I Was Reincarnated with OP Invincibility, so I’ll Beat ’em Up My Way as an Action-Adventurer

131. I Want To Stay By His Side

Near the royal capital, in a valley—

Before a cascading waterfall, a lone girl knight stood still.

Her short, ice-blue hair glistened like frost.

Her armor and sword shimmered under the sunlight, reflecting its brilliance.

The girl—Luca—gazed intently at the waterfall before her.

“Onee-sama, I’m ready.”

From atop the falls, a girl with semi-long crimson hair signaled her.

Ivy Larsworth.

A Rank A adventurer and a close friend of hers.

“Thanks, Ivy.”

Luca gave a small nod and readied her trusty longsword—Force Greed.

“All right, let’s do this.”

“Um… are you sure this is really okay?”

Ivy looked concerned.

“Oh, I know how skilled you are, Onee-sama, but still, dealing with this many logs—”

“I’ll be fine. Trust me.”

Luca nodded confidently.

“…Understood, Onee-sama.”

With a confirming nod, Ivy cut the rope installed at the top of the waterfall.

At that moment, ten secured logs were released simultaneously, plummeting down.

Straight toward Luca, who stood at the base of the falls.

She quietly watched the massive logs hurtling toward her at incredible speed.

“Force Greed, Blazing Form.”

Whirr—a mechanical sound rang out as the longsword transformed into a greatsword.

A surge of intense energy coursed through her body.

Her limbs brimmed with overwhelming strength.

Without hesitation, she swung, slicing the logs one by one with raw power.

One log… two logs… each was cleaved cleanly in two with superhuman strength.

But as she reached the seventh, the remaining three logs were almost upon her.

There wasn’t enough time to strike—

Quickly assessing the situation, Luca called out:

“Force Greed, Lightning Form.”

The greatsword transformed again.

This time, into twin blades—one for each hand.

In the next instant, her figure vanished from the spot.

Only a shimmering afterimage remained in her place.

With near-light-speed movements, she dodged all three logs with precision.

“Amazing! You’re incredible, Onee-sama!”

Ivy’s voice rang out in admiration.

“Whew…”

Luca exhaled deeply.

One wrong move, and she could have been crushed.

“But—if I want to grow stronger, I need to overcome trials like this.”

She murmured as if to steel herself.

After learning how to wield Force Greed from Greed at the Ancient Dragon’s Temple,

Luca had been rigorously training to master the sword’s abilities further.

Force Greed had two primary forms.

The speed-focused Lightning Form.

The power-focused Blazing Form.

Each form had its own strengths and weaknesses, requiring strategic use depending on the situation.

Her training goal was to switch between the forms as swiftly as possible.

And one more thing—

Luca glanced at Force Greed, now reverted to a longsword.

(Beyond this…)

The sword’s true power.

Though the vision was still hazy, Luca was beginning to understand.

If she could fully unleash all of Force Greed’s power,

She could ascend to even greater heights.

“So I can continue fighting by Haruto’s side…”

Haruto had recently been promoted to Rank A.

With the rank-up came the ability to take on more challenging quests.

This would likely mean even fiercer battles ahead.

If so, she wanted to become stronger.

She wanted to be someone he could rely on—

The thought alone made her cheeks flush.

She recalled their first kiss,

An accidental moment they shared.

“I… I want to stay by Haruto’s side.”

A sweet ache spread deep within her chest.

※

Sarome possessed a power called Factor.

This supernatural ability manifested in rare individuals who inherited the blood of beings beyond humanity—gods, demons, dragons.

Greed had explained this to her when they met at the Ancient Dragon’s Temple.

Factor, he said, was akin to the power wielded by such extraordinary beings.

While magic manifests their abilities as phenomena, Factor imbues that power directly into a human vessel.

Mastery of it could grant strength comparable to those beings—

However, achieving this as a human was nearly impossible.

Throughout history, only a handful had reached such heights, and they were celebrated as heroes or champions.

“But… it’s possible to get close.”

Sarome recalled Greed’s words.

To get closer, she needed to—

Sarome closed her eyes slowly.

She remembered.

Her former self.

In a distant land, when she was raised by the legendary assassin, Elze.

By day, she lived as an ordinary student.

By night, she trained in the deadly art of assassination.

Those were bloodstained days, marked by countless lives taken.

And the incident that gave her the resolve to leave it all behind—

“…Ugh! Hah… hah… hah…”

A wave of intense unease washed over her, forcing Sarome to collapse to the ground.

She remembered again.

This time, something more recent.

(Haruto…)

She traced her lips gently with her fingertips.

The first time she had ever touched someone else’s lips.

A bittersweet tightness gripped her heart.

She had joked it was just a charm back then—

But she had known all along.

Understood it clearly.

That she was drawn to him.

“I have to do my best. Because I—I want to stay by his side…”

Sarome smiled softly.

Alice and Lilith, who inherited the power of demon generals, had grown remarkably stronger.

She couldn’t afford to fall behind.

To be someone he could depend on.

“To always, always stay by his side…”