City of Desire [Kingdom Building]
Chapter 1010: Kill Her II
Proofread by Thomas F
White Gyrge
"Kill her!" "Capture Her!"
I said, activating Dual Speak. I can't give a command to kill Margaux Swan in front of Tynris; she will go mad if she hears it. So, she will not hear it.
She will only hear 'Capture Her' instead of 'Kill her', which is rest of my men.
'Tynris, handle the man; the rest of you move on the target!' I ordered, activating Gang Assault and Bloody Execution.
I moved with absolute confidence. There are seven of us, while only five of them. Six, if I count the target; her awakening the aura and even ability to use aura method had been surprising.
Still, I do not fear it; the spell, the spells she had cast, is a Grade III, and while they might be a fusion spell with an aura method attached, I will be fine.
To do any harm to me, she will need to cast a Grade V spell, and that is with aura.
She launched her attacks; there were three in the form of a snake, and they came really fast. Faster than I had expected, appearing in front of me in a second.
My dangersense and its intensity surprised me. The attack was stronger than I had expected.
I unsheathed my blade.
An artifact, a trinket, since it has only one ability: to cut through anything, which is the most common ability among the blade-type artifacts.
If it had been a true artifact, it wouldn't have been in my hand.
I activated Leader's Slash, Pack's Strength, and Executioner's Edge. That is not all; I summoned my aura, and a fractal formed, covering my blade with an umber film.
I knew I didn't even have five minutes and didn't want to waste any time.
In my decades in the underworld, I understood very well. The sooner one kills the target, the safer it is. The world is full of unexpected things.
If I give the target too much time, the unexpected will somehow save them.
That is not what I want. If I fail here, I will not get another chance, not only because they will be careful but also because I will need to hide for a while.
That is the plan.
The money I have and will get from this job will be more than enough to live in luxury.
My blade touched the spell, and, as I expected, it could go through them smoothly with barely any resistance. My blade reached the second spell and did the same before moving to the third.
The moment it touched it, a surprise couldn't help but appear on my face.
….
Margaux Swan
I watched his blade cut through the first of Silverom's Snakes. It's a fusion spell made of three Grade III spells.
That blade cut the second spell with the same ease, but when he reached the third snake. I saw his eyes widening as the spell exploded.
Silvorom's Snake might be a Grade III spell, but it's a fusion spell. Its power is equal to Grade IV.
On top of that, I had drawn it using a Grade IV essence drop and infused the power of my skills and aura method into it.
Taking its power to Grade V.
This was my strongest attack.
Thaddeus repeatedly tells me one thing. If someone comes to kill you, answer with greater force. Hold nothing back. End the fight with your strongest blow before they have the chance to strike again.
I just did that. I do not know many Grade III spells. I know only seven.
It's been only a few months since I began learning them.
I am learning spells fast. Faster than before since Master Silver gifted me a real paint-cast spellbook from the Archmage Tower.
Written by none other than an ancient archmage.
It differs from conventional spells, which are written in mage script, while paint spells are written in composition. To me, they are so much easier to understand, despite being more complex, than conventional spells.
"A good spell," he said, before breaking out of the explosion.
His cloak disappeared. Now there is a white ceramic mask that hides his face completely. The only thing I could see was his deep green eyes.
There is not a single scratch on him. I realized.
Instead, there is an umbral film with a swirling pattern covering every part of his body.
"It might have done something to a lesser Lv. 40, but not powerful enough to scratch me." With those words, he came at me once more, speed far greater than before.
Even with the Keen Eyes, I could barely track him.
He is as fast as Thaddeus. I thought.
"Stop, you criminal," shouted Vaelith, but the woman appeared in front of him and attacked, forcing him to defend himself and leaving him an uninterrupted path toward me.
I looked at the others, and everyone was engaged. Only the Principal, the other student combatants, and I were huddled in one place.
Seeing that, I moved to paint the spell, but I knew, even with all my skills, I wouldn't be able to cast it fast enough. A Grade I mage could cast a spell faster than I could paint.
It's why this type of casting is niche despite all the advantages it offers.
Still, my brush moved across the air, despite the man coming toward me.
It didn't take him long to appear in front of me.
"It's time to die," he said and swung his blade toward me. I shuddered in my heart and saw the faces of my daughter, Thaddeus, Master Silver, and others come before me.
I moved to dodge with Silken Stride; the speed and timing seemed to surprise him.
If I couldn't manage this much, then all the training would go to waste. It is mandatory for all the upper echelon of Velvet Garden. We have to do it twice a week.
That and the sessions I have with Thaddeous.
He still bears the guilt of losing his family. So, when he trains me, he becomes a harsh and demanding teacher. I don't like it, but now I am feeling grateful for it.
The surprise disappeared from his face, and a grin appeared.
"You will die; there is nothing and no one who could save you, whore." He stated as if it were a fact
At that very moment, my movements slowed down. At first, I thought he used a presence skill, activated mine, and pushed against it.
It eased my movements, only a little.
