Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Chapter 22: Infection Lord
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‘Everyone’s movements are so fluid.’
They were all stepping lightly, unburdened by the weight of their magic armor.
Just from that, one could predict they were high-ranking knights. Meredes recalled Davy’s teachings as she observed the knights’ movements.
-Before fighting, gauging the enemy’s capabilities is a crucial skill. Remember that. A knight must glean clues about their abilities from every minute detail of their actions.
-Of course, the enemy might anticipate that and deliberately conceal their movements or mix in feints. Once you see through that, a new battle of wits begins.
A knight’s deception.
Hiding or exaggerating one’s true strength.
But for a group sneaking in the dead of night like this, it didn’t seem likely they were exaggerating their skills with such light footwork on purpose.
“But, Captain. Killing the prince is one thing, but do we really have to slaughter everyone in the mansion? Adults and children alike?”
“Cut the nonsense. You new to this game?”
“But...”
“This job’s all about secrecy. We’re assassinating royalty, for god’s sake. Not a single one can escape. When the palace investigation team shows up later, we can’t leave a shred of evidence. Got it?”
The enemies’ identities were none other than assassins targeting Claude.
There were twenty in total.
All of them were Knight Expert level or higher, and the three at the front might be even stronger.
‘Probably Knight Commander level? But I’m not sure. Of course, not as strong as the captain. I still lack the experience to accurately gauge the enemy’s strength.’
So what should she do?
And she herself wasn’t even wearing magic armor—just her ordinary maid outfit.
Of course, even without it, she could subdue an ordinary knight in magic armor (like Kyle, for example) in an instant.
But these opponents were all Knight Experts or above. Even if she had her magic armor on, she wouldn’t stand a chance.
‘No, no need to overthink it. This isn’t the time to fight.’
She remembered that before being a knight, she was a maid of the mansion.
If a maid of the Lunenbreath family spotted enemies in the forest, the rule was to hide in place until they passed.
Then, once they were completely gone, use the maids’ secret shortcuts through the woods to return to the mansion as fast as possible. That way, she could alert everyone to the danger and allow them to respond.
“In the end, we’re the main force for this assassination. Those ragtag bunch coming from the east are just hired to make up numbers.”
“We should infiltrate first and swiftly take the prince’s head. Ideally while he’s deep in sleep.”
“Even if he wakes, it doesn’t matter. This is anti-magic armor. No matter what he throws at us, it’ll block at least once for sure... Everyone listening? Even if the prince suddenly blasts magic, don’t flinch—charge right in.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Good. Pick up the pace, then. Let’s finish this clean on our end before the others arrive. That way, there’ll be no loose ends.”
With that, the captain raised one hand, and all the knights simultaneously shifted from a normal walk to a brisk trot.
The problem was that it was faster than most ordinary people could run.
“......”
Having assessed the situation, Meredes bit her lip as she was forced into a new choice.
‘At this rate, even if I take the shortcut back later, I’ll arrive after them.’
In that case, she needed to buy time here while also signaling the mansion about the intruders.
But how?
Of course, if a fight broke out somehow, the mansion might notice and respond.
But she would definitely die in the process.
Once spotted, escape was impossible. Knights enhanced by mid-grade magic armor were faster than horses in a sprint.
‘For now, summon a spirit. Use it to draw their attention, then...’
But if it were the ‘rock spirit Lukkar’ contracted to Prince Claude, that’d be one thing. Her auxiliary contract with a mere pebble spirit wouldn’t last even a minute.
‘If only I’d worn my magic armor before coming out.’
If she had it on now, she could’ve linked with the pebble spirit to draw their eyes and find an opening somehow.
But lamenting what she didn’t have was pointless.
Even if it was lacking for now, the best plan was to summon the spirit to attract attention, then flee in the opposite direction and sprint full-tilt to the mansion via the shortcut.
‘If I’m spotted, they’ll catch and kill me in seconds, but...’
Conversely, if she did nothing here?
The head maid and other maids in the mansion—not to mention the prince’s favored knights—might all lose their lives.
Of course, better that she died than let that happen.
The moment Meredes steeled herself to summon the spirit—
-Wait.
The spirit spoke in her mind first.
“......!”
-I’m Kval, the pebble spirit contracted to you.
Meredes froze in place, holding her breath as she muttered.
“No... Why are you...”
-I know the situation. Don’t speak aloud—you might alert the enemy. You can talk with your thoughts.
‘What’s going on? You’ve never done this before?’
-It’s an exception for emergencies. Your desperate wish pulled me to act.
‘I was just about to summon you anyway. No time now. Even as we speak...’
-You wished for magic armor just now?
At the sudden out-of-left-field question, Meredes replied without even breathing.
‘Yes. But what good does wishing for something I don’t have do?’
-Magic armor is a tool that enhances the wearer’s physical body. A spirit like me can fulfill that role too.
‘What?’
-We call it ‘possession.’ Instead of summoning us into the world, we possess the spirit contractor’s body, enhancing their physical abilities for a limited time.
It was something she’d never heard of in her life. Meredes grew frantic watching the enemies pull further ahead and shouted in her mind.
‘Why tell me this now!’
-Most humans can’t handle spirit possession, let alone endure it.
‘What?’
