A few days later, the Magic Restless Night descended once again.
Selis stayed alone in her bedroom, feeling waves of weakness and lethargy.
She leaned against the soft couch by the window, barely propping herself up, her face much paler than usual.
Because she did not want others to see her in this weakened state, she had sent Renia and Nora away.
Currently, the two of them were patrolling nearby to guard against the arrival of the Assassin Knights.
However, a knock still sounded at the door of the bedroom.
Without waiting for her response, the door was pushed open. Teresa walked in noiselessly, then reached back to close the door behind her.
The dim lighting in the room cast a hazy silhouette around her figure.
“Teresa? Is there something you need from me?”
Seeing it was her, Selis was somewhat surprised.
Teresa did not answer immediately. She approached step by step, her gaze landing on Selis’s slightly exhausted face.
Then, she slowly came to the side of the bed, her voice low.
“I heard that you received a Death Notice?”
Selis was slightly puzzled. “Who did you hear that from?”
Not many people knew about this. To avoid worrying the Rose Knights, she hadn’t told them at all. How did Teresa find out?
“I heard the General of Snowcastle Fortress and the others talking about it.”
Teresa answered bluntly. She took another step forward, the distance between them growing even smaller.
Selis placed her index finger against her lips, making a shushing gesture.
“Shh, don’t tell the other Rose Knights. After all, it’s just a Death Notice; it’s nothing to me. I just fear they might worry excessively.”
“Worry?”
Teresa repeated the word, her tone carrying a trace of inexplicable emotion. She pressed closer again, almost touching the soft couch.
“Even if the average Magic Level of the Rose Knights can’t compare to theirs, we have numbers and perfect coordination. If a fight really breaks out, it’s hard to say who would win or lose.”
“Lady Selis, why must you endure this alone? Why take all the danger upon yourself? We are clearly capable of protecting you.”
As she spoke, she braced both hands on the bedsheets, leaning half her body toward Selis. Concern and a flicker of some strange desire floated in her bright eyes.
“And you must realize, you have no strength to defend yourself. What if… what if the General of Snowcastle Fortress and the others are negligent and fail to protect you? What then?”
“Teresa…” Selis felt a bit uncomfortable from her proximity. She turned her head slightly and gave a soft reminder. “You’re a bit too close…”
She tried to lean back, but the soft couch restricted her movement.
However, instead of backing away, Teresa climbed onto the couch, trapping Selis between herself and the wall.
At the same time, her light blue hair fell forward, nearly brushing against Selis’s face.
Thump, thump, thump—
In this moment, besides her own heartbeat, Selis could hear Teresa’s breathing.
“Lady Selis, please tell me, if the worst-case scenario occurs, what will you do?”
Teresa’s voice grew even lower, as if she hoped Selis would realize her mistake.
Trapped in her shadow, Selis struggled to maintain her composure. “Renia and Nola… they can protect me.”
“Then, what about tonight?”
A light of realization flashed in Teresa’s eyes.
She curled her lips slightly into a smile and gently grabbed Selis’s slender wrist.
The grip wasn’t heavy, but it held Selis in place.
Her breath brushed against Selis’s ear.
“If… those assassins happened to strike tonight, what would you do? Just like right now, could you break free from my restraint?”
What… what is she doing?!
How could Teresa be so bold?!
Pinned beneath her, a surge of bashful embarrassment rushed into Selis’s mind.
She never expected that this Tutor Assistant, who appeared so well-behaved in Isavel’s eyes, would now take the initiative to pin her down, even displaying a hint of inexplicable dominance.
Was it because the Selis she played was too gentle and kind?
Had it piqued a desire for conquest?
The more she thought, the deeper the flush on Selis’s cheeks became.
She instinctively struggled a bit, but due to her weakened state, her efforts were futile; she simply couldn’t break free from Teresa’s hands.
Through the contact with her wrist and Selis’s weak, powerless resistance, Teresa clearly sensed something.
Her pupils contracted slightly, and the expression on her face became even more silent.
It was as if some suspicion had been confirmed.
“See, you can’t even push me away. With no one to protect you, you will be in great danger tonight.”
Teresa’s voice softened, carrying a kind of heartache that suggested she knew everything.
