Solomon pondered her tactical assessment for a moment. He let out a heavy sigh and nodded.

"Okay. We will try your plan. We lack any other options anyway. We will fight and try to survive." He pointed his sword over his shoulder toward the sealed entryway. "Those doors are directly connected to the main labyrinth corridors. The maze triggers a structural shift every few hours. When the passages change, those doors will automatically unlock and open. We just need to hold on and stay alive until that happens."

He widened his legs and dropped into an aggressive stance, preparing to charge the towering boss.

Lune took a step backward and lowered her silver rapier. "You will have to fight him completely alone for the next five minutes. Pushing that to ten minutes would be even better."

Solomon broke his stance immediately and snapped his head toward her. "Are you actually joking right now? What happened to fighting together?" He placed his free hand on his hip and raised his chin, adopting a mockingly haughty, regal tone. "’We can move freely and utilize a proper two-versus-one strategy! We can actually do this!’ Did you just abandon your own brilliant tactical genius to use me as human bait?"

The floating blue screen flared with rapid text.

[GamerGuy: LMAO the voice imitation is spot on.]

[User12: bro is roasting the princess while an S-Rank boss is literally walking toward them.]

[LazyCat: wait why is she backing out now?!]

[Skeptic: classic royalty. always making the peasants do all the hard labor.]

[GoonLord: I WILL VOLUNTEER AS BAIT FOR HER HIGHNESS!]

Lune glanced nervously at the hovering owl broadcasting her every move to over a thousand people. She looked back at Solomon and let out a deeply frustrated sigh.

"Revealing this on a public broadcast is a terrible idea," Lune confessed, her emerald eyes filled with reluctance. "However, surviving this encounter takes absolute priority over keeping royal secrets."

She planted her boots firmly on the stone floor and slid her rapier back into its silver scabbard.

"My awakened talent is S-Rank," Lune told him, locking eyes with Solomon to ensure he understood the gravity of her words. "It is called Pierce."

Solomon raised an eyebrow. He kept one eye entirely focused on the Undead Paladin slowly closing the distance across the massive arena.

[LoreMaster: wait. the Lumiere royal family strictly classifies their awakened talents!]

[NewbHunter: WE ARE GETTING EXCLUSIVE ROYAL LORE LIVE!]

[OldTimer: S-Rank Pierce... that sounds like a one-hit kill ability.]

[User12: Solo Man is teaming up with a literal nuke.]

"The power output is devastating," Lune explained hastily, watching the towering monster raise its executioner’s sword. "Activating the talent is incredibly complex. I have to meet three specific requirements before I can unleash the strike."

"The first condition involves my weapon," Lune explained, gripping the silver hilt of her sheathed rapier. "The blade must remain perfectly sharp with absolutely no chips or dull edges. It requires top condition and must be forged entirely from pure Mythril."

She raised two fingers. "The second condition demands the opponent be in an active bleeding state. A tiny scratch or a massive wound works perfectly fine. Anyone can inflict the injury. Blood simply needs to flow."

She raised a third finger, her emerald eyes completely serious. "The third condition requires the very tip of my blade to make direct contact with the opponent’s bones. All three of these steps must happen in this exact sequence. Once I fulfill the final condition, my talent activates."

Lune let her hand drop to her side. "The resulting strike guarantees an instant kill. The ability will obliterate the target completely, whether it is an S-Rank Paladin, an ancient dragon, or a literal god."

The chat completely lost its mind.

[GamerGuy: WHAT?! AN INSTA-KILL ABILITY?!]

[User12: literal cheat code talent!]

[LoreMaster: this confirms the rumors about the Lumiere royal bloodline having reality-breaking powers.]

[Skeptic: how do you even test an ability like that to figure out the steps?]

Solomon let out a low whistle. "Damn. That is a seriously overpowered talent. Major kudos to you for actually figuring out those complex activation steps."

He rolled his shoulders and stepped forward, placing himself directly between the Princess and the towering monster.

