Chapter 74

Lirika stood facing the approaching delinquents without much fear.

‘?’

Their eyes were glazed over, either from alcohol or drugs. Only then did Lirika slightly frown.

“What? Are you rich kids here to gawk?”

“Since you’re here, hand over everything you’ve got.”

“Leave the girl behind too.”

The men gripped the handles of knives at their waists threateningly and tapped the ground with sticks.

Lirika said,

“I came to meet shoe-shiner John.”

The men hesitated at her confident words, and the two boys who were about to act also paused.

“Shoe-shiner...?”

“John?”

The men exchanged drunken glances and then shouted,

“Grab her!”

“!!”

Lirika gasped in surprise. At once, Athil scooped her up under his arm and started running. Fjord stood in front of the men who were chasing them.

“Die!”

Easily dodging the man swinging a stick, Fjord gave a chilling smile.

“Not a single one will pass.”

* * *

As they entered a narrow alley, Athil began to get lost. The slums were a place where old houses had been repeatedly expanded, so the path could suddenly be blocked or unexpectedly open up.

“You’ve got some nerve.”

Athil put her down and said. Lirika panted for breath.

“Well, everyone knows and respects the shoe-shiners... so it’s fine...”

If you mention their names, you’re usually protected.

“Yeah, but a shoe-shiner is still just a shoe-shiner.”

“Well, that’s true...”

Lirika placed her hand over her racing heart. Looking around, she swallowed hard.

“What about Fjord? Is he okay?”

“You don’t need to worry about him. If it were me...”

Athil bit off his words.

If I had the power, I wouldn’t have run.

Lirika understood what he was going to say and closed her mouth. Athil scratched the back of his head.

“Let’s stay here for a bit, then either go back out and meet up with him, or just go home for today.”

“Okay.”

Lirika nodded.

At that moment,

“Creak...”

A strange sound was heard.

Squeak, squeak

At the same time, the sound of chains dragging on the ground was heard. Athil hid Lirika behind him.

“Creak...”

At the end of the alley, ‘it’ appeared. It was a person wearing a hood like those used for execution. They had shackles on their feet, and the sound was from the chains dragging. They wore a strange outfit that was hard to identify. It looked like a simple dress, but it was odd.

Lirika felt a chill run down her back. Without realizing it, she clutched Athil’s sleeve in fear.

“Creak, cough, cough, cough—”

Even with the hood on, it seemed to be looking at them and making a sound that might be a laugh.

Athil’s whole body was on high alert. His nerves were taut.

This was clearly not a normal person.

“Cough!!”

The figure pushed off the ground and charged at them with incredible speed. Athil pulled Lirika out of the way.

Crash!

The wooden house behind them was easily pierced. Lirika’s legs froze, but Athil’s did not.

“Run!”

Athil shouted, pushing Lirika’s back. Only then did her feet start moving, and Lirika began to run.

They turned several corners, some familiar, some not.

How could it be this quiet?

How could there be no one around?

It definitely wasn’t like this before.

Lirika, who had been running blindly, stopped.

“Huff, huff, huff.”

Panting, Lirika turned around.

“A-Athil...?”

She couldn’t see Athil, who she thought was following her. For a moment, her vision went black.

Her whole body trembled.

He stayed behind.

Athil stayed to deal with it, and she had run away without knowing.

Both Athil and Fjord were left behind.

‘What, what should I do? What can I do?’

Her mind went blank. Her legs gave out, and Lirika knelt on the spot.

Tears threatened to spill.

‘No! Don’t cry! Don’t cry, Lirika! Now is not the time to lose strength by crying.’

She could feel her eyelashes getting wet, but Lirika clenched her fists.

‘Go to the guards, and then, no, it’s too late. It’s too late. What should I do?’

Lirika panted. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Lirika pulled out the pendulum from her pocket.

—Can you kill a person?

The Emperor’s voice rang clearly in her ears.

Lirika gripped the pendant tightly with both hands.

