Using the falling debris as cover, Kiana Kaslana and the others had already vaulted over the railing, leaped into the arena, and quickly reached Shu's side.
Raiden Mei took out the two pseudo-Xuanyuan Swords Shu had entrusted to her and swiftly cut the ropes binding Shu's hands.
Shu truly couldn't break free from this rope himself; this too was a [Setting].
Captured individuals can only be rescued by others.
Kiana had also been unable to escape the Dragon's Lair castle for so long due to this very rule.
Rubbing his sore wrists, Shu didn't look towards Sirin again. Instead, he turned and quickly spoke to the others.
"You guys get out of here quickly. I'll try to capture Sirin here," Shu said, taking the rope Bronya Zaychik handed him. "Leave in the direction Nobel and the others appeared from. Joyce will be outside to meet you."
With that, Shu waved his hand. The two pseudo-Xuanyuan Swords in Mei's hand, along with the plastic, toy-like Holy Sword, floated up behind Shu.
Shu paused, surprised. He hadn't summoned Mei's Holy Sword. Without time to think, Shu casually grabbed the small sword and thrust it into Mei's hands.
As he turned to leave, Shu remembered something and looked back at Mei.
"Keep this sword safe. It's a Holy Sword, after all. It might have some unique use."
With that, Shu leaped into the air, soaring straight up and over the barrier.
The sudden turn of events startled Sirin, but it didn't completely stun her.
Quickly realizing who was behind this, Sirin gritted her teeth and rapidly issued orders to Hori and Homu-la, the two Homus who were clumsily scrambling to their feet beside her.
"Quick, organize the guards to evacuate everyone to a safe place!"
Hori nodded and, with his short legs, quickly scurried away towards the guards.
At that moment, the guards were scattered on the ground in disarray, rolling around, trying to get their short-limbed bodies upright quickly to protect their King.
Every Homu went through such a process each morning. Now, the sudden fall made it difficult for them to organize an effective defense immediately.
Fortunately, thanks to Watt and Nobel's precise calculations, not a single Homu present was injured. The only injury was Sirin's knee.
After all, Homus had sack-like bodies. No matter how they fell or were hit, as long as it wasn't by a sharp weapon, they were fine.
Sirin had just finished instructing Hori and was about to tell Homu-la to capture the troublemakers when a sense of crisis suddenly came from above, making her instinctively look up.
Shu was incredibly fast. Although he said he would "try," he held nothing back in terms of acceleration, reaching his maximum possible speed.
The distance between them closed in an instant. Shu's hand was already reaching out, grabbing for Sirin.
BOOM—!!
A violent explosion erupted in front of Shu, blasting him away directly but not harming Sirin in the slightest. Only the shockwave of the aftermath pushed Sirin to the ground.
Her knee hurt even more...
Shu, who had been blasted away, immediately flipped in mid-air and landed on a distant stand. His face was grim as he looked at the red figure that had used an explosion to block his path.
Homu-la stood on the railing, his short hand waving dismissively behind him, his voice unusually heavy.
"Your Majesty the King, you leave here first. I will hold off the Demon Lord."
"Wait!" Tears welled in Sirin's eyes. The sharp pain in her knee prevented her from moving vigorously, but the current situation made it impossible for her to stay put. She could only struggle to her feet.
"We can go together..." Sirin said to Homu-la.
"No, Your Majesty..." Homu-la's low voice was full of refusal. "The Demon Lord's target is you. And only the Hero can defeat the Demon Lord. If I don't stay here to stop him, you will surely fall into the Demon Lord's hands."
"Hero..." Sirin paused, then shook her head forcefully. "There's no such thing as a Hero! Knight... I need to find the Knight... Homu-la, I'll be back soon!"
But would the Knight really help her defeat the Demon Lord?
The thought struck Sirin as soon as she turned.
But were there any other options? The attackers called themselves the Demon Lord's Army, and Shu's identity was Demon Lord; he could also be considered a member of the Demon Lord's Army.
[Only the Hero and the Knight can deal with the Demon Lord]
This was the most fundamental logic of this world, a [Setting] that even Sirin herself had to obey.
Shu hadn't done anything out of character, so she couldn't intervene.
But there was no Hero now, and Knight Mei would definitely stand firmly on Shu's side... Clearly, a Hero possessed righteousness and would absolutely not collude with the Demon Lord... But the Knight's setting didn't include that.
Right, possessing righteousness!
This Knight has it!
Sirin looked towards the group rapidly leaving, as if grasping at a lifeline.
If the Knight did something out of character, then she could use her own power, could once again make Shu...
Sirin raised her hand, aiming at Shu, who was currently confronting Homu-la in mid-air.
Suddenly, she froze, staring at her trembling hand in disbelief.
"Not triggered? Why..."
What was justice? It was helping good people defeat bad people. A righteous Hero, upon seeing the Demon Lord in a pitiful and weak state, should come to their aid to defeat the Demon Lord.
Without a doubt, the Demon Lord was a bad guy! The trial just now had proven that.
But the fact was, even if Mei completely ignored Shu's actions, she wasn't deviating from the character setting of [Possessing Righteousness] at all.
Sirin didn't understand. Why could standing by idly also be considered justice?
---||---
Meanwhile, outside.
The entire Great Homu Kingdom had completely descended into chaos.
Tin men, building block figures, huggable bears and teddy bear dolls, tin frogs, Russian nesting dolls...
A dazzling array of various toys appeared on the streets, forcefully冲击 (assaulting/impacting) the guards maintaining order, capturing one location after another.
These suddenly appearing, damaged toys didn't harm a single civilian Homu. Even the guard Homus who resisted them were merely pinned to the ground, preventing them from continuing to obstruct.
This sudden toy army swarmed out from all directions. And at the forefront of the army—
Was Joyce, now dressed in military attire.
"We have suffered oppression underground, our sunless past an unavoidable pain!" she stood on a high platform, holding a long banner.
"The narrow tunnels hold countless energy minerals, yet we can only use dim lights! The Homus on the surface enjoy endless energy, enjoy the energy we provide, yet they don't even allow us the right to see the sunlight!"
Joyce fiercely waved the war banner in her hand, making the long flag the sole direction for the entire toy army to advance!
"Today, we resist! We rise up! We too shall write history!!"