptional…”