Volume 7, Chapter 4 - Those Who Have Hope, Part 4
The sun is about to set.
The horizon was tinged with madder red, and in the distance, the tops of the Glaozarm Mountains glowed with the light of lingering fires.
In the Great Imperial Capital, too, the people were beginning to fade from the vibrant city.
Glaring down at the masses was the Imperial Palace Venetian, a structure with a thousand years of history.
On the east side of the palace, in the section where the nobles have their residences, there is a mansion that stands out.
It’s the mansion of the Kelheit family, one of the five great noble families that control the East.
“……It’s gotten quiet, hasn’t it?”
Rosa looked at her bedroom, which seemed unnecessarily large, and smiled.
The days have been noisy until recently.
Liz was chasing after Hiro, Skaaha smiling at the scene, Aura reading all the time without concern, a young man loyal to the demons camping in the courtyard looking down from the window, and a mercenary woman clinging to Rosa, protecting the master’s life.
It was a dense, fun, and noisy day that she would never forget.
“I thought it wouldn’t last forever, but I guess somewhere I was expecting it to.”
As if to distract herself from the desolation, Rosa lets out a sigh and rests her weight on the back of her chair, looking up at the ceiling. As she did so, Cerberus nuzzled under her feet.
“Did you not want to follow your master?”
When she said this to Cerberus, she tilted her head and sneezed.
She had lost more of her wildness than when she first came to the Great Imperial Capital. No, she had become a completely domesticated dog.
It must have been the result of the servants’ pampering.
Originally, it was a creature that inhabited the Eastern Archipelago. It seems that every beast tribe that has its stronghold in the Eastern Archipelago has its own white wolf, and they say that they are sacred animals that only the royal bloodline is allowed to keep them.
No one knows how she ended up in the Central Continent, but she was very surprised when Liz found her.
Rosa stroked Cerberus’s belly, bringing back fond memories.
“You’re a female; you should be a little more concerned about your appearance.”
Recently, she has been getting more fleshy. If she is not taken on hunting trips, her noble name of “White Wolf” will be lost.
“When I have some free time, let’s go hunting; I used to take Liz with me.”
As she smiled wryly, the door to her bedroom made a noise.
The sound was too heavy for a door slam, and Rosa’s eyes sharpened as she realized there was an unnecessary noise in the mix. She grabbed the Lion King that was nearby and called out to the door.
“Hey, what’s the matter?”
After Liz had left, Rosa had tightened the security of the mansion.
Two strong soldiers must have been guarding the other side of the door. But there was no reply. Rosa let out a deep breath to regulate her breathing.
When she looked out the window, she saw that the sun had completely set and the world was covered in darkness.
As the moonlight tried to fill the room, Cerberus lowered herself and let out a roar.
“……I knew they’d come.”
She had expected it, but she didn’t want it to come true.
“Good grief… If I really had a child, I wouldn’t be staying in the dangerous Great Imperial Capital.”
If it were true, she would not have stayed in the imperial palace, where security was thinner due to the war with the Six Kingdoms. By now, she would have returned to her home base and set up a security system that was tighter than a prison cell.
“Now, I wonder which nobleman sent the assassin…”
The story that she was pregnant with Hiro’s child spread quickly.
The Grantz Empire tends to place a high value on bloodlines due to the fact that its history has lasted for a thousand years.
If it were the child of a “God of War,” it would be welcomed, but it would not be unconditionally welcomed by those who opposed it. Even before the child is born, he or she will have to bear the prestige of the nation as the next emperor. If this happens, the mother and her relatives will have a lot of power.
In other words, there was a high possibility that Rosa’s life would be threatened as she carried the precious seed.
That’s why Rosa has tightened the security of the mansion.
“There should be a pretty good defense from the entrance to here.”
Even Rosa has some knowledge of martial arts. However, she is still only as good as an average man.
“A higher-ranked person than I expected has come to try to take my life…”
The door slowly opens, emitting a creaking sound. The person who stepped into the room had an eerie appearance and was dressed entirely in black.
“…Alone, huh?”
But from the way he carried himself, she judged him to be quite skilled. If not, he would not have been able to reach this point.
She grasped the hilt of the Lion King and stomped on the floor, letting the energy of her entire body pervade her.
“Unfortunately, I was expecting an assassin to be sent.”
She was well prepared for that.
“Therefore, I’ve prepared a feast for you.”
Rosa smiles wryly and snaps her fingers.
From the corridor, from the shadows, from the door to the next room, soldiers came into the bedroom one after another, carrying their weapons.
“Let’s find out who the client is, capture him!”
Rosa shouted, and at the same time, the soldiers shouted and rushed towards the assassin. But the mouth that emerged from the shadows of his bare face, hidden beneath the hood, drew an eerie crescent moon.
“Gopuh!”
It’s a one-hit kill. A soldier was easily pierced through the heart, and he died.
