I Planned a Su*cide Mission and Got Kicked Out of the Party

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Etrias sensed that things were not going well.

The wound he inflicted on Rose was far from light. No matter how tough Rose was, she had sustained serious damage from the dragon’s bite, and the amount of blood that flowed into the dragon’s mouth when it clamped down was quite substantial.

Yet, Rose had the audacity to press her injured arm against the dragon’s fiery breath, bravely searing the wound to stem the bleeding.

Of course, even with that, she couldn’t fully use her bitten right arm, so Rose relied solely on her left arm to strike the dragon’s face repeatedly.

With the chaotic attacks from Margaret, who wielded four blades and struck from all directions, Etrias found it nearly impossible to regain his senses. Although Margaret’s blades weren’t strong enough to penetrate the dragon’s scales, the accumulation of painful injuries was severely irritating the dragon.

Unlike Rose, who could risk a single decisive blow, Margaret had no choice but to maneuver tirelessly to strike at the dragon from all sides.

Noticing Margaret’s movements slowing down from fatigue, Rose spoke worriedly.

“Back off, Margaret. I’ll try to handle things somehow…”

“Don’t interfere, Rose. This is not the time to die. If it becomes too dangerous, I’ll move back on my own,” Margaret replied.

Rose stuck out her tongue and shrugged her shoulders.

“I appreciate you worrying, but can’t you just say you’ll stay back? The way you speak makes the guy you like run away.”

Rose made a somewhat forced insinuation. Margaret scowled at her.

“There’s only one thing I really like about you. Want to hear it?”

“I’m curious.”

“It’s that you’re so sturdy that I don’t feel guilty for hitting you no matter how much I beat you up. You should prepare yourself!”

Although Margaret had never directly hit Rose, she felt that she had done so verbally hundreds of times. Rose widened her eyes in surprise.

“I’m pretty hurt today, you know?”

“Do I have to consider your situation too?”

“Please, have some sympathy. We have even tied our sisterhood!”

Rose forcefully invoked a bond that wasn’t even established and punched the dragon’s face. Margaret retaliated by bringing her sword down hard on the dragon’s neck.

“In Eramenia, it’s the older sister’s responsibility to beat sense into the younger sister who doesn’t listen!”

“Is that really true?”

“Of course, it’s a lie! Do you think we’re orcs?”

From the conversation, it seemed as if these two were completely unfocused on fighting and only interested in chitchat. However, in the midst of their banter, they were steadily applying pressure to the dragon with their own methods.

Etrias did his best to ignore the trivial conversation that naturally reached his ears, but at the same time, he was overwhelmed by the barrage of fists and blades, shaking his head in a daze.

To deliver a decisive blow to the dragon, they needed Walter’s Holy Sword or Jeongjae’s firepower. However, Walter was too busy dealing with the Gargoyle Queen, and Rose, with her injured arm, couldn’t afford to swap with him carelessly.

Currently, the dragon was bound by a binding spell, allowing them to fight with just one arm, but if she faced the agile Gargoyle Queen, it was clear that heavily injured Rose would lose.

Margaret could retreat and swap positions with Walter, but that transition period was a concern. The situation demanded maximum concentration without a moment’s distraction. The distance between the dragon and the two combatants was about 70 meters, as the Gargoyle Queen purposely separated the battlefield from the dragon.

If Walter tried to come this way, Bernard’s life would be in danger, making movement difficult. At the same time, Margaret couldn’t carelessly allow a one-on-one situation between Rose and the dragon and retreat either. Etrias, too, was exhausted and barely able to shake off the binding spells of the six mages. Even if Rose were not gravely injured, several options would have opened up, but damage on their side was inevitable due to the injuries inflicted on the enemy.

One thing was certain: if Jeongjae had been present, Etrias would likely have already been dead, and there would have been no guarantee of safety for the Gargoyle Queen.

Of course, the Demon King’s Army was fully aware of that fact, which is why they approached with this degree of strength.

“At the very least, if there’s a sure hit…”

Margaret gritted her teeth and thrust her blade at the dragon’s eye. Etrias shook his head vigorously, countering Margaret’s attack, and the Elven Princess was struck, bouncing off and rolling on the floor.

“Margaret? Are you okay?”

“Mind your own body! Is this any time for you to be worried about me?”

“Again with the tone! You seriously lack respect for me!”

“You should show a little more respect for me first!”

At that moment, Etrias, who had been trembling, seemed to sense something and quickly turned his head toward the Gargoyle Queen, opening his mouth.

“Let’s retreat, General. There’s no meaning in holding them here any longer.”

The gargoyle, who had been pushing the hero’s blade away with its hands, immediately understood the meaning behind Etrias’s words. The ambush strategy had failed. Although Alex’s strike hadn’t wiped out the entire army, they had been demoralized and thrown into chaos, making it nearly impossible to achieve strategically meaningful results in their current state.

Etrias mustered all his remaining strength and sat up abruptly. With that moment of counterattack, the binding spells that the mages had barely upheld shattered into pieces.

Seeing the creature rise, Rose couldn’t hide her panic and pulled out her weapon, but Etrias, instead of paying attention to Rose or Margaret, released a powerful breath toward the mages.

“Ugh!”

The yellow-robed mage, who hadn’t managed to defend against the breath due to the shock of the binding spell breaking, was engulfed and rolled onto the floor. It was natural for the mage to perish right there, as it was an attack that couldn’t be survived without proper defenses.

Margaret grimaced, sheathed her two swords at her waist, and drew her bow and arrow, but Etrias flapped his wings and soared higher into the sky.

Blood continued to drip from the wing holes that Bernard and Margaret had created.

“Come catch me if you can. But I think it might be difficult for you.”

