I, the Female Lead, Ruined the Original

Crack!

The protective shield guarding Pavellian and Arshilla shattered easily. Rakrensius’s fervor imbued in Di seemed almost meaningless.

[As expected, the imperial treasures seem to be imbued with Orot’s power to counter me… They didn’t know I could neutralize Orot’s power so effortlessly.] Di, filled with a sense of satisfaction, assessed the situation.

“Crown Prince!”

Arshilla touched Pavellian’s back, and a peculiar light shimmered in his unsteady eyes. Soon, his holy relic, re-energized, began to glow.

“My relic is the shield of the first emperor, Rexios, who claimed the throne.”

The radiance spread radially, creating a new hemisphere of light that enveloped all the mirrors behind them.

“Its purpose is to protect the blood of Nepelsian…!”

[Let’s target that shield directly.]

But Di was a relic beyond all other relics.

“Nepelsian blood, you say….”

Moreover, the one wielding it was also of Nepelsian blood. Though an illegitimate child, his blood was as imperial as Pavellian’s.

Rakrensius, with a bitter smile, raised the sword again…

Di collided head-on with the shield of the first emperor.

The sharp edge of Di’s sword honed to a fine edge, scraped against the iron of Pavellian’s relic, making a chilling noise.

A tremendous gust of wind erupted where the two metals clashed. Rakrensius and Pavellian, neither yielding an inch, pressed against each other with sword and shield. Outwardly, it seemed like a contest of strength between the two, but it was actually a battle of the powers within the relics. The light in the sword and the light surrounding the shield repelled each other, creating rough, sparking waves.

“

, amazing….”

The light at the far end of the shield began to fade, gradually shrinking the area it covered until the shield completely disappeared. Symbolizing its lost function, the faint glow of the shield vanished, leaving it looking like a mere piece of scrap metal. With a thud, Pavellian’s bulky body finally collapsed.

[After neutralizing all the divine power in his body, this is what happens. Let’s hope he regains his senses.]

As if the outcome had been predetermined, Di no longer made a fuss.

“

…!”

Arshilla, who had been standing behind the fallen Pavellian, took a few steps back and shouted to the paladins. “Come protect me!”

The paladins, silently positioned in the smoke, quickly rushed forward to stand in front of Arshilla. As they formed a narrow formation around Rakrensius, pushing the fallen Pavellian aside, Selleana charged at him.

“Where’s your sword, your sword…!”

“W-What…!”

As Selleana shook him back and forth, the unconscious Pavellian barely regained consciousness.

“Can’t you see, the paladins are attacking an imperial?”

Dazed, Pavellian barely noticed Selleana addressing him so informally. Indeed, just as Selleana said. While he was semi-conscious, the paladins had pointed their swords at Rakrensius. Of course, the fifth prince did seem to have attacked him… or did he use the shield first? How did this happen?

“

, this is frustrating, seriously…!”

Selleana reached for Pavellian’s waist and swiftly pulled out his sword.

“Lady, what are you…!”

“Look, they’re trying to overwhelm the tower master with numbers!”

“But, Lady, how can you wield a sword…! And to touch a man’s waist…!”

“I was just trying to get the sword! I’ll have to block them somehow! Though I don’t know if I can withstand them!”

“It’s dangerous!”

“Then help me!”

Pavellian, flustered, assessed the situation and, stumbling, and then…

“Master of the tower, behind, behind you!”

While the two bickered, the paladins formed a perfect circle around Rakrensius. Six skilled paladins stood at precise intervals, leaving no gaps for attack, making it seem very dangerous. Even if Di could dispel their divine power, Rakrensius, who had never properly learned swordsmanship, seemed unlikely to defend himself…

, Selleana swallowed dryly and was about to charge at the nearest paladin when,

An immense light flickered as if bleaching the space, and then,

Lightning bolts formed in the air and struck the paladins’ swords with a boom! The divine power imbued in their swords reacted violently with the magic, shattering the swords, and the backlash knocked the paladins unconscious.

“Lady….” After creating such a violent scene, Rakrensius simply looked at Selleana with a weary face. “Please don’t ask other men to protect me. I have my own specialties, you know.”

“I was just too worried about you, Master of Tower.”

Selleana, without looking at Pavellian’s sword she had taken, tossed it aside and ran towards Rakrensius. At this moment, the safest place was behind Rakrensius’s back.

“This is… outrageous…!” Arshilla gritted her teeth. Around the cursed error, the paladins who had assisted her for over decade were all incapacitated and lying on the ground. Her entire force had been rendered powerless.

Rakrensius took a step toward the trembling saintess.

Understanding his resolve, Selleana swallowed dryly as she watched Rakrensius’s broad back move away from her. However, Rakrensius calmly walked past Arshilla and headed for the mirrors behind her.

“No…!”

The concern was for later. He swung Di, shattering the floating mirrors one by one.

Mirrors reflecting various views, whose owners were unknown, shattered into pieces.

“S-Stop…!”

The saintess reached out frantically, launching a condensed divine power, but…

Di, extending its blade, blocked and shattered it in an instant.

[The Empress’s faction nobles are physically blocking the sons of Elard.]

Regardless of what had just happened, Di dryly reported the mages’ observations from outside.

“So…”

“Over there! Selleana screamed sharply, pointing to a cluster of mirrors showing Peredo from various angles.

* * *

Contrary to his size, Peredo’s light leap collided with Tiel Orelli’s sword. To avoid being pushed back, Tiel Orelli gathered the unfamiliar sword aura for defense.

“

…!”

Using the point where the two swords met as a pivot, Peredo somersaulted in the air. Thanks to Tiel Orelli’s firm stance, it actually provided a good foothold.

“Sorry. There’s no need for either of us to bleed.”

Winking at the fallen Tiel Orelli, Peredo ran towards the main palace. As expected, the people in front of him quickly surrounded him.

“No, Count!

, Lord Ranchard? Why are you all here?”

“Sir Peredo, this is insolent!”

“How dare you act so recklessly here!”

With eyes seemingly unfocused, they muttered similar phrases, closing in on him.

Not wanting to harm civilians, Peredo had already sheathed his sword. He struggled to shake them off with moderate force.

After confirming that Selleana was taken by the Empress, Theonis headed to the Rose Palace in a similar situation. Accompanied by Pulina, Theoni’s personal guard, who was always assigned to Selleana, and a few elite knights, he found himself surrounded by the ladies from the Empress’s faction, unable to move. With eyes devoid of reason, they pressed closer.

! Fortunately, Theonis’s side had more people, and the knights knocked out the ladies by hitting the back of their necks, but…

“Well, this is…”

“This feels wrong…”

Fighting ladies who knew nothing of martial arts filled them with a profound sense of shame.

At that moment, suddenly, as if their strings had been cut, the ladies’ movements stopped altogether.