The Last Struggle (Part 2)

The item descriptions displayed through the Mankyung monocle looked exactly like something out of a game.

Arsia would be fully armed once she equipped the Astro Armor and Astro Shield, while I would be fully armed simply by wearing the Astro Robe.

But there was no need to make a flashy full-armor appearance against these opponents.

The Astro equipment was as flashy as its options were excellent, after all.

“Poor bastards. You picked the wrong opponent.”

The armored golem’s momentary hesitation conveyed the rider’s emotions perfectly.

Arsia’s aura blade, converted into force and radiating dazzling white light, was intimidating enough. But witnessing a 7th-circle magic circle expanding in size right before their eyes with me at its center would make anyone panic.

I pointed the tip of the magic staff straight at the armored golem and released the spell.

“Flame Blast.”

Two streams of fire swallowed the armored golem and shot skyward like a dragon ascending to heaven.

Unlike the wide-area ‘Storm’ type spells that represented 7th-circle magic, ‘Blast’ type spells were considered anti-personnel, so their area of effect wasn’t large.

That was only in comparison to other 7th-circle attack spells, however. It didn’t mean the majesty of a Blast spell was lacking.

Rumble—!

The flames that had erased the ceiling of the high-speed train and soared straight up continued endlessly, evaporating the clouds themselves.

It was a single blow more than enough to plant the feeling that something had gone terribly wrong in the minds of the assassins who had launched the ambush.

I floated into the air with Fly magic, and as if to greet me, the black dog’s roar split the sky and echoed far and wide.

“Arsia, let’s go.”

“Yes!”

[C-Commander! This is wrong!]

Retreat?

Why?

The branch leader of the Deathfall Assassins Guild’s Lheinhatz Kingdom branch—who had brought the guild’s main forces to wash away the disgrace of a failed mission—lost his words ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as he listened to the flood of screams and near-desperate transmissions pouring in.

According to the plan, we should have already completed the mission and withdrawn by now.

Originally, the plan had been to strike fast and pull out just as quickly.

But the target seemed to have anticipated this situation and had shown the meticulousness of keeping a single Vanguard on standby.

From that moment, he had realized he couldn’t underestimate the target, Adrian. Still, he had believed the mission could be completed without too much trouble.

After all, the forces they possessed were formidable, and they weren’t here to wage war—they only needed to kill one man and disappear.

But that judgment was soon shattered to pieces.

All because of the appearance of two people.

“Why the hell are monsters like them hiding in a backwater barony like the Lawrence Viscounty?!”

Adrian Lawrence.

The man known by the unfortunate title of “tragic genius” had lived a pitiful life under the surveillance and oppression of Anna, who came from a marquisate background.

He should have withered away and died long ago, but after being forcibly dragged to the battlefield, he had unnecessarily revealed his extraordinary talent. That had once again irritated Anna’s nerves, making him a target for elimination.

He should have ended his life as a victim of Anna’s jealousy. Yet upon facing him directly, the branch leader realized that everything Adrian had shown so far had been merely the tip of the iceberg.

This went beyond extraordinary.

No, it simply made no sense.

How could someone who had lived under constant surveillance and oppression suddenly unleash grand magic like this?

Boom—! Boom boom boom!

[Commander! Commander! Argh!]

When one of the Vanguards died from the grand magic released by Adrian’s hand, the branch leader had no choice but to acknowledge it.

Adrian Lawrence had become a grand mage.

[W-we can’t run!]

[Damn it, we have to take down that grand mage! He’s interfering with spatial movement!]

[But there’s a reaper next to him!]

And the second variable following Adrian Lawrence.

It was the fact that the commoner woman they had thought was nothing more than a noble’s insignificant lover was actually a terrifying monster.

Swoosh!

Neither the armored golem’s plating nor the Vanguard’s Force Armor could withstand the white radiance of her blade, which felt fundamentally different from the others.

Anything that entered her range was sliced cleanly in two.

“This is insane. A grand mage and now an aura master?”

It turned out that Adrian Lawrence’s lover was an aura master.

It was a story straight out of a comic book.

A grand mage and an aura master as lovers—what a couple of the century, something rarely seen in reality.

In the real world, a grand mage and an aura master would each be the head of a great family holding at least a count’s title. It was unimaginable for either to abandon everything they possessed and submit to the other.

Just what had these people been lacking that they had lived like dead mice all this time?

The situation was beyond common sense.

“Damn it! Scatter and save yourselves!”

In the end, the Deathfall Assassins Guild’s Lheinhatz branch leader ground his teeth and shouted the order.

The surviving Vanguards and armored golems immediately fled in different directions.

But in that short time, two Vanguards and three armored golems had already been destroyed. Only four remained.

With only four, it was difficult to create any real confusion for the enemy, and escaping while turning their backs on a grand mage was an ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠extremely difficult task.

“Ugh!”

The crushing pressure of high gravity weighing down on his entire body.

His movements grew heavy as if a giant were pressing down on his back, and his body refused to obey.

The branch leader poured aura into his Force Armor to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠break the high-gravity magic, but the brief moment his movements had slowed gave someone else the time needed to swing a sword.

Swoosh!

His right arm, still holding the Force Sword, was torn off in a single strike.

Arsia had closed in at some point and delivered the blow.