Etrias spoke with a tired voice, as if he had truly lost the will and strength to continue fighting. In line with this, the Gargoyle Queen also used all her remaining strength to fly back.

The altitude of the Gargoyle Queen was nothing compared to that of the dragon; it wouldn’t be impossible to catch up if they tried.

However, given that Walter and Bernard had already reached their limits, there was no reason to forcibly stop the Gargoyle Queen from retreating. When Walter realized that the upper echelon of the Demon King’s Army had decided to withdraw here, he hurriedly ran towards Rose to join her.

“Looks like… we’re pulling back…”

Rose finally seemed to feel the pain in her arm and tightly clasped her right arm as she muttered. Margaret, having drawn the blades from her feet, rushed over to Rose.

Margaret lifted her right arm, which had slumped to the ground, and carefully examined the wound. The distinct bite marks were turning a horrible color, as if they were being burned and were nearly undergoing necrosis.

Of course, the cells were not actually necrotic. Rose’s body was under the protection of an unusually powerful grace, preventing her from suffering from necrosis. However, it was still clear to anyone, not just the Elven Princess, that the state of her arm was dire.

“Is there any pain? How does the muscle feel?”

“The pain disappeared as the wound cauterized with heat. But I can’t put any force into it.”

“Don’t try to force it. If the wound opens, it will become more difficult.”

“I think I can hold out until we return with this much. But I’ll need a bit of care for full recovery.”

Before long, Walter joined Rose and Margaret to check on her injury. The nearby mages were helping to clean up the bodies of the two mages who had died.

After glancing at Rose’s injury, Walter nodded and patted her shoulder.

“I’ll head over there for a bit. You fought well despite your injuries. No problem on the way back?”

“If I had hurt my legs, I would have asked you to carry me, but unfortunately, it’s my arm. Take care of the dead first. You’re sensitive about that kind of thing.”

Walter accepted Rose’s words and walked towards Bernard. It seemed like he was taking Rose’s injury lightly, but Walter had this strange tendency to become detached as his close ones faced greater danger.

That was perhaps a skill he had to cultivate to endure the battlefield for seven years, reaching a level of self-control that bordered on self-hypnosis.

“As for the sudden withdrawal…”

Margaret cast a light healing spell over Rose’s wound as she spoke. Although Margaret’s healing magic wasn’t expert-level, she still had decent skill.

“It seems the flanking unit has been pushed back. Is this Phineas’ doing?”

“And with the Hellhound absent, who has taken command of the Empire’s troops now?”

“By status and rank, the immediate leader would be my little brother. But he doesn’t have enough experience to lead an army yet. It’s likely he’s delegated responsibilities to one of his subordinates.”

“Phineas Marbelius is not someone who would carelessly take command of the Empire’s army. In any case, if that’s true, then the Imperial Army was commanded by Prince Alex.”

Rose stood up, lost in thought. She couldn’t help but consider that both she and Walter had probably not even imagined that the Gargoyle Queen could use this opportunity to launch a secondary flank attack.

However, Walter seemed to think that even if that were the case, they could hastily repel the dragon and then rejoin the main camp to defend themselves, while Rose suspected that if the experienced Elven General Phineas commanded the main defense, they could either delay the enemy or drive them back with little damage.

But Margaret, who knew her subordinates better than anyone else, denied that possibility. Phineas would be satisfied to lead the three Elven legions, and he would not recklessly interfere with the command of the Empire’s troops.

“Then did Alex succeed in showing off his abilities? I just hope he doesn’t get too cocky from success at the start.”

Rose wore a puzzled expression. Walter and Bernard were finishing retrieving the belongings of the deceased and preparing the mages to transport the corpses.

Walter thought it was rather inhumane not to collect the remains of comrades who could be gathered, even if it was too urgent and unavoidable, since it was uncharacteristic for a person to not care about collecting their bodies.

Margaret, once she assessed that Rose’s wound was sewn up without major issues, asked.

“Is your brother talented?”

“Not too bad. He comprehends quickly and thinks flexibly. He’s fundamentally fearless and highly motivated. The only thing he lacks is experience. If he becomes overconfident now, it will be hard for him to gain valuable experience.”

Hearing that from a distance, Walter chuckled and approached Rose.

“It’s surprising to hear you say that, Rose. Do you remember how self-assured you used to be? You thought you were the best in the world.”

“Well, if you look at the results, I am the best in the world, aren’t I?”

“Exactly right. The best in the world, Your Highness, without a doubt!”

Walter took off his glasses and grinned. Rose stuck out her tongue in response.

“Anyway, I wanted him to grow while realizing defeat. Unlike me, he doesn’t have the ability to win fights all the time. What I mean is, he’ll mostly win, though.”

“But defeat in battle doesn’t end with just the shame of the commander.”

“That’s true. If I think about how precious an admiral he could grow into, then the soldiers giving their lives to allow him to gather valuable experiences doesn’t seem too high a price.”

Rose blurted this out without thinking. Suddenly realizing that Walter was silent upon hearing that, Rose turned to him with a serious expression.

“Sorry. That’s the kind of reasoning you hate the most. I… I don’t think people can change fundamentally, after all.”

Walter didn’t like to justify sacrifice. He intensely disliked the situation of ‘a little sacrifice is unavoidable.’ Although he didn’t shy away from deciding not to sacrifice lives in realistic circumstances, he found it hard to fully accept Rose’s thought that “experience of defeat would benefit the growth of a subordinate.”

At the same time, Walter knew Rose was the kind of person who could casually say such things without feeling anything. That was fundamentally part of her character. A noble eagle looking down from the skies. Walter loved both her accepting side and her cruel aspects fully.

The hero gazed at the Crown Princess with a bittersweet smile.

“No, that’s a part of Rose Caprice that I love.”

In the hero’s eyes, genuine affection and heartfelt sorrow intertwined.