As I prepared to face the four attackers in the moonlit garden, the night air was dense with tension.
My fingers gripped the Chameleon's Deceit Ring, my hidden weapon that had been converted into a lethal dagger laced with a strong poison.
With three of them at Origin Level 3 and one at Origin Level 4, the odds were stacked against me.But I didn't have a choice. I couldn't afford to make a single mistake, or I'd fuck everything.
The assailants, who were clad in black and masked, closed in on the two heroines; two were protecting Angelina, who was unconscious, and two were attempting to subjugate Aeloria. I needed to act swiftly.
Without further ado, I leapt from my hiding place, the cool steel of the ring-knife flashing in the moonlight.I used the element of surprise to my advantage and targeted the attacker nearest to me.
I hurled the poisoned knife at the first assailant's throat with a quick, fluid stroke. The blade soared through the air, hitting its target with lethal accuracy.
As the attacker collapsed to the ground, a muted groan escaped his disguised lips, the poison working fast to silence him.
'One down, three to go,'As I focused my gaze on the remaining people, I noticed Aeloria had stopped shouting and was looking at me with astonishment.
The three surviving assailants turned to face me, their eyes filled with disbelief and rage.I didn't wait for their reaction.
My battle instincts kicked in, and I closed the gap between us in an instant.The Chameleon's Deceit ring had returned to my finger, but I had other weapons at my disposal: my hands and my battle experience.
In my previous life, I developed my combat talents by engaging in hand-to-hand battles with several opponents.
It was a harsh and cruel world where physical prowess and martial skills were required.
My combat talents remained my most powerful weapon in this strange world, where the laws and limits were significantly different.
The constraints imposed on the castle, which prohibited the use of any sort of energy, whether mana or aura, worked in my favor.
In a world where many people relied on these energies to improve their physical talents or cast spells, I took comfort in the idea that such improvements were no longer an option.
The playing field was level without the crutch of energy manipulation. Within the castle, no one could summon magical forces to augment their bodies or cast destructive spells. It's a place where raw strength and martial prowess rule supreme.
The first assailant leapt at me, but I sidestepped him, allowing his momentum to carry him past me.As he stumbled, I punched him in the back of the head with a powerful elbow, knocking him out.
I disarmed him in one seamless motion and turned the blade of his own weapon on him, plunging it into his side.
"Arghh"He cried out in agony before collapsing.
The last two assailants paused for a few seconds, their confidence weakened by my quick counterattacks.
I took full advantage of that little gap, that split second of vulnerability.
I pushed forward, my aim clear in my mind: his eyes.
My fingers spread like predatory talons hunting prey. As my fingertips made contact with his eyes, he hardly had time to react.
"Arghh"As he recoiled, he cried out in pain, his hands reflexively grasping for his damaged face.
He tried to counterattack as he writhed in pain, thrusting a desperate fist toward my face. But I was already moving, swerving away from the path of his hit.
The disparity in our heights worked in my favor, allowing me to dodge his strike quickly.
I took advantage of the situation and delivered a strong kick to his weak stomach.
The blow was accurate, but he responded by grasping my outstretched leg and pushing his concealed weapon into my thigh.
"argh... fuck.."The piercing agony in my leg was evident, but I couldn't afford to be distracted by it.
With my free hand, I blocked his impending strike with persistence.My arm was jolted by the impact, resulting in a small fracture. It was a testament to the assailant's power.
My Chameleon's Deceit ring, hidden on my finger, became my rescue in the midst of this terrible exchange.I triggered its change with accuracy. The exquisite piece of jewelry had transformed into a secret weapon—a lethal knife.
I stabbed the knife into the assailant's other eye in a desperate attempt to change the tide.
"Arghh, my eye!".His agonizing screams filled the air as he stumbled backward, dazed and crippled.I didn't waste any time.
I recovered the knife from his eye and viciously plunged it into his throat with a quick, trained move.
As he sank to the ground, gurgling his final breaths, life left his body.
"You are a good son of Duke Morton, but now you can die" .The fourth attacker, at Origin Level 4, was more composed, taking a battle stand, he told me.
'Motherfucker, really started the monologue,'
I came to a halt, as I was ready to respond to him. I don't need to follow these shitty verbal battles.
I'm not sure why, but he didn't attack me when I was fighting with the others; instead, he just stood there watching everything as if it were a performance for him.
Either he is simply stupid or he trusts in his own strength, which I suppose is more likely, but acting like a normal ultimate boss is a fatal mistake.
Looking around, I discovered that Aeloria had taken the princess and hidden to the side of the bushes away from us, which is good because he can't use them as a scapegoat, but this bitch had seriously abandoned me.
He struck me with calculated strikes, but I was prepared.
I deflected his strikes with precision, blocking with my damaged arm when necessary. Despite the anguish, I persisted.