It's a restrictive skill; I felt like I was walking in water. The world around me itself was trying to restrict my movements.
That was everything he needed as he flashed in front of me and swung his blade.
Am I going to die? I couldn't help but ask myself.
I don't want to die, but I am not as unwilling as I would have been a few years ago. My daughter is learning at one of the best places in the world.
Della will do an amazing job leading the college.
The one person I am worried about most is Thaddeus. He had already lost his family once; he might not bear my loss.
So, I used my aura method in my skill. Wishing my understanding would have been at an integrated level.
The blade covered more than half the distance and was about to reach my head when a large mirror appeared in front of me.
The blade crashed against it, and faint cracks spread across it before it started to heal. I looked at Raiza and saw her shaking while she bled through her orifices.
"This is my academy, and you will not harm a single soul in it as long as I am alive!" She said with eyes burning with conviction.
There are few people I admire outside of Dominion, but this woman is one of them. She loves her academy more than her life itself.
"Then try to stop me," he replied with a grin.
The next moment, I felt all the hair on my neck rise, and I moved forward on instinct.
I felt the sharpness on my back, making me nearly stop my brush. I did not; I just gritted my teeth, bearing the deep cut on my back.
Sending a blinding pain. A skill, without a doubt.
I should have worn the armor. Stone and Master both reminded me to wear it before I left, and I did, but I stopped wearing it after a few days at the academy.
It was tight and stuffy. I couldn't teach as comfortably as I wanted to while wearing it.
He appeared to my left and attacked again. This time, the mirror shield stopped it, but he disappeared and appeared in front of me and attacked; once more, the shield stopped his attack.
Three shields were revolving around me, while others moved across the battlefield, defending against enemies' attacks.
'Are you fine, Raiza?' I couldn't help but ask. It's a stupid question, but I couldn't help asking, seeing how she did not look good. She became white as paper.
'I am until help arrives,' she replied, and the mirror shield defended once more as he attacked from behind.
He has a rare blink skill.
Thaddeous considers them some of the most dangerous melee skills.
He attacked, but the mirror shield defended. Seeing that, I focused on the spell. My brush never stopped; it kept moving, and now the spell is nearly finished.
A few seconds later, a Silvorom's Snake was ready, and immediately, I sent it toward the enemy.
The enemy laughed and blinked, dodging the attack, but the very next moment, the snake turned toward him. I could feel his surprise.
The name of my aura method is Xarion's Weaving. There is only one method in it.
Bell called it the strongest and weakest aura method she has.
It's different from other aura methods. Because for this method, it is up to a person to decide what they want the method to do. It is up to one's will and imagination.
The method would do anything one wants as long as there is a strong enough will.
This is a requirement because weaving conditions are very hard. The more complex the instructions become, the stronger the will and control the method would require.
The snake reached him, and I would have thought he would dodge again, but this time, he simply swung his blade at it.
It exploded with stronger force, but this time, it didn't cover him, since he escaped the blast with a blink.
"Fucking shields!" he cursed, and the next moment, he appeared beside Principle and attacked her.
"Zaira!" I screamed, but she just watched. She even seemed to smile.
The blade reached her, and I nearly closed my eyes but kept them open. I expected her to split in two. Instead, the blade stopped with a mirror shine covering her.
Carla, you are right.
It was just a few weeks ago; I was talking with Carla about the artifacts when she said. Don't underestimate them—especially those with a reputation.
This one has a reputation for being one of the strongest defensive artifacts in Oksall.
Some say it's the strongest. That means a lot, given the sheer number of artifacts the merchant state has. They have the most, more than the empire, even more than Baxzar.
Only the Archmage City has more artifacts than the merchant states.
"Artifacts!" he cursed and appeared in front of me, attacking even more intensely than before, appearing in every direction. The shield defended, but every time it would defend, Zaira would shake.
He noticed that as well, and his attacks became even faster.
"You are at your limit. How long will you be able to protect her?" he asked, voice filled with hatred, before resuming the attack with every greater intensity.
Zaira won't be able to defend me for long. Her condition is getting worse with every attack from the enemy.
I looked at Vaelith, the last hope, but the woman was containing him. He tried to come to Zaira's side, but was stopped by the woman.
The others are not powerful enough to help.
Once she collapses, he will kill me and not just me, but my staff, Zaira, and others. Including those three young girls, one of whom I had taught and grown quite fond of.
He will kill everyone to wipe away the proof of his act.
I cannot let that happen!
But what can I do? I couldn't help but ask myself. It is the strongest spell, I know, and it is useless against him.
No, not the strongest. I thought.
There is one more. It's very powerful—a six-spell fusion spell.
I am far from being capable of painting it.
I had only read about it; I had never even tried painting it. It's hard; every spell I add to fusion makes it harder to paint, and currently, I could only cast a three-spell fusion.
But what other choice do I have? I am going to die either way; I might as well die trying. I have to try it, not for myself, but for my staff and for the young women who have just started their lives.
I cannot let them die.
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