The assassin uses his right leg as a pivot point to stab the second soldier with great force. As soon as he pulled it out, he slid the blade through the gap in the soldier’s helmet, exposing the third soldier’s brain fluid to the outside world. As soon as the fresh blood splattered on the floor, he easily gouged out the armor of the fourth one and slashed him diagonally from the shoulder.
One after another, the soldiers were struck in their vital points and died out, and this is what it means to happen in the blink of an eye. Unable to moan, the soldiers fell to the floor. It was an unreasonable and overwhelming difference.
A one-sided slaughter ― not long after, the soldiers sank into a sea of blood.
In front of Rosa’s eyes was the figure of an assassin who hadn’t moved an inch from the entrance, just like when he had appeared.
“Tch!”
Rosa drew the Lion King from its sheath, but the assassin’s figure disappeared from her sight.
“Wha, gaah!?”
There was a shock to her abdomen, and the oxygen in her lungs was instantly expelled.
Even so, she clenched her hands, which were losing strength, and sent the “Lion King” into a frenzy.
“Don’t you dare!”
“It’s pointless.”
The “Lion King” is easily knocked off, and Rosa, who was hit on the cheek, blows up.
A fist pierced Rosa’s abdomen as her body slammed into the wall and almost fell, but the assassin closed the distance and held her up.
“Kuh.”
The assassin grabbed her by the head to cover her mouth as she twisted her face in extreme pain.
“Fuh――”
“Are you afraid of death?”
Her head was slammed against the wall, and her consciousness was momentarily cut off, but she would not allow that to happen, and another shocking blow was applied to her abdomen.
“Come on, breathe. I’m not going to kill you yet.”
“Fuh, augh!”
Just as Rosa gasped for oxygen, the assassin grabbed her thin neck and squeezed.
“It’s a lie. Just don’t breathe.”
A tremendous force of arms lifted Rosa’s body, and her feet left the floor. Rosa struck the arm holding her neck with all her might but to no avail.
Ineffective power is no match for release.
“Aah, gaaahh!”
The moonlight shining through the window illuminated both of them, and one of the shadows was flailing violently on the floor.
Her messy golden hair was swaying, giving off a healthy glow in the moonlight. Its radiance was not dimmed by the storm of tyranny.
“It’s so soft to the touch. You must be very beautiful.”
When the assassin muttered this, the pressure on her neck suddenly disappeared, and she was released from her suffering.
“Ugh… Gahah.”
With both knees on the floor and her back arched, Rosa desperately took oxygen into her lungs.
The assassin reached for her head and grabbed her by the hair with all his might.
“Higagh.”
“It’s very well-groomed. There is no way to mistake it for anything else. I’ll send every last one of it to him.”
“You bastard… Fuguh.”
She was slammed face-first into the floor with great force.
“Agh! Auh, ah, ugh!?”
Again and again, and again, and again, it was repeated over and over again, relentlessly.
Rosa was fading in and out of consciousness, but her strong mental strength would not allow her to lose consciousness.
“Your hair is tough. It doesn’t fall out easily.”
He was indifferent. His voice held only a quiet hatred, and there was no hint of vulgarity in his tone.
The assassin continued to harm Rosa matter-of-factly as if he were dismantling livestock.
She is punched in the face, repeatedly kicked in the stomach, and knocked to the floor.
Still, he does not let go of her hair.
He grabbed it and held on to it like he was determined not to let it go until it fell out.
“I’ll bare the flesh of your head if I have to; I’m sorry if I break your arm.”
Placing his foot on Rosa’s thin left arm, the assassin tugged at her hair with all his strength.
“Fuguh… Gaaaaaahh!?”
With the sound of bones cracking, Rosa’s scream echoed through the room.
But it still didn’t stop. The one-sided abuse continues solemnly.
“Is this not enough? The next time, it will be the fingers and the feet, or maybe the nose will be in the way, if I shave it off, or maybe the eyes, if I hollow them out neatly…?”
Cerberus, who had been hiding behind the assassin, saw an opening and jumped at him.
Black and white shadows danced furiously in the darkness as they intertwined with each other.
As the blood spurted out of her mouth, Rosa stood up, putting all her strength into her trembling legs.
“Don’t underestimate me. You lowly assassin…”
She picked up the Lion King, her face drenched in blood and her blue eyes lit with rage.
“I’m a former third princess, and I’m not going to be killed easily. I have the blood of the Grantz in my veins, you know.”
Rosa, her face contorted by intense pain, made a desperate attack on the assassin, but the blade was stopped just in time.
“It’s because of that. I won’t forgive you for that.”
Cerberus, who had been bitten on the assassin’s back, was pulled off.
She was kicked hard and crashed into the wall. Even so, the noble white wolf was not intimidated and bared her fangs and jumped at the assassin.
“Get out of my way. You dog!”
The assassin’s hand clamped down on Cerberus’ mouth, grabbed her tail, and knocked her to the floor.
The assassin mercilessly swung his fist down at the white wolf, which was shaking and panting, and then, as if he hadn’t had enough, he crushed the white wolf with his heel.
“Guu!”
