Chapter 70 - Ambush And Rescue

Chapter 70: Chapter 70 - Ambush And Rescue

Lucianne’s eyes widened in panic. She thrashed against Gwen’s grip, trying to object through her gag, but Gwen roughly hauled her to her feet and shoved her forward.

"Move."

She forcefully dragged the disheveled noble through the echoing sewer pipes until the archway opened into the cool night air of the lower district canal.

The moment Maelle’s boots stepped outside, the ambience cracked with lethal intent.

SWISH!

Three shadowy figures dropped from the rounded edges of the giant pipe above. Their poison-coated daggers gleamed like wicked fangs in the moonlight, aimed straight for Maelle’s exposed neck.

"Princess, look out!"

Gwen threw herself forward, pulling Maelle violently out of the line of fire. The primary assassin’s blade sliced through empty air where Maelle’s head had been a second prior, grazing the fabric of Gwen’s sleeve instead.

They tumbled onto the damp stones of the sewer entrance as five more shadowed assassins stepped out from the darkness and encircled their exit path.

Scrambling to her feet, Gwen drew her twin daggers and placed herself defensively in front of Maelle.

"Gwen...!"

"Stay behind me, Your Highness!" Gwen screamed as her eyes darted between the five approaching killers.

The first assassin lunged.

He executed a low, sweeping leg strike, aiming to take Gwen’s footing while thrusting his poisoned main-gauche toward her heart. Gwen leaped over the sweep, spinning mid-air to parry the thrust with her right dagger.

CLANG!

Sparks flew across the dark canal. She landed fluidly and ducked beneath a horizontal slash from a second assassin approaching from her flank. She then drove her left dagger upward, catching the assassin beneath his leather armguard and slicing through his wrist tendon.

"Kh–!" The assassin dropped his weapon, but the remaining three closed in instantly, their coordinated strikes creating a deadly web of steel.

Gwen parried left, blocked right, and ducked a lethal throat-cutter, but the sheer volume of attacks began pressing her back. A grazing strike cut across her shoulder, causing blood to seep through her clothes.

"Persistent bastards!"

Jumping backward to create distance, she held out her hand and conjured a magic circle. "Firetongue, on me!"

In a small burst of flames and flickering embers, a small red lizard materialised on Gwen’s right shoulder. Firetongue struck out her tongue on Gwen’s neck and unleashed a wave of warm, buffing mana that surged directly into her system.

FWOOSH!

Bright orange flame ignited along the edges of Gwen’s twin daggers.

"Let’s see you all block this!"

She spun like a whirlwind of fire, slicing her blazing daggers in a double cross-pattern. The nearest assassin raised his steel guard, but the elemental flame mana slicing through his blade snapped the iron in half.

BOOM!

"HAAA–! AAHHHH!!!"

The flame shockwave detonated against his chest, setting him ablaze, and launching him into the filthy water behind them.

Gwen didn’t stop. Powered by Firetongue’s fire-enhancement, she thrust her right blade into the second assassin’s shoulder. She then used his body as a pivot to swing herself around and deliver a blazing back-kick to the incoming third assassin’s jaw. The force and heat of the impact rattled his skull, knocking him unconscious before he even hit the ground.

Within seconds, the assassins lay broken, burning, or drowning in the canal.

CLAP... CLAP... CLAP...

Slow applause echoed from the shadows ahead.

A towering, muscular Wolf beastkin stepped out into the moonlight. Through his armour, his coarse gray fur stuck out, and his yellow eyes locked squarely onto Maelle with scorn.

"Impressive display from a mere attendant," the assassin leader sneered, his lower lip curling back to reveal sharp fangs. "But tell me, Princess. Where is that grand Familiar everyone at the Academy was whispering about? Summon him, Princess! Let me taste the power of your savior!"

Maelle stood motionless in front of Lucianne. Her right hand clenched into a tight, trembling fist at her side, but her lips remained sealed. She refused to utter the summon command. She refused to call for Vincent.

The leader burst into a mocking laugh. "HAHAHA! What?! Nothing?! Hmph! You’re telling me those rumors were true?! Did you really ditch his ass after a little argument?! How stupid! Then this will be far too easy!"

He dropped onto all fours. A heavy wave of pitch-black mana erupted from his body, tearing through his upper body armor as his muscles swelled to twice their size. His eyes reddened, his snout elongated, and razor-sharp fangs protruded from his jaws as his nails morphed into ten-inch tearing claws.

"HAHAHA! BERSERK MODE! AWOOOOO!" the werewolf howled. The sheer acoustic sound only cracked the stones beneath his paws.

BOOM!!!

Without warning, the now Werewolf lunged forward at blinding speed.

He bypassed Gwen entirely, aiming a crushing claw strike straight for her neck from her blind spot to finish off the attendant before taking Maelle.

Gwen’s eyes widened. "Too fast–!"

THWACK!!!!

Out of nowhere, a pink-and-black mana shockwave blasted down from the night sky like a falling meteor.

A pitch-black, leather-clad heel slammed with bone-shattering force directly into the side of the giant werewolf’s jaw.