Then, she released her grip, her fingertips gently grazing across that fair skin.
Sitting on the edge of Selis’s bed, she said firmly, word by word.
“Tonight, I will stay here. Before dawn arrives, or before Renia and Nola return, I will be responsible for your safety.”
Just as Selis was about to speak, Teresa leaned down and pressed a finger against her lips.
“This isn’t a request, Lady Selis. This is… a demand you cannot refuse.”
The bedroom fell into a deep silence following those words. Outside the window, the night wind howled.
Teresa curled her lips and took the initiative to lie down beside Selis.
The dim yellow lamp swayed gently, and the atmosphere seemed filled with an air of danger and ambiguity.
Teresa’s guardianship had never been quite like this—charged with a heart-pounding aggression.
***
After repelling yet another attack from the Norwich Empire soldiers, Leanna led the Rose Knights back into the Snow City Fortress.
Following her usual habit, after a brief rest, she had to review the battle to find points for further improvement.
To prevent an ambush from the Assassin Knights, Leanna would have other Rose Knights accompany her even within the Snow City Fortress. However, even so…
The moonlight was chopped into fragments by thick branches and leaves, casting mottled, swaying shadows on the ground.
There was only the rustle of wind through leaves and the sound of Leanna’s own steady footsteps.
It was only when she turned her head that she realized the Rose Knight who had been accompanying her had vanished.
The place where she stood was no longer the original streets of the Snow City Fortress.
Suddenly, an extremely subtle, cold killing intent struck from her rear flank!
Leanna’s pupils shrank. She didn’t even have time to think; the instincts honed from years of Life-and-Death Training made her body react before her brain.
She lunged forward in a roll, and with a “clang,” the sword at her waist was unsheathed, dancing into a dense wall of blade light behind her.
“Clang, clang, clang—!”
Several nearly invisible green glints were accurately parried by her blade, sinking deep into a nearby tree trunk with muffled thuds.
Poison-tipped throwing knives!
Leanna turned quickly, her sharp gaze scanning the shadows from which the attack originated.
A man dressed in tight black clothing slowly stepped out from behind a tree.
Half of his face was covered by a metal mask, and the visible corner of his mouth wore a playful, cat-and-mouse smile.
The magic fluctuations radiating from his body had clearly surpassed Level 60.
“Good reactions, Captain of the Rose Knights. It seems this mission won’t be too boring.”
The assassin’s voice was very raspy, like sandpaper rubbing together.
Leanna narrowed her eyes, her fighting spirit surging.
The strength of the Assassin Knights was as formidable as expected, but she felt no fear. Pointing her sword tip at him, she said coldly.
“The Assassin Knights? Just you alone?”
“One of me is enough to handle you.”
The assassin chuckled, his silhouette suddenly blurring. In the next instant, he appeared on Leanna’s left side, thrusting a green shortsword toward her ribs!
Leanna gave a sharp cry, her sword techniques becoming even more terrifying as she met him head-on like a rainstorm!
Her swordsmanship was bold and sweeping. Especially when infused with Magic, it created a complementary effect such that every swing of her blade produced a piercing whistle that tore through the air.
However, the assassin’s movement was too eerie and his speed incredibly fast. He frequently managed to evade her blade at the critical moment and counterattack from tricky angles.
The two figures flickered rapidly through the woods. Sparks from clashing blades flew out from time to time, and magic surged, tearing the surrounding vegetation into a mess.
Leanna could feel that the opponent indeed suppressed her in Magic Level, and his combat experience was extremely rich.
She focused all her attention, pushing the results of her two years of bitter cultivation to the limit, yet she was still falling far behind.
After a fierce clash of weapons, the two separated temporarily, breathing slightly hard.
At this point, many small wounds had appeared on Leanna’s body.
These were cuts made by the assassin’s blade slicing through the air, and the poison on the blade was gradually seeping into her wounds.
Perhaps because the dose of poison was small, she only felt some numbness in her body.
But if the battle continued and the dose increased, it was unclear what her reaction would be.
She couldn’t let this drag on!
Having made up her mind, Leanna attacked again, but the assassin clearly saw through her intentions. He continued to toy with her, and as time passed, the battle drew closer to its end.