But his foot didn’t reach Cerberus. It’s because his heel was caught in Rosa’s back. Rosa was covering the white wolf to protect her.
“I won’t let you kill her… She’s my precious family.”
Rosa smiled provocatively at the assassin, who was looking down at her with a sharp glint in his eye.
The assassin’s murderous intent swells. He shook his body as if unable to hold back.
“If that’s the case, die. Die with the child in your belly.”
The assassin grabbed Rosa’s head and threw her against the wall.
“Fuguh.”
Her back slammed hard against the wall, and Rosa slid down and hit the floor.
Still gritting her teeth, she slammed her fist into the floor and tried to get up, enduring the intense pain.
“That’s enough; that should be enough. Give it up; I’ll inflict the same pain on you.”
“Damn it…”
The assassin’s hand reached out to Rosa, but it froze.
Not metaphorically ― the arm exposed to the moonlight has turned into a block of ice.
“That’s as far as you can go.”
Even in the dark of night, her green-blue hair was silky smooth, and shiny. Her face was as delicate as glass work, with a quiet fighting spirit swirling around it, and her thin limbs were wrapped in heavy armor, exuding an atmosphere of bleakness and distortion in the midst of purity and tranquility.
Haran Skaaha de Felzen was standing at the entrance.
“I’m sorry, Rosa-dono. The others have taken up too much of my time.”
Skaaha stepped forward, anger radiating from her body that she could not hide.
“Why are you here?”
The assassin’s voice was laced with emotion for the first time. His dismay was a pathetic waver from the imposing look he had just given.
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll kill you right here.”
Skaaha instantly kicked down the distance and closed in on the assassin.
“Don’t think you can die easily.”
The assassin clicked his tongue and tried to distance himself.
“Unfortunately, no one can escape the cold air of the Ice Emperor.”
The assassin’s legs froze, and with a flick of her spear, one of his arms disappeared.
“I took your arm because I didn’t want to risk anything if you got out of control. I’ll try to stop the bleeding. It might rot.”
“Hah, Agh, Guuoooooaaaaaaaaa!”
The assassin stumbled around on the floor as the wound froze, flooded with fresh blood.
“Will you tell us who gave you the order?”
Skaaha swung her foot down with great force and stepped through the assassin rolling around on the floor.
“Gobuoh!”
“I must warn you; I am not gentle. I’ll never forgive those who would choose such vile means.”
The hood of the squirming assassin flows from his head to the floor. The assassin’s true face was exposed to the moonlight streaming in from outside the window.
Skaaha gasped.
The assassin’s face was badly lacerated as if he had been tortured. Both of his eyes were missing, and there was a hollow space on his forehead that looked as if something had been gouged out of it.
But most importantly…
“That skin color… are you a demon?”
The assassin stopped moving slightly, possibly because he heard Skaaha’s words.
And then he smiled wickedly.
“Our father. Give the Fool the pain of eternal damnation. Our Father. Give peace to the saints!”
At the same moment, blood spurted out from every hole, and he lost strength from his neck and limbs as he threw himself on the floor. A puddle of blood spread out on the floor as it was seen.
Skaaha’s eyes widened in astonishment, and she immediately checked to see if he was alive or dead, but the assassin had lost his breath.
“Couldn’t it be that… he committed suicide?”
Rosa came up to the surprised Skaaha.
“Thank you, Skaaha-dono. You’ve done well, Cerberus.”
The white wolf sits down beside Skaaha, and Rosa pats her on the head.
Skaaha regained her composure and bowed her head in front of Rosa.
“I apologize for the delay. I didn’t expect them to be so skilled…”
Rosa shook her head at Skaaha’s apology.
“No, don’t worry about it. It’s good that we’ve been able to manage it safely.”
Rosa laughed, saying that her hair had not fallen out much, thanks to its strength. It can be seen that she is forcing herself to smile.
Because her face was drained of blood and sweat, she was sweating profusely.
“Even so… The “Black Death Village,” huh…?”
Rosa stroked the white wolf’s head and looked at the assassin’s corpse.
“Do you know these people?”
“No, I only know about them like anyone else… But I’m pretty sure they hate the Grantz Imperial family.”
After saying this, Rosa shook her head.
“No, they resent the God of War…”
They resented the bloodline of the God of War to an unusual degree. The fact that she was punched and kicked in the stomach relentlessly is proof of this. Rosa patted her own stomach. Her face twisted grimly as she felt intense pain.
“Some ribs were damaged as well… and if it had been known that it was a lie that I had a child, I would have died immediately, so I might as well consider it a blessing in disguise.”
No ― maybe they never targeted her in the first place.
If that’s the case, Rosa guesses that the other party’s purpose lies elsewhere.
“Subsequently… this is a difficult road ahead.”
Rosa’s muttering was cut short by a noisy noise. What echoed from the hallway was a noisy mass of metal clanging.
“Rosa-dono, the soldiers seem to have heard the commotion. Let’s get some medical attention first.”
“You’re right… we’ll think about it later.”
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