Chapter 48: The Attack And Fury (1)

A dark, communal space.

Six elders gathered in the only place in the family where Delkarmen’s eyes couldn’t reach.

They stared endlessly at the crystal ball in the center of the table.

If the plan they had devised this time succeeded, the family would be theirs in an instant.

Conversely, if it failed, they could pressure the Emperor through the assassination attempt on the prince, and the power of the Muelia Duchy would grow even larger.

A situation where they would benefit regardless of success or failure.

It was a plan made possible by cleverly enticing the immature 2nd Prince.

“Hmm. It’s taking longer than expected. They said it would be over soon.”

“Wait a little longer. Why are you so impatient?”

“Quiet. Quiet. Quiet.”

The elders opened and closed their mouths.

A moment later.

The extinguished crystal ball lit up.

The blue light meant that it was connected to the contact.

“So. What’s the result?”

“Gasp. Gasp. It failed.”

“What? Failed? Explain in more detail! You said it was a plan that couldn’t fail!”

The man panting on the other side of the crystal ball continued.

“Due to the urgency of the situation, I will explain quickly. Delkarmen changed the plan just before the expedition began. Originally, we were supposed to weaken the knights and Delkarmen at this stage, but it failed.”

“Changed the plan? Does that mean Delkarmen didn’t go to the front lines?”

“Yes. The knights and the prince’s knights dealt with the monsters together. After that, they advanced south and entered the deepest part of the Southern Great Forest.

Due to unforeseen danger, Delkarmen went in alone, and soon the prince said he would support him and went in as well.”

“That part is the same as the plan.”

“No. The problem is that after Delkarmen killed Flame Nova, he still had strength left. Moreover, Delkarmen seemed to have known about the prince’s ambush and brought his escort knights.”

“I’m going crazy.”

It was understandable that it simply failed.

But bringing the knights meant that he knew about this attack in advance.

The elders destroyed the crystal ball and leaned back in their chairs.

“What do we do now? We failed to kill Delkarmen. By now, he’s probably finished the expedition and is coming back from the deepest part.”

“It was a perfect opportunity! Damn it!”

As the atmosphere heated up, the 3rd Elder calmed them down.

“Let’s calm down first. Rather, the Muelia Duchy will grow even larger with this opportunity. And Emily won’t be able to handle that power. When she collapses on her own, it’s not too late for us to devour it.”

Clearly, even failure was beneficial.

It was just delaying the time to devour the family.

Nevertheless, the elders burned with anger.

Because the expectation of certainty had been shattered.

Someone shouted.

“How did he know?”

“Wait a minute. I’ll find out.”

The 5th Elder gave an order to his subordinate.

The subordinate whispered to the 5th Elder for a moment.

The 5th Elder furrowed his brow and gestured for him to speak to everyone.

“Ahem. First of all, the head’s room, the reading room, and the dining room are impossible to eavesdrop on.

So, we identify the people who entered those places and their subsequent actions to understand the content of the conversation. It was the same this time, and as a result, one person was suspicious.”

“Who is it?”

“Baronet Rachel Arcane.”

“Was there such a baronet?”

“She’s the one who cured Miss Yona’s illness a while ago.”

The elders’ eyes widened.

They had tried to gather information somehow when they heard that Yona had been cured.

But the head had strictly controlled it, so they didn’t know.

The reason Armil knew before was because she was an archmage who could handle the nature attribute.

One of the elders raised his hand.

“How do you know that?”

“Before Miss Yona recovered, we intensively investigated the people who visited the mansion. After that, Rachel received the title of baronet for that merit.”

This should be considered certain.

The subordinate left, and the elders each said a word.

“That b*tch Rachel is the problem. We need to kill her. What do you think?”

“I agree, all our plans were ruined because of that b*tch!”

“If we’re going to assassinate her, do it quickly. When Delkarmen comes, he’ll take care of Rachel first.”

“Let’s make the assassination the responsibility of the Imperial Family this time. So that Delkarmen can misunderstand.”

The assassination of Rachel was unanimously decided.

The order was passed down to the subordinates.

“The master ordered us to kill a b*tch named Rachel.”

“Rachel… she’s pretty, I’ve had my eye on her. This is perfect.”

The hunting dogs, deeply hidden in the shadows with their black robes, conversed.

They moved as soon as the sun set.

Swish, swish, swish.

They were all skilled assassins, experts at moving without a trace.

They looked at Rachel’s mansion, which was still lit up.

