The Doctor Cured the Villainess and Ran Away

57 – Assassination (2)

The enemies that the Hero Party had to fight were not only monsters and demon soldiers.

When we subjugate the Demon King, there is also an event where assassins are sent from other countries, fearing that the empire’s status will become excessively high.

Heroes cannot be assassinated, and if they really die, it may affect the future of the continent, so the targets are usually me.

Even though there was a possibility that the party’s power could weaken and the subjugation of the Demon King might fail, there were stupid people who sent assassins anyways.

There were countless of them.

They tried to raise their achievements by putting their healers in the place where I died, or they had some political reasons.

The assassins who came to find us belonged to a group called “Shadows,” with a simple name.

They are the most skilled assassins active in all countries on the continent.

If you die by their hands, you will face a bad ending as the “Assassin of Shadows.”

This is why I always formed a defensive barrier around the party, no matter what the situation. I had to stay awake even on days when I was exhausted.

Avoiding such difficult bad endings was not impossible. I eventually became familiar with them and could capture and interrogate these bastards.

The clients they received varied each time, as they were a group that would move if they were paid: kingdoms, law countries, magical countries, public countries, small countries, and imperial kingdoms.

They had targets from all kinds of nations.

However, there was one time when the empire also sent an assassin.

“Kuack! I won’t talk about everything! Asella! Emperor Asella sent me!”

“Don’t lie. Why would the empire send assassins to the Hero Party for their own benefits?”

“The… the target was only one healer! They said they pretended not to know me during the last Alhyun incident!”

Even though they tried to talk about past promises and agreements, they were still executed with a serious expression.

I realized that Asella really disliked me.

Anyway, thanks to that, I found out that Asella had a connection with the Shadows.

And now I understand the reason.

Asella had almost been assassinated by the Shadows hired by someone.

At that time, I must have learned about the organization and thought of using them instead of dealing with them.

“I don’t have to do anything, and yet Asella still has a chance of survival.”

[No. 101: Magic Explosion 4% → 52%]

The status window shows that Asella’s probability of death in this incident is 52 percent.

It’s like flipping a coin and getting heads.

Power struggles for succession in the royal family happen all too frequently.

I wonder how Asella managed to survive and even ascend to the emperor.

In ten years, I will be standing on top of all those probabilities that I have surpassed.

I can’t just stand still and wait to die if it’s heads.

I should throw the coin into the nearby lake, for real.

“Gongja, what’s wrong?”

Asella, who grabbed my wrist, looks bewildered.

“We need to go to a larger space. Knights, make sure the princess doesn’t fall and keep an eye on the surroundings. There’s an assassin nearby.”

“Yes!”

There are two Moonlight Palace guards by my side. They immediately obeyed the order, holding their swords tightly and scanning the area with all their might.

“An assassin.”

“I’ll explain later. It becomes dangerous when darkness falls. Let’s go outside…”

Snap!

Before I could finish speaking, all the lights in the party hall went out.

Eyes that couldn’t adapt to the sudden darkness could only perceive the pitch-black darkness as if it were a person.

“aaah!”

“Turn on the lights! Turn on the lights!”

“Where did the prince go?!”

The party hall, already filled with a gloomy atmosphere due to the poisoning incident, was now completely engulfed in terror.

The indoor space has a high sound reflection rate for music to spread well.

The screams and footsteps of the noblewomen made it difficult to perceive the surroundings in the noisy environment.

“Gongja!”

“Princess, stick with the knights.”

Because I was holding Asella’s arm, I could roughly sense her position. I pushed Asella into the gap between the two guards who were firmly blocking her.

“Gongja, you too…!”

I felt Asella pulling my body with her other arm. In the darkness, I hastily grabbed her and it ended up resembling a chokehold.

“They’re coming!”

The guards were exceptional. One of them, even in the pitch-black darkness, sensed the presence or movement and took a defensive stance, protecting all directions.

“Cou, cough!”

But it only lasted for a moment.

Strength drained from the body of a knight next to us, and the weight transferred over.

Hot liquid splattered onto Asella’s dress. It was undoubtedly blood.

“Barren!”

Another knight, feeling the death of his comrade, gripped his sword tighter.

“Hah, hah.”

I could feel Asella’s hot and rough breath up close.

Fear triggered the release of adrenaline, causing an excessive state of excitement.

This is not good in a crisis. I wrapped my arm around the back of her neck and pulled her close.

“Huk…?!”

“Your Highness, stay calm.”

Asella tried to calm herself with deep breaths, but it didn’t seem easy.

This is the shadow’s main assassination technique.

They prefer to assassinate in places filled with more light than darkness.

Naturally, humans become most vulnerable when the surrounding light suddenly disappears.

There’s no doubt that these are the tricks of the shadow.

The sommelier who brought the champagne was a disguised assassin.

As a member of the royal family, it was safer to use a reliable trick but ended up resorting to their best technique.

But, I have dealt with them countless times.

The Shadow is essentially an organization of black mages and enhanced thieves.

Thieves enhanced by the tricks of black mages become the executioners.

Even the deadly spell that subdues the darkness of Doryeong Island is based on black magic.

Their darkness is somewhat peculiar, not spreading far and swirling like mist.

First, I have to get rid of it.

“Your Highness, we need light to survive.”

“Light, illumination.”

Asella muttered and immediately drew a magic circle.

Her trembling hand couldn’t draw a perfect circle, but there was no problem with the spellcasting.

“Enchant, light.”

-Flash!

A powerful burst of light erupted from the fallen knight’s sword.

And in that moment, the face of the assassin, transformed into a skeleton, became visible.

