Extra's Path To No Harem-Chapter 206: This Is Bad

KWAAANG—!

"Ugh—!"

I twisted my body just in time, the violent surge of aura slicing past where my head had been a split second earlier. The shockwave still grazed my shoulder, sending a sharp jolt through my arm.

So he’s realized it now.

The moment Signut understood that I could avoid his attacks, his strategy changed completely. No pauses. No probing. Just relentless pressure—one aura strike after another, fired with killing intent.

"You—!" he roared. "What exactly are you?!"

His eyes were locked onto me. Only me.

Not Anna, who was still in my arms.

Not the fact that he was an Imperial Knight sworn to protect her.

Just me.

No—especially me.

What kind of knight ignores the princess’s safety to obsess over a single student?

"Focus on your job, damn it...!" I muttered under my breath as another blast screamed past us, pulverizing the stone wall behind into dust.

I grit my teeth and kept moving.

"We’re almost there!" I shouted. "It should be in there!"

Through the chaos of flying debris and thunderous impacts, the armory finally came into view.

A towering spire rose above it, cold iron and reinforced stone—built to withstand siege-level attacks. Earlier, it had felt impossibly far away. Now, it was right in front of us.

I rushed beneath the spire and carefully set Anna down on her feet.

"Can you stand?"

"I—I think so," she said, her voice shaky but steady enough. She nodded, gripping her skirt tightly.

BANG!

I slammed my fist against the massive iron door.

Nothing.

Again.

BANG—!

"Oh no...!" Anna gasped. "The door—it’s closed!"

Of course it is.

I pressed my palm against the cold metal, pushing, pulling—nothing. The armory door didn’t even creak. It was sealed tight, probably locked down the moment the emergency was declared.

Behind us, the air distorted.

A pressure like a crushing wave rolled over my back.

I didn’t need to look to know—another aura attack was coming.

"Tch—!"

The armory was packed wall to wall with weapons—swords, spears, halberds—every last one of them designed to kill.

Naturally, the door was locked.

Not just locked, either. Solid steel, reinforced hinges, thick enough that even a skilled swordsman couldn’t hope to force it open with brute strength alone.

I clicked my tongue quietly.

"...Got us."

This was bad. Really bad.

Behind us, our escape route had already been cut off.

Signut had caught up.

And in front of us, the armory door stood firm, unmoving, as if mocking our situation.

Trapped.

I could feel the pressure of the moment settling onto my shoulders. My mind raced through excuses, explanations, half-truths—none of them convincing enough to defuse what was coming.

Judging by the heat burning in Signut’s eyes, he wouldn’t listen anyway.

At this point, even if I tried to explain everything, I doubted it would matter.

Maybe I should’ve been honest from the start. Told him the truth before things escalated this far.

But that had been a gamble I couldn’t afford.

With Signut’s notoriously short fuse, the moment he’d recognized my face, he probably would’ve tried to take my head off on the spot—context be damned.

While I hesitated in front of the locked door, Signut closed the remaining distance in a few long strides.

The sound of steel scraping against its sheath rang sharply through the corridor.

He raised his sword.

There was no hesitation in his stance—only raw, murderous intent.

For a split second, I considered reaching for my own weapon.

Then—

His movement faltered.

Signut’s gaze shifted—just slightly.

To my side.

To Anna.

It was subtle, but I didn’t miss it.

The tension in his shoulders loosened by a fraction. The red flush of rage coloring his face slowly faded, replaced by something closer to restraint.

His sword was still raised... but no longer trembling with the urge to strike.

"Your Highness. Please come this way. It’s dangerous where you are."

Signut stepped forward, his voice rigid, hand half-raised as if to pull her away by force.

Standing right beside me, Anna didn’t move an inch.

Instead, she turned—and glared straight at him.

"No," she snapped. "Sir Signut, you’re the one who needs to stop interfering."

The words hit harder than any slap.

"W-what...?" Signut stiffened, clearly caught off guard. "Why would you say something like that to me, Your Highness?!"

"Because it’s true!" Anna shot back. "You’re always ordering me around, always treating me like a fragile doll. I’m sick of it!"

"I do everything for your sake—"

"Don’t lie!" Her voice trembled, but it didn’t waver. "I know you hate me."

"That’s a misunderstanding!"

"What...?"

I blinked, completely lost.

What was this suddenly about?

Their words weren’t the kind exchanged in a simple disagreement. There was history here—something deep, something festering for years. An emotional rift I had no context for, yet one that had clearly reached its breaking point.

