"Hey...... You're holding me like this, I can't start fighting. ”

Fili tilted his head and whispered to him.

Ed quickly let go of his hand.

They didn't even have weapons - Ed almost tried to snatch the Staff of Eternity back from Bloomer with a backhand, but looking back, the young knight had wisely backed away.

The glow of the Staff of Eternity had vanished, and a thin layer of sweat oozed from the young man's face, and it was a little abnormally white. Manipulating the Staff of Eternity for a long time didn't seem to be easy for him.

Ed unconsciously gloated a little—even though his own situation was clearly worse.

They were inexplicably frozen for a few moments with the guards around them, as if none of them knew how to make the first move, and finally Filly let out a low snort and suddenly rushed forward.

The spear pointed at him stepped back a little in a panic, presumably because Fili was muttering as if he was reciting some incantation.

Paladins are actually quite limited in their spells, and most of them can only be used as supports—but Ed is a ...... Priest.

As Filly quickly grabbed a spear and snatched it away, using a simple spell to strengthen himself, Ed suddenly realized that he wasn't just standing there waiting for help.

Whatever the hell comes from his power...... He could feel it still in him, at least not before the goddess seemed to be taking it back.

He didn't have any materials with him to cast spells, but thankfully, not all spells needed them.

His confidence had returned a little bit as he had successfully defended Fili, but he had a little regret that he hadn't learned any summoning skills - after all. He has a dragon...... He had never thought that he would need to summon any ferocious critters from the other world, but now that there were so many of them, even Xiao Mo's fangs could help......

Luckily. None of the clergy present seemed to have any intention of making a move. Ed hurriedly threw a fixation spell and added a prayer to Philip as he squatted down to dodge a hesitant spear.

“...... Use the Sanctuary!Fool!Can you protect yourself and don't trip over me!" Fei yelled at him with a little rage as she slashed away from several of the enemies who came forward with her spear.

Ed didn't listen.

He admits that Filly is good, but not strong enough to deal with so many people.

A stone wall rose from the ground to block the enemies on one side, but suddenly there was nothing above them, and the sun was shining brightly.

Knights brought by Ante...... and the soldiers of Visa City quickly dismantled the entire tent from the outside. The nobles and other witnesses who had retreated to the edge of their tents immediately retreated further. A few long arrows whizzed, but perhaps for the sake of their companions, they lost their sights completely. Ed didn't waste his only Wind Wall technique, but involuntarily shrank his head.

As he looked down, he saw the brooch on his chest hidden under a blue ribbon - he could summon a dragon at any time, though he still remembered the consequences of his last inadvertent summoning...... And he suspected that Ante would not be unprepared for this, which could put Isse in danger.

There was a brief hesitation. A familiar roar fell from the sky. There was a moment of hesitation and panic among the surrounding enemies. But apparently not under the influence of Long Wei - Ante was indeed prepared.

“...... You called the dragon?" asked Fili, exclaiming, unable to tell whether he was annoyed or delighted.

"No!" Ed replied with a bitter face, "I'm worried about ......"

His "worry" disappeared into another roar. This time the confusion among the soldiers was probably simply because the noise was too loud - even Ed was so shocked that his eyes blackened, and he almost fell to the ground with a weak leg.

A huge black shadow loomed overhead. The ice dragon circled low, the strong wind blowing up so that everyone couldn't open their eyes, and the silver-white tail slapped to the ground like lightning, easily whipping several fully armored warriors aside, but had to suddenly pull up when they wanted to stretch out their hind claws to grab Ed and Filly. Avoid an arc of electric light.

"Left! Ed, left!"

Naria's voice drifted down from the sky.

Ed was still looking up in a daze. Fili wielded a spear in one hand and grabbed him with the other, charging towards the gap to the left.

The unfamiliar sound of the incantation made Ed's heart beat to a halt - the priests invited by the king might not have done anything to him and Philly, but they would not hesitate to attack Is.

"Is, Naria, be careful!" he shouted as he was dragged by Fili as he looked up and screamed, not bothering to use any spells.

The ice dragon spun sharply around the corner, dodging another spell and rushing almost straight into the sky. Ed could see the tiny figure around its neck - Nalya grabbed the ice dragon's horns and didn't fall off.

Ed, who tripped over something on his ankle, and Ed, who was only looking up, threw himself face down on the ground defenselessly, and was pulled up by Filly as he cursed loudly and grabbed his vest, dizzily watching several triplines dangling in front of him.

