Overwhelming Firepower

The second those words were said, the leader or Cassandra’s entire self seemed to tremble. Her mind was in disarray, she could not think straight, and her entire view was spinning.

Seeing her reaction, Lucen frowned. ’Was that not enough? In the game, just learning a bit of the truth was enough to break the brainwashing. I don’t know what else to do. Is she going to break? Should I bring her to Robert?’

Lucen was actually panicking on the outside, but because the Acting Adept trait was always partially active, he was able to control his facial expression very well.

While Lucen was starting to panic, inside Cassandra’s mind, a dam burst. Memories, no, fragments of torn, butchered memories—rushed in all at once.

Her mother’s arms that were shielding her. Her father and brothers, who bravely stepped forward. Flames devour the ceiling. Soldiers outside. A nobleman’s silhouette framed by firelight. Oil, the smell of oil.

And then she heard her own voice. It was so weak, so small, crying out. ”Mama-”

Her breathing hitched, turning into short gasps. Her knees buckled as if gravity had tripled. Cassandra’s lips quivered. Then sound tore out of her.

”No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

She started softly and then started repeating the words as her voice grew louder and louder until it became a wretched scream.

Cassandra’s aura and mana started flowing outward. Even though she was just a third-circle mage, and her aura was at the third mantle, combined, it was a little more powerful than normal.

Lucen thought she was about to go berserk and jumped backward while getting into a defensive stance. Lucen focused all his senses on Cassandra, waiting to see what would happen next.

As her state became even more unstable, she screamed, and it looked like she was about to attack, but then she simply fell to the ground unconscious.

”What the f-!” Lucen rushed in immediately, sliding across the ground. He grabbed her shoulders, turning her face toward him.

Her breaths were shallow, trembling. Sweat soaked her hairline. Even unconscious, she looked like she was drowning in agony.

Lucen let out a long exhale, full of exhaustion he hadn’t shown on his face. ”Damn, it’s just one thing after another.”

Seeing her like this, Lucen sighed. After checking her pulse again, he gently scooped her up in a princess carry. Her head lolled against his shoulder.

Her body felt lighter than he expected, frighteningly so, as if all the strength had drained out of her.

Her faint breath tickled his collarbone, uneven and shivering. Lucen tightened his grip slightly, not enough to wake her, but enough to reassure himself she was still alive.

’I guess that’s all for now. Damn, I hope she’s okay. Losing the future saintess will make the later stages difficult.’

While he was thinking about all that, Lucen was already dashing towards the healer’s room in the mansion.

***

Before Cassandra broke down and fainted, in a different area of the mansion, Vahn had already knocked out a few of the intruders.

One agent flew backward from a clean, precise strike to the solar plexus. Another was gently swept off his feet with a controlled leg sweep, landing unconscious without a single broken bone.

Vahn exhaled softly, adjusting his gloves.

”Please remain still,” he said calmly to the groaning men. ”Further resistance will only cause you unnecessary pain.”

The remaining agents gnashed their teeth. The person standing in front of them was Vahn the Valiant. They already understood that they were no match, but they at least expected him to fight using his specialty, the sword.

Yet here he was beating them with nothing but his fists. He even did it without killing any of them. Not only was their mission about to fail, but even their little bit of pride was shattered.

”I understand that you all must be doing your duties diligently, I might add.” The old butler then sighed. ”Everyone, I commend you for your loyalty, so I hope you understand that I, too, am simply doing my duty. So, if you would kindly surrender, I would prefer not to strike you again.”

The remaining agents held their weapons tightly and gulped. Vahn was not emitting any killing intent, nor did he press them down with his aura, but the pressure of his mere presence was already suffocating for them.

Still, they understood that what they needed to do was to use one of the hawk’s talons. Since they were about to be broken talons, there was one action available to them.

Kill their unconscious allies, then themselves. The remaining agents looked at each other and quickly understood that they were all thinking the same thing.

