Even Barry was a bit surprised this time. These assassins were indeed skilled at concealing themselves, and since he was injured, he hadn't noticed anything unusual. Yet, Linton had somehow sensed it. Barry had been puzzled by why Linton suddenly launched a fireball, but now it made sense. His assessment of Linton went up quite a bit without him even realizing it.
Princess Yalan's eyes flashed with amazement. Though she didn't say anything, her expression clearly asked, "How did you even notice that?" This left Linton feeling a little awkward because, honestly... he hadn't noticed anything at all. He'd just fired off a spell by sheer coincidence and hit someone.
Sure enough, in the next second, several shadowy figures jumped out from the surroundings, immediately surrounding them. There were quite a few assassins this time. Linton even recognized one of them—specifically the mage who had frozen him earlier. It seemed that the mage had managed to escape and regrouped with reinforcements.
Next to him was a rather noticeable swordsman, dressed quite differently from the other assassins. This one wore dark armor with a purple undercoat and carried two long swords on his back. If Linton wasn't mistaken, this must be the star-ranked swordsman Barry had mentioned earlier.
"I told you, this guy's not normal," said the mage who Linton had defeated earlier. He was speaking to the swordsman beside him, clearly having already revealed some information about Linton. "He's no ordinary mage. He might be some kind of unique individual with a special elemental affinity."
"So, you're saying I'm no match for him?" The swordsman's tone was arrogant, showing that he clearly wasn't the polite type.
"That's... not what I meant..." The mage seemed intimidated, implying that his status was not as high as the swordsman's. Which made sense—if the mage had already failed, they wouldn't send someone weaker to finish the job.
The swordsman sneered, then turned toward Linton and his group. However, instead of addressing Linton directly, he looked at Barry. "I recognize you—you're Barry, Captain of the Maple Guard. And that beautiful lady over there must be Princess Yalan, the third princess of the empire, correct?"
"If you know she's the princess, you dare attempt an assassination? Aren't you afraid of having your entire family executed?" Barry asked.
"Hah! I'm really terrified," the swordsman mocked. "In that case, I definitely can't let you leave here. Captain Barry, you're injured, right? Normally, I wouldn't be a match for you, but what can you do in your current state?"
Just as they suspected, the assassins had identified the princess's identity but had no intention of letting them leave. Barry didn't say anything more and simply drew his sword.
"And as for you... the peculiar mage..." The swordsman turned his attention to Linton. "You are quite interesting. At first, we thought you were—"
Before he could finish his sentence, the swordsman suddenly collapsed face-first onto the ground with a thud, losing all consciousness.
"???" Everyone was stunned, including Barry and Princess Yalan. No one had any idea what had just happened. The swordsman was in the middle of speaking, and then he just toppled over. Judging by his fall, it didn't seem like he had any particular plan—he had just suddenly collapsed.
"Did you see that? Did you see that?" Linton suddenly shouted excitedly, pointing at the fallen swordsman. "That's the ultimate technique of my sect—'Drop Dead When I Glare at You.' Isn't it awesome? Isn't it amazing?"
"You... you did that?" Barry asked, still in shock.
"Of course, it was me! What, do you think he just suddenly decided to take a nap halfway through his speech?" Linton replied.
"How... how did you do that?" Barry swallowed hard. This was beyond powerful—it was almost unimaginable. Could someone really just drop dead from a single glare? That would be truly unstoppable.
"With the power of universal magic," Linton said proudly, "Now, go ahead and tell me how awesome I am!"
"This..." Barry was at a loss for words. If Linton had unleashed some massive spell to wipe out the enemy, that might've made sense, but this bizarre situation defied explanation. He had never heard of such magic before. If someone could really kill with a glance, wouldn't they be unbeatable?
The remaining assassins gradually snapped back to their senses. The mage quickly rushed over to the fallen swordsman to check his condition. To his surprise, the swordsman wasn't dead—he was simply unconscious, with no visible injuries. No one could figure out what had happened.