-Even you, with your naturally strong body, will struggle with the aftereffects once it ends.
‘Who cares about aftereffects? I might die right now!’
-I agree. Besides, you’ve built up even stronger physical training recently. You should be able to draw out my possessed power fully.
‘Doesn’t matter. As long as I can fight. How long does possession last?’
-At most five minutes for now.
‘Five minutes is plenty. How strong exactly do I get?’
-Do you remember the last magic armor you wore?
‘The one from daytime training? Mid-grade magic armor?’
-The moment you’re possessed by me, you’ll gain slightly more power than that. But keep this in mind. The more intensely you fight in the possessed state...
‘Do it now! Hurry!’
-Hm... Brace for impact.
Right then, Meredes’s body shook violently.
It felt like being pelted by stones from all directions.
“......”
Meredes forcibly swallowed her scream. The moment the brief pain faded, she saw her body covered in a transparent, rock-like form.
‘This is spirit possession?’
An astonishingly solid physical stability washed over her.
The enhanced strength was a notch above mid-grade magic armor. Above all, there was none of the pressure or constriction that came with wearing armor.
‘With this...’
She might actually pull it off.
In an instant, Meredes dashed toward the enemies who’d gotten ahead, unleashing the knight skills she’d learned secondhand from the sidelines at their rear.
Gale Blade.
Bare-handed, without even a sword.
Boom!
The shockwave blasted out in a flash, striking the back of a knight in the enemy’s rear ranks.
“Guh!”
She saw the struck knight’s back crumple like paper.
‘Success!’
But this was just the beginning.
Before the sword he dropped could hit the ground, Meredes leaped in, snatched it, then advanced further to slash the waists of the two knights right in front of her simultaneously.
Slash!
Shwick!
It was an extremely wide-radius spinning cut. Impossible without Meredes’s tall frame and long arms.
But something felt off.
‘Soft.’
She’d clearly sliced through solid magic armor. So why did it feel soft?
“Enemy!”
The enemies whirled around in unison, and Meredes cleaved the nearest knight’s body diagonally in a single strike.
Crack!
Once more, the enemy’s magic armor split like paper.
Was it the boosted strength from spirit possession?
Or had her senses gone haywire?
“Knight! And with our magic armor in this state...”
‘Magic armor? What about it?’
“Everyone, make way!”
Then the knight at the enemy vanguard shouted, and the others parted left and right like an ebbing tide.
“How dare you ambush us!”
Was that something to say for people sneaking in to assassinate in the dead of night?
Boom!
The blade he slammed down struck the ground, unleashing a ferocious shockwave that raced along the earth at high speed.
‘Wave Blade!’
A technique only a Knight Commander or higher could use.
The moment it swept over you, the impact—several times that of a Gale Blade—would shatter your body armor and all.
-Did you see it well? That’s Wave Blade. Immense power, but clear weaknesses too.
Davy’s teachings flashed through her mind, and Meredes reflexively launched herself above the oncoming shockwave.
“......!”
The eyes of the knight who’d unleashed Wave Blade filled with shock for an instant. Meredes vaulted over the shockwave at a razor-thin height, then swung her sword in one fluid motion as if it were all part of the same action.
Shwick!
With that strike, a red line etched vertically across the knight’s body.
“My Wave Blade...”
Even as his breath failed, the knight wore an incredulous expression. Meredes shivered at the sensation flowing along her blade, then suddenly felt a chill and scanned her surroundings.
‘They’ve surrounded me.’
The enemies who’d split left and right had now encircled her from all sides, swords trained on her.
Meredes took slow steps back, and the enemies mirrored her movements in kind.
“Impressive.”
In the midst of it, one examined the severed cross-section of the dead knight and clicked his tongue.
“No matter that it’s anti-magic armor, cut this clean... That’s proper training. Work of a Knight Master, maybe?”
“......”
Meredes glared at the knight without responding.
The one who seemed like the vice-captain nodded slowly as he inspected the long Wave Blade scar on the ground.
“Who’d have thought Wave Blade had such a weakness... I’ll have to watch out. But leaping right in the moment you spotted it? Guts of steel.”
“......”
“And that outfit... No way, a mansion maid? What sorcery is this? Without even magic armor?”
It was indeed spirit magic, so technically magic.
But Meredes said nothing. The knight’s eyes flashed through his visor as he slowly raised his hand.
“Whatever. We can figure it out after you’re dead.”
The moment he lowered his raised hand to signal a coordinated attack—
‘A smell?’
Meredes’s eyes wavered for an instant as she sensed something amiss.
“......I am Meredes.”
She suddenly dropped her sword to the ground and revealed her identity.
“I am a maid of Lunenbreath Mansion and a retainer to His Highness Prince Claude of the Payud Empire. You are invading his private property by force. This is high treason, punishable by the execution of your entire clan.”
With that, she slowly reached into her bosom. Having already dropped her sword beforehand, the encircling knights smirked without much caution.
“High treason? Only if it sticks. This forest is completely surrounded anyway. Not even an ant could slip out. But what’re you... An elixir vial?”
The knight eyed the small elixir bottle Meredes pulled out. She uncapped it, poured it straight into her mouth, then clamped her nose and mouth shut with both hands and curled up.