"No.3, No.6, No.9, No.12... they're dead, are they? Still, they buried those who would threaten the True King. There should be no regrets."
The leader of the King's Shadow, No.1, deduces that four of them had been forced to resort to their final measure by the broad-daylight building explosion.
Where the run-down café and the adjacent building once stood, a deep crater had formed.
If they could persuade Alan, all the better. If not, killing him would suffice.
If even that failed, they would kill him at the cost of their own lives if necessary.
The covert special operations unit the King's Shadow, secretly cultivated by Yulian, comprised twelve members.
Unfortunately, only eight remained.
They would not let those sacrifices go to waste. What they needed to prepare was someone to serve as an offering.
"Sniff... sniff... why on earth was I kidnapped...?"
A boy of about twelve, crying and fussing.
They had grabbed him from a nearby orphanage.
"Then let the ritual begin."
"Yes, sir."
The remaining members of the King's Shadow prepared for the ritual.
At the center of it all, No.1 of the King's Shadow commenced a necromancer's technique.
The plan was to forcibly drag Alan back from the underworld and command him as a loyal pawn.
However, his body had long since been reduced to nothing but scraps.
For this reason, they had prepared a body similar to Alan's living form to serve as a vessel.
To increase the chance of success.
"We shall bring Alan back to life, extract the secrets behind how he buried the Pope and the Scarlet Empress, and then squeeze Lady Katarina's whereabouts out of the living corpse he becomes. 'Dark rest unto your soul—rebirth of the dead!'"
An eerie light enveloped the boy who had been placed upon the dubious altar.
Soon the light swelled, painting everything in blinding white.
After the light subsided.
"Uncles, send me hooooome!"
It was a straightforward failure.
The one standing there was not Alan, who was supposed to have seized the kidnapped boy's body and returned to life.
◇◇◇
A little earlier.
"Cough, cough... ah, Shahr's prized coffee maker is completely gone. I'm pretty sure he said it was a one-of-a-kind piece by a veteran magic-tool craftsman..."
I had been blown sky-high by Chain Self-Destruction.
Incredibly considerate of them — when they self-destructed, they had shaped the blast into a cylinder to maximize its destructive force.
Their killing intent was overboard.
The uncontrollable force had engulfed the neighboring dark guild building as well.
As it happened, the dark guild Sky View had been closed in the wake of the attack on Shahr, so no one was inside the building.
I reoriented myself high above.
"To think the force was so great that even the Goddess's Shield couldn't fully block it... and I had covered my entire body in magic power for defense on top of that."
Wisps of smoke rose from my body.
My hair was... a tangled mess, but it seemed fine.
They were looking for Lady Katarina, weren't they?
But I had hidden her with my spacetime magic, so no matter where they searched, they wouldn't find her.
Though in the unlikely event I died, she would presumably be returned to Marquis Round's estate.
Well then, I should go pay them a visit.
If I left them alone, they might kidnap Shahr again or take hostage anyone I had been involved with.
They probably thought I was dead from that explosion, so I'd use that opening to deal with the King's Shadow.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
Skills: [Reverse] [Divine Eye] [Sword God] [Fist God] [Spear God] [Scorching Magic] [Frost Magic] [Clear Gale Magic] [Rock Iron Magic] [Sacred Magic] [Dark Magic] [Spacetime Magic] [Thunder God Sword] [Phantom Thief Gentleman] [Ninja Master] [Seeker of Truth] [Supernatural Power] [Idaten] [Pain Relief] [Complete Status Ailment Resistance] [Dark Spirit's Protection] [Super Intuition] [Heaven's Gate] [Abyss Contract] [Magic Hand] [Treasure Search] [Temptation] [Incitement] [Telemesmerism] [Eloquence] [Great Luck] [Tenfold Growth Speed] [Growth Limit Breakthrough] [Afterimage Magic] [Dark Stalker]
Rank: Orichalcon