The Bodyguard Velociraptor and the Cat
Vesperia and Ardelia were savoring a peaceful moment. But someone was watching that peace with a dark and sinister gaze.
"Damn this academy. It's a real pain to infiltrate."
From the thick shadows behind a neatly trimmed garden tree, a man dressed in the academy's maintenance worker uniform grumbled irritably. His name was Rat. He was a member of the Cult of the Abyss, which served an evil outer god.
But he wasn't a black mage. Nor was he a fanatic priest who directly wielded the outer god's power. He was just a swordsman. And a particularly agile one at that, with lightning-fast hands.
The cult had chosen the ordinary warrior Rat—rather than a black mage—for infiltration into this ironclad academy for a clear reason.
'This place is a fortress crawling with old monster professors and knights. I barely made it in. Sigh!'
Solarrium Imperial Academy. It was one of the empire's top martial forces.
If anyone above a certain level of power tried to sneak in, the mana or aura waves they emitted would give them away at the entrance instantly. That's why the cult had taken a thorough detour. They'd given Rat a special magic artifact that perfectly sealed his power and erased his aura presence.
'This artifact can only hide someone of my middling skill. If a real powerhouse used it, they'd get caught immediately.'
In the end, Rat was the only cult member who could infiltrate the academy. His mission was of utmost importance: kidnap the target who had escaped the Edelgart Duke's heavily guarded northern territories and rolled into the capital. The cursed star, Vesperia.
'Just snatch that girl somehow and drag her near the main gate.'
That was Rat's mission. The moment he grabbed the target and signaled from near the main gate, the cult's powerful main force waiting outside would unleash indiscriminate attacks on the academy to draw attention. In an emergency, even their top elites were prepared to clash head-on with the academy's professors.
The cult was staking everything on kidnapping Vesperia.
"Why make such a fuss over kidnapping one little brat?"
Rat clicked his tongue as he eyed his target through the bushes. Vesperia sat side by side with Princess Ardelia, laughing defenselessly.
Rat scanned the area around the two girls.
'No escort knights. Well, inside the academy, it's natural to let their guard down.'
The only annoyance was the spirits by the girls' sides.
On Vesperia's lap, a small black cat was kneading dough like it was baking bread.
'Cat spirit? That's just a toy—nothing to worry about.'
Rat snorted. His gaze shifted to the massive beast sprawled at Ardelia's feet. A ferocious bird monster covered in golden feathers.
'Looks pretty vicious... but it's just a spirit summoned by first-year newbies.'
No matter how fierce it looked, it was obviously a low-grade spirit at best, 1-Circle or 2-Circle level. If he unleashed his aura in a surprise attack and charged, that birdbrain wouldn't even react.
Rat was certain of it.
"Alright, time to go."
Rat's eyes narrowed sharply.
Pop—!
Rat burst from the bushes. He released the suppressed magic artifact and surged his aura straight to his legs in an instant. True to the cult's evaluation of him as a quick-handed warrior, his movement flashed like lightning.
The dozens of meters closed in a blink.
"Huh...?"
Only then did Vesperia sense the odd presence and turn her head. But Rat's hand was already reaching for her slender shoulder.
'Got her!'
A greedy, vicious smile spread across Rat's lips.
That was the moment.
"Kyaaaaak!"
The black cat that had been purring contentedly on Vesperia's lap—Blackie—bristled its fur and sprang up like a coiled spring.
'What? A cat?'
Rat scoffed. Even if a mere cat spirit's paw hit him, it wouldn't tickle. He thrust his aura-clad hand forward to swat it away.
Swoosh—!
But a bizarre phenomenon occurred with Blackie's paw slicing through the air. From its tiny claw tips, thick black shadows extended like blades, stretching out long.
Slash— Fwoosh!
"Gaaahhh!"
A tearing scream erupted from Rat's mouth. The shadow claw had slashed deeply across his face diagonally.
It was Shadow Claw, a dark-attribute technique that exponentially expanded physical strike range by using shadows as a medium.
"You damn cat bastard...!"
This wasn't a mere scratch. It was a gruesome gash deep enough to scar. Blood sprayed into the air.
Thud!
Rat clutched his face, rolling on the ground in agony.
Blackie stood blocking Vesperia's front, baring its sharp fangs. It snarled menacingly at Rat.
"Kyaaak!"
Finally grasping the situation, Vesperia let out a short scream and backed away.
Ardelia paled and jumped to her feet as well.
"Who are you!"
Ardelia urgently stepped in front of Vesperia and shouted. Her mind cooled sharply, spinning at frightening speed.