“Wait! Don’t kill that one! He’s the leader of the assassins!”

A second strike was about to follow the first that had severed the arm, but Adrian appeared with a spatial movement effect and stopped the sword just before it reached the branch leader’s neck.

The branch leader saw that Adrian had used Blink magic—5th-circle short-range spatial movement—and thought the spatial interference magic had disappeared. He quickly tried to activate a teleportation artifact, but…

“It’s useless.”

The artifact did not respond to its owner’s command.

Adrian had only moved himself with spatial magic and then immediately re-activated the coordinate interference spell.

The branch leader hurriedly looked around, hoping for support from his subordinates.

Thud! Crash!

But the remaining three armored golems had already been completely destroyed.

No matter how thick the armor of an armored golem was, surviving against multiple Vanguards supported by a grand mage was nearly impossible.

Once again, the Deathfall Assassins Guild had failed their mission.

“How about we help each other? If you cooperate, I’ll spare your life.”

Adrian approached the branch leader and whispered like a devil, offering survival in exchange for cooperation.

It was clearly a tempting proposal.

However, the branch leader smiled bitterly and shook his head.

He was an executive of a dark guild that made its living through murder.

Having failed the mission twice because he had underestimated the target’s level and caused massive damage to the guild, his fate was already sealed no matter how much Adrian offered to overlook it.

“Arsia, stop him!”

Adrian, sensing something strange, urgently shouted at Arsia, but the order came a moment too late.

The branch leader had already bitten down on the poison hidden in his mouth and died instantly.

“Wow, so assassins really do die like this. I thought it only happened in novels…”

Having little experience dealing with assassins, he had taken the opponent’s resolve too lightly.

Adrian clicked his tongue in displeasure.

This battle with the assassins became the moment when both Adrian and Arsia completely revealed the true natures they had been hiding from everyone.

Naturally, most of those who witnessed the unimaginable scene denied reality and reacted with utter disbelief.

That was why William, who had already known the truth, found himself surrounded by his subordinates and forced to offer explanations that sounded like excuses.

“You all saw and experienced it yourselves. Why are you asking now?”

“Vice-commander, you knew about this?”

The knights who had sworn to support Adrian alongside William looked hurt as they protested at his attitude.

“I only found out a few days ago myself. I had no choice but to keep it secret on the young master’s orders.”

“Isn’t this a cause for celebration? Why hide it?”

“What do you think?”

At William’s counter-question, the knights recalled the surprise attack that had just occurred.

Although no evidence remained because all the attackers had died, it was obvious who the assassins’ target had been and who had made the request.

The faces of the knights belonging to the Anna and Cedric faction turned bright red.

William let out a small chuckle at their expressions and revealed what he knew.

“Young Master Adrian is the disciple of Duke Riverdale.”

“What?!”

“Oh my god.”

The appearance of a named celebrity caused everyone surrounding William to gasp and stir with shock.

“How? The surveillance… must have been intense.”

“The help of a grand mage like Duke Riverdale made the impossible possible.”

It was true that a grand mage could easily confuse people’s gazes.

Even so, it still didn’t make complete sense.

A grand mage was not someone you could reach by learning in bits and pieces when even devoting most of the day to training would barely be enough.

“What has the young master usually done in his daily routine?”

“Well, he played games… Wait, don’t tell me?”

“That’s right. He said he conducted lessons by traveling between reality and virtual reality. Theoretical classes can be done online just fine.”

Only then did the people begin to show expressions of gradual understanding.

After all, everyone knew that Adrian had poured an enormous amount of time into virtual reality games—so much that he could only be called a game addict.

“And we… without knowing any of that…”

“Were we the only ones? Everyone in the family insulted him.”

There wasn’t a single person in the family who didn’t know how Adrian had been treated.

Many of the knights had ignored or cursed him.

In fact, quite a few of the people present right now were included in that group.

All of it had been patience in preparation for today.

“Everyone acknowledges how great Duke Riverdale is, but I believe it was only possible because Young Master Adrian himself was special.”

The young genius of the Lawrence Viscounty, who was said to have lost his brilliance after consuming poison, had lowered himself, deceived everyone around him, and steadily prepared for the future in order to survive.

“……”

William gave a bitter smile at the subdued reactions of his subordinates.

But he soon changed his expression.

“You all understand now, don’t you?”

“Pardon?”

“Do you really think Anna and Cedric can stand against the young master as he is now?”

“Ah……”

Adrian the grand mage was impressive, but he also had an incredible lover by his side.

Anna and Cedric were no longer opponents worth considering.

The tide had already turned.

“If you don’t want to face judgment later, it would be best to keep your mouths shut until Young Master Adrian gives the order. You don’t want to board a sinking ship and die together, do you?”

At William’s warning, the members of the Anna and Cedric faction had to swallow dryly.

“Young Master Adrian is not someone who will remain trapped within the frame of a mere viscounty.”

Following the threat came William’s prediction, which sounded almost like a prophecy. The knights could only nod their heads in unison.

Watching this scene from afar, Adrian was impressed, thinking that William was surprisingly skilled at incitement.

“We will arrive at the territory soon. So conduct yourselves appropriately so as not to cause any trouble for the young master.”

The atmosphere among the knights had changed.

Completely.

William could feel with his skin that an expectation for one particular person was rising in all of their hearts.