Chapter 435: 409 someone knows
The surging flames burned in the sky for a long time, extinguishing gradually only when all the knights in the camp had sprung into action.
Reiger, holding Liz, descended from mid-air, gazing at the extinguished center of the fire surge, his eyebrows deeply furrowed.
In Reiger’s field of vision, the two attackers who had just been hit by the Fireball appeared, their bodies charred.
Their cloaks had disappeared, revealing their true faces to the air, displaying two rigid, corpse-like visages.
They bore signs of burn injuries all over their bodies, and were still smoking, wounds that, had they been on an ordinary person, would certainly leave permanent scars or cause death amidst endless agony.
Yet these two rigid, corpse-like attackers seemed oblivious to their injuries, their expressions unchanged, not even a flicker of emotion in their eyes.
"...We cannot prevail."
"...Time to consider retreating."
Those two were still exchanging messages by vibrating the air, seemingly aware it would be difficult to snatch someone from Reiger’s grasp.
"Swoosh!"
Another attacker, who had been sent flying by one of Reiger’s slashes, also rocketed back, rejoining his comrades.
"...Retreat."
He made this succinct decision, which the two burned attackers acknowledged with a nod.
The trio then gave up on their mission and vanished under Reiger’s very eyes.
"Thinking of running away?"
A cold light began to turn sharp in Reiger’s eyes.
"Since I can’t keep you, then off to death you go."
As he spoke, Reiger dispelled the blade he had created using Triple Enhancement.
"Brilliant..."
At that moment, the knights in the camp had just arrived on the scene, laying eyes on Reiger standing in the fading inferno, Liz in his arms.
The leader among them was none other than Nipede.
This grand sorcerer seemed to have been alarmed immediately, stepping on the ground to raise a wave-like ripple of earth and sand to bring him there.
But just as Nipede was about to call out Reiger’s name, Reiger moved.
"Time Stop."
When this magic was chanted, everyone present, including Nipede, fell into an absolutely still world before they could hear Reiger’s voice.
It was as if the whole world had been enveloped by a blanket of gray energy, or, it was as if Reiger alone had entered a unique dimensional plane, everything around him came to a halt with him at the center.
The flames were frozen mid-burn.
The birds in the sky were stopped in flight.
Even the wave-like sand beneath Nipede’s feet came to a standstill, frozen in place, no longer able to move.
In this world, only Reiger could move freely.
He continued to carry Liz, his face expressionless, slowly walking forward until he reached an area near the forest where he found his targets.
The three attackers, just like everything else in this world, were frozen in stasis, suspended in mid-air.
Reiger stared at the three of them and after a while extended his hand.
Without a doubt, these three attackers were very strange, very eerie.
Setting aside the abnormalities Reiger found through his world perception, based on the battle just now, their behavior was also unnaturally off.
When slashed by a blade, it felt like hacking into cowhide, barely unable to open their bodies, just knocking them away.
Magic that blasted them had some effect, some damage, but the results could only be described as barely satisfactory.
They came and went without a shadow, soundless, like ghosts.
This was no longer a power that magic or swordsmanship could provide, but a completely different kind of energy.
Especially that chilling energy, which concerned Reiger greatly.
But now, he had no time for further care.
"Let’s see if you can endure this move," he said, expressionless as he cast the magic.
"Triple Enhancement Effect Delay - Sever Now."
In that moment, Reiger used the same tactics as Ainz once did, invoking a delayed effect magic while in the stilled time, calculating the timing for a lethal attack on the enemy.
He silently counted down the time in his heart and, a second before the delayed magic was set to trigger, he released Time Stop.
"———"
Time abruptly resumed its flow, reviving the world from absolute stillness.
The three attackers, unaware of anything, were about to continue their retreat, leaving the battlefield behind.
Unfortunately for them, they could no longer do so.
"Buzz!"
Directly in front of the three attackers, space itself vibrated intensely.
Three spatial-slicing strikes ripped through the world, ripped through the forest, and before the attackers could react, they struck them.
"Splat!" "Splat!" "Splat!"
Along with three sounds of flesh being cleaved, the spatial cuts easily bisected the bodies of the attackers, splitting in two those who even Reiger’s Lightning Flash could only knock away but not cut through.
"...!"
The three had no awareness of what happened, and when they collectively crashed to the ground, powerless to rise, they finally saw Reiger standing there.
"You..."
The only attacker still cloaked seemed to want to say something.
To that, Reiger once again extended his hand.
"Internal Blast."
