The Return of Lilietta - Chapter 188

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 188

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Olivia personally cast thorough enhancement magic on Lillieta’s body. It was magic that lasted much longer and performed far better than the rapid magic Rita cast on herself or what Grace cast for her.

The backlash after combat would be correspondingly severe, but there was nothing more helpful when fighting alone without Augmentation Pact Holders. It was also a method she was familiar with.

“Still, don’t overdo it again, my friend. Don’t forget about your special constitution… no wait, Grace, I’m counting on you, okay? Do well.”

Oli didn’t forget to worry even while moving urgently.

“I won’t overdo it. It’s not like this is my first time receiving enhancement magic.”

Lillieta, who had appropriately reassured her, climbed along the arena’s viewing stands, kicked off her shoes, and roughly wrapped her feet with the hem of her dress and lace ribbons.

The shoes would be inconvenient for running around, and thanks to the physical enhancement magic, even this much fabric would be enough to protect her bare feet.

Having quickly finished her preparations, she leaped from the top of the arena to the rooftop of a nearby building.

[Casting: Applying fall prevention magic to user’s body.]

The artificial spirit automatically used wind-generating magic. It was the same magic Rita had used when jumping down after seeing the duchess heading to the birch forest.

The rushing wind billowed the torn hem of her dress. Her blonde hair tied in a single strand, the light purple fabric, and torn lace fluttered wildly.

Landing gracefully from the dizzying height, she immediately began running. She leaped between rooftops as if flying. While doing so, she glanced at the situation in the city below.

People had fallen into chaos, fleeing in all directions, rushing into random buildings, barricading doors, and screaming.

Card Soldiers, or new monsters corrupted by Card Soldiers, chased such people through the alleys, breaking down doors and windows.

Blue summons and Special Agents in black uniforms were engaged in battles everywhere, either pursuing or blocking such creatures.

The Capital Guard was desperately trying to restore order, leading people to safety. Judging by the direction they were guiding them, toward the town square.

It seemed Isaiah was commanding monster extermination and rescue operations from the square, using it as a temporary headquarters and defensive line.

‘It’s become complete urban warfare.’

Rita ran, leaping across rooftops, occasionally aiming Silvergrass downward at the buildings below and firing Matan shots.

Each time, the heads of monsters trying to maul fallen elderly people, Card Soldiers wrestling with young men wielding flagpoles like spears, monsters chasing children, and Card Soldiers about to clash with women wielding aura-wrapped swords exploded in succession.

The survivors looked around searching for the owner of the bullets that had fallen like lightning from the sky to save them, but Lillieta, who had fired while running, was already gone from that spot.

She focused even more on the surrounding situation and her current objective to forget the maddening feeling that kept spreading from a corner of her heart.

‘Don’t think. Handle what’s immediately in front of you first.’

Empty your mind and deal with whatever catches your eye first.

She had an urgent place to go, so she couldn’t join the battlefield in the city right now, but she saved whatever people she could see along the way.

‘If I ignore monsters I’ve already seen, I might face punishment from the Oaths.’

Since oaths were a matter of self-perception, she could avoid punishment by not thinking she had missed or fled from monsters and instead focusing on eliminating other monsters that were operational targets.

Even so, overlooking monsters attacking people right before her eyes would obviously have repercussions. She had no choice but to handle them as quickly as possible.

In that regard, shooting was the optimal skill for her. She could instantly eliminate monsters from a distance without stopping her movement.

Before she knew it, the Imperial Palace was close.

Rita fired a grappling shot and relied on the Oath cord to climb up the palace wall.

The Imperial Palace’s protective magic, which had been quiet when going from inside to outside, tried to activate against the intruder but subsided upon reacting to the key-shaped pendant in the inner pocket of her dress.

She remembered Gid handing this over while preparing for the operation.

“It’s like a free pass to the Imperial Palace. With this, you can enter the palace without going through security.”

“Okay, I’ll keep it with me.”

“That’s it?”

“What?”