Anna was breathing heavily now, fists clenched at her sides.

This was... unexpected.

The Anna I knew was composed, reserved, almost untouchable. Seeing her like this—angry, raw, openly venting her resentment—felt unreal.

Strangely enough...

It was refreshing.

"I spent my entire life wondering what I did wrong," she continued, voice sharp. "Why you looked at me with such cold eyes. Why you never once trusted me to stand on my own."

"I was protecting you," Signut insisted, his tone rising. "You’re the Imperial Princess! Do you have any idea how many threats—"

"Enough!" she cut him off. "You never asked what I wanted. You just decided everything for me."

Silence fell between them.

Then—

"I see," Signut said quietly.

His expression changed.

The anger drained from his face, replaced by something darker. Something colder.

"So that’s what it was."

He nodded slowly, as if reaching some grim realization of his own.

And then—

His gaze shifted.

It locked onto me.

The air around him seemed to distort, a suffocating pressure bearing down as raw killing intent poured out unchecked. It wasn’t subtle. It wasn’t restrained.

It was aimed squarely at me.

"You...!"

Signut’s voice dropped into a low growl. "You’ve been manipulating our princess."

...What?

For a split second, I genuinely wondered if I’d misheard him. Manipulating? Princess? When did this turn into my trial?

Before I could even process it, his glare sharpened, burning straight through me.

Seeing Anna behave differently than usual—standing so close to me, speaking on my behalf—he must have already reached his conclusion.

Signut took a step forward.

"There’s no other explanation," he said coldly. "For Her Highness to act this way... you must be the cause."

H-Hey now. That’s a huge leap, isn’t it?

Inside my invisible steel helmet—the one I wore whenever my survival instincts kicked in—I was screaming internally. Outwardly, I could only manage a stiff, awkward smile as cold sweat trickled down my back.

The killing intent pouring off him was no joke.

It felt heavy. Suffocating. Like standing in front of a drawn blade, knowing full well that if I moved the wrong way, it would swing.

My body reacted before my mind could—muscles locking up, breath caught halfway in my chest. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak.

Prey.

That was exactly how I felt.

And yet—

Completely unaware of my internal panic, Anna stepped even closer. Close enough that I could feel the warmth of her shoulder brushing against my arm.

She leaned in, her lips barely moving as she whispered in a voice only I could hear.

"When I give the signal," she said softly, "embrace me."

"...What?"

My brain short-circuited. Of all the things I’d expected her to say, that wasn’t even on the list.

"What are you talking about?" I muttered back, barely moving my mouth. "Why would I—"

"Just do as I say," she interrupted quietly, her tone calm but firm. "If you follow my instructions, we’ll be able to open the armory door."

...Armory?

I flicked my eyes toward her for a split second, then back to Signut, whose hand was now dangerously close to the hilt of his weapon.

Open the armory door...?

The armory door loomed before us—solid steel, thick enough that brute force alone wouldn’t even scratch it.

Even if I put everything I had into it, there was no chance we’d get inside that way.

But Anna didn’t seem troubled in the slightest.

She leaned closer and spoke in a low voice, calmly laying out a plan—no, instructions. Clear. Precise. Almost unsettlingly confident.

In our current situation, I had no better options.

So... I trusted her.

I did exactly as Anna said.

I wrapped my arms around her.

Because I was still wearing full armor, there wasn’t much physical sensation to speak of—but that didn’t matter. A faint, gentle fragrance reached me anyway, and my body stiffened despite myself.

This was a terrible idea.

No—this was a dangerous idea.

"You—! How dare a thug like you lay your hands on Her Highness...!"

Signut’s voice cracked as he shouted.

When I looked over, his face had turned a vivid red, fury and shock twisting his features as he stared at us locked together in what could only be interpreted as an intimate embrace.

"Unforgivable!!"

The moment the word left his mouth, the air changed.

A violent pressure surged outward from Signut, far denser and more oppressive than anything he’d shown before. His aura flared wildly, rippling through the corridor like a visible wave.

The floor beneath his feet creaked.

"Oh no..." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

This wasn’t just anger.

This was the kind of rage that made people stop thinking.

Anna, still held in my arms, didn’t flinch—but I could feel the subtle tension in her body.

"...This is worse than I expected," I muttered.

Signut’s hand tightened around the hilt of his weapon, veins standing out as mana spiraled violently around him. At this rate, the armory door wouldn’t be the first thing destroyed.

So yeah.

This was bad.

Very, very bad.