This was a magic that could be deemed cruel even among the magic of the tenth order.
The reason is simple: its effects are too gory and violent.
As for how gory, how violent, the fate of the three attackers made it clear.
Their bodies, now in six pieces, began to inflate like balloons.
The three attackers’ eyes bulged, and it seemed as though they couldn’t even let out a howl as they watched their bodies swell uncontrollably.
Then...
"Boom!"
Before long, the sound of an explosion echoed through the air.
The bodies of the three attackers burst open like popped balloons, right there on the spot.
Only then did the battle truly come to an end.
...
"...Reiger sir!"
At the same time, in the camp illuminated by the firelight, Nipede, who had rushed to the scene of the explosion, finally managed to shout out the second half of his call.
However, Nipede was shocked to discover that Reiger had disappeared without a trace.
"Where is he?"
No sooner had Nipede begun to wonder this than a sound from the direction of the distant forest, like something swelling and bursting open, reached his ears.
"Over there?"
Nipede felt the fluctuation of Magic Power and, although he was surprised at when Reiger had moved there, he decided to act first and think later.
"Swish!"
At that moment, Reiger’s figure suddenly reappeared.
He was holding Liz in a princess carry as if he had been there from the start and proceeded to walk step by step towards Nipede, coming this way.
"What was that just now...?"
This time, Nipede seemed to sense something and scrutinized the suddenly appearing Reiger, his expression shifting slightly.
"Space transfer?"
Lord Brilliant, he could use Space Transfer type of Magic?
Was he a user attuned to the imaginary?
Waves of shock and disbelief surged through Nipede’s heart.
"Tch!"
Ignoring Nipede’s emotions, a golden sword shot violently from the direction of the camp, reaching Reiger and Liz before Nipede could.
Who else could it be but the belated sword of Moslo?
The sword landed in the hands of Liz, who was limp all over, drained of all strength, unable to move, with a suspicious blush on her face.
Immediately after, a misty golden light emerged from the sword of Moslo, flooding into Liz’s body.
"Huh?"
Reiger noticed the phenomenon, and a look of astonishment crossed his face.
"Master!"
Liz realized her strength was returning and that she could move again; without thinking, she subconsciously called out to Reiger.
"Are you alright, Liz?"
Reiger’s attention was instantly diverted from the sword of Moslo to Liz.
"I’m, I’m fine..."
Liz shook her head, her expression still one of confusion, clearly overwhelmed by how rapidly events had unfolded.
"Grandfather!"
"Mr. Reiger!"
"Lord Reiger! Master Nipede!"
Antie, Fannie, and Gel, a group of three, finally arrived at the scene, running towards them in a fluster.
"This..."
Ophelit, who was following behind everyone, looked at Liz in Reiger’s arms and the battlefield slowly being obscured by fading flames, slowing his pace in a state of shock or confusion.
The group converged with Reiger, and the camp’s Knights also gathered together, spreading out and standing guard around the perimeter.
Nipede advanced through the sandy waves, landing directly in front of Reiger and Liz.
"What happened?" Nipede asked Reiger, "Did you battle here? Were you attacked?"
"Clearly, we were." Reiger set down the rejuvenated Liz, looked at her, and said, "They came for you, didn’t they?"
"It, it seems so." Liz clutched the sword of Moslo, her face still flushed but turning pale as she remembered the recent events, nervously saying, "I, I don’t know what’s going on."
Poor girl, she had only tried to diligently practice Love’s Breath before falling asleep. How could she have anticipated an ambush out of nowhere?
So now, not only was Liz surprised and flustered, but she also had no idea how to react.
"They came for Miss Liz?"
The others all turned to look at Liz, showing expressions of surprise.
It was evident that they, too, had not expected the Attackers to target Liz instead of Reiger.
"Where are those people?"
Antie quickly asked.
"I took care of them."
Reiger replied indifferently.
"Didn’t you leave a single one alive?"
Nipede frowned.
"No, those guys were strange, and I wasn’t confident I could capture them alive, so in the end, I decided to finish them off." Reiger shook his head but added, "However, I think there’s someone here who might know where they’re from."
Saying this, Reiger directed his gaze toward the last person in the group.
Everyone’s eyes immediately followed, converging on that individual.
Ophelit froze.
Feeling the eyes of everyone present upon him, the young lord of the Hadi family forced a strained smile.
At that moment, the looks in everyone’s eyes turned thoughtful, profound, or even angry.
Seeing this, Ophelit truly felt the urge to turn and run away.