Chapter 14 | The Assassin Infiltrates
I treated Nevan’s injuries and carried her to her bed. She had broken bones and multiple organ contusions, but fortunately, her life was not in danger. Mina could’ve easily killed her. I was sure she only spared her life because of her promise to Naoise.
Nevan woke up. “…I’m alive.”
“The demon spared you. You should thank Naoise.”
“Like hell I’d thank him. It’s his fault we’re in this mess.”
I couldn’t deny that. Mina likely had captured Gephis, thanks to her connection to Naoise.
“We need to act fast,” I said.
“Agreed. We can’t let her make a second Fruit of Life. If she succeeds, she’ll quickly invade another domain and obtain a third,” Nevan responded.
“…You were conscious during that conversation?”
“I fought hard to stay awake until the demon left.”
“Huh.”
“I’m…in no condition to fight.”
“No, you aren’t.”
Mina held back when she attacked, and Nevan limited her injuries with her incredible reflexes, but she was going to be out of commission for a while.
“I apologize, but may I request a favor of you?” she asked.
“Depends on the favor,” I answered.
“Please kill that boy. It’s the only way to save him. No matter how we manipulate information about the incident, there will be no defending his attempt to slaughter his people. Killing him on the battlefield is for the best.”
“That’s for sure.”
“Protecting the common folk is the duty of the aristocracy. Not even giving up his life can atone for this crime.”
Naoise had become an enemy of the Alvanian Kingdom and humanity. Even if he cut ties with Mina right now, it was too late. Rejoining human society was impossible. All I could do for him was end his life.
“Do you have any idea why Naoise did this?” I asked.
“More or less. He’s always struggled with an inferiority complex. There’s something I want you to tell that idiot if you find him.” Nevan looked vulnerable, more like a sister concerned for her brother than the masterpiece of humanity she always projected herself as.
“I’ll tell him, I promise.”
“I don’t mind if you say it after you kill him. Don’t pass up a chance to assassinate him just to deliver my message.”
The Tuatha Dé were assassins by trade. An ideal assassination meant delivering a lethal blow before your target noticed you. There was no room for talking. If I had a chance to relay Nevan’s words, then I’d have already messed up.
“That’s the plan.”
“I expected no less. Normally, we would have the royal family issue this job, but this is an emergency. Please forgive me for skipping formal procedures.” Nevan’s expression returned to one befitting a lady of House Romalung. “By the name of House Romalung, one of the four major dukedoms, in place of the royal family, I order you to wield your Tuatha Dé blade for the sake of the Alvanian Kingdom. Remove Naoise Gephis, who has become a lesion plaguing this land.”
This was the language used when giving the Tuatha Dé clan a target. The order instructed us to kill for the benefit of the kingdom.
“I recognize that Naoise Gephis is a lesion harming the kingdom. On my pride as a Tuatha Dé, I will remove him.”
Rather than blindly following orders, we accepted jobs only after confirming with our own eyes and ears that the assassination was in the kingdom’s best interest. That was how Tuatha Dé assassins operated.
There was no backing out after agreeing. Over the generations, my family had taken hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs. And none of us went back on our word.
I contacted Duke Romalung immediately after leaving Nevan to tell him of his daughter’s injuries and the present situation. He sent carrier pigeons across the kingdom to spread the news that a demon had conquered the Gephis domain and that Naoise had sold his soul and aided in the attack. Naoise no longer had a place in this kingdom. Duke Romalung also gave an official order for me to kill Naoise as a Holy Knight.
I’m going to miss Dia and Tarte on this operation. I was acting alone, so I left my assistants behind. The job required infiltrating the Gephis domain and assassinating Naoise on a battlefield teeming with enemies. There was no way we could overpower an entire army, so it made more sense to go solo and prioritize stealth. I also didn’t expect to fight Mina, so I didn’t need Dia to use Demonkiller.
A hang glider would have been too conspicuous, so I sprinted along a road on a dark, moonless night. I was already close to the Gephis domain. Never thought I’d see the day we use the hero as a decoy. That was Epona’s role in this operation. She was charging directly into the city to rampage through the knights-turned-snake-monsters.
The hope was that this would draw out Mina so Epona could fight her. That didn’t mean the hero was a decoy, though. She was going to take out a good chunk of House Gephis’s powerful knights, and if she happened to lure out Naoise, she could just kill him herself. If she didn’t, her actions would buy me time to take care of it.
I’m surprised those corrupt politicians in the capital allowed Epona to participate. The hero had been stuck in the royal capital from nearly the moment she obtained her powers. Demons targeted cities with large populations to create Fruits of Life, which placed the royal capital in danger. Those in power in the capital wanted the hero close by to protect themselves.
I guess they realized that wasn’t going to fly this time. The Gephis domain stood near the royal capital and many regions ruled by powerful nobles. It also had the strongest order of knights in the kingdom, and if they started wreaking havoc with the might of a demon to help, no one would be able to stop them. The cowards in the capital had no choice but to send their precious hero to prevent that.
