Feeling the vibrations coming from all directions, Camilla felt completely unwell.
She stared at the assassin slumped by the door, a surge of anger rushing straight to the top of her head. She didn’t even have time to comfort the shaken Lilian, walking straight to the assassin’s side. She raised her foot and kicked him twice, hard.
“I’ll give you a blast! I’ll give you a blast! What kind of lunatic dares to pull a suicide attack in my… uh, I mean, on the territory of the Kayin Trading Company?”
Camilla’s chest heaved with anger. After all, the reputation she had worked so hard to build for the company would likely be severely affected by this sudden attack.
‘If this news gets out, who will ever feel safe trading here again? Will the company’s golden reputation be ruined?’ she wondered. Imagine a high-end auction house — one that claimed to be safe and private, trusted even by the Royal Family and nobility — having a suicide soldier slip in during the delivery to assassinate the Princess. They had almost wiped out the entire VIP box with an Alchemical Bomb.
Ludmila watched Camilla’s somewhat childish outburst of anger in silence. There were no ripples in her black eyes. She merely adjusted her stance to separate Camilla from the dangerous individual on the floor while listening vigilantly to the sounds of battle outside, which were growing more intense.
Her mission was to protect Camilla. As for anything else, it was outside her scope of concern.
Lilian had quickly regained her composure. Her royal upbringing allowed her to recover her reason as fast as possible, even after just experiencing a brush with death.
She walked over to Camilla and gently pressed down on her shoulder, which was trembling slightly from agitation.
“Camilla, calm down. Now is not the time to look into this. The situation outside seems very bad,” Lilian’s voice carried a soothing power, but her eyes were equally cold.
Assassinating a Princess, whether successful or not, meant a direct provocation to the Vivarana Empire.
“I understand, Your Highness.”
Camilla took a deep breath, forcing herself to suppress her anger while her mind raced.
‘But this assassin… his methods were too professional. The disguise, the timing, and that bomb disguised as an amulet… this isn’t something an ordinary power could do. The Dark Demon Beast Legion was just heavily damaged; they shouldn’t have the strength or the courage to plan such a precise assassination immediately. Could it be — ‘
Camilla’s gaze fell on the assassin again as she tried to find clues from his attire and the residual Magic Power.
The filthy dark Magic Power, the style leaning toward curses and manipulation… a name surfaced in her mind.
The Eye of Truth.
That lunatic Organization obsessed with forbidden Alchemy, pursuing “perfect life” and “truth.”
They certainly had the ability to create Alchemical Bombs that looked real but contained destructive energy, and they could use special means to infiltrate a branch of the Kayin Trading Company.
But before Camilla could think further, another change occurred.
The thick wooden door of the VIP box suddenly made a tooth-aching sound. Immediately after, the middle of the door panel bulged inward, as if struck by an invisible giant hammer.
*Bang! Boom!*
The entire door panel and frame were blown away by a violent force. Shards of wood shot into the room like a rainstorm.
Ludmila immediately stood in front of Lilian and Camilla, her greatsword dancing like a gale to deflect or block most of the fragments. Camilla also hurriedly propped up a magic shield to protect herself and Lilian.
Amidst the drifting dust, a figure slowly walked through the broken doorway.
It had the silhouette and face of a human woman, even wearing a server’s uniform, but its skin had the stiff texture of a puppet. There were obvious ball-jointed structures at its joints, and a stiff, eerie smile was plastered on its face. A pair of glass bead-like eyes stared hollowly at the three of them in the box.
A puppet.
And not an ordinary one. Judging by the fluctuations of Magic Power emanating from it, it had reached at least the peak of the 7th-tier — far exceeding the Sorcerer from before.
“Oh my, it seems my carefully prepared little gift was discovered.”
A smiling, drifting voice that was hard to distinguish as male or female echoed in the box from an unknown source.
“But it doesn’t matter. There are always backup plans. I am the Puppetmaster, an Executive of the Eye of Truth. Her Highness Lilian Vivalana, I shall graciously accept your head.”
The moment the words fell, the puppet moved.
Its speed was incredibly fast, completely inconsistent with its stiff material. It turned into a blurry afterimage, lunging straight at Lilian, who was protected behind Ludmila. Sharp metal blades popped out of its ten fingers, shimmering with a ghostly blue light.
“Don’t even think about it!”
Ludmila roared, her greatsword whistling through the air as she slashed at the puppet’s neck.
*Clang!*
The sound of metal clashing rang out. The puppet actually blocked the greatsword with one arm. The strength was astonishing, numbing Ludmila’s hands and forcing her back two steps.
Lilian was not entirely defenseless either. As a Princess, she had been taught by court Mages since childhood, and her strength was not weak. She chanted quickly, and several Ice Spikes condensed in front of her, shooting toward the puppet’s face and joints.
However, the puppet did not dodge. The Ice Spikes hit its body, leaving only faint white marks before shattering. Its hollow glass eyes even turned toward Lilian, and the eerie smile on its face seemed to grow more pronounced.
“It’s useless, Your Highness. This Rose Puppet is my recent masterpiece. Its surface is coated with an anti-magic layer,” the drifting voice spoke with a boastful tone.
Then, the puppet performed a flexible backflip, dodging a flurry of tentacle strikes from Rimuru. It lowered its body and swung its claws, instantly creating 100 flashes of blade-light, slicing Rimuru’s body into 1,000 pieces.
*Splat!*
Rimuru let out a dissatisfied cry. Although it was immune to most physical damage, being cut like this was clearly a significant injury.
However, it had bought enough time for Camilla.
“Anti-Magic Field!”
With the help of an item, Camilla activated a spell that Mages often called “killing 1,000 enemies at the cost of 800 of one’s own.” Within the range, any phenomenon related to magic would be hindered.
Though Camilla and Lilian both temporarily lost their ability to cast spells, the effect on the puppet’s side was even more obvious.
“Tsk, how troublesome — “
The Puppetmaster’s ability to control puppets for combat was a unique magic of their own creation, so it was naturally affected within the Anti-Magic Field.
The puppet’s strength and speed immediately dropped by more than half. However, because the Puppetmaster’s own strength had reached the 8th-tier and the materials used for the puppet were superior, its power remained within the 7th-tier.
Ludmila tried to block the enemy but was still pushed back repeatedly. If not for Camilla commanding Rimuru to provide support, she would have almost been sliced in two.
But the puppet, as the attacker, was not happy at all. It had clearly made ample preparations — detonating Alchemical Bombs everywhere to attract the attention of the company guards, using secondary puppets and elite infiltrators to tie them down, and personally controlling the strongest puppet to carry out the assassination. Yet after a full one minute of stalemate, it still hadn’t taken down these few individuals.
‘If reinforcements arrive — ‘
The moment this thought appeared in the Puppetmaster’s mind, a streak of silver light pierced through the puppet’s head without warning.
“Aaaaaaaaagh!”
He screamed and severed his connection with the puppet, rolling on the ground in pain. At almost the same instant, a figure descended from the sky, grabbed the puppet’s battered head, and slammed it fiercely against the ground!
*Crack!*
The entire VIP box vibrated slightly from the impact. The puppet was instantly smashed beyond recognition, with fragments flying in all directions, forcing the three of them to pull Rimuru in front of them for protection.
Camilla was the first to look up, and a tall figure entered her sight.
She wore the dark uniform of a high executive of the Kayin Trading Company. Her long silver hair was meticulously tied back in a bun. Her face was exquisite but lacked any animated expression, and her crystal-like eyes were calm and waveless. She held a uniquely shaped short pistol in her hand.
“Gamma, here to protect you. My apologies for the fright.”