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Chapter 346: The Assassination of the Head of the Assassination Organization: "Mother"
🕑 Added 2024-10-23 10:00:09 +0000 UTC“Sorry, sorry, I got stuck while writing today and forgot to update… (′▽｀).”
Now, as Meili Portroute looked at Wood slowly walking toward her, her eyes were filled with terror.
Earlier, the confidence Meili had shown when confronting Wood stemmed from the fact that she thought she had hundreds of magical beasts backing her. However, for some unknown reason, all those beasts had suddenly lost consciousness.
When she saw Wood form an ice blade and walk along, finishing off the beasts that had fallen unconscious, Meili was genuinely frightened.
“She simply didn’t know your strength before, and her fear of ‘Mother’ had been too deeply ingrained.
There aren’t many assassins with the power of ‘blessings,’ especially at her young age. She’s definitely worth cultivating.”
Elsa looked at Wood, who was approaching Meili with the ice blade in hand, and pleaded with a face full of panic.
She hadn’t anticipated that things would develop this way.
Originally, she had brought Wood to find Meili in hopes that, before she committed any serious crimes, Wood’s strength would help free Meili from “Mother” and thus save her.
But now, not only had they failed to save Meili, but it seemed her life was about to be lost as well.
As Wood drew closer, Meili’s young face finally showed a trace of fear. Even though her legs were broken from the fall, she used her arms to drag her body backward, desperately trying to put distance between herself and Wood.
To Meili, Wood now appeared no different from the most terrifying demon, and she could only attempt to widen the gap between them, hoping to feel some measure of safety.
Unfortunately, with her legs broken, Meili's crawling speed couldn’t match Wood’s walking pace.
When Wood reached her, holding the ice blade stained with the blood of magical beasts, Meili closed her eyes in terror.
Elsa, watching Wood draw closer and closer to Meili, quietly gripped the curved blade hidden in her cloak but ultimately released her hold on it.
Elsa desperately wanted to save Meili, just as she had saved the enslaved children before. But the power gap between her and Wood was simply too vast.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t Wood’s fault. It was Meili’s own overconfidence that had led to this outcome.
As an assassin, she hadn’t even grasped the most basic understanding of the disparity in strength between her and her enemies.
“Divine Healing Magic: Song of Healing!”
Wood, now standing in front of Meili, reached out his bloodstained right hand toward her. Just as everyone thought he was about to use magic to kill the young beast user, a goddess’s ethereal image slowly appeared behind him.
The phantom goddess held a lyre, singing a sacred song, as waves of holy light descended upon them. Meili, who had been bracing for pain with her eyes closed, was suddenly enveloped by a gentle, soothing energy.
Instead of the pain she had expected, Meili heard the sound of a beautiful lyre playing nearby…
When Meili curiously opened her eyes, she saw Wood bathed in the holy light of the goddess, looking like an angel who had descended right in front of her.
That’s right—just moments ago, Wood had seemed like a ruthless demon. But now, with the special effects of the divine light enhancing his image, Meili’s perception of him had transformed into that of a radiant angel.
Especially under the glow of the holy light, Meili not only felt warmth but also noticed that her broken legs were miraculously healing at an astonishing rate.
“Well? Now do you believe I have the strength to defeat your ‘Mother’?”
Wood reached his hand out to her. Despite her lingering fear of Wood, the combination of the divine effects and his striking appearance left Meili too overwhelmed to resist, and she nervously extended her own hand…
When Subaru Natsuki regained consciousness again, he found himself back at the Roswaal mansion.
Rem had carried him back, and as the witness to everything that had happened, she also reported the incident to the Margrave Roswaal.
And because Meili Portroute had been taken away by Wood and Elsa, there was no magical beast attack on Arlam Village this time, and Subaru was lucky enough not to die at the claws of the beasts.
However, due to the lack of the magical beast incident, there was no progress in the romantic development between Subaru and Rem.
Emilia, upon learning that both Meili and Elsa had come because of her and that Arlam Village had almost been attacked by magical beasts due to her, fell into a deep sense of guilt once again.
After finding out that the situation had been resolved thanks to Wood, Emilia couldn’t help but express her gratitude and praise for him.
This naturally made Subaru, our real protagonist, feel a pang of jealousy.
By rights, after accepting Emilia’s invitation to come to the Roswaal mansion, Subaru should have been able to increase his favorability with Emilia faster.
But why was it that despite Wood not even interacting with Emilia directly, her favorability for him seemed to be rising so rapidly?
“Barusu, if you’re thinking of treating that man named Wood as a rival, I’d advise you to forget about it.
From what Rem described, that kind of strong individual is far beyond your league. Barusu, you’re not even worthy to carry his shoes, let alone compete for Lady Emilia’s favor.”
Noticing Subaru’s gaze lingering on Emilia, Ram, the pink-haired older twin, once again spoke in her usual sharp tone.
Ram was once the strongest of the Oni tribe, even being hailed as the “Hornless Oni God.”
If not for the fact that she lost her “horn”—the source of her Oni powers—while saving Rem during the attack by the Witch’s Cult on their village, Ram’s strength at her peak would have even surpassed that of the great spirit Puck.
However, even someone as powerful as Ram, upon learning that Wood had fought the Sword Saint Reinhard to a standstill and had knocked out nearly a hundred magical beasts with just his aura, admitted that even her full-powered self wouldn’t stand a chance against him.
“You’ll see, I will prove to all of you that as long as I’m the protagonist, I’ll shine no matter where I am.
Even if I don’t have overwhelming strength or stunning good looks, I still have a brilliant mind.