Stab—
Her Longsword pierced into the soil. Leanna knelt on one knee, using the sword to desperately prop up her body so she wouldn’t collapse completely.
Her body was covered in crisscrossing gashes. Blood continuously surged from several deep wounds that reached the bone, gathering into a small dark-red pool at her feet.
The toxins invading her body made her head spin. Her breathing was like a broken bellows, heavy and labored, with every breath pulling at the sharp pain in her lungs.
The assassin was in much better shape. Although he had sustained some light injuries and his breathing was slightly disordered, he still stood firmly in the clearing. The shortsword in his hand dripped with Leanna’s blood, and the gaze beneath his mask carried cruel pleasure.
“This is the end, Captain of the Rose Knights.”
The assassin’s voice carried the mockery of someone seeing victory in sight. He toyed with the shortsword in his hand and laughed.
“Your swordsmanship is indeed exquisite, and your Will is surprising. But in the face of an absolute gap in strength, all of that is meaningless.”
He approached step by step, raising his shortsword and aiming it at Leanna’s unprotected neck. Simultaneously, the cold killing intent he radiated nearly froze her blood.
“It is your honor to die by my hand. And don’t worry, you won’t be lonely. Because very soon, your beloved Saintess Selis will join you on the road to hell!”
As a member of the Assassin Knights, he had a great hobby: appreciating the despair on his prey’s faces in their final moments.
And just as he thought, after Leanna heard that Saintess Selis would also die, her eyes, which had been somewhat unfocused, suddenly snapped into focus at that moment.
“…What do you mean?”
“What do you mean? That Saintess also received the Death Notice we sent. Did you really not know?”
Leanna’s slender frame trembled, her expression full of disbelief. Seeing this, the assassin’s lips curled up.
“It seems she really didn’t tell you. As for why, I guess she was afraid you would worry about her? After all, I’ve heard that Saintess is famous for being gentle and kind.”
“But no matter how gentle or kind she is, she is still our prey. My comrades are probably enjoying the fun of hunting the Saintess right now, aren’t they? After all, out of the two notices, only her notice was the common goal for all our members.”
“In comparison, you are just an appetizer here.”
He looked down at Leanna, imagining the collapse and despair about to appear on her face.
“And I’m not afraid to tell you, they like to toy with their prey before killing them, ultimately watching them die in despair. How about it? Do you feel despair?”
“But rest easy. No matter how they torture her, your final destination is still hell! So, with the endless imagination of her fate, go to hell with her!”
Before he finished speaking, the shortsword in the assassin’s hand turned into a cold light of death, stabbing straight for Leanna’s throat!
This strike concentrated all his power, vowing to kill in one hit!
However—
At the very instant the tip of the blade was about to touch her skin, a sudden change occurred!
“Lady… Selis…”
A name containing endless panic and absolute fury was forced out from deep within Leanna’s throat.
Simultaneously, in the assassin’s eyes, the girl who had long since lost the ability to struggle stood up again.
Her sharp blade clashed violently with his shortsword!
Clang—!
This time, the assassin retreated two steps, his right arm shaken until it was somewhat numb.
Staring at the girl who had stood up again, his eyelid twitched, his face showing disbelief.
Leanna raised her head. Those eyes, which were originally clear and steady, had now completely turned into a mass of flame.
Within them churned a heart-wrenching worry and a rage sufficient to incinerate her reason.
And behind those was an unspeakable, icy killing intent.
“You… deserve to die!!”
Leanna roared. She didn’t even use her sword; her left hand, wrapped in Silver Flame, lunged out at a speed beyond visual tracking, grabbing the assassin’s sword-wielding wrist in a death grip!
“Crack!”
The tooth-aching sound of bone fracturing rang out clearly.
“Argh!”
The assassin let out a shrill scream. He felt as if his wrist had been crushed by red-hot iron pincers. The shortsword fell to the ground.
At the same time, an unprecedented dread crawled up his spine like a venomous snake.
“Is this… is this a Forbidden Curse?!”
Staring at the girl before him enveloped in Silver Flame, the assassin staggered back two steps, feeling the fear of death for the first time.