-Chaeng!

His vicious dagger collided with the knight’s sword.

“Ugh, uh…!”

Acela, witnessing the assassin, tightly closed her eyes and trembled with her hands.

As a result, the spell she had cast wavered and the light dimmed.

“Acela is afraid of the assassin?”

I found it somewhat unexpected.

Sure, it was the Dragon I had seen in the martial arts competition, so I can understand.

Monsters are not something you often see in cities.

Especially not a dragon that isn’t an ordinary one.

But this time, the opponent is an assassin, a human.

Of course, it’s a dangerous situation right now.

The Emperor Acela that I have seen so far was arrogant, haughty, and confident in everything.

But the Acela in front of me now… is so scared that she can’t even use her specialty, magic, properly.

I couldn’t help but think that she seemed like an ordinary girl of her age.

“It’s not the time to be lost in thought.”

I wielded the glowing magic-imbued sword of Acela.

The light gradually receded and extinguished.

“Is this a magic that transforms the surface of the blade into a luminous material?”

Magic is difficult for me to understand, but I can grasp it in terms of chemistry.

Even if I can’t delve into the principles of how mana works, I can enhance the characteristics of a luminous material through alchemy.

“Guh!”

Even the last of the escort knights fell to the assassin. They fell with a brief scratching sound.

Next, it was Acela’s turn to be targeted.

“Ras!”

As she shouted, I swung the sword and cast a spell.

The pattern is a 64-angle shape, just as Acela had taught me.

“Hwaa!”

―Flash!

A blinding flash of light hit the assassin’s abdomen with such force that it was enough to blind them.

“Ugh.”

The assassin let out a short groan. Although they didn’t inflict any substantial damage, their eyes were bleeding, causing them great pain.

They increased the amount of light entering their eyes to identify their target in the darkness.

As a result, intense light becomes their weakness.

Excessive exposure causes them to suffer and bleed from their eyes.

But then again, starting from their face, their entire body is nothing more than a mechanism reconstructed with dark magic.

“Princess, run!”

Holding a gleaming sword in her right hand and gripping Asella’s hand with her left, she ran.

The lighting was just right for us. We could see the path leading to the building’s exit.

―Swish!

Even the momentarily stunned assassin immediately chased after us.

The ballroom was still filled with confusion in the darkness. Not only did no one ask for help, but no one even noticed the presence of the assassins.

“Faster!”

We moved our legs desperately. We had to go faster, even if our thigh muscles were about to burst.

“Hey!”

After confirming the route to the exit, she threw her sword towards the assassin.

Taking advantage of their momentary confusion due to the disrupted vision, we turned around the corner.

Only 10 meters left to the exit.

“Ras…!”

“We’re almost there!”

Our footsteps became faster and finally,

Thud!

Nala and Asella successfully made it out of the ballroom.

Outside, torches were sparsely lit, but it was nearly pitch-dark due to the night.

The loud humming of cicadas in midsummer deafened our ears.

“Just a little bit more!”

We didn’t stop.

For a moment, I had a premonition that the assassin was chasing me from behind.

“*Gasp.*”

― Hweack!

I twisted my body and grabbed Asella’s shoulder, tumbling together into the thickets like diving.

At the same time, the sharp tip of the assassin’s dagger grazed past my ear.

“Good response speed. You’re putting quite an effort into this.”

The assassin let out a dry chuckle, eyeing me and Asella with his emaciated face.

“The assassination has failed. The knight guards will be here soon. Your life won’t be spared, you know?”

“You’re right. But we will accomplish our mission.”

Without hesitation, the assassin swung his dagger towards us.

Even if he gets caught and dies, he intends to fulfill his duty for the shadow organization.

“Ras!!”

Asella grabbed onto my collar and tightly closed her eyes.

And then…

*Clang!*

“Ugh… Huuugh…!”

The assassin staggered, clutching his chest after missing his strike.

Asella slowly opened her eyes.

“Ras? What happened?”

“We only needed to come this far. It was close.”

I looked up at the statue of the goddess above my head.

“Why… Ugh!”

The assassin took slow steps backward. He can no longer approach us any further.

[Injured Status: Burn]

[Injured Location: Whole body]

His whole body will be roasted like a chicken.

It must be an immense pain.

The strategy of the shadows is simple.

Enhance your body with dark magic, receive the benefits of Hasten that allows you to move perfectly incapacitated.

Several advantageous effects occur near the statue of the goddess, including Low-grade Dark Magic Enhancements.

Ever since I became aware of their existence, I always carried an artifact with the ability to grant wishes.

“There he is!”

I heard the knights rushing towards me with clanging armor.

The assassin hastily fled at the sound. The knights chased after him.

[No. 040 Venomous Trap 86% → 0%]

[No. 086 Assassin of Shadows 75% → 0%]

[Deleted]

[No. 101 Magic Rampage 52% → 4%]

The crisis was averted.

I was completely drained of energy. I laid down in the grass, my head severed.

“Ras, Ras.”

“Just let me rest a bit. I’m tired.”

“What? Hold on. Hey, Ras!”

I closed my eyes, treating Ashela’s cry as a lullaby.

It didn’t help because it was too noisy.

***

“Hmm.”

When I opened my eyes, it was a familiar scene.

My room, my bed.

More precisely, it was the Moonlight Palace’s room, but by now it was quite familiar and comfortable.

“No, it isn’t comfortable.”

I felt weighed down as if something was pressing on me.

There was an assassination attempt.

Did I get poisoned?

Thinking that, I raised my head and looked down, freezing as I witnessed a very strange sight.

Ashela was nestled against me, sound asleep.