Book 5: Chapter 17: Fearless Warriors
Seeing that Akarin had vanished without a trace before he could even hit Nine with his undragonlike sneak attack, Lilithâs eyes widened in shock. âWhat kind of demonic spell did you use?â she demanded.
âDemonic spell? Haha, how rude, Your Highness.â Nine played with his cane and chuckled lightly. âThis is not a demonic spell. Itâs my innate ability.â
âInnate ability?â Lilith was taken aback by his answer. She then suddenly remembered the existence of innate ability in this world, just like Lesiahâs [Absolute Distance]. By relying on this ability alone, Lesiah could pretty much outrun any enemies that were on the same level as her.
In a sense, this kind of innate ability could be considered an advantage that the heavens had given to you over others.
Howeverâ¦
âI donât think you can simply make Akarin disappear with just your innate ability.â
Although Lesiahâs [ Absolute Distance ] was quite a formidable skill, it was actually rendered useless if there was a great disparity in strength between her opponents and her.
In fact, when Lesiah tried to use this skill on Lilith, she could not achieve anything other than ending up with an extremely sore and thoroughly exhausted body.
In Lilithâs perspective, this Nine was giving off the aura of a mere saint-level opponent. On the other hand, Akarin was a peak saint-level expert. How could he fall prey to his innate ability so easily?
âYou are right. Just my innate ability alone is not enough, but I have thisâ¦â
Nine gently caressed the golden runes on his palm with an intoxicated look on his face.
âThis is the most precious treasure my master has bestowed upon me. It could amplify my innate ability [Banishment] to the point that it can disregard the level of my opponents. Even an incredibly strong opponent from the dragon race wonât be able to come back anytime soon after being banished more than ten thousand miles away.â
âSo thatâs how it isâ¦â Lilith felt an impending headache coming on.
Being able to disregard opponentsâ strength and banishing them from the battlefield was simply a powerful single target skill.
It was definitely not funny to be targeted by a skill like this.
Ugh⦠Damn.
Lilith was starting to regret her past decision.
For some reason, Cornelia had been very fond of sleeping lately. She could even sleep for a few days straight without waking up. Since it was too much trouble to bring her around, Lilith left her behind in the academy.
Now that she thought about itâ¦
Mommyâs sorry! Mommy shouldnât have left you behind in the academy! Iâll definitely tie you on my back and carry you around next time!
That way, Mommy wouldnât have to worry even if someone appeared in front of me with a poisoned knife!
âI have to thank you for inheriting the stereotypical trait of villains who always like to talk a lot andâ¦â
The expression on Lilithâs face changed. The corners of her mouth slightly lifted up as she said, âDo not underestimate the dragons.â
The space suddenly distorted.
The sky above them turned lava red. The preparation for a great magic spell had been completed while Nine and Lilith were talking, and the light of the magic was slowly shining down upon them.
The strong magic power caused a terrifying elemental turbulence, which in turn created all sorts of phenomena in the surroundings. However, everyoneâs attention was drawn to the sky above them. They were too busy gaping at the strange phenomenon in the sky and failed to notice the burning sensation on their skin.
The white paper on Nineâs face was fluttering noisily in the strong wind caused by the elemental turbulence. It was as if it would be blown away at any moment.
âI expected no less from a legendary dragon language magic spell. To think that such a large scale magic spell could lock on to only a single target! How frightening!â he said melancholically as he looked up at the sky that seemed to be burning, but seemed to have no intention of dodging the spell.
âI forgot to mention one thing. People arenât the only thing I can banish with my innate ability.â
Nine pointed his cane at the sky. He was not very tall. In fact, he looked like a tiny ant underneath that colossal dragon language magic array. A golden pattern came out from the end of his cane, then bloomed like a lotus flower in the sky, creating an equally magnificent sight.
A spiral pattern appeared in the sky. It started rotating counterclockwise, in the opposite direction of the space distortion caused by the dragon language magic spell. When the two magic spells collided into each other, there was no huge commotion like everyone had anticipated.
Everything just happened in absolute silence, and the magic spell unleashed by the dragons simply vanished.
Lilithâs cheeks twitched as she muttered under her breath, âThis is bad.â
Gulch appeared beside her and said apologetically, âI apologize for my incompetence, Your Highness.â
âYouâre not to be blamed. This guy could even easily banish Akarin away from here. Itâs no surprise that this happened. Itâs just thatâ¦â
Lilith swept her gaze over Lesiah, Leniah, the group of maids and knights, and the crowd that had gathered around them. She sighed softly and said, âI guess itâs impossible for us to get out of this citation with no casualties.â
No matter how bizarre and absurd Nineâs ability was, Lilith could not just sit back and do nothing. A decisive battle was inevitable, but the number of casualties was beyond Lilithâs control at this point.
Fortunately, Lesiah had already ordered her servants to start evacuating the masses. All Lilith needed to do next was just stalling for time.
âOh my. The show has only just started, why is our audience rushing to exit already?â
Nine suddenly seemed to find it a pity that the audience was retreating. He thumped his cane on the ground. The golden pattern spread to the ground and covered the entire square in front of the palace in just a flash. A pale golden barrier then rose up to the sky, caging more than one hundred thousands of people in it.
The people who could not find a way out started panicking. They scrambled and pushed the people in front of them, unintentionally causing casualties in a stampede.
âWHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?! THEY ARE ORDINARY PEOPLE!!â Lesiah shouted sternly at Nine.
âHaha, donât worry. Iâm only making them stay as our audience. I only have three targets todayâ¦â
Although Nineâs eyes were hidden behind the white paper, they could still feel his bone-chilling cold gaze.
âPrincess Lilith, Lesiah and Leniah. The three princesses are the three sinners here. You are my only targets.â
âThe three⦠of usâ¦?â
Lilith clenched her fists. To put it simply, she was the one who got both Lesiah and Leniah involved in this mess.
âGreenie.â
âYour humble servant is here.â
âGuard Lesiah and Leniah well.â
âUnderstood.â
Lilithâs gaze fell on Leniah, who was frightened to tears, for a moment, then took out a few candied fruit skewers. She handed them to Green Emperor and said, âComfort her with these whenever needed.â
âUnderstood.â
Kvass appeared beside Lilith. Since there was no time to deal with the huge fish carcass in the sky, he used a magic spell to keep it afloat in the air for now.
âYour Highness, leave this to us,â Gulch suddenly said in a serious voice.
âHmm? Will your plan work?â
âI donât know if itâs going to work, but we have to try.â
Gulch clenched his fists. His eyes burned with anger and humiliation.
âHow dare he look down on the dragons. I must settle this score with him personally.â
âBut that guyâs innate abilityâ¦â
âYouâre wrong, Your Highnessâ¦â Kvass suddenly interrupted Lilith.
âInnate abilities are certainly terrifying, but I believe that hard training is where the source of strength lies. That guyâs innate ability may indeed put me in a bind, but I can definitely break through my limits and deliver an unimaginable blow to him!â he said confidently.
Gulch nodded in agreement.
ââ¦â¦â
When did these guys become this cool?
âAlright then.â
Since that was what they said, Lilith could only choose to believe in them.
âYou guys go break through your limits! Whether you succeed or not, you may be able to significantly increase my chances of winning.â
âUnderstood!â
âWe wonât let you down!â
Gulch and Kvass marched forward with their heads held high, like fearless warriors rushing into the battlefield.