“I just gave you the house key, Rita. Something that lets you come in anytime. But you don’t feel anything about it? Aren’t we a man and woman?”

“Don’t fool around during operation preparations. Besides, Ethan got one of these too.”

“…Why does that guy tell you everything?”

His face as he grumbled and laughed playfully alternated with his expression when she last saw him, making her dizzy.

Lillieta bit the inside of her mouth and barely managed to regain focus. In that state, she ran along the wall toward the Guard Training Grounds she had memorized in advance.

Then suddenly, the scene below the wall caught her eye. Near the palace side gate.

“Wh-why are you like this? What’s wrong? Why, why did you suddenly become like that…?”

A woman who seemed to have dressed up nicely to watch the festival appeared. A basket she seemed to have dropped while hesitating and backing away lay nearby. Wine bottles and sandwiches were scattered about.

In front of the woman was a monster with a hunched back and arms as long as legs, standing on all fours. A guard’s uniform hung on the monster’s body, swollen as if about to burst.

An existence that seemed to have been a guard protecting the side gate, who seemed to have turned into a monster while trying to block monsters from entering the Imperial Palace.

And a woman who might be his wife or lover.

She cried out.

“That’s not it, right? You’re just sick for a moment, right? I’ll, I’ll bring a priest! Then you’ll return to normal, right? Right?”

Lillieta, who had been mechanically aiming her gun at the monster, hesitated.

Was there a way to turn people who had become monsters back?

Was there a way to turn Gid back to normal?

If so, shouldn’t she kill monsters carelessly?

Couldn’t she save him instead of subjugating him?

For an instant, her thoughts became tangled. She didn’t want to eliminate that monster. She wanted to let it go.

Immediately, her insides twisted.

“Ugh.”

[Warning: User, do not hesitate! Punishment from the Oaths may fall!]

Lillieta looked down while covering her mouth. The guard who had become a monster was lunging at the crying woman, opening its mouth in three parts.

The woman fell, and the shadow of the giant monster covered her. The moment the creature that had pinned her down and mounted her bit the woman’s nape.

Rita pulled the trigger.

Bang, with an ear-splitting sound, the fired Matan precisely burst the monster’s head.

She could see the woman, covered in bizarre purple bodily fluid, surviving and sobbing. She touched the stitching marks on the clothes the monster wore and hugged the headless corpse while crying.

Lillieta turned her gaze away from that scene. She clutched her chest and tried to steady her roughened breathing.

As she felt the surging Oaths gradually subside, the artificial spirit’s cautious voice reached her.

[Opinion: User, Gnugnu is young and inexperienced, so it may make mistakes or errors. Nevertheless, there is something about your current judgment that it would like to question. Will you listen?]

She rubbed her sweat-soaked forehead and began walking along the wall again, opening her mouth.

“…Go ahead.”

[Question: Has the human you call ‘Gid’ really become a monster?]

Lillieta momentarily wanted to throw Silvergrass away. She tried to calm herself, recalling that the artificial spirit had called itself young and inexperienced.

A trembling voice leaked out.

“Then… what would you call something that changed like that?”

[Question: But there are differences between other monsters and its behavior. You didn’t judge him to be a monster either, did you?]

“I didn’t?”

[Fact: It fled before your eyes, and you failed to pursue it. Nevertheless, no punishment from the Oaths occurred to you, who swore to ‘eliminate all monsters that catch my eye.’]

[Analysis: This means you did not recognize that entity as a monster.]

“…!”

[Fact: Also, even after changing, it did not attack you, and instead bit the monster ‘Red Queen’ to death. This is behavior that differs from typical monsters.]

She stopped walking.

In a short time, countless thoughts, profound despair, and faint hope flashed through her mind.

It felt like being thrown into a stormy sea, swallowing seawater, then seeing a ray of lighthouse light.

Perhaps, yes, perhaps, the fact that she wasn’t punished even while watching him leave wasn’t simply a matter of perception, perhaps, no, fundamentally she herself didn’t want to acknowledge him as a monster, but still, perhaps.

Hope, possibility.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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