'Assassin? No, the target is Vesperia! Kidnapper! Either outer god worshippers or someone they hired! How did they get into the academy...!'
No time for questions. She quickly scanned the surroundings, preparing to draw up mana.
'Just hold out a little longer. If a commotion starts here, the professors and knights will come running. Buy time!'
As Ardelia steeled her resolve—
Crack!
"Guh... L-let go! You birdbrained freak!"
Rat, still rolling on the ground, wiped the blood from his face and spat curses in rage. Attached to his right ankle was a massive golden velociraptor. Brightie had sunk its vicious serrated teeth into Rat's calf.
"Get off me!"
Rat channeled aura into his other foot and desperately kicked at Brightie's head.
Bam—a dull explosion rang out, sending Brightie stumbling back a few steps.
"Kree!"
But that level of physical damage did little to a sturdy 4-Circle-grade spirit made of mana. Brightie quickly regained balance, scraping the ground with its hooked talons and screeching.
"Damn it! You cat and bird brats!"
Face bloodied, Rat drew a sharp dagger disguised as ordinary jewelry from his pocket. Bluish aura menacingly coated the blade.
Stealthy surprise was out the window now. Delay too long, and academy forces would swarm.
"I'll rip you damn beasts apart first!"
Rat raised the aura-infused dagger with murderous intent flashing in his eyes. No spirit could survive a stab from that.
Ardelia's heart sank.
"Brightie! Dodge!"
Ardelia shouted desperately.
Pewooong—!
Two beams of brilliant golden light shot straight from Brightie's eyes. It was a beam formed by ultra-compressing light-attribute mana.
"...!"
The beams didn't target the aura dagger Rat was swinging. Instead, they precisely pierced both his thighs.
No blood sprayed. The wounds from the beams were cauterized black by extreme heat in an instant.
"Wha...?"
Rat blankly stared at the two holes in his legs.
'Did that birdbrain just shoot beams from its eyes?'
It happened so fast, he hadn't even felt pain yet.
Finally, his legs gave out, and his body crumpled.
"You son of a... "
Thud.
Rat spat a hollow curse as he dropped to his knees.
'What the hell just happened?'
A freakish bird spirit shooting beams from its eyes! What kind of world did this make sense in!
"A-Arghhh!"
Late-coming excruciating pain made Rat scream and roll on the ground.
But Brightie's assault wasn't over.
Pew—! Pew—!
With each bob of its head, golden beams fired repeatedly from its eyes.
"Gaaahk!"
This time, both shoulders and forearms. The sickening smell of burning flesh spread through the garden as the beams pierced through.
With holes riddling his limbs, Rat dropped his dagger and was completely neutralized. Now he was nothing but a pathetic prisoner, unable even to twitch a finger.
"......"
"......"
A heavy silence fell over the garden.
The blood-soaked kidnapper groaning on the ground. And before him, the massive golden velociraptor and the black cat with fur fully bristled.
Ardelia was speechless before their overwhelming, bizarre combat prowess.
'In one go...'
Overwhelming an aura-wielding swordsman without a single scratch. Even if the kidnapper seemed a bit weak, it took 4-Circle-level firepower to pull that off.
"Kyuu?"
Having perfectly ended the situation, Brightie wagged its tail and trotted back to Ardelia's side. Eerily, its mouth was still smeared with the red blood from biting Rat's leg earlier.
But Brightie rubbed its head against Ardelia's skirt hem. Then it looked up at her with sparkling eyes.
'Master, did I do good? Praise me!'
It was the very picture of a loyal dog craving approval after protecting its owner. The ferocious predator that had just beamed holes into the kidnapper's limbs was nowhere to be seen.
"......"
Ardelia stared blankly down at Brightie. Her mind was a whirlwind of chaos.
'Rian... what the hell did you do to my spirit?'
A bird shooting beams from its eyes? What kind of insane modification was this?
But Ardelia glanced at the kidnapper, now passed out with holes all over him.
'Whatever.'
She slowly reached out and gently stroked the golden-feathered head.
"Yes. You did wonderfully. Good job, Brightie."
"Kyuuu!"
Brightie stretched its neck long and purred happily at its master's praise.
'It protected me perfectly in the end, right? That's what matters. It did great.'
Ardelia decided to take it easy. When it came to anything involving Rian, there was no point applying common sense or overanalyzing—it would just give her a headache.
'Let go, and peace follows.'
Ardelia etched that profound truth deep in her heart and smiled.
Soon after, the guards swarmed in and arrested the fallen kidnapper.