"Monster!" the mage suddenly shrieked in panic, pointing at Linton.
"What?" Linton turned around. "You dare call me names, loser?"
Seeing Linton's expression, the mage panicked and immediately turned to flee. The other assassins followed suit. With their leader mysteriously taken down and the second-in-command fleeing, what else could they do? They scattered in all directions, trying to escape.
"Hey!" Linton shouted, frustrated as the assassins fled in all directions. But then he thought of a solution: "Deer! Chase them down!"
There was no response. Linton turned around and saw his fire-devouring beast feasting on the fire from a previously slain assassin. "I swear..." Linton sighed, exasperated. His fire beast clearly prioritized food over orders.
Barry, however, acted quickly. Seeing the assassins flee, he immediately gave chase but didn't pursue too far—his priority was still protecting the princess. He managed to catch one of the nearest assassins, but the assassin refused to surrender. After a few exchanges of sword strikes, Barry knocked the weapon from the assassin's hand. Then, just like the others, the assassin took his own life.
The assassins had come and gone quickly, leaving behind two bodies and their unconscious leader. Within moments, they had all disappeared from sight.
Honestly, no one had expected the situation to resolve itself so quickly. Just a few days ago, they had been forced to take a longer route to avoid these assassins, and now... this. Everyone turned to look at Linton, their gazes filled with a strange mix of awe and confusion.
"Hey, hey! I already told you—my sect's ultimate technique is 'Drop Dead When I Glare at You!' I was being completely serious. You didn't believe me, and now you're looking at me like that. What's the deal?" Linton protested.
"This is just too strange," Gassian remarked. "That guy was a five-star swordsman, and you took him down in an instant? How am I supposed to keep training now?"
"You make it sound like you were ever going to surpass me," Linton patted Gassian on the shoulder. "Let's face reality—you never had a chance. Do you know the motto of the Melovey family?"
"Go ahead..." Gassian sighed, not even bothering to point out that the Melovey family had no motto.
"'Know your limits.' It means to act within your abilities and not attempt the impossible," Linton explained. "I'm the type who's invincible, so don't even think about competing with me."
"I never wanted to surpass you! But now, just wanting not to get instantly killed is unrealistic?" Gassian rubbed his forehead in frustration.
"Exactly... know your limits..." Linton replied.
"..." Gassian was speechless.
Meanwhile, Barry examined the fallen swordsman and seemed to understand what had happened. The swordsman was still alive, with no visible injuries, but his expression showed pain. Barry suspected the swordsman had been struck by some kind of mental attack. Recalling the mage's earlier comment about a unique elemental attribute, Barry concluded that Linton must have used some kind of mental magic.
Mental magic was a lost art across the continent, though Barry had read about it in some old books. Long ago, mages had researched such magic before it was ultimately banned. Mental magic was considered a forbidden art, which explained why it had vanished.
Barry's expression grew serious. It seemed Linton's teacher had been a practitioner of mental magic. This explained why the teacher kept a low profile and why Linton had inherited such a dangerous and forbidden ability. However, Linton seemed blissfully unaware of just how serious this power was.
"Linton... try not to use that magic in public anymore," Barry said suddenly.
"Huh?" Linton blinked. "Why not? It's my coolest move! Without it, my style points are cut in half!"
"The magic your teacher taught you might be forbidden magic," Barry explained.
"Forbidden magic?" Linton was taken aback, and Princess Yalan gasped in surprise.
"Your teacher may have been a mental magic practitioner," Barry said.
"Mental magic?" Linton finally understood. His ability, **Tsukuyomi**, was indeed a mental attack. It seemed that this world had similar magic, but for some reason, it had been banned. Barry's warning was likely for his own good. However, this posed a problem—he had spent quite some time mastering this move, and now it was going to be sealed?
(End of chapter)