Volume 8, Chapter 36 – Attackers of Unknown Origin

Yisi frowned.

[Instantaneous Tempest] had merely blown the dark clouds away; it didn’t mean they would never appear again. With the sealing barrier not yet restored, Yisi was not surprised that the clouds were re-gathering. What made her let out a small sound of surprise was the group of people waiting for the carriage to pass on the street ahead.

This is too strange.

A normal person’s level should be between one and five. Only people who have undergone special training, like adventurers or regular soldiers, could possibly surpass level five. But of the group of people crowded on the street ahead, at least half were above level 10, and a few were even over level 30. If this group were in military attire, it would be understandable, but they were dressed in various ways, at first glance no different from commoners, with all sorts of identities from beggars to merchants.

They’re attackers.

The facts proved Yisi’s judgment correct.

As the carriage passed through the street the attackers had pre-designed, the buildings on both sides of the street, like watermelons unable to contain their expanding contents, bulged outwards from the inside, cracks appearing on their walls. This was followed by a brilliant flash of fire and a plume of smoke rising into the sky. The scattered stones turned into deadly cannonballs at this moment, shooting indiscriminately at the pedestrians.

At the same time, those Yisi had labeled as attackers revealed their identities, ripping off their clothes to reveal standard-issue armor tied with red ribbons. Using the smoke from the explosion as cover, they launched an attack on the carriage amidst the chaos.

I can’t believe I ran into something like this so early in the morning.

Although she had no fondness for Duke Herbis inside the carriage, she had no intention of standing by and watching civilians get caught in a power struggle—or whatever else it might be. Yisi secretly used ‘Spatial Lock’ to stop the building fragments that were about to hit the civilians, then used wind magic to create a strong airflow, blowing the view-obscuring smoke to the other end of the street.

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Is it still not enough?

She could protect the civilians from the falling stones, but the attackers were still a problem. The noble’s attendants, having reacted, jumped off their horses to protect Duke Herbis and began to fight with the attackers. The chaotic situation left the civilians trapped in the street unsure of where to run. If this continued, things would get bad when the magic chanters ambushing further away started their bombardment.

In other words, only by dealing with the attackers could the situation be calmed.

“Go help,” in a tone lacking emotional fluctuation, Tiffany placed a hand on her chest. “It’s okay.”

Tiffany probably meant that Yisi didn’t need to worry about her.

After a brief thought, Yisi nodded.

“Mm, but keep an eye on that side. If you see any magic flying over, run back to the temple immediately.”

“Got it.”

Quietly applying a layer of defensive magic to Tiffany, Yisi took out Gungnir and joined the fray.

“All the attackers have red ribbons tied to their arms. I just need to focus my attacks on them.”

The first to be dealt with were the magic chanters ambushing in the distant buildings. With the extremely excellent night vision of a pureblood, Yisi could easily see the magic chanters hiding in the dark corners of the buildings. The explosion of the buildings on both sides of the street just now was the result of their magic.

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“Even with Blink, jumping one by one is troublesome. Since they launched an attack without regard for the lives of the civilians, they must have been prepared for the backlash.”

She had always had no fondness for this type of person and had no objection to equating them with murderers and terrorists.

[Frozen Shards]

Several sharp, short blades condensed from ice appeared, floating up and down beside her. After mentally marking the positions of the magic chanters, Yisi sent the ice blades flying.

A series of inaudible but imaginable shattering sounds.

The ice blades accurately hit the magic chanters’ staves. In just an instant, their staves broke in two. Not only that, but after colliding with the staves, the ice blades exploded, and the large amount of flying ice shards suddenly enveloped the magic chanters. A layer of frost quickly condensed on their bodies, and the intense cold, almost enough to freeze their blood, forcibly interrupted their magic chanting. Some of those whose staves were of the water attribute were even directly frozen to the ground, unable to move a single inch.

The magic reactions have disappeared.

With this, the long-range time bombs were dealt with.

Yisi looked at the main battlefield again.

There were about fifty attackers, while there were fewer than twenty attendants guarding the carriage. In their first clash, the attendants had already suffered losses and could only surround the carriage, desperately waiting for rescue.

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“Who are you! Who sent you!”

A terrified shout came from Duke Herbis inside the carriage, but the attackers did not answer him. One of them even shot a crossbow bolt at him, nearly hitting him in the head.

“Eek! Q-quickly, get me out of here! These people are rebels, rebels!”

“Your Grace, the road is blocked by stones!”

“Then go back!”

“We can’t turn the carriage around without dealing with them—”

Before he could finish, a crossbow bolt hit the speaking attendant’s shoulder, and he let out a pained grunt.

What a troublesome group of people.

Shifting her target to the remaining forty attackers, Yisi once again cast [Frozen Shards]. Like the magic chanters, the attackers’ weapons were knocked from their hands. But to Yisi’s surprise, the few who were over level thirty were unaffected. When the [Frozen Shards] were about to hit them, an invisible magic shield suddenly appeared on their bodies, neutralizing the spell.

[Frozen Shards] was only a second-tier magic, so it was not incomprehensible that it was blocked. But the other party had blocked the ice blades without noticing the sneak attack, which meant they had trigger-activated magic items. Unless she used a stronger magic, a sneak attack would be useless.

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I’d rather not use ‘Piercing Spear’ for now…

If she were to use ‘Piercing Spear,’ the trigger-activated magic items would be useless, but the price would be that these attackers would die in an extremely gruesome way.

“Who’s there?!” The leader of the ambushers looked at Yisi, then nodded to his subordinates. “Get rid of her.”

“Oh my, I wasn’t thinking of killing you.”

She had kindly not used ‘Piercing Spear,’ but the other party was thinking of getting rid of her. Yisi couldn’t help but feel a little indignant and lightly swung Gungnir.

“Since a sneak attack won’t work, let me show you the results of my training.”

The spar with Cynthia had made her realize that even in close combat, one needed a strategy to lure the opponent into a trap. And now, with these people who were weaker than her, she could try to integrate Cynthia’s fighting style into the close-combat skills Laxy had taught her.

Taking a step forward, Yisi glanced at the noble’s attendants, who were now furiously counterattacking because the attackers had been frozen.

It would be bad if they go on a killing spree and harm the civilians.

“…Let’s end this quickly.”