LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 3: The Manor Investigator.
I got up from the crash site after looking around. I was now inside the manor and I could sense multiple people heading my way. It'd be bad if I got caught here, so I should probably escape. But that'd also mean my attempts at trying to use [Spatial Lift] will be in vain. I don't like trouble, but I also don't like wasting time.
It looks like the door is the only way out, only problem is that it's locked. I can't find any keys anywhere in the room either. It might be loud, but casting [Devastate] is the only option that I have left. My supply of Magical Energy is pretty low, despite being a talent who's really good at Blood Magic. But that's one of the only things I can do, not taking into consideration, my physical prowess.
"Devastate."
I casted [Devastate]—one of the weaker spells I had—on the doorway. It's quite unstable due to my lack of Magic proficiency, but I have too much energy for it to fail.
After the doorway collapsed, I stepped out of the room to be met with a long hallway. The windows allowed the sunset to enter, where I could see many shadows of men closing in quickly. At this point, hiding will be near impossible. It didn't take too long for me to begin hearing their voices coming from behind. I tried running away, but I couldn't escape them. A group of heavily armed knights appeared before me, seemingly alerted by the sound I made when I crashed into the manor.
"Huh!? ...A kid? This ain't no place for a kid like you to be roamin' around in."
The knights surrounded me all confused, preventing my escape. In an attempt to get out of this situation, I spoke to them like an innocent child who lost their way, accidentally stumbling upon this manor. But it'll be futile once they investigate the destruction I caused. Finding me out would be pretty easy, since my name's pretty well-known around here.
Everyone knew what I could do, but not a lot thinks that I'd actually use them.
"No way she did such thing. A powerful attack cast upon this place would mean that they've betrayed us, but relations have been fine lately..."
"Which could only mean one thing... The resistance forces! You're one of them, aren't you? Everyone, get 'em!!"
The knights started charging towards me, leaving me no choice but to unleash my oh so powerful hidden weapons, which are my Blood Magic spells. [Blood Banishment], one of my few spells for offense, is mostly a made up anti-body weapon that invokes blood in a certain range and gravitates them into a chosen point, effectively deeming most creatures lifeless. I've practiced this on small animals, but this too, can be used for larger creatures.
Music is magic, it's one of the most common knowledge people can have. Chanting can be considered music as well, which updates Magical Energy casted after the user has finished their incantations. In this case, my Blood Magic spells are still really above me, so chanting'd be necessary if I wanted to take out more than 10 heavily armed knights.
"Rally dog. Vine forward. Decline and Acceptance. Varied falling molecule torpedo. ...Blood Magic: Blood Banishment."
Thankfully, the knights were surprised by my sudden chanting so they hesitated for a bit until I was done chanting. They all fell unconscious as the essence of their life was taken away without their knowledge. Once I left the scene, reinforcements arrived to look for me. I wandered about the manor for a while whilst the people here kept searching for the intruder, unbeknownst that the one they're searching for is actually just a child.
While walking in one of the hallways, I witnessed a group talking about affairs concerning the lord here and supposedly, demons, right outside the windows. Them being connected to demons when we're inside in a holy kingdom, makes me more suspicious. I wonder why no one has ever spoke to them about this, or is everything already falling apart here? You'd think that they're an ally of the demon race with those banners outside, and the mentions of them actually very clear as day, but we're in a holy kingdom still. The church must've done something already.
The sun has almost set. I won't survive at night inside a forest all alone, if I can even escape this place. I need to finish this job immediately.
After a bit of investigating, checking rooms, and looking at anything interesting, I found a secret passage leading into an elevator that looks like it has sat there for a thousand years without any use. The elevator was hidden behind a bookshelf, which I simply pushed away to reveal the large hole in the wall. I couldn't find any way to use the elevator, as everything was too corroded to be used anymore, so I destroyed a small contraption that looked like it connected to the elevator. I'm not sure what I was thinking at that time, since the contraption was actually the only thing preventing the elevator from falling.
In an instant, chains were flying everywhere in the room as the elevator began to fall, progressively getting faster until it hit the ground. I crashed into the floor again. Fortunately, I was safe and sound, probably because of my extraordinarily strong body.
It appears that I had fallen into a dungeon or something. Torches were lit on the walls, becoming my only source of light. As I saw above me, the sun has set, meaning it's night time now. How will I get out of this current situation? By more exploration perhaps? And I was right, there were corridors that led me into a room where eerie sounds could be heard. Dried blood was everywhere on the place. Quite frightening, but I don't have much time for Halloween.
In one of the rooms, the corpse of a woman with cat ears could be found. I guess it was one of the Rabbit of Earth's kind? That's why I was led here? Am I supposed to save her kind from the evil corrupted rich guys, and save the day or something? I could find many other prisoners held in other rooms, so I suppose I had to help them. By using [Physical Enhancement], I was able to get them out of this place, but at the cost of 2 hours.
I wondered what my driver thinks right now. I hope he didn't leave me.
The prisoners thanked me as they ran away, telling me about a pathway made by a former prisoner. It looks like my escape is clear, and I've saved many people from god knows what. In victory, I left the dungeon and the manor. I arrived back at the forest where some prisoners stayed behind, giving me their aid as we navigated through the darkness. A small fire I casted with magic helped us a lot, but when we finally got back on to the main road, the man in front of me was beheaded before another second.
"You're but a mere disturbance, Vixen."
Another person spoke behind us, making one of my escorts run away, and the other one cower in fear, begging me for help. The 3 men who were with me are now useless. Needless to say, we've been caught by the enemy.