"So I have to hold this guy off until you are completely ready," Solomon summarized, locking his eyes on the Paladin. "And I also have to somehow crack that pristine white armor and make an S-Rank boss bleed."

Lune nodded firmly. She drew her Mythril rapier and held it in front of her face. "The longer you keep him occupied, the better. I need time to fully charge the runes etched into my blade. I have to maximize my weapon’s piercing power to punch a hole through that top-grade steel."

[NewbHunter: RIP Solo Man’s stamina.]

[LazyCat: solo man is cursed to fight solo. Go solo man, show your solo skills and solo the paladin]

[GoonLord: PROTECT HER HIGHNESS WITH YOUR LIFE BARBARIAN!]

[BloodKnight: this is going to be an epic clash. show us your footwork, Solo Man.]

Solomon tightened his grip on the hilt. The Undead Paladin closed the final gap, raising its massive executioner’s sword high into the air.

"Just let me know when your nuke is fully charged!" Solomon yelled.

He kicked off the stone floor and charged headfirst toward the Paladin.

He drew his standard-issue academy iron sword from his hip, intending to rely entirely on his footwork and agility to stall for time.

The Undead Paladin stopped its advance. It raised its massive executioner’s sword high above its head and brought the heavy steel down in a simple, completely standard vertical swing.

The blade struck the empty air. Then, the sheer, unfathomable physical might behind the swing generated a devastating shockwave of compressed air pressure.

The invisible force tore through the solid stone floor, ripping up heavy cobblestones and carving a massive, deep trench directly toward Solomon.

Solomon barely had time to cross his arms and bring his iron sword up to defend himself. The shockwave slammed into the cheap metal. The academy-issued blade instantly shattered into dozens of fragments.

The residual kinetic force hit Solomon like a runaway carriage, launching his entire body backward through the air. He crashed violently into a thick stone pillar near the edge of the chamber and slumped heavily to the floor.

[GamerGuy: WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!]

[User12: it didn’t even touch him! that was pure air pressure!]

[LazyCat: the power gap is actually insane.]

[Skeptic: an S-Rank physical build is a literal walking natural disaster. he is going to die.]

[OldTimer: the Paladin just redefined the word ’strength’ for us.]

"Fuck..." Solomon coughed.

[ 100 points deducted for swearing. ]

Solomon coughed again, tasting blood in his mouth. He looked at the shattered hilt still gripped tightly in his right hand. He finally understood the terrifying gap in power between the monsters.

He could exchange close-quarters blows with an A-Rank Knight and use the environment to his advantage. However, the S-Rank Paladin commanded the entire battlefield from a distance through raw, overwhelming strength alone.

A single direct hit from that executioner’s blade would completely crush his bones into powder.

He tossed the useless iron hilt onto the floor. "I haven’t even paid the academy for that equipment yet," he groaned, pushing his bruised body up the side of the pillar.

He pulled out the rusted greatsword he had looted from the Knight, and rested it over his shoulder and let out a long, exhausted sigh.

"I fully intended to sell this weapon," Solomon told the drone, keeping his eyes locked on the towering monster. "I really need the money and the points for my monthly quota. But I have absolutely no choice right now. I have to actually stay alive to spend any points, and I definitely need a heavy sword to survive the next five minutes."

[BloodKnight: use the greatsword! match its weight!]

[NewbHunter: RIP to the easy profit.]

[GoonLord: DO NOT DIE BARBARIAN! HER HIGHNESS NEEDS MORE TIME!]

[User12: you got this Solo Man! hold the line!]

The Undead Paladin pulled its weapon back and took another heavy, earth-shaking step forward.

Across the room, Lune held her Mythril rapier vertically in front of her face. The intricate runes etched into the silver blade began to emit a blinding, piercing golden light as she actively charged her talent.

❖ ❖ ❖

N/N- Support the novel with power stones, comments, and reviews! Thanks for reading!