[Vol. 8] Chapter 29: A Moment Between Life and Death
“You… mmph!”
Lilya wanted to say something, but the mysterious woman in the cloak had already turned into a blur, crossing nearly ten meters in an instant and striking down at the queen with her palm!
So fast!
Lilya had already guessed that someone who could sneak in so quietly and speak so boldly was no ordinary person. That’s why she had secretly prepared for a fight, ready to react if the other person suddenly attacked.
After all, just because she said she wasn't planning to fight didn’t mean she was telling the truth, it could easily be a trick to lower her guard.
Lilya had seen all kinds of assassins ever since she rose to power, each with their own strange and hard-to-defend-against abilities. If she wasn’t always cautious, no matter how many guards she had, someone would have succeeded in killing her long ago.
The wind spun, and her sword flashed out!
“Clang!!!”
Even though she had been prepared, Lilya was still shocked by the other woman’s speed and strength when she barely managed to block the attack just in time.
With just one blow, her high-quality magic sword was already slightly bent. Her body was pushed back several steps and only stopped when she slammed into the wall of the royal study with a loud “bang!” The force was so strong that the skin between her thumb and finger cracked open and started bleeding. She almost dropped her sword!
This is transcendent-level!
In that moment, Lilya clearly realized the attacker’s true power.
Over the past few years, she had trained hard and improved a lot. With the help of the "Casket of Ascension", at least only legendary-level individuals could kill her. Even when fighting Sister Flora, who had grasped the basic laws of the world and could use powerful techniques, Lilya could still hold her ground, as long as Flora didn't use her ultimate technique.
And yet, even she had struggled to block a single casual strike from this unknown assassin. That could only mean the woman in front of her had already reached, or even gone far beyond, the level that Flora and others had been trying to break into, but could never truly reach.
What’s more, in that brief moment of combat, Lilya had clearly seen the attacker’s hand when it slipped out of her wide sleeve.
It wasn’t human.
It was a claw, covered in black scales, a dragon’s claw!
“Oh?”
Seeing that Lilya had managed to block the attack, even if clumsily, the mysterious woman paused for a moment. From under the hood, her gaze showed even more surprise and admiration.
“No wonder you dared to talk back to me in this situation. I didn’t expect the Queen of the Human United Kingdom to be such a powerful fighter hiding in plain sight or maybe you have a priceless legendary artifact that makes this possible… Since I returned to the world, you’re the first human who’s been able to take one of my attacks head-on. What a shame…”
“Huff…”
But Lilya didn’t feel hopeless despite the woman’s strength. Her chest rose and fell slightly as she used her breathing technique to quickly control her blood and magic flow. Then she looked up at the mysterious assassin, whose mood seemed to swing from calm to angry, and decided to stall for time with words.
“A shame? What, do you regret not doing a proper background check before trying to kill me?”
“Heh~”
From under the woman’s hood came a cold, mocking laugh. At the same time, her powerful presence burst out like a storm, sweeping across the entire royal study and sending papers and objects flying everywhere. A deadly killing intent filled the room instantly!
“What a shame, such a rare and exciting woman... yet she’s stupid enough to reject the great Tarillin’s offer. Truly ungrateful, choosing death instead!”
“BOOM!!!!!!”
Flames burst out wildly. As the woman raised her hand again, dark magical energy gathered around her, forming into the shape of a roaring black dragon that flew straight toward Lilya with a thunderous howl!
This attack was clearly many times stronger than her earlier claw strike. She was no longer holding back, it was aimed to kill.
Faced with this sudden danger, Lilya narrowed her eyes and was just about to counter the attack. But at that moment, a panicked voice mixed in with the flying objects caught her attention.
“Wah!? Wah wah wah!!!!”
It turned out that after the queen was knocked back by the claw strike, the small creature Xiangxiang, who had strange little arms and legs, was no longer hidden or protected. Still asleep, it had been woken up by the loud noise, and before it could react, the wind and magic from the assassin’s energy had swept it up straight toward the wall!
“Xiangxiang!”
The moment she saw this, Lilya’s face changed instantly. Even though she had shown no fear when facing a super-powerful enemy, now she didn’t even think. She immediately gave up her defense, jumped to the side, and grabbed Xiangxiang tightly in her arms to protect it.
But how could she so easily avoid an attack from someone that strong?
The black dragon made from magic curved in the air, turned around, and slammed right into the queen’s unguarded back as she held the little one close. With a loud crash, she was smashed into the wall, hitting it so hard that her body got embedded into it!
Dust and rubble flew everywhere. In just a second, the entire royal study collapsed under the force of the blow. The young woman with sky-blue hair, who had taken the full hit to protect Xiangxiang, vanished into the deep hole created by the impact. She was nowhere to be seen.
The strange assassin, still standing calmly, lightly dusted off her clothes as if nothing big had happened.
“That human… what was that? Trying to die on purpose?”
Even she couldn’t understand why Lilya would suddenly give up defending herself to protect that little thing. What even was that weird little creature?
When she first entered the room, shrouded in her shadow magic, she had already noticed two life signs, one from the queen, and one from the tiny creature. But its life force was so weak and harmless that the proud assassin didn’t even consider it a threat.
She never expected something like this to happen. What kind of artifact did she have?
Looking at the deep pit that Lilya’s body had smashed into the ground, the woman, clearly no ordinary assassin, frowned. After a short hesitation, she slowly began to walk toward it.
Taking a full hit like that from her… even those at her level would struggle to survive. That human girl, who was just a mortal, was probably already dead, her body broken along with that silly little creature.
Even so… she figured she should at least check.
“Whoosh!!!”
Suddenly, a sharp burst of wind came flying up from the pit! The woman was surprised, but reacted quickly. She raised her dragon claw and caught the invisible wind blade in her hand. Then she laughed out loud with delight.
“Hahaha! I knew you were special! I can’t believe you actually survived that! But do you really think a little breeze like this can hurt the great dragon princess, Tarillin!? And no matter how amazing that strange artifact you have is, it's not omnipotent. Can you keep enduring forever?”