When Emilia heads to the royal capital for the candidate ceremony, I’ll show everyone that I’m more capable than Wood.”
The royal candidate ceremony of the Dragon Kingdom of Lugnica was about to begin.
Due to the sudden and mysterious death of the previous king, only the five “Dragon Priestesses,” recognized by the Dragon itself, were eligible to bear the dragon-marked crest and participate in the royal election.
Emilia was one of the five “Dragon Priestesses,” and Roswaal was one of her supporters.
Initially, Ram was supposed to stay behind at the Roswaal mansion. But this time, Rem uncharacteristically requested that Roswaal allow Ram to accompany them to the royal capital.
When Ram asked Rem why afterward, she awkwardly revealed her reason.
She wanted her sister Ram to go to the capital because Wood had mentioned he might show up there.
As for why Rem wanted Ram to meet Wood, there was a reason for that too.
The scene of Wood using ‘Healing Magic’ to cure Meili’s broken legs had left a deep impression on Rem.
While this world had magic, “water-based” healing magic didn’t even come close to the level of Wood’s healing magic.
Ram’s missing horn had always been a source of heartache for Rem, and she had worked hard to become stronger in an effort to help her sister in any way she could.
Ram had once been the most talented of the Oni tribe, but because of her useless little sister, she had lost her immense power.
Though Rem never voiced it, she had always felt deeply guilty about it.
After witnessing Wood’s near-miraculous healing powers, Rem had clung to him like a lifeline, begging for his help.
However, the straight-laced Wood wasn’t like Subaru. He had no interest in earning favor with girls. He told Rem that he had important business to attend to and didn’t have time to visit Roswaal’s mansion to meet her sister.
He wasn’t joking—Wood had clearly sensed Rem’s previous reluctance to let him go to Roswaal’s mansion.
While Wood hadn’t planned to visit the mansion before, that was then and this was now.
It was one thing when they thought he was too dangerous to approach the mansion, but now that they needed his help, they wanted to invite him over? What did they take him for?
Besides, what kind of person rushes to help when they’re the one being asked for assistance?
Of course, Wood didn’t completely reject Rem’s request. In the end, her sincere attitude won him over.
Wood could tell that her sister meant a great deal to her.
So he told Rem that he might be heading to the royal capital of Lugnica, and if they met again there, he would try to help her sister.
However, Wood also gave Rem a fair warning, telling her that magic wasn’t omnipotent, and he wasn’t sure if he could help her sister. He could only promise to do his best.
Meanwhile, after leaving Arlam Village with Meili and Elsa, Wood followed them to the headquarters of the underground assassination organization and finally met their so-called “Mother.”
This so-called “Mother” was indeed a woman, but when Wood saw her
, he could clearly sense that she wasn’t truly human… or at least, not a normal human.
Elsa and Meili were already considered powerful in this world, but when they encountered “Mother,” Wood could easily feel the fear radiating from them.
“Elsa, Meili, have you completed your mission? And who is this man? Shouldn’t you explain that to me?”
Elsa and Meili’s “Mother” was currently standing behind a red curtain. Through the silhouette cast on the curtain, it was easy to tell that she had a curvaceous figure.
“Mother’s” exact age and appearance were a mystery, even to Elsa and Meili, who had never seen her in person.
Hearing the harsh reprimand from “Mother,” Elsa managed to maintain her composure, but Meili clearly showed signs of trauma from past experiences. She shrank behind Wood and clung tightly to his clothing.
Beneath the red curtain, a shadow slithered like a serpent, creeping quickly and silently along the floor toward Wood and the two women.
Before long, what had been a two-dimensional shadow suddenly became three-dimensional, forming multiple shadowy arms that reached out to grab them.
Watching the many shadow arms branching out like tree limbs, Wood swiftly condensed the moisture in the air, forming an ice blade.
With dazzling flashes of light, the shadowy arms rushing toward them were swiftly cut down by Wood, as easily as slicing through grass.
However, before Wood could even catch his breath, he realized that the severed shadow arms were melting back into the ground like black sludge, quickly reforming into new shadows to attack them again.
“This is ‘Mother’s’ ability. Attacking her shadows with swords or other physical weapons is useless because shadows have no physical form.
No matter how many times you attack, the shadows will keep regrouping to attack again and again, relentlessly pursuing their enemies until they’re dead.”
Elsa, wielding her curved blade, defended against the shadow attacks while protecting Meili and retreating. As she did, she explained the situation to Wood.
Elsa had tried more than once to break free from “Mother’s” control, but her own blessing of controlling blades was completely countered by “Mother’s” abilities.
Moreover, none of them knew if this mysterious “Mother” had only one power or more.
“Manipulating shadows, huh? It’s a pretty fitting ability for an assassin.
Since shadows can pass through obstacles and strike silently, it’s impossible to predict the angle or strength of the attacks.
But no matter how powerful an ability is, it always has a weakness. No power is without flaws!”
Wood parried the shadow arrows shooting out from the ground with his ice blade, while simultaneously gathering mana and forming a massive magic circle in front of him with his free hand.
“Divine Ice Magic: Winter’s Breath!”
As the blue magic circle rapidly expanded in front of Wood, a blast of freezing air instantly filled the area.
The moisture in the air froze in an instant, turning the small underground space into a massive ice chamber. Not only the floor and walls, but even the ceiling became a glistening surface of ice.
The shadows that had been rushing toward Wood and the others were now frozen solid in place, as if time had stopped.
Meili, who had been hiding behind Elsa, was completely stunned by the sight of the room turning into an icy wonderland in an instant.
Now, she finally understood why Elsa always called Wood a “monster.”