“Hang in there, Lirika. You can do it. It’s okay. Legs, stand up.”

She pounded her thighs with her fists and stood up.

“Run, Lirika Nara Takar. It’s okay. Run!”

Lirika pushed off the ground.

* * *

Athil let out a hollow laugh. He had fired two shots from his magic gun, both of which hit, but the opponent didn’t flinch.

His knees were shaking.

It seemed to be due to the slight graze on his temple. Trying to steady his shaking vision, Athil looked at his opponent.

Blood was clearly flowing from the bullet holes, but the opponent didn’t seem to feel any pain.

‘If I die here, I’ll be the most foolish prince to die in the world.’

“Creak, creak, creak.”

A mocking laugh came from under the hood, a very irritating sound.

Athil gripped his gun. It would be damaged, but using it to hit the opponent would likely cause more damage.

He had no intention of dying. He certainly had no intention of dying quietly.

If he had to die, he would bite the opponent’s neck.

Athil thought this and tried to provoke the opponent.

‘He moves quickly in an instant, but he doesn’t have the ability to control that power. I need to dodge and counter immediately.’

Just as he lowered his center of gravity by sliding one leg out, the opponent lunged.

“Cough!”

Athil dodged the attack by turning his body and struck the opponent’s head with the gun.

He hit it so hard his fingers hurt, but the opponent, who seemed to have a head of stone, didn’t budge.

“Gah!”

The opponent tried to hug Athil with both arms by spinning his body, but Athil dodged by crouching and simultaneously kicked the opponent’s ankle.

“Creak!”

A cracking sound was heard, and the opponent staggered, losing balance. As Athil tried to roll away, the fallen opponent grabbed his ankle.

‘Ah.’

It was a grip that could crush his ankle. Athil gritted his teeth and kicked the opponent’s face.

Thud

The opponent’s head was thrown back with a loud sound, but he didn’t let go.

“Creak, creak.”

“Damn it!”

Athil shouted and kept kicking him with his foot. However, the force on his ankle only increased.

He felt his ankle would shatter.

“Sesedangs!”

At that moment, a bright swarm of butterflies attached to the monster’s hood.

“Cough!”

For the first time, the monster screamed, covering its face with both hands and rolling on the ground.

“Athil!”

“Why did you come back!”

Athil shouted. Lirika shouted back.

“Of course I came back!”

She ran up and stood in front of him. As the swarm of butterflies disappeared, the opponent, seemingly more enraged, charged at them shouting.

“Kentauna!”

Clang!

Unable to break through the milky shield, the opponent kicked the defensive barrier with his whole body, shouting.

Lirika caught her breath.

I can do this.

I have to.

Even though it was a monster, attacking a real living being was different from attacking a stuffed doll.

How many people could stab a large dog several times without hesitation if it charged at them with a knife?

Let alone an opponent that looked somewhat human.

Lirika squeezed her eyes shut and shouted.

“Prika Rugan! (Absolute Zero)”

A blue-white magic circle appeared, and the opponent quickly dodged it. Athil clicked his tongue and pulled her.

“Open your eyes, idiot!”

“Huh? Ah?”

Lirika opened her eyes and was surprised to see the opponent had dodged.

“C-Centauna!”

As she cast the defensive spell again, the monster backed away. A standoff ensued as if it was thinking.

The monster stretched out its arm and showed its palm. A magic circle was engraved on the palm.

“Huh?”

A blue light was fired, hitting the shield directly.

“!!”

Lirika’s magic power was rapidly drained, and the shield broke when she lost her composure.

Athil pulled Lirika back as she gasped for breath.

Claw-like fingers brushed past her nose.

“Huff, huff.”

“Stay focused.”

Athil gritted his teeth. He could feel Lirika trembling in his arms.

“C-Centauna!”

Lirika cast the shield again. She tried to steady her mind.

Athil tightened his grip on her.

He had come back to protect her, and was using ineffective attack spells.

Really, really.

Athil