Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Playing Dead??
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Sera Betela.
A master-level expert and the attendant to Fourth Princess Sizly Epania, she furrowed her brow over the events from yesterday.
The informants she had planted in the imperial palace had either been bought off or were only feeding her bad intel.
What the hell.
No matter how much she berated them, the bought-off ones kept their mouths shut.
They just kept repeating that they had no choice.
Even when I straight-up mentioned the palace.
Sera swallowed a groan.
That means someone higher up than Fourth Princess must have given the order.
There weren't many in the empire whose authority surpassed Sizly's.
And thinking of those few made Sera's brow crease even deeper.
Why target Fourth Princess?
Sizly had deliberately played the tomboy to distance herself from the throne war.
That's why her siblings had never checked her before. Sera couldn't fathom why they were doing it now.
Can I protect her alone?
Sizly was smart.
So she only kept the bare minimum for self-defense and nothing more.
For her, the best defense was holding nothing at all.
That's why Sera felt such a heavy sense of duty to protect her.
It wasn't for nothing that Sizly's mother, worried for her, had begged the emperor to assign Sera—a master-level expert—as her attendant.
And now, she was being targeted.
By wolves lurking around the tiger's den.
To those wolves, Sizly was nothing but a fragile lamb.
A lamb they could tear apart at any moment.
Sera was Sizly's horn.
The one means to protect her—but far too small against the palace.
"Haa."
A long sigh escaped her lips.
From the Second Prince absorbing the Night Crows, to the recent friction between the First and Second Princes.
And Sigrin's odd movements on top of it all.
Everything from one to ten reeked of suspicion.
She was suited for swinging a sword, not racking her brains.
That's why she'd told Sizly directly.
But Sizly had just sunk into deep thought.
And then she'd said not to do anything for now.
Just protect herself—some nonsense like that.
"What the hell are you seeing that only you can see?"
It'd be nice if she told her one and only retainer.
Sizly was so smart that instead of explaining her thoughts, she'd subtly manipulate others into acting as she intended.
The problem was, the target of that manipulation was left utterly frustrated.
Knock knock—
Right then, a sudden sound came from the window.
Sera whipped her head around. There sat a single crow.
"This one..."
Sera remembered that crow.
It belonged to the boy Sizly had recently taken an interest in.
Night Crow.
The thought hit her the moment she saw it, but she shook her head.
Sizly had insisted it wasn't a Night Crow, so the boy wasn't one either.
How had such a crow found her location?
The boy was as inscrutable as Sizly herself.
Creeeak—
She opened the window to check.
The crow smartly hopped inside and opened its beak.
"Sera Betela."
She flinched!
Sera's face hardened in an instant.
She hadn't expected the crow to speak.
At that moment, a smile played across the crow's beak.
It was the first time she'd seen a crow smile.
"I'll lend you a sliver of immortality in exchange for your life force. So play dead."
The moment she heard those words, darkness suddenly seeped into her vision.
"Hng!?"
Her sight vanished abruptly, and she unwittingly groaned as she collapsed to the floor.
Her sense of balance shattered in that instant from the darkness.
She hadn't reacted at all. Something had gotten her.
What the...?
Her body tensed to the max as she drew her sword and caught her breath.
All her focus on any presence beyond the darkness.
By the time cold sweat trickled down her cheek, her vision slowly returned.
Unbeknownst to her, a black star had formed and faded in her pupils.
"...!"
Sera jerked her head up.
But the crow that should have been at the window was long gone.
What had just happened to her?
Her mind filled with unanswerable questions.
Cra-crash!
Suddenly, the ceiling above her head caved in.
In that gap, golden aura shone through.
Sera's body reacted swiftly, swinging her sword toward the ceiling.
Claaaaang!
Her blade clashed with the opponent's spear, the shockwave turning the room into chaos in seconds.
Furniture shattered or flew across the floor from the aura clash, and the windows couldn't withstand the force and exploded outward.
But she had no time to care.
From the dust cloud of the collapsed ceiling, spears thrust out one after another.
Sera hurriedly steadied herself and parried.
But the power from the clashing spear was beyond imagination.
"Urk!?"
Pushed back to the wall by the onslaught of spear strikes, Sera's eyes went wide.
She never dreamed she'd be overwhelmed in raw power.
She'd reached master level.
And yet this opponent was cornering her like this.
That meant the foe was a master-level expert too.
Who is it?
There were plenty of entry-level masters if you counted loosely.
But even so, their numbers across the world didn't exceed a thousand.
Of course she knew every master in the empire.
The moment her eyes pierced the smoke and locked on the foe, Sera's went round.
There stood a black-haired woman not even in her twenties.
Slender eyes framed by long hair, with a voluptuous figure—she stared silently at Sera.
"You..."
Sera realized who it was and panicked hard.
Mary Diana, daughter of the famed Diana house called the empire's spear prodigy.
She was aiming her spear at Sera.
But Sera's shock came from elsewhere.
Mary's skill outstripped her own.
At an age not even thirty.
Master level at that age?
Even in Valheim, the empire's arch-rival, that was top-tier.
Plus, the Mary she knew wasn't this strong.
She's been hiding her power?
Sera barely deflected another spear thrust.
Every swing carried absurd power.
Maybe even greater than her own.
The thought flashed by, and Sera's eyes changed.
Diana house or not, it didn't matter.
She had to go all out or she'd die here.
