I rushed to the scene with Ashe.
It was a main street lined with opulent mansions on both sides.
A high-class residential area, I guess.
On the cobblestone streets were several bloodstains and fallen people.
From the young to the old, to children—
It was obvious they were all already dead.
“A mass murder… huh.”
It made me sick to my stomach.
Further down the main street, three men in knight uniforms were confronting the assailant.
It seemed the evacuation had already been completed, as there was no sign of anyone else around.
“We, the Fourth Squad, will handle this.”
“The Third Squad, led by a woman, sit back and watch.”
“Get out of the way, you’re obstructing us.”
The men in knight uniforms turned to us and visibly scowled.
What’s with these guys?
We came to help, but they have such bad attitudes.
“Hoo… hoo…”
With ragged breaths, the escaped convict walked towards us.
“Who are you? Why did you do this?”
One of the knights from the Fourth Squad asked.
“Hoo… hoo…”
The man didn’t answer, only approached with ragged breaths.
“What’s your objective?”
“Hoo… hoo…”
He completely ignored them.
“Answer me.”
This time, it was Ashe.
“…You. You’re the woman who captured me. Heh, you’re beautiful, just as I remembered.”
The man said, his face breaking into a smile.
Seeing this, the Fourth Squad seemed even more exasperated.
“That doesn’t matter! Who are you?! What’s your objective?!”
“Hoo… hoo…”
“Answer me.”
Ashe said again.
“I have been sent by the great Magatsu Emperor.”
The man snorted.
So he’ll talk to a beautiful woman!
“I have been ordered to simply follow my impulses and rampage. To make the foolish Aisha Kingdom, which defies the Magatsu Empire, understand the price of such defiance.”
It’s the same as Rado from before.
A show of force against Aisha, which defies the Empire—
But causing indiscriminate destruction in the Royal Capital is insane.
I looked at the man again.
At first glance, he was just an ordinary, skinny man.
However, his eyes glowed an unnatural red, emitting a malevolent aura.
This guy—his aura is different from yesterday!?
A creepy premonition sent a shiver down my spine.
“We won’t let you rampage any further!”
“We will protect the Royal Capital at all costs!”
“Confronting the Magatsu Empire is our job as the Slayer!”
With that, the knights of the Fourth Squad scattered in three directions.
Though their attitude towards us was bad, their voices and fighting spirit were filled with a sense of duty and pride to protect the people and the Royal Capital.
“Bosh, Eltegu, let’s unleash a unified magic attack, Magic Stream Attack!”
“Wait, that guy is dangerous—”
Before I could warn them, the Fourth Squad had already acted.
“Blaze Arrow!”
“Thunder Bullet!”
“Windy Edge!”
Arrows of flame, orbs of lightning, and blades of wind created by them—one after another, they flew towards the man.
These were likely all attack spells with enough power to obliterate a small house without a trace.
Three of them struck the man simultaneously.
—No, just before that,
“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!”
The man exhaled deeply.
At the same time, something red flashed at his chest.
What was that—!?
The next moment, as I wondered, the attack spells erupted, and a blinding flash filled my vision.
“Guh…!”
I squinted my eyes against the glare.
It was a direct hit, undoubtedly.
If hit squarely, a human body would surely be reduced to mere shreds.
As the blinding light slowly faded—
“Uuh… guuuu…”
“Uooo… oooh…”
“Gah… hah…”
The groans belonged to the knights of the Fourth Squad.
All of them had collapsed on the spot.
“Eh…?”
I let out a surprised gasp.
They didn’t seem dead, but it wasn’t a light injury either.
They were probably all incapacitated.
On the other hand, the man who had been hit by the three spells was unharmed.
Not even his clothes were scorched, and he stood there calmly.
He didn’t seem to have cast a defensive spell. Did he activate a silent incantation?
“No, that man isn’t using magic—”
As if answering my inner question, Ashe groaned.
Then, she turned to me with a grim expression.
“Step back, Abel. I’ll handle him alone.”
“No way, I’ll fight with you.”
“It’s too much for an inexperienced rookie, I’m telling you.”
Ashe said curtly.
“That’s a Captain’s order. Stand down.”
“But—”
“…If it gets dangerous, leave me and run immediately.”
She muttered softly and walked towards the man.
Could it be that she’s deliberately acting cold to look out for me—?
“Now it’s your turn. Woman.”
The man’s eyes glowed red.
“Alright. A beauty like you is more titillating than a musty man… Kukuku, after I’ve beaten you down, I’ll have my fun.”
His lascivious gaze roamed over Ashe’s entire body.
“I am Ashe Vermillion, Captain of the Royal Knight Order’s Slayer, Third Squad.”
As if shaking off his gaze, Ashe announced her name with dignity.
“Fuuuuuuu!”
The breath the man exhaled was released as an invisible energy projectile.
A silent incantation attack magic.
“Block it.”
However, a wall of ice that Ashe conjured with a single word easily deflected the energy projectile.
“Hah… you’re different from those guys from before.”
“…I don’t think I can hold back much.”
The man and Ashe both wore grim expressions simultaneously.
At the same time, the ice wall shattered into pieces.
“I’d prefer to restrain him, but if I don’t aim to kill, I’ll be the one getting killed—”
Ashe clasped her hands in front of her chest.
“Ice Pillars of the Six.”
With the spell she cast, six ice pillars materialized from the void and descended towards the man’s head.
“Fuh… Uuuuuu…..!?”
The man jumped back, genuinely surprised. For sure.
“—Let stars appear in the dark heavens. Let light thunder in the sky. The ancestor is an ancient magic dragon. The ancestor is the piercing fang.”
In the meantime, Ashe had already finished casting her next spell.
The ice pillars earlier seemed to have been a feint to buy time for the incantation.
As expected—she’s experienced in combat.
“Icicle Cannon!”
From Ashe’s outstretched right hand, a chunk of ice shaped like a dragon flew out.
I could tell just by looking.
The ice mass itself was imbued with Ashe’s immense magic power.
The ice dragon collided with the man, emitting a deafening roar while scattering a massive blizzard.
I held my breath.
The destructive power was likely far S.U.P.E.R.I.O.R. to the previous attack by the Fourth Squad.
The white blizzard covering the surroundings slowly cleared.
“I wanted to restrain him without killing him, but…”
The moment Ashe muttered—
A red light exploded.
“Gh… !?”
Simultaneously, Ashe’s body was blown away.
“You’ve got quite a bit of magic power. As expected of a Captain of the Slayer.”
The man who appeared had transformed.