A long sword slashed across the ground, slicing all the ropes, and a roar rang out.

"Eric Vaughn, what are you doing?!"

Ed struggled to raise his head in surprise as he watched Eric step back with his pale face, his sword hanging to his side and his lips squirming as if to say something to him.

Immediately someone snatched Eric's sword and dragged him aside, but the young paladin did not resist.

Ed's chest was tightly blocked, but he didn't have time to sort out the mixed emotions, just regained his balance with the help of Filly and threw a sonic boom.

He'd always avoided using damaging spells, and he didn't know much in the first place...... But if he hesitates so much, he will only kill his friend.

"Don't look up!" Filly roared without looking back in his busy schedule, the spear in his hand had been replaced by a sword at some point, "take care of yourself first, he's much better than you!"

Ed nodded, and let a flame rain down from the sky, knocking down the enemy in front of him and tripping over the other—but there was chaos in front of him, and he couldn't even see how many enemies were around. Thankfully, Ante didn't seem to intend to kill them, none of the attacks were lethal, and some were apparently just putting on a show...... That gave them a little bit of room to fight back.

Once again, the ice dragon scurried down, its tail sweeping away the enemies in front of them, a strange whistling sound and a biting chill passing over Ed's head and strikingly towards their rear. Amid screams and screams of horror, Ed bit his lip hard, trying not to think about how many people had died in the heart-freezing breath. The last thing he wanted was Is's killing, but now ...... All their previous efforts were ruined in the blink of an eye because of him.

He almost wanted to cry, but he could only tell himself not to look back.

The ice dragon's roar rang out again, and Ed could hear it, apparently from the pain.

Ignoring the spear that stabbed him in the shoulder, he reached out and pressed his hand against the armor of the sword-wielding foe slashing at Fili, the incantation sound sharp and cold.

It was the only spell he could use to kill someone...... From this moment on, he was the real murderer - but he couldn't turn back, he couldn't even think.

As the enemy fell, he jumped over the other's body to meet the other, and as he bent down, he drew the short sword in his boot and stabbed one of the knights to the left side of his knee.

It's not that he doesn't know how to use a sword at all, after all, it was Norvi who taught him...... He just doesn't like it.

The length of time in the chaos is difficult to discern. He didn't know how far they had traveled, or if they were stuck in place at all, and he had used up all his spells and was starting to fight with a short sword.

In the midst of the noise, he still quickly caught Naria's exclamation...... Then there was a loud bang.

The ground shook slightly as the ice dragon roared. Everyone involuntarily stopped and looked in the same direction—the direction in which the dragon had fallen.

Ante was indeed quite well prepared—the huge ballista damaged a few of them, but the nets that shot out managed to trap the ice dragon. The not-so-thick rope shimmered in the sunlight, apparently woven into some kind of metal, and the ice dragon's left wing and front paws were tangled together, roaring in an attempt to break free.

Its head and tail were still free, keeping the enemy from approaching, but Ed could already see - or from Filly's even more nasty swearing - that they had no chance of winning.

Instinctively, he turned and rushed towards Is, only to be dragged back by Fili. Perhaps because of that moment of distraction, the paladin could not dodge a warhammer that slammed into his vest, and staggered to his knees under the heavy blow, and in the blink of an eye, various weapons pressed against the top of his head and the back of his neck, making him unable to get up again.

Fili smiled bitterly and happily threw down the sword he had snatched.

Without a word, Ed let go of his hand, letting the dagger fall to the ground, looking at another friend who was in danger because of him.

The sunlight shone on the ice dragon, and the reflection was as dazzling as the bright red blood stains between the silver-white scales. Ed blinked, wiping away a few tears that had been shed for some unknown reason, completely ignoring the long sword around his neck and the sharp pain in his shoulder.

He thought he was numb. Both body and soul...... He doesn't feel anything now, whether it's pain, anger, guilt or unwillingness......

His world was a blank slate.

There seemed to be something lurking in the void. It felt familiar—when he tried to save Naria, only to send himself back hundreds of years.

He curled his fingers blankly, annoyed by the trance that he knew he could do about it, but couldn't grasp any thought. He didn't like the feeling of being controlled by some kind of force, even if it was incomparably powerful...... He's fed up with being fiddled with...... Or being fiddled with by God.

Anything he wants to do, whether right or wrong, smart or stupid, and what is the result...... The decision must be made by his own will!.

(To be continued......)