Ch. 56
Level 30! Intermediate Warrior!
As soon as he thought about finding a healer in the city, Pedory noticed the magical barrier that had them trapped here.
This kind of barrier could isolate sound and trap enemies. It was set up by people from Assassination Star to prevent alarming the city guards and to keep them from escaping.
Right now, Pedory needed to think about how to break this kind of barrier.
Just as he was feeling troubled, the barrier suddenly tore open a gap, and sounds from outside came through.
"Oh! My master, I swear upon the name of the previous-previous-previous-previous former theoretical teacher of magic for bodies, it is absolutely no difficulty for me to break this kind of barrier spell."
"So, can you set up this kind of barrier yourself?"
"Uh..."
"In other words, you can do everything except fight, huh?"
"Master, after all, with my ability, I can only parasitize those weak humans... so, I am very sorry, my master."
"Forget it. As long as you can dispel the barrier, that's enough."
Hearing the conversation from outside, Pedory's eyes narrowed, and then he saw three people wearing cloaks and masked faces openly walk in through the main entrance.
Once they came in, the gap in the barrier sealed up again.
"People from Assassination Star!"
Seeing the way they were dressed, Pedory mistakenly took the three for members of Assassination Star.
Hearing the other party's guess, Serea felt a hint of joy.
They had been mistaken for those killers—Serea and the others had inadvertently gained scapegoats.
"So what if we are? Now, please give me back that female elf behind you. I want to teach her what it means to follow orders."
"Hm?"
Hearing this, Pedory was on guard, because there were only three people on the other side, while he had six guards and twelve archers.
Although they had lost quite a few people fighting Assassination Star's assassins just before, judging by the current difference in combat force, any ordinary people would not dare say such things.
Unless the opponent was confident enough to take them on!
"You from the 12 Thrones?"
"Huh? 12 Thrones? Sure, if you say so. What, are you scared?"
Serea admitted it openly.
"Afraid? Hmph, you'll soon know what fear is!"
As he spoke, six guards rushed to the front, and the twelve archers in the back formed up. As expected, in the next second, a rain of arrows would have flown.
However...
"Ugh!"
"Who—ahhh!"
Screams rang out. Pedory looked behind him, only to see that another assassin in a black robe had somehow slipped behind them.
"There's someone else!"
Pedory's eyes widened, but Little Black had already charged into the crowd, swinging his bone blade—the archers with wooden bows couldn't stop his attack at all.
Two were dispatched in an instant!
Seeing this, Pedory personally stepped in and charged at Little Black.
Clang!
Little Black blocked one of Pedory's sword strikes, but because Pedory's strength was overwhelming, Little Black was knocked back.
Seeing someone able to push back Little Black, Serea sized up the man called Pedory a few more times.
Role: Pedory Serceng (Intermediate Warrior, Silver Elite)
Level: 30
Status: Poisoned
Spirit: C
Strength: A
Agility: C
Endurance: B
Constitution: B
Charisma: B
Luck: C
Skills: Heavy Slash (Tier 1), Moonlight Slash (Tier 2), Cross Slash (Tier 2), Thrust, Shadow Step (Tier 3)
Description: A powerful imperial warrior.
Level 30 Silver Elite! Intermediate Warrior!
This was the highest paper combat power Serea had seen so far. Facing such an enemy, Serea felt a bit troubled.
Although the system said she could handle people like this by activating Blood Frenzy, looking at such a guy now, Serea inevitably felt a bit uncertain.
"System, can Little Black beat this guy?"
System: The difference in strength is too great; the chance of victory is five percent.
"Only five percent? Damn, is this guy really that terrifying?"
System: Celia can fight him, with a seventy percent chance to win.
"Huh?"
Hearing the system's prompt, Serea looked over at Celia.
"But Celia is only a level 23 junior holy knight. Although she has a 'Hero' potential rating, that's potential. Isn't the level gap too big?"
System: Paper combat power is only for reference. Please make a comprehensive judgment after considering other external factors and battle experience.
"This..."
Serea was a little stunned. She knew Celia was strong, but she hadn't expected that, facing an intermediate warrior, Celia would actually have a seventy percent chance of victory.
At this moment, Little Black was knocked back. Seeing he could not defeat Pedory, Serea gave the retreat order.
Receiving the order, Little Black dashed to the rear of the crowd, picked up Vina, and vanished with 'Phantom Veil'.
"Hm? Where did they go?"
Pedory searched for Little Black's whereabouts, but a few seconds later, Little Black reappeared behind Serea, gently setting Vina down on the ground.
Seeing Serea personally leading people to rescue her, Vina, realizing the trouble she had caused, lowered her head deeply.
"My queen, I—"
"I'll deal with you when we get back."
When Serea looked at Vina, her eyes were filled more with anger than pity.
Because of Vina's reckless actions, Serea and even the Darkmoon Clan could end up exposed.
What was even more dangerous was that things were no longer as simple as the Terrence family hunting elves.
Now, imperial warriors and the mysterious imperial assassination organization, the Assassination Star, were also involved in open rivalry and shadowy conflict.
If she wasn't careful, Serea might end up caught in this internal maelstrom of the empire.
For this reason, Serea had to come herself; if she hadn't, the empire could have traced her through Vina, making things much more difficult.
After all, nominally, she was still the fiancé of the empire's third prince.
If word got out that she was still alive, what awaited her would certainly be a carpet-style search by the empire.
However, fortunately, things were not yet irretrievable—there was still room to recover.
As for how...
As long as no one here was left alive, then at most this could be chalked up as internal strife within the empire—no matter how they investigated, it would be impossible to trace it back to her.
Just as a certain saying goes:
The most perfect stealth is to kill all witnesses. The most perfect cover-up is to kill all who know the truth!
"Celia, this time I must ask you for a favor: help me deal with that guy—even if you can only hold him off. As long as I can finish off the other soldiers, that's enough."
Via Dogsius, Serea conveyed her thoughts into Celia's mind.
After a brief pause, Celia replied.
"I follow you only to protect Her Highness Serea's body, not to take orders from you."
"Uh..."
Serea hadn't expected Celia to answer so bluntly, but then Celia's tone shifted.
"But since you're being so reckless, I have no choice but to remove the threat."
After replying to Serea, the girl strode forward with her cross-shaped sword in hand. With her first steps, a powerful aura burst forth from her.
Feeling the aura called the 'sword', Pedory knew he had met his match this time.
"Looks like today is going to be troublesome,"
Pedory said, sweat beading on his forehead from the raging poison in his body.
Now, he still had to face the challenge of a 'strong one' with this poisoned body!
Celia was that strong one!
(To be continued...)
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】