Vahn noticed the shift instantly; their eyes sharpened, not toward him, but toward the unconscious comrades behind him.

Vahn’s expression softened, almost mournful. ”... So that is your decision.” His voice was quiet. There was no anger in it, or did say it with mockery, he was just... Sad. He felt pity for them, he who understood the rules of this kind of people.

Even before the agents moved, Vahn was the one who took action first. He disappeared from the agents’ sights.

He reappeared in the middle of the agents’ formation. A hand lightly pressed against a wrist, and the dagger dropped harmlessly. A foot tapped the side of a knee, the leg buckled without breaking.

An arm wrapped around another’s torso and lowered him gently, the blade meant for a fallen ally never reached its target.

Within moments, all three agents were on the ground, alive, disarmed, and staring up at him in disbelief. Vahn dusted off his sleeve.

”Killing yourself in my presence would be extremely impolite,” he said, tone still perfectly courteous. ”And killing those who can no longer defend themselves... That is something I cannot allow. Even though I have retired from the battlefield, I am still a knight.”

”W-Why?... We are your enemies...” One of the agents spoke.

Vahn gave him a small, dignified bow. ”Even enemies deserve mercy when they are no longer able to fight. Also, I need to have a little chat with everyone later. So do not even try to use the poison in your mouths, then I’ll be forced to make everyone toothless.” After speaking made a noise with his fists.

The agents could only sigh in resignation.

***

In Robert’s personal lab, the sound of explosions could be heard, and the smoke inside started to leak out. The servants blocked the hallway so that no one could pass through the area.

Several agents lay on the floor convulsing, their limbs spasming from a paralyzing concoction that smelled faintly of mint.

A different group was frozen in translucent blue ice, perfectly posed mid-attack.

Another batch was entangled in thick vines that had sprouted from the floor, walls, and somehow even the ceiling.

Most of the agents came to capture Robert as he was considered to be more of a priority than capturing Cael Thornehart.

Yet despite having been surrounded, and Robert’s level only being at the fourth circle, he was still able to subdue his opponents without killing a single one of them.

The mad alchemist Robert Duskwell was currently mumbling to himself as he poked an unconscious agent with a glass rod.

”Amazing, to have all your limbs intact even after taking on my Bloom reaction head-on. Well, I wasn’t really trying to kill you, but still, to think it only managed to incapacitate you. I guess the dosage of a few things was off; better do some more testing later.”

He crouched beside another fallen agent, this one wrapped like a caterpillar in vines.

”As for you! Your mana flow resisted the Vineburst by exactly 0.7 seconds longer than the others! Very Interesting... Very interesting, indeed. That means your muscle density is... Oh, you’re unconscious now.... Unfortunate.”

Robert sighed as he scribbled notes on a charred and sliced notebook he was holding. One agent who was still conscious looked up and spoke to Robert.

”Why? Wh-y did you... Not kill us?”

Robert, who was busy writing in his notebook, stopped as he looked at the still-conscious agent, surprised.

”Oh, did the effects of paralyzation wear off already? Do you perhaps have a higher resistance than most? How interesting, the method I use to paralyze you not only affects the body but your mana core as well, but it seems like yours resumed operation faster than anyone else I’ve seen.”

Robert continued to mumble to himself as he wrote down a few things. After several minutes, he stopped and looked at the agent again.

”Oh, right, you were asking why I didn’t kill any of you? Well, the simple answer is that killing you would be a waste.” Robert’s manic eyes looked at the agent, which made the other party shudder.

”The second you tried to kidnap me, you already forfeited your freedom. The second you attacked me, you consented to becoming my guinea pigs. So rejoice, you will not die, and instead help me further advance my understanding of the world.”

Robert said this with a bright smile, one that absolutely did not match the situation. The conscious agent paled further, as if death would have been the kinder option.

That was how the night with the hawk’s talons ended.