Multiple knights from the manor stood around us. There was one man unlike the rest of them, he did not wear a helmet, and it seems like he's the leader of these guys here. His eyes are glowing, and he had silver white hair. Is this a demon? My instincts were saying one thing; "Devil." "Dirt." "Godless." It wasn't the first time my body began yelling like this, it happened sometimes when certain people from the capital passed by our town.
"I was expecting more from the prophecies, but oh how I'm so disappointed... Well. I suppose you don't look too weak either. I guess it would be pretty dumb for me think that a weakling could get into the mansion, and defeat a group of heavily armed knights."
"Hold on. Can you explain to me what's going on? I stumbled upon this man here, while I was just looking for my way back to the capital. Who even are you? How do you know my name..?"
I asked him questions after turning off my light, allowing me to hide my left hand into a darker spot. I was done with my job, and now, I had to return to the Rabbit of Earth to claim my reward for freeing these people, if that was what she wanted me to do. I have also accomplished my mission of trying to see if these guys were actually up to something bad. To escape, I'll have to use force again. But chanting wouldn't be too good, especially when your enemy knows about you already.
After sighing, the man spoke for a while before explaining to me who they were, and what they were doing. They were obviously bad guys, and they were preparing for a war. It's no surprise, the Book of Epitomy has stated humans using other humans for a war with each other. But a demon being on the human's side whilst being inside a holy kingdom... It's quite the uncommon event. The man blabbered on and on, meanwhile, I was gathering up the blood of the man who has fallen from one of the knights, turning it into a small blade hidden in the dark for my surprise attack.
I casted [Physical Enhancement] without chanting, but it still gave me enough strength for throwing a hardened spear of blood before the man could react. It pierced his chest. He fell to the ground clutching the spear in an attempt to remove it from his body, but it was too late, the spear wasn't just a normal spear, just like [Blood Banishment], it took his blood into the weapon each second. The rest of the knights around us were surprised, stunned for a moment, giving me a chance to escape with the prisoner. They failed to find us without the help of the man who was most likely a demon. The man, before his life ended, gave me his name, which was "Tayzznyyzz Locyzz", a very strange name that even had his allies whispering to each other, questioning his real name. Though, I still wonder what he meant by that prophecy he mentioned. He didn't really say much about it.
The prisoner thanked me before leaving me back on the main road. I travelled for a few hours in the darkness, sometimes getting lost, until I found an odd figure. It was a woman sitting near a basket full of fruits in front of her house that had lights coming from the interior, which were also the things that led me here, helping me find my way back after getting lost again. Using a small fire doesn't really mean you won't get lost in the darkness, you know? There isn't much light from the moon either, even though I'm on an empty road.
I realized the woman had white hair, with some parts red. She was wearing a cloak, and she had a large enchanted golden sword next to her. I figured I'd talk to her to find where the nearest town is so that I can return to my horse-drawn vehicle. But then she talked to me first.
"He was quite remarkable wasn't he? Do not fret. We only know about all of you through magic. It's easy being a demon. But do not think of me as one, Vixen."
Could these demons please not call my by my name..? It's a bit uncomfortable, knowing that demons like them can just see all the details of humans like me with a mere glance. Are they using [Appraisal] like that old man? The Great Wizard back at that forest only told me he could see my abilities. But I'm sure he can also use [Appraisal] to see my name or something.
"You may call me Claw. I'm supposed to be here to take out a child grown too old... But I see you've already done the job. Well done."
I heard Claw was a very important figure back in the Great Catastrophe. I doubt this woman is actually her. I already have many reasons to why there's simply no way someone like her would come here personally just to take out such a weak demon, or whatever he was.
I asked her about the sword, and she explained to me that it was the "God-Slaying Blade", the infamous sword that Claw used back in her times to slay overpowered beasts, such as gods and other godlike beings. I can't really sense any Magical Energy from the sword itself, which means that it's probably just a fake, or simply a sword without any special abilities. The woman claiming to be Claw later pointed towards a certain direction, where the town could be slightly visible due to its bright light. As I turned to look back at her, she was suddenly gone, vanished into thin air.
The sword next to her also disappeared. I checked the basket, and found a note in between the fruits. The note was quite familiar, it read: "Key, or rather, Vixen, my whereabouts have changed due to some mishappenings that most likely involve your appearance in my home. Basically, someone followed you to my little hut, and called authorities to hunt me down. My house was burnt in the process, but I successfully escaped into the capital with the help of your friend that I coincidentally stumbled upon in the forest. May you return to us safely as well." I felt quite guilty, but I wonder why she was being hunted down. Does the prey, a rabbit, need to be chased constantly by its predators, the lions?
I proceeded to head down the road, and into the direction where the woman pointed at. The darkness surrounded me with the little fire I casted on my hand. The cold breeze made my light sometimes disappear, but I managed to get to the nearest town without getting lost again.
My driver was talking with a group of people, but when he noticed that I was here, he waved at me before we finally proceeded to continue our journey to the capital city of Djouflour—the kingdom that we're in right now. It was pretty boring, having to sit there staring at the darkness, so I eventually fell asleep without knowing it. When the vehicle stopped, the driver shook my shoulder to wake me up. Upon opening my eyes, the sun burnt them forcing me to cover my face, pushing the driver away for a moment before I finally looked back at where we have stopped at.
We finally arrived at the city gates, where the sun shined gloriously above the walls, casting light down on us. But despite the beautiful scenery, I had to block the sunlight with my arm to avoid getting my eyes hurt again. I have just woken up after all.