The Return of Lilietta - Chapter 56

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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 56

Another tentacle emerged from the water beside the one that was coiling around and crushing the ship. Two, three, four, and then a fifth tentacle that burst forth clung to the side of the Imperial Vessel.

Just before the first scream erupted from among the frozen nobles, Lillieta completely abandoned the mindset befitting a noble young lady adapted to a peaceful world.

Rita Pascal judged only the phenomenon before her eyes, unbound by prejudice or common sense.

That’s not some kind of monster.

The common knowledge that magical beasts don’t exist in this world was wrong.

That is a magical beast.

And it was a magical beast she knew well.

One of her nightmares. The monster she had encountered in the worst battle that made her hate sailing. The magical beast that had reduced the Beacon Squad from over 50 members to just 6.

‘Kraken.’

The blood throughout her body turned cold. Her now-calm mind began racing rapidly.

How and why it appeared here was something to worry about later. What was immediately needed was a way to subjugate the Kraken while minimizing casualties.

The current state of the battlefield and the status of allies was…

“Kyaaaah!”

Simultaneously with someone’s thick first scream echoing out, various screams burst forth from all directions.

“Mon, monster!”

“Kyaaaah!”

“Guards! Royal guards!”

“Run away!”

Nobles collapsed, screamed, and ran trying to return to their own ships. On the deck that had instantly become chaos, Rita quickly grabbed Leonhardt’s arm.

“Brother.”

“Ah…”

“Leon!”

“What is that… what on earth…”

Because magical beasts are not normal creatures, they instill instinctive fear in those who see them.

Moreover, the first magical beast he was seeing was the Kraken, notorious even among named magical beasts. While it was understandable that he was stunned, there was no time to remain in shock.

“Leonhardt del Nisa Raskail!”

She grabbed her brother’s collar and pulled him toward her. Only then did his eyes focus on her. Rita spoke in a commanding tone with wide eyes.

“Don’t use aura.”

“What?”

“Absolutely don’t use aura, take care of the people and return to our ship. Drive the ship at full speed to the riverbank and flee as far as possible. Understand?”

“Rita, wait, don’t use aura…”

Though not as much as Richard, Leonhardt had also learned swordsmanship. Since Raskail governed the largest territory in the north and the family had traditionally been talented with swords, the young duke had naturally grown up as a knight.

Though he hadn’t reached the level of an advanced knight where aura becomes visible, he was an intermediate knight who could wrap weak aura around his sword.

And when facing magical beasts, which are ‘monster-type mutants due to magical contamination,’ those who use power that transforms Od rather than pure Od are not helpful.

For example, things like aura.

This was why magical contamination prevention measures were mandatory when using magic in the Ashen World, and why most of those who fought magical beasts were Oathbinders who used ‘Od.’

There was no time for detailed explanation. Rita looked directly at Leonhardt and spoke briefly.

“That’s not a monster but a magical beast. And if ordinary mages or knights who aren’t Od users like me fight magical beasts, they become contaminated and transform into magical beasts.”

“Transform into magical beasts? People do?”

“Yes! So don’t use aura and run away right now!”

She spoke as if scolding him and pushed him back. Leonhardt, who had turned pale, staggered back and shouted.

“If you’re going to run away, Rita, you should come too—”

“I have to catch that thing! You helping by running away quickly, so stop talking nonsense and go!”

With her mind urgent, there was no time to maintain the lady’s refinement that had been forcibly instilled recently. Not telling him to shut up and get lost was the minimum consideration.

Leonhardt saw something gigantic rising tremendously beyond Lillieta’s head. A monster’s leg as large as a bell tower was coiling up around the sailing ship’s mast.

Leave his sister, who was only half his size, to fight such a monster and run away?

Instinctively, he felt violent rejection. However, he wasn’t stupid, nor was he swayed by emotional impulses.

‘I’ve never heard of such monsters existing.’

Rita had been certain it was a magical beast the moment she saw it.

When she spoke of her past living and fighting magical beasts in the Ashen World, she had talked about oaths.

