Reincarnated Maid is About To Be Captured by All Players

Lily trembled in my arms.

That should really be Duke Borgia himself, right? But I had never seen what Duke Borgia looked like.

Chris... wasn't surprised by Duke Borgia's arrival. We had known beforehand that Duke Borgia was on his way to the Acklin border. Although running into Duke Borgia head-on was really unlucky, what Chris was surprised about was something else.

"The daughter of Montefeltro..."

"..."

The shadowy old man slowly stepped forward. Witnessing that figure, I couldn't say a word either.

A duke was a ruler second only to the king in the Kingdom of Michel, and also the nation's highest combat power. I knew that Duke Borgia was advanced in years and no longer had his former heroic bearing, but I had never imagined...

He was a skeletal old man.

So frail that it seemed like even a mild wind could blow him over. He had no appearance of a strong person at all, more like a starving old beggar who hadn't eaten for a long time.

He wasn't wearing armor, his skeletal frame probably unable to support the weight of armor at all.

What blocked our path seemed not to be a living person, but just a skeleton with some flesh and skin hanging on it.

Both Chris and I were stunned.

"The last time I saw you, you were only ten years old, weren't you?"

"Ah..."

"I remember very clearly. You were the same age as my third son. I was thinking at the time... the Montefeltro family's girl is not bad. If possible, I hoped my third son could be betrothed to you."

Chris seemed unaware of this matter.

She and Duke Borgia... could have originally become family?

Duke Borgia completely emerged from the shadows.

His disheveled black hair hung irregularly, seemingly having gone without careful grooming for a long time. Half his face wore a mask, while the other half had sunken eye sockets and hollow cheeks where you could faintly see the outline of his skull. His lips were also full of cracks. Checking his status, I could see the obvious [Dehydration].

This miserable state… If I had to find a comparison, it would probably be refugees during famine. Where was there any trace of nobility?

Although it easily aroused my impulse to want to care for him, I understood that this person was Lily's nightmare and my enemy.

His tone when speaking to Chris was unusually calm, but I knew deeply that he had created living dead in his territory and had harmed Lily.

"Are you Anastasia?"

"...Yes."

I met Duke Borgia's gaze.

His pale gray eyes were like stagnant water, unable to stir up any ripples.

"I heard you protected Amaryllis... Being able to break through to here shows you have considerable skill. After all, you broke through while carrying a burden."

Burden.

Upon hearing this, Lily lowered her head.

Without bringing her, you should have been able to escape.

Duke Borgia asserted this, completely disregarding Lily's feelings.

"Duke Borgia, please take back what you just said."

"...Ah, indeed, I shouldn't have said that. A burden at least exists without sin in itself, but Amaryllis is different. She shouldn't even have had the qualification to become a burden in the first place."

Duke Borgia threw out an even more contemptuous statement about Lily.

Lily hugged her body tightly but didn't cover her ears.

"Anastasia, do you know what kind of thing the girl you're protecting is?"

"She is Amaryllis, Duke."

"No longer using honorific speech... Hmph, it seems I've lost your respect. No matter, these are all inconsequential things. Anastasia, regardless of whether you know Amaryllis's identity, she is a sinner. That is a fact branded into her soul that can never be changed. Her existence will only harm the people around her."

"Duke," Chris couldn't help but speak up, "whether a person is guilty or not shouldn't be concluded so hastily. You've always been fair and just. How could you be so ruthless toward a child?"

Chris still didn't know that Lily might be a [Child of Demons].

Lily looked at the duke in confusion. She didn't understand what Duke Borgia was referring to.

In my view, Lily was no different from any other ordinary girl.

"You're not wrong. As the duke ruling over Obi, I am the person who least can act on impulse."

"Then..."

"So now, I will abandon my title as a duke."

Duke Borgia drew his only piece of equipment that could be used on the battlefield: the sword at his waist. Fınd the newest release on novel fire.net

The moment the blade was unsheathed, our mount retreated several steps. Chris used her riding skills to calm the mount's fear for quite a while before it settled down.

Ivanhoe's warhorse had accompanied him in battle many times, and its courage value was much higher than Trafalgar's mount, yet it was cowering in fear of Duke Borgia's weapon.

Legendary weapon: Magic Sword, Cantarella.

Every noble of duke rank and above inevitably possessed a legendary weapon, and Duke Borgia used a magic sword. It was said that Cantarella's blade was made from the teeth of the Serpent King [Jormungandr]—the most powerful poison on the continent of Lemoria. The elves of Midgard even believed that the Serpent King Jormungandr's venomous fangs could kill gods.

Therefore, Cantarella was also known as the Poison Sword. Fortunately, it didn't have the characteristic of harming its master, so it could be used smoothly.

Duke Borgia lightly flicked his wrist, and Cantarella carved out two purple-red winds. The target wasn't us, but rather the adventurers pursuing us from behind.

The two gusts of wind converged, their trajectory igniting with purple flames, forming a ring of fire.

"—Fall back quickly! Stay away from that!!!"

Grumman's voice from the Black Eagle Mercenary Group came from behind, but it was too late. The adventurers in the very front had already crossed through the ring of fire.

"Waaaahhhhh—"

Then came shrill screams. Even though adventurers had a certain degree of pain reduction, their bodies began to dissolve. Not metaphorically, but literally as stated, as if they had fallen into highly corrosive liquid. Both flesh and equipment began to crumble and disintegrate.

Their HP reached zero before their bodies disappeared, and their equipment was completely dissolved as well. It wasn't simply a matter of durability dropping to zero, they were completely destroyed.

Grumman was an experienced adventurer who understood Cantarella's power, but other novice adventurers weren't so fortunate.

"As the ruler of Obi, the leader of the Borgia family, the noble guarding the border, I can forgive Amaryllis for everything. But at the same time, I am also a father, a devout believer! Now I am not denouncing Amaryllis as a ruler, but in the personal name of Valubilis Borgia, I swear to eliminate the filth that should not remain in this world!"

Duke Borgia, no, Valubilis raised his magic sword and walked toward Lily step by step.

Though his body was pitifully frail, each step he took carried unshakeable determination and steadiness.

"There will be no seat for you in Heaven, Amaryllis—"