Chapter 34

The palace had been largely deserted. Either that, or everyone hid somewhere. Those who didn't have the chance to flee could only cower in fear as the princess passed by. Even the imperial soldiers and Baronnt’s private army, who were supposed to be fighting each other, called a truce when Neila passed.

Now, Neila actually looked like a proper princess, one people feared and respected.

After scaring some people on the way, they finally arrived at the rear garden.

“It seemed you have-”

Neila shot forward and immediately attempted to punch the white dragon that Baronnt rode. The dragon used its hands to stop her, slightly pushed back as the power of her fist honed in on it. It’s impressive considering that the dragon’s total length was thirty meters, way beyond Kakashi’s barrier.

“That sure ruined his entrance…”

While Neila didn't cause any significant damage, the fact that she attacked in the first place eliminated any tension.

“So… should we start?” Syorin asked. Baronnt was so surprised by the sudden strike that he was visibly confused. It seemed that he was looking for something to say. A speech that showed his superiority over the heroes, but Neila wasn’t giving him any time to think.

He was holding a rock, similar to the ones used to control Astill, Four, and Five. He must be controlling the dragon with it, and said dragon was in a brawl with Neila. Both of them were trading punches, but neither could harm the other.

“... It took all three of us to fight a single White Dragon…”

“And Neila’s doing that all on her own right now.”

It was impressive, but unlike the dragon, Neila had been fighting for a while now. She had become visibly tired. The alcohol’s effect might also be running out, which puts her position at great risk.

“Should we start the battle now?” Kakashi asked.

“Yeah.”

Kakashi pressed the button, and both Neila and the dragon were stopped. The dragon had the better speed, though, and used its turn first. It attacked Neila, much like before, but this time, it swung its tail for extra damage. Neila stopped the attack with her bare hands. Once its turn ended, it stepped back. Neila pulled out an explosive from her jacket.

Without waiting for Kakashi’s order, Neila smacked that explosive into the dragon’s head, then jumped away right before it exploded, dealing damage to the dragon. The dragon screamed in pain, but only a small bit of its health was taken out. It remained largely unaffected.

“... I can’t control Neila.”

“What?” Syorin looked toward Kakashi. Kakashi noticed this before, but thought it was because the civilians were non-combatants. As it turned out, there were three states a person might have in battle.

Hostile, neutral, and ally. Hostiles are the people who wanted to kill him, and allies are the ones he could control, but Neila currently acted as a neutral. She didn’t fight against him, but he had no control over her, either.

“Can you act neutral as well?” Kakashi asked.

Unlike when he was the one who removed Neila from the party, Syorin switched to neutral by refusing his orders. This disabled Kakashi’s ability, however, because Kakashi couldn’t activate it without any allies.

“Kakashi, reactivated it!”

Kakashi quickly pressed the button again, but the turns had been reset. The dragon still had the upper hand, and she moved first again. It used fire breath in an attempt to burn Neila alive, but Neila managed to dodge out of the way. The fire breath extended all through the twenty-meter barrier and hit Syorin.

“Urgh!”

“Syorin, are you alright!?”

The barrier’s properties prevented her from actually being burnt, but the attack did cut down a tenth of her HP.

“I’m fine. Kakashi, what do we do?”

Neila, meanwhile, used another explosive, this time throwing it straight toward Baronnt on top of the dragon, who was still not used to this way of fighting. The dragon swung its tail and knocked the explosives back toward Neila. Neila managed to dodge out of the way in the nick of time, barely avoiding getting hurt.

“Y- You’ll never beat me!”

“KNOW YOUR PLACE, YOU SHITTY BRAT!”

“I- I’m older than you!”

Baronnt had yet to regain his composure. He expected Kakashi’s ability, but not Neila’s hidden skill of being drunk.

It was now Syorin’s turn, and she looked at him for his command.

“... Any ideas?” But Kakashi himself wasn’t sure what to do. Syorin could heal herself, but now that she knew the dragon’s attacks could reach her, dodging would be more effective.

She could try to punch the dragon, but that was unlikely to deal any damage. Or she could use a defensive spell, but considering Neila was in crazy mode, that’s unlikely to help. Her defense was strong enough on her own.

“... Should we give her more drinks?”

“Nope! Rejected! Don’t even think about doing that!”

Kakashi thought that if they could pull her power out with alcohol, then she could be even more powerful. But, thinking about it, he realized that she could be even more of a threat as well, so that wasn’t a good option.

Kakashi thought carefully about their next move, much to the annoyance of everyone else.

“Just move, would you!”

“Kakashi, you’re taking too LONG! MOVE NOW!”

“Roar!” Even the dragon roared. But he was genuinely not sure what to do.

Plus, if Syorin moved, Baronnt would move after her, and there’s a non-zero chance that the dragon would gain an extra chance as well.

“... Is there any chance of negotiations?”

“NO!” both Baronnt and Neila shouted at the same time.

Currently, the only hope for them was for Astill, Four, and maybe Five to join the battle, but that’s also a risky idea. Baronnt controlled the dragon with the magic rock, which meant he could control them as well.

Unless…

“Syorin, I’m going to get Astill and the others. For now, keep healing, Neila.”

Luckily, or unluckily, Syorin’s heal only affected Neila’s hangover, but when Neila’s drunk, it didn’t reduce her drunkenness.

“Alright. What are you planning?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

Syorin nodded, and Kakashi turned off the barrier. Once again, the dragon and Neila traded blows. Neila used more of her explosives, while the dragon utilized more of its body. The two had full intentions of killing each other.

Kakashi ran back toward the palace.