Persecution!?

"So, Anabel, how did you develop the idea for this so-called [Rail Gun]?"

"I had a dream about it one night. I thought it would be pretty valuable to have some kind of mass-produced, great, damage weapon that takes low skill and turns even a weak fighter into a force to be reckoned with."

"I see, I see. It isn't guaranteed to work, so we should hope for the best. The schematics make a lot of sense, and I want it to work out."

Aw, Ojisan, don't say things like that; no, really keep your mouth shut, old man. Bad things always happen when you get so cozy and confident in something. Just like one great person said back in my world.

"Anything that can go wrong will happen one hundred times fold."

Alexander just looked at me as I realized I hadn't been simply thinking the phrase, but I also said it out loud. It made for an awkward moment of silence before continuing the ride forward.

Soon we had to stop again to let the horses grace on the road weeds, so I was preparing to get off my horse when I heard a commotion coming from afar; aw shit, that couldn't be good.

And it wasn't good. When I turned around to see where the noise was coming from, I saw a lot of guys with swords and turbans zooming toward us. A shadow soon appeared next to us on a battle dragon.

"Princess Anabel! You have to run to the next town, half a day away! These people want to kidnap you; please flee as fast as you can. We'll buy you time!"

More shadows appeared from the trees around us, forming a wall behind us as Alex, David, and I obeyed their orders. The shadows were our last line of defense. After all, if they fell, we would be alone unless we got new guards from some other royalty member.

Alexander saw that our horses were tired, so he pulled out some weird potions from his puch and gave David and me one.

"Make the horses drink it! It'll give them enough stamina to keep going! It'll put a lot of strain on their bodies, but we must hurry up!"

I think I read about this stamina potion before while exploring the library. It was a helpful spell containment potion, but it had a lot of downsides. The spell would recover all your stamina, but it would do so at the cost of your HP the longer you kept going.

We had no other option, so we did as Alex had told us and pressed our horses to run as fast as they could, just in time to hear the first sword clashing behind us. I was worried.

Sure, the Shadows were like the Secret Service and were top-tier soldiers, but could they stop hundreds of warriors alone? I had my doubts, and something told me they would all die.

There was no time to think about dumb stuff, so I concentrated on the road, but then, as if luck wasn't bad enough. There was a roadblock ahead, and it did not look friendly whatsoever.

Dam it! What were we going to do? Horses weren't outstanding in rough terrains, and the enemy had to ride dragons, which were much superior. Think! Think! What can I use to let us through?!

Back then, when I had to receive healing magic, my Curse wasn't letting me do so. Back then, I saw a message that said, "Cursed series: Pride." Could I access that power voluntarily at all? Would it even do anything?!

KGHH! It was worth a shot, at least. I concentrated as we were a couple of yards away from the barricade. I began to remember the feeling I felt back when I felt that flame until suddenly.

[Cursed Series: Pride. Reactivated.]

[Situational maneuver detected, activating Self-burn shield. 30 seconds use remaining.]

A fire covered my entire body with flames and pain as a red bubble-like shield appeared around us. It looked like some kind of force field, but I had felt too much pain to pay much attention.

The shield proved itself as it broke through the roadblock with ease. Disconcerting the enemy long enough for us to flee from danger, but something didn't feel right with my body as the spell ran out.

"Ahhhhgg!!!"

A couple of seconds after the spell had run out, my body was shocked with black lightning until I eventually passed out on top of my horse.

[Curse completed, deactivating Cursed Series.]

"Anabel! David! Grab the horse lead! Anabel, don't pass OUT! ANABEL!"

Shut up, old man. I can't keep my eyes open. I just want a little, tiny sleep. Nothing wrong with a little nap in the middle of the story. I'll just... {sigh.}