CRASH!!!!!!!

"GAHHH!" The werewolf howled in agony as the force sent his massive body spinning through the air, crashing violently through the water before burying him deep into the canal wall.

Dust and pulverized stone cleared, revealing a tall, breathtaking figure standing in the center of the path.

Ava stood in her full succubus form.

Two dark bat-like wings spread wide behind. Curved horns rested atop her pink hair, and her grown, womanly body was adorned in a revealing, dark leather bikini armor that highlighted every curve of her mature silhouette. Her purplish-red eyes blazed with ferocious, dangerous demonic power.

Maelle stared at Ava in stunned surprise. "Ava...?"

Ava swung her hips, glancing back over her shoulder with a pouty huff. "Did you really think I’d let you sneak out alone at night, Princess?! Why didn’t you ask me to come with you?! Aren’t we friends?!"

"I-I..."

From the rubble of the wall, the werewolf hauled himself out, blood dripping from his shattered jaw as two more shadow assassins rushed to his side.

"Kill them! Kill them all!"

"Gwen, take the small fries. The big dog is mine!"

"On it!"

Gwen leaped forward with her fiery daggers to engage the two assassins in a flurry of fire and steel.

"Die, demon whore!" The werewolf unleashed a chaotic barrage of wind-cutting claw slashes.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Ava effortlessly dodged the slashes, her voluptuous body weaving through the fatal strikes like liquid. "Is that all you’ve got, big guy?! My grandmother swings her hips faster than that!"

"Shut up!" The werewolf roared, sweeping his massive tail around in a leg-cleaving strike.

Ava leaped straight up, flipping gracefully over his head. Mid-air, she summoned two spheres of pink heart-shaped demonic flame into her palms. "You’re wide open!"

She slammed both spheres directly into the werewolf’s back.

Fwoosh—BOOM!!!

A wave of pink fire blasted outward, scorching the beastkin’s fur and sending him stumbling forward with an agonized scream. He slammed his back against the wall to put out the flames and spun around. In a booming explosion speed, he thrust his massive, clawed fist straight for Ava’s chest.

However, Ava easily caught his wrist with a single hand. The shockwave of their clash rippled through the air, but her feet didn’t move an inch.

"W-What...?! How are you this strong?!"

"You talked trash about my Princess," Ava whispered, her voice dropping into a chilling demonic echo as her eyes glowed brighter with power. "And worse... you tried to kill my friend!"

Ava pulled his arm downward, snapping his elbow joint with a horrific crack.

Before the werewolf could scream, Ava jumped and brought her knee up into his chin, following through with a devastating head-first slam downwards onto the ground.

The werewolf leader twitched once before falling unconscious.

Nearby, Gwen delivered a final, flaming slash to the last assassin, sending him flying into the canal alongside his comrades.

Ava let out a long breath, her pink demonic wings and horns slowly dissolving into light as her bikini armor vanished, returning her to her normal, plain human form. "Phew! Now that was a good workout!"

Maelle’s stoic facade softened for just a moment before she composed herself. "...Thank you, Ava."

"Don’t mention it!" She grinned back at her.

Leaving the canal behind, the four of them navigated their horses through the winding streets until they arrived at a secluded mansion located on the peaceful boundary of the upper-middle class district.

The estate featured low stone walls, iron gates, and a three-story manor surrounded by overgrown greenery.

Ava’s eyes sparkled in utter awe as she looked up at the building. "Whoa... Princess, what is this place?!"

"Our newly purchased operational base. Remember those documents we stole from Rizer? Well this was one of their unoccupied properties. Gwen finalized the acquisition. It’s ours now."

Entering the foyer, the interior was rough, but nothing a little loving couldn’t fix.

Maelle turned to Gwen. "Take Lucianne down to the basement."

"Understood, Your Highness. I didn’t mention this, but there is a cell down there. Perfect place to keep her." She roughly grabbed the trembling girl and led her down.

Once the two were alone, Maelle turned her gaze to Ava.

"Ava. Tomorrow morning, you and Gwen will return to the Academy dorms to pack our belongings. Once you have everything, gather Toby and his younger siblings from the slums. You will all be moving in here. It is far safer and more convenient."

"Really?! A mansion for all of us?! Toby is gonna freak out! We get our own rooms?!"

"Yes."

Ava cheered, jumping up and down in joy – but as her eyes landed on Maelle’s worried expression, her excitement slowly faded away.

Her eyes softened into a concerned look as she looked at the silver-haired Princess standing alone in front of her.

She took a small, hesitant step forward, bringing up the missing piece that hung heavily over all their hearts.

"Prin– Maelle... What about Vincent? Isn’t he going to live here with us, too...? When are you going to bring him back...?"

Maelle’s expression darkened into an impenetrable wall of ice. Her eyes turned void of all emotion as she turned her back on Ava.

"I do not want to hear that name again."

Without waiting for a response, Maelle gathered her black cape and swept up the staircase toward a private room on the top floor.

Her footsteps echoed coldly through the empty hallway before a door clicked shut in the distance, leaving a sad Ava standing alone in the foyer as the night settled over the mansion.