I hadn’t expected to work solely with Epona, but it was the best choice for a fast surprise attack. No one else would be able to keep up with us, and any delay was more time for Naoise to kill the Gephis domain’s citizens and produce a Fruit of Life.
I climbed onto high ground and, with self-made binoculars, studied Geil, the large city in the center of the Gephis domain.
“What a horrible sight.”
Half-serpent knights butchered the citizens they’d sworn to protect, and the souls of the dead gathered together. They were in the process of creating the Fruit of Life, which was produced by bundling and distorting human souls. About ten thousand souls were needed.
By my estimate, over three thousand people were already dead. Killing all the fleeing people seemed to be a time-consuming process. Judging by the rate at which they were progressing, the slaughter likely began a few hours ago.
This actually would have been easier if everyone was already dead. Were that the case, I would’ve carpet-bombed the city with Gungnir, which caused great destruction for a small amount of mana. Gungnir was a spell that lifted a spear thousands of kilometers into the air using reverse gravity before letting it fall back to the ground, creating force four hundred times more powerful than a large-caliber tank gun. Gravity gave it incredible power for a low drain on my magical power.
I could’ve wiped out the snake people by dropping dozens of those god spears. There was no safer and more efficient method. But wiping out the city wasn’t an option. There are still over ten thousand people in the city, though. Dad could be among them. No matter how efficient it was, I couldn’t bring myself to eradicate the enemy if it meant killing so many, and potentially my dad as well.
I probably would have done it in my old life. Considering the pros and cons, it was obviously the best choice. Infiltrating a city packed with monsters to kill Naoise would take some real acrobatics. My chances of success weren’t high, and if I failed, the people of Geil would die anyway. If killing everyone in this city would save the country, there was no reason to hesitate. However…
That’s not how Lugh Tuatha Dé operates. It was naive. Irrational. Still, I’d follow my heart. That was the kind of person I’d become.
The chaos of mass slaughter made entering Geil easy. I dressed as a normal citizen, used a mask to disguise my face, and limited my mana output to a minimum.
The city was like hell on Earth. That much was clear from a distance but even more appalling up close. The knights who swore to protect people were killing everyone they got their hands on, and the city wall built to keep enemies out had become a cage.
There was a great variety among the knights. Some were snakes from the neck up, others had scales all over their bodies, and a few looked perfectly human except for their tongues. Behaviors differed as well—some delighted in the slaughter, while others cried and apologized as they killed. I even saw a few murder innocents with no emotion whatsoever. Perhaps that spoke to a quality I could take advantage of.
I followed the knights’ chain of command. Even now, they remain knights who follow orders from a superior. That made this easy.
Knights abided by a firm chain of command. An order typically consisted of battalions composed of smaller companies, which were further divided into platoons of four knights each. Orders came from the top down. Thus, I could study a platoon to discern its captain, then observe the captains to find the company leader, and keep moving up the chain. Naoise was at the top. Mina had installed herself as the ruler of the Gephis domain, but the army followed Naoise.
These knights are skilled as can be. Their strict adherence to regulations will make this a cinch.
Knights differed in every domain. Typically, poorly trained knights were completely disorganized in battle and made independent decisions. Knights were more formidable the more organized they were, but that orderliness aided me.
I moved among the fleeing citizens and traced the chain of command. Finding Naoise shouldn’t take too long… Wait, what’s that insane surge of mana coming from the east?!
An explosion shook the ground. I looked east toward the immense outpouring of mana and saw that a massive chunk of the city wall was gone. No longer trapped, the panicked citizens flooded toward the broken wall, attempting to escape. The knights moved in a regimented manner to block their path, but a ferocious wind knocked them away.
“Don’t worry, everyone. I am the hero, Epona, and I have come to put a stop to this evil!”
Epona had arrived… Quicker than I expected, too. I saved time on the journey by using a hang glider to take a shortcut, yet she arrived only an hour after.
The hero’s arrival gave people hope. They cried tears of joy, prayed, and cheered. Epona lived up to her title.
She immediately set to work. The knights-turned-snake-monsters were like flies before a hurricane. Some of them were as strong as I was, but they didn’t have a chance. This was the hero—a superhuman monster. She must have held back during our duel.
However, as I marveled at Epona’s strength, something sent her flying. I was a bit surprised—Mina had appeared, not Naoise.
“You’re early, Lord Hero. I can’t have you breaking any more of my cute little toys. You face me now,” the snake demon declared.
“You’re the one responsible for all this, huh? I’m going to kill you.”
The enormously powerful hero clashed with the equally formidable snake demon. I was more than happy about this upset in my plan. Epona had drawn the attention of the most powerful piece on the board, giving me the perfect opportunity to do my job.
It was time to assassinate Naoise, my friend who’d become an enemy of humanity.
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