Assassination Attempt (2)
Soone disguised as an attendant moved quietly in the darkness. I, kaden, considered asking the guards nearby for help, but since I didn't know the opponent's true abilities, I couldn't bring myself to speak up so easily.
'This isn't soone who entered the domain recently.'
As Kaden, responsible for the Dreistler family's security, I knew that—except for Clay and rsaya—no one else had co to the domain recently.
This ant the man before had been in the Dreistler household for quite so ti.
'I need to look for a chance to escape...'
I wanted to learn the other's intentions if possible, but that didn't seem easy.
'Escaping seems nearly impossible. Should I send a signal instead?'
Though I couldn't gauge the man's exact skill, he was clearly far above .
If I tried anything foolish, I would lose my life. Moreover, there were ordinary people around us.
If anything went wrong, not only I but also their lives would be lost.
'So that's why he led to the most crowded area.'
Grinding my teeth, I followed him.
He was cunning.
He moved through busy places to avoid Marvin's senses and walked ahead, pretending to be a normal attendant.
"I have been watching you all this ti."
"...."
The man spoke to despite my persistent silence.
"You are an excellent man. But Marvin Dreistler doesn't see your true worth. I find it regrettable."
The place he stopped was the Magic Tower set up in the Dreistler domain. Since the tower was in a bustling part of town, even in the evening, many people were walking around nearby.
"So I wanted to give you an opportunity. If you lend us a little help, I'll make you the head of the Dreistler family. No... I'll give you not only Dreistler but all the surrounding territory as well."
As expected, I realized these people weren't acting alone, nor were they targeting only Marvin.
'They intend to steal Dreistler's technological secrets as well!'
Among the records stored in the Dreistler estate were secret techniques lost to the world. So surpassed modern technology by far—those must have been what they were after.
"... What do you want to do?"
"It's simple."
He pointed to the Magic Tower.
"Open the door."
"...!"
"My comrades are in Hinbert right now. If you open the door, they'll co and help you."
To use the magic array in the Dreistler domain, direct bloodline approval was required.
I had wondered why they wanted to win over. Now, I understood.
'Damn!'
Grinding my teeth, I racked my brain.
'What should I do?'
No matter how much I thought about it, there was no way out.
Any rash move would endanger the lives of nearby domain residents.
Besides, who knew how many others like this one were lurking in the domain? That would make things even more difficult.
"Hmm? What's wrong? Are you deciding you don't like the plan now?"
"Wa, wait a mont."
There was no emotion reflected in the man's eyes.
In that mont, I realized my life was in the palm of his hand.
But if I did as he said, what would happen would be far worse than if I disobeyed.
'There's no way out of this.'
I shut my eyes tight.
I steeled my resolve, ready to refuse him even if it cost my life.
'At the very least, I have to risk my life to prevent harm from coming to the people nearby.'
As I opened my eyes, determined—
KWAANG!
A violent explosion rang in my ears and sothing shot past at trendous speed.
"... Huh?"
What had just passed by?
Dazed, I looked at the man who stood before .
For so reason, the man who had been in front of a mont ago had been replaced by Clay.
"Impressive. I'm seeing you in a new light."
Clay slowly lowered his outstretched fist and flashed a wry smile at .
Of course, I couldn't even comprehend how the situation had turned out this way.
"W-What on earth is going on...?"
"I've been following you all along. Ever since you left the training ground with that guy."
Clay pointed behind .
Over there, a man with the appearance of a crushed bug writhed, smashed against the wall.
The body of the attendant was now glowing faintly and slowly changing.
'Demonkin?!'
I was shaken as I watched the man's form change.
From him, I could feel sharp ears and a thick demonic energy unlike that of a human.
"Keugh, keugh! When—when did you get here?!"
His face was half-crushed, yet he was still alive—grotesquely so. The people drawn by the commotion scread and fled at the sight of the demonkin.
"You... You should be in the head's room right about now!"
"That would be true—if you hadn't been leaking demonic energy as you wandered around."
"Nonsense! I perfectly concealed my demonic energy!"
At the demonkin's indignant shout, Clay shrugged.
'Of course, I saw your profile and found out.'
Not that it was a total lie. Grancesia had ntioned feeling demonic energy first, which was how I found out.
I would never have imagined that a demonkin could be hiding in the Dreistler domain.
"Anyway, enough talking. Ti for you to die."
"W-Wait! If you kill , my comrades...!"
"Yeah. I'll make sure to send them right after you, so don't worry."
As Clay took a step closer, the demonkin tried to scramble away in terror, but before the guy could even take a step, Clay's fist was already upon him.
Clay's movents were several tis faster than before.
'By applying Heavenly Lord with the subtleties of teor, the range of my attack increased dramatically.'
The Hidden Star Sword, Second Half, Third Technique—teor.