She had awakened the ability called Od through the vow to ‘eliminate all magical beasts that catch my eye,’ and if she broke that oath, she would be punished and become terribly ill. If she continued breaking promises with Od, she could even die.

So if that was a magical beast, Rita was an expert at dealing with it and had a reason she must fight it. If she said he wouldn’t be helpful and should flee, that was probably true.

Moreover, this was the first time he’d seen Lillieta, who had been generally calm since returning, act so urgently.

Leonhardt barely controlled his reluctant feet and hands that wanted to drag his sister away with reason and trust.

“…Rita, you have to be careful.”

He uttered those words with a pale face, then turned and headed toward Raskail’s Yacht.

The giant octopus tentacles that had emerged from the river were coiling around the bow and mast, causing the sailing ship to tilt in that direction. The deck’s slope was becoming increasingly steep. People who had been fleeing fell, slipped, got tangled up, and fell into the river.

The moment Leonhardt ran through them and stepped onto the precariously swaying boarding bridge, a thin scream pierced his ears.

“Sa, save me…”

He reflexively turned toward where the sound came from. A woman with disheveled light brown hair was barely hanging onto the railing of the tilted ship. Her pale face was covered in tears, and her arms gripping the railing trembled as if they would give out at any moment.

‘Anne!’

Even if it hadn’t been her but someone else, Leonhardt couldn’t have ignored a rescue request, but because it was her, he couldn’t even hesitate for an instant.

He stepped off the boarding bridge and ran toward the stern where Annemarie was hanging.

* * *

Lillieta, having barely sent Leonhardt away, lifted her dress and drew Silvergrace from the holster on her thigh. As she did so, she thought.

‘It’s fortunate that it’s a river and not the sea, but having many people who are all civilians is the worst. The royal guards and mages who can’t use Od won’t just be unhelpful—it’ll be fortunate if they don’t transform into magical beasts, and the person who can fight the Kraken here is…’

Just me alone.

‘…I can’t catch it alone. I’ll draw its attention as much as possible so civilians can evacuate, then retreat once evacuation is complete. With this chaos, the army protecting the capital will mobilize, so I’ll tell them the strategy before Od’s punishment falls.’

If possible, she wanted to command as well, but that would require fighting while enduring Od’s punishment for retreating. Though she’d done it before, it wasn’t good for her health, so for now she’d aim only to inform the army of the strategy.

At minimum, she had to tell them to exclude mages and knights and use physical means like cannons. If they charged recklessly without knowing and magical beasts multiplied, Lamcard would perish that day and this world’s apocalypse would begin.

‘First, draw attention and separate it from the ship.’

The moment she raised her head while making calm judgments, she saw an unexpected sight.

A translucent barrier that had appeared at some point glowed softly as it enveloped the sailing ship in a hemisphere.

The Kraken’s tentacles that had earlier swallowed two ships into the water could only coil around the Imperial Vessel but couldn’t crush it due to that defensive barrier.

Though the sailing ship was tilting rapidly due to the weight of the Kraken’s tentacles, it wasn’t being crushed. The translucent barrier struggled against the octopus tentacle coiling around the mast, trying to expand its range.

This was impossible for mages of this world. Since magical beasts contaminate magic they contact, a barrier created with ordinary magic would have melted and been pierced the moment it touched the Kraken’s tentacles. And the caster would have become a new magical beast.

‘This is contamination prevention magic.’

Rita turned her head as if enchanted, searching for the mage casting the barrier. It was immediate.

Olive-colored eyes calmly standing among the panicked people, looking up at the sky. A green magic circle spread beneath her feet.

‘Oli Pascal…’

Viscountess Blen.

And past her, a large man heading toward the bow.

The Crown Prince, Gideon el Redert Kairam.

He drew his sword. Pitch-black aura blazed like flames along the blade.

No, that wasn’t this world’s aura. Rita, who had seen it countless times, could recognize it at a glance.

Though it looked no different from ordinary aura on the surface, that was Od. An enhancement-type Oathbinder using Od to create effects similar to aura. An Oathbinder’s sword energy.

And a very familiar energy.

She watched his back with held breath.

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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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