“What should we do?”

“What do you mean? She’s just a baronet. What’s so difficult about killing a b*tch without a single knight?”

“We still need to be careful.”

“I’ll go first. But I’ll f*ck her once before I kill her, okay?”

“Wait!”

The assassin grinned and ran alone to the mansion.

Just then, the moonlight was hidden by dark clouds.

It was the perfect situation.

As he was about to head to the front door.

Slash.

“Some strange vermin are targeting Rachel.”

A single strike.

The man, whose head and body were separated, died without any response.

Aris lightly shook off the blood on her sword and hid her presence.

In fact, she had been watching them from the roof for a long time.

It had been ten days since she had been assigned to guard Rachel at Emily’s request.

She and her subordinates had been taking turns guarding, and it happened to be her shift when the assassins attacked.

The moonlight hidden by the dark clouds disappeared.

The assassins waited for the lights in the mansion to go out.

But no matter how long they waited, the lights in the mansion did not go out.

There wasn’t even a slight disturbance.

“What? What’s going on?”

“There seems to be something we don’t know. Let’s go together.”

“Okay.”

They waited for the dark clouds to cover the moonlight and ran.

Since the elders had given the order directly, the number of assassins gathered here alone was over 30.

They were also professionally trained assassins, a force that could wipe out a baronetcy in a single day.

But the problem was that Aris was guarding the mansion.

A candidate for the next Sword King, a person evaluated to become a Master, the most outstanding among Delkarmen’s disciples.

The titles that described her could not be said to be light.

“Where are you going in such a hurry?”

“Could you be… Aris? Kugh. Damn it! Kill her first!”

The assassin who identified Aris shouted.

Hearing the sound, all the assassins changed their targets.

Hidden in the darkness, without a single point of light.

This could be said to be the stage for assassins.

‘Even Aris can’t handle all of us at once!’

“Die! Hup!”

A dagger full of poison pierced Aris’s neck.

But it was an afterimage created by high-speed movement.

Aris, who had moved behind the assassin, lightly thrust her sword and pierced his heart.

Thud!

“You know what? After I became Your Excellency’s disciple, the most common thing I received was assassination attempts.”

Those who were jealous of her brilliant talent and the forces that were wary of Delkarmen sent assassins day and night.

Thanks to that, Aris was more adept at dealing with assassins than anyone else.

“I even met a Master Assassin a while ago. Compared to him, you guys are very funny.”

Aris turned her throbbing shoulder and began to deal with the assassins.

The assassins gritted their teeth as they saw the number of their colleagues dwindling.

‘Even when we use stealth, she’s accurately seeing our swords. She’s not even allowing attacks with poison.’

Hope gradually diminished.

But they didn’t run away.

Why?

Because they were assassins.

They were raised as hunting dogs for their master, and a hunting dog must follow the master’s orders until it dies.

Eventually, the assassins who had given up hope all changed their targets at once.

It was to kill Rachel Arcane.

“These. You dare, you vile bastards!”

Aris decided to push herself a little.

She pulled up all her aura.

The wound she had received in the battle with the Master Assassin burst open.

Blood and pain flooded her, but she could endure this much.

She moved between the assassins at an even faster speed.

But she couldn’t stop the mad dogs who had given up their lives to carry out their master’s orders.

Eventually, she missed a few assassins.

Crash!

“Die!”

An assassin who broke through the window.

What awaited him was a giant brown fist.

Boom!
The body of the assassin, whose face exploded with a single blow, rolled on the floor.

The teddy bear roared through the broken window.

Roar!!!

Its usual cute appearance was nowhere to be seen, and its muscles grew ruggedly.

Silence arrived for a moment.

“What, what is that?”

“It’s stronger than Aris? I’m going crazy!”

“Haha. I didn’t hear that there was such a thing.”

The assassins were flustered.

It was natural since a knight close to an Aura Master was guarding the outside, and an artifact stronger than her was guarding the house.

The assassins once again burned their fighting spirit and fought, but the result was miserable.

Knock, knock.

Roar. Roar.

The teddy bear, which had dealt with all the assassins, knocked on the closet.

Only then did Rachel, who appeared after opening the door, look around.

“Is it over now?”

Roar! Roar!

“That’s a relief. Really.”

Thud.

Rachel, who was relieved, collapsed on the spot.

The biggest reason was that she was directly exposed to all kinds of killing intent and shock waves.

And that news soon reached Emily’s ears.