A lunging thrust that imdiately closed the gap. Applying it using the Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art worked surprisingly well.
'Maybe because the Hidden Star Sword was the first technique I mastered, it suits my style.'
The punch blew away the demonkin's upper body.
That demonkin was interdiate-rank at best, but he couldn't withstand the power of Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art.
"Well then."
Clay checked the demonkin's corpse as it turned to ash and crumbled, then turned away.
There stood Kaden, frozen like a stone.
* * *
"So, how long have you been following ?"
Kaden, still out of sorts, stamred out a question.
"From the start. Ever since you were at the training ground."
"I never noticed a thing..."
Of course not. I had been following all along, slipping through the boundaries of space using the power of the Sword of Boundary.
If he'd noticed, that would've surprised .
Kaden looked at skeptically for a mont but then sighed.
"Haa, then why didn't you co out sooner?"
"If you'd refused the guy's offer, I would have. But you kept following, so I wanted to know the demonkin's intentions."
Honestly, I had been concerned that Kaden might fully accept the demonkin's offer.
So, rather than the demonkin, I'd been unsure what to do about Kaden.
'Marvin has helped a lot, after all.'
Fortunately, though, it seems he hadn't sided with the demonkin.
Whether he was following to learn their intentions or simply changed his mind late, I couldn't say.
"They said Hinbert, correct?"
"Huh?"
"The place he said his comrades were."
"Y-Yeah. He said Hinbert."
Hinbert was a place I'd visited not long ago.
It was the only domain where the Magic Tower could connect directly to the Dreistler family.
Because of that, movent in and out of Hinbert was strictly controlled.
"I'd better stop by."
"Stop by...?"
"I don't like the thought of demonkin being in Hinbert."
Most likely, sothing had already happened there.
"And with this sort of affair, the side that strikes first always has the upper hand."
"But these are demonkin! Who knows how many others like that one are gathered..."
Kaden's voice trailed off.
He must have recalled how I took down that demonkin with one blow.
"Yeah, demonkin are scary."
I placed my hand on Kaden's shoulder with a smile.
"But to ... they're the easiest targets of all."
* * *
Anyone overhearing that would be baffled.
That demonkin could be "easy."
Demonkin had been humanity's natural enemies since ancient tis.
Their bodies, magic power, and unique abilities placed them firmly in a different league from mundane races.
Except for dragons, they were undoubtedly among the strongest of all species.
Even a low-rank demonkin had the power to kill countless humans. Interdiate- and advanced-rank ones amounted to nothing less than a calamity for ordinary people.
But that had nothing to do with , who possessed Divine Blood.
In fact, to , demonkin were easier prey than humans.
'Now then...'
Standing atop the wall of Hinbert's domain, I surveyed the area.
As I expected, hinbert was in chaos thanks to the demonkin.
'If I'd used the magic array to co, it could have been risky.'
Most demonkin were gathered around the Magic Tower. That's why I arrived on rsaya.
"Should I help too?"
"Of course."
"Heeh..."
Beside , rsaya imdiately pouted.
As a child of a new nation, rsaya's bedti was quite early. After dinner and calisthenics, she would wash up and go to bed within two hours.
That's why, when I went to fetch rsaya to co to Hinbert, she was already fast asleep.
Of course, I woke her up and brought her here.
"You've learned the technique, so it's ti for so real-world practice."
"But I haven't learned much..."
Truth be told, rsaya's training had focused on building basic stamina.
"But you've got sothing down, right? Just try using what you know today. I'm sure you'll find it easier than fighting demonkin before."
After saying that, I made eye contact with Marvin, who folded his arms quietly.
"We'll take care of the demonkin gathered around the Magic Tower. Can I leave the rest of the territory to you?"
"Of course."
Marvin was here as well.
He looked as if he'd rush out at any mont, keeping his eyes fixed on the demonkin causing havoc in the domain.
Thankfully, things had settled enough that the domain residents were now just being guarded by demonkin.
"But Clay, are you sure? You know the ones there include nobility-rank demonkin?"
"Yes, I'll be fine. Honestly, I'm more worried about you, Marvin."
"That won't be a problem. If those at the Magic Tower had joined them, it would've been dangerous, but..."
His gaze settled on a demonkin restraining the domain residents.
That demonkin was anything but ordinary. Even from a distance, I could sense the powerful presence.
'A Count-rank demonkin.'
It was a demonkin on par with the one that had appeared in Eintban before.
'And...'
Among the demonkin at the Magic Tower, I saw two more of noble rank—Viscount-level.
It was a fearso lineup, likely assembled to assassinate the Seven Heroes. Of all the demonkin I'd fought directly, this was the strongest group.
'It's a good opportunity.'
With Setram as my next opponent, I needed to try 'that' at least once beforehand.
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