I took advantage of a brief pause and threw a vicious knee to his stomach, winding him. I quickly followed with a powerful hit to his throat, leaving him to gasp for air.
"Cough cough" .He lurched backward, grasping his neck, his mask slipping to show a pain-stricken visage.
Not from Eden's recollections, but from the game itself, I recognized that face.He was the one who had been mercilessly tortured for information by the Queen.
With a dismal realization, I realized there was no reason to keep him alive. I quickly snatched his blade, cutting his throat and killing him.
'So much for acting like a boss,'I stood among the fallen opponents, breathing heavily and bleeding from multiple wounds.
My shattered arm is in excruciating pain. It had been a hard-fought struggle, but I had come out on top.
After dealing with the immediate threat, I focused my attention on Aeloria and the unconscious Princess.
Aeloria's skin is delicate and porcelain-like, with a natural radiance. Her gorgeous freckles adorn her bright cheeks, giving her face a dynamic appeal. Her eyes are fringed by long, dark lashes that, when she blinks, cast gorgeous shadows.
Her button-like nose sits above wide, petal-pink lips that frequently break into the prettiest smile. Her chestnut-brown hair falls in wonderful waves down to her waist.
'What do you expect from someone called "the gentle sprite" in the future?'I contemplated as I looked at her.
She's dressed to the nines in a stunning aristocratic ball gown. It has a delicate lacework neckline that weaves wonderful motifs.
The dress has an airy violet color that looks like blooming flower meadows under a twilight sky.
Small, delicate flowers are embroidered into the fabric, lending her clothing a natural appearance.
If her clothes hadn't been coated in dust and mud and her face hadn't been plastered with tears and snot, she would have looked charming.
"Are you all right?"
I asked her as I struggled to sit down and relied on the nearby stone statue for support.
She didn't say anything and simply nodded. What happened today is likely to cause them both long-term trauma.
I drew a healing potion from my side pocket, which I had kept for emergencies, and gulped it down whole, which was slowly healing my wounds, but it will still take some time to completely close the wound in my leg.
When I was thinking about it, I looked at the girl who had caused all of the problems.
'I genuinely want to slap that face,'She's just out of it; she appears to be napping.
'Heyy, Edda.'
I summoned her because I needed information.
[Yes?] she replied.
'Didn't you fool me?' 'They shouldn't have died even if I hadn't come to save them, right?'
I inquired after she remained silent. I'm curious since the timing didn't match the one in the game; things should have gone the same way in the game even if I hadn't intervened.
I'm assuming this because the princess's garments are still intact, although in the game they were extensively torn from many places before Aeloria arrived to save her, and if my prediction is true, the Queen will arrive here any minute now.
But many things still don't add up; why would the princess have died if everything had gone as planned?
Did the assailant murder her?
But then, why would they kill her?
The emperor would not let such a chess piece die; who would then murder her?
And what good will it do for the being that brought me here?
What could be the possible benefit of having me save her?
Would she have died if I hadn't arrived?
Aeloria, what about her?
Why is she still alive after all of this? ,
There was nothing about her on the quest interface; she was an important character in the game, but the quest clearly instructed me to save the princess.
'Say something, Edda,' I said again, agitated by her silence. I needed answers, and I clearly dislike being in the dark.
[Destiny, Eden, cannot be erased; it can only be altered.]Edda responded with a less-than-satisfactory response.
Because I don't want to think about anything else right now, I simply closed my eyes.
I just want to get away from all of this nonsense; so much bullshit has occurred since I arrived here that I'm running away tomorrow, no matter what.
"What happened here?"A calming voice jarred me out of my daydream. I opened my eyes and gazed at the lady who was frowningly glancing around the garden.
She has an ageless beauty that has endowed her with regal elegance. Her oval face is framed by a cascade of luscious, blonde hair, similar to her daughter's.
Her hair is generally styled in elaborate updos embellished with delicate jeweled pins and beads.
Isabella D. Merovingian was the queen of this kingdom and my once-favorite aunt.
She could see what had happened here with a few glances as her attention moved from Angelina to Aeloria, who had stopped crying and was giving the princess a lap pillow.
'I'd like a lap pillow as well,' I thought. As I rose slowly from my seat, I realized that my wounds had healed sufficiently for me to move around, and I decided to just walk away.
"Eden".I ignored the queen when she called. I avoided her because I didn't want to talk to her right now, not because avoiding people is something I enjoy doing.
We'll talk when my mom wakes up. She must account for her family's actions to my mother, not to me.
"I'm sorry."She said it again, and I paused and returned my attention to her.
Even now, there is no discernible change in her appearance, but her eyes are somewhat red.
"Fuck off" .With that, I continued limping away, leaving both Astound Queen and Aeloria behind.