Sizly's one sword couldn't fall here.
Boom!
The barrier shattered in an instant, and Sera tumbled across the floor.
At the same time, red energy seeped into her blade as her eyes grew feral.
She was the Mad Sword.
The longer the fight dragged, the more her aura transcended her body's limits.
Rampage Mode
Aura transcends limits with prolonged combat. Severe bodily strain as cost.
Whoosh!
The opponent knew it too and lunged through the wall to end it quick.
The golden-aura spear was strong enough to barely parry.
Not unblockable, though.
It strained her body, but she'd force Rampage Mode early.
Grit!
Blood trickled from her mouth on impact.
Her muscles bulged like a beast's, ripping her clothes—and explosive power surged as her sword struck at Mary.
Mad Blood Rush
Explosive power surge. Muscles expand ferally.
It was then.
Splat!
Sera's body froze stiff in place.
Drip, drop—
Blood gushed from her mouth.
Sera's eyes shook wildly.
Her heart had been pierced by the spear without her noticing.
She hadn't even seen the spear swing.
S...kill.
Through the flowing blood, she realized the power piercing her was a skill.
Mary's skill, Excel.
An extreme acceleration boosting bodily speed.
Excel
Extreme bodily acceleration. Master-level foes amplify to absurd levels.
"This... much..."
She'd heard of Mary's skill before, but never dreamed even with Rampage Mode active, her eyes couldn't track it.
Excel against a master was performing ridiculously.
She was certain.
The day Mary reached emperor-level beyond master...
No one in the world would block her spear.
"Sera Betela, rejoice in dying for the empire."
Her blurring vision filled with blood, and Mary's voice echoed in her ears.
At the same time, she recalled the crow's words from before.
Play dead?
But she was really dying.
Sera's consciousness winked out with that thought.
Having pierced Sera's heart and confirmed she'd stopped breathing, Mary withdrew her spear.
She caught the falling body with a thud and let out a sigh.
Excel's aftermath left her body aching a bit, but she was fine.
It wasn't up to her previous level, but she couldn't avoid this much against another master.
Has it been a year already since Memory Succession sent me back?
After her memories transferred, she'd linked up right away with Sigrin, her closest ally.
Thankfully, Sigrin's Memory Succession had worked perfectly too.
The two had rushed to find Arthur.
Their love and hero—they wanted to find him quick and save the world together.
But for some reason, Arthur was nowhere.
That night they'd all shared a bed.
Even though he'd said himself he'd regress to that spot and wait.
Sir Arthur, where on earth did you go?
Mary bit her lip.
After days of waiting in vain, she'd scoured the entire empire for him, but no trace.
And strangely, Abella was missing too.
Asking around the Red Tower, they'd said she vanished suddenly.
What the...
What's going on?
Thank goodness Sigrin had comforted her, saying if it was Arthur, he'd return soon.
She'd nearly despaired at his disappearance and wasted away.
What I can do now.
Serve Third Princess Sigrin and become the strongest spear.
That's why she'd killed Sera to carry out Sigrin's order.
Sigrin was away on other business now.
So Mary had to handle this perfectly, as Sigrin had entrusted it fully to her.
For their empire's future, at least.
Step, step—
Footsteps echoed then.
Mary looked up. A hulking man with stitched-up scars all over his face.
No. 13, Evelask's corpse puppet.
The heart controlling her was Mary's now.
Sigrin had given it, so No. 13 couldn't defy her orders.
He stuffed Sera's body into the sack as pre-instructed.
Hoisted it over his shoulder and turned to leave.
"Hold on, wait."
Mary stopped No. 13.
He halted abruptly.
No. 13 was a corpse.
But controlling it was Evelask.
Cold sweat beaded on Evelask's brow beyond the corpse.
Was he caught?
"I haven't heard who the corpse entered in the martial tournament."
A Night Crow corpse was competing in the tournament.
Surface-level, on Second Prince's orders.
The prince wanted to grow his forces and flaunt his Night Crow control.
He'd chosen the tournament for that.
Of course, it was a scheme Mary and Sigrin had plotted beforehand.
To show the whole empire the Second Prince gripped the Night Crows.
Then have Sera kill Sizly, frame it as Night Crows—and pin it on Second Prince as the mastermind.
They'd prepped motives for why he'd kill Sizly.
Once Sizly died, Second Prince was done—straight to prison.
"I figured it'd be obvious from the tournament anyway."
So Mary knew a Night Crow was competing.
Problem was, busy with other tasks, she hadn't heard who yet.
"The boy with the crow, right?"
She asked to confirm.
"Yes, correct."
The answer came quick from No. 13.
"Smart. Parading that crow to scream 'Night Crow.' Ah, Lady Sigrin's orders? No way you have that kind of sense."
Mary smirked, her elegant snark on full display.
No. 13 showed no reaction, leaving her feeling a bit cold.
"Go on."
No. 13 bowed and walked off.
Evelask beyond him was tense, but Mary didn't suspect a thing.
She held Evelask's heart—no rebellion possible.
Speaking of, Evelask has a cute one this time.
Mary thought of the boy called Krad.
Evelask, who usually handled grotesque corpses, had one like that?
If it weren't a corpse...
She pondered briefly, then shook it off.
Guess it's been too long without Arthur.
Her old tastes were resurfacing.
Sir Arthur, please show up soon.
Mary wished it as she resumed walking.