LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 61
“Are you all set?”
“Yeah.”
“Then let’s get going.”
The Pink Hawk and the girl moved down to the depths of the temple.
On the wide, communal floor was drawn a red magic circle. Inside the circle was a hexagon, and in the center was a depiction of a roaring dragon.
“What is this?”
“This is a space transfer magic. It’s also called a teleport.”
The Pink Hawk confidently stepped onto the magic circle. The girl, with a hesitant expression, carefully followed suit.
Suddenly, a sinister light began to emanate from the magic circle, and a transformation occurred.
I tightly closed my eyes, waiting for the light to cease, when a voice interrupted my thoughts.
“We’ve arrived.”
“…Huh?”
As the girl slowly opened her eyes, she realized that the scenery before her had completely changed.
They had truly been transported to another space in the blink of an eye.
The artificial marble style that felt touched by human hands was nowhere to be found; it had been replaced by what appeared to be a naturally formed deep cave.
The only commonality was the red magic circle drawn on the floor.
Though I didn’t fully understand the exact principle, it seemed that they could teleport to a space marked with an identical magic circle.
“Where is this place?”
No matter how she looked around, the cave was filled only with stalactites and stalagmites, and she couldn’t even guess where they currently were.
In response to her question, the Pink Hawk pointed toward a distant exit where light was seeping out.
“You’ll know once we go out.”
The two walked through the dark cave and emerged into the bright light, momentarily blinded by its intensity, before their eyes adjusted and the outdoors was imprinted in their minds, causing the girl to gawk in admiration.
Before her lay an incredibly beautiful landscape.
The endless blue sky enveloped them, with snowy peaks and lush green meadows saturating the ground below.
“This is the Alps.”
“Wow…”
They had traversed from the Pacific to Europe in an instant.
*
They traveled by train.
No one suspected their perfectly forged fake identities.
“Do you remember the mission objective?”
“Yeah.”
The girl nodded seriously.
This was her first assigned mission, a sort of test for her. If she failed here, she wouldn’t be able to become an Apostle.
The mission was far more significant than she had anticipated—assassinate the branch chief of the association in France.
He was a very extreme mana extermination advocate, insisting vehemently that exterminating mana was to be prioritized over tackling gate invasions and monstrous beast exterminations.
As the evil deeds of mana became more rampant, his opinion was gaining strong support, especially in Europe. This meant that if the French branch chief rallied everyone behind his call to exterminate mana, then the Apostles would inevitably find their future activities restricted.
Thus, this assassination operation was critically important.
They needed to pull the roots before they sprouted.
Today was also the day of the French branch chief’s public speech.
If this speech received a strong positive response, the association would promptly issue a statement.
“But if we kill him openly during the speech, won’t they suspect it was us?”
“Of course they will.”
“That would only make people more vigilant.”
The Pink Hawk replied in a calm tone.
“That’s exactly what we want.”
“Huh?”
“Humans need to be afraid of us and remain cautious. It’s foolish to think they can just wipe us all out.”
“…”
I thought she seemed like a good person because of her calm demeanor, but perhaps she had a nasty side instead.
“If this assassination is successful, the association will also heighten their vigilance and will not act recklessly. We need to limit their movements.”
“I get the intent, but is it really feasible?”
Can two people really break through such heavy security and assassinate the branch chief?
While the girl was anxious, the Pink Hawk seemed to have absolute confidence in the success of their operation.
“Assassination is my specialty. All you need to do, Candidate, is support me from behind.”
“Okay. I’ll trust you.”
By the way, “Candidate” was the term used to address the girl since she wasn’t officially an Apostle yet.
They swiftly traveled by train to France.
Although quite some time had passed, the conversations they had were minimal.
Since neither of them naturally talked too much and the girl didn’t have any memories, there wasn’t much to discuss.
“Do you really not remember anything?”
“No…”
“That must be tough.”
Indeed, the girl had even forgotten her own name.
The Pink Hawk asked her, “Then what is your name now?”
“…I don’t think I have one.”
“Huh? But didn’t you stay with the captain? What did the captain call you?”
The girl wore a wry smile without answering.
That expression alone was a sufficient answer.
The Pink Hawk, who watched silently, asked, “Why do you want to become an Apostle?”
“Because the teacher wants that.”
“Is that all?”
“…I’m sorry. I’m not sure.”
The girl’s attitude was certainly abnormal, but it wasn’t like the Pink Hawk was in a position to comment or advise her.
Eventually, their dialogue fizzled out.
*
When they finally reached their destination, darkness had already set in, and it was midnight.
However, the building where the speech would take place shone brightly enough to be seen from afar.
“What will you do?”
“I’ll move to the sniper point I scouted earlier.”
There was still plenty of time.
However, the association seemed to be preparing far more thoroughly than they had anticipated, as security personnel were stationed not only around the event venue but also some distance away.
But even so, there was no significant problem.
The Pink Hawk had designated sniper points that were much farther away from the venue.
It was a place where, under normal common sense, it would be absolutely impossible.
The girl gazed from the peak of a mountain toward where the venue was.
It’s impossible. It wouldn’t be visible to the naked eye.
No, at this distance, even with binoculars, she could probably only see a vague outline of the building.
In other words, it seemed impossible to accurately assassinate the branch chief, who was busy chatting inside.
She looked over at the Pink Hawk with a worried expression.
Meanwhile, the Pink Hawk calmly checked her bow.
My word. Using a bow instead of a sniper rifle from this distance?
“Can you even see from here?”
“If you concentrate, you can see.”
“…Is it even possible to hit something from this far?”
“If you aim well, you’ll hit.”
Is this really a light-hearted matter?
Even if her confidence was genuine, what was she supposed to do?
All she could do was suck her fingers alongside her anxiety.
“The important part is what happens after the assassination.”
“Okay. I get that. So, I just wait here?”
Whether or not they could be spotted by security was the least of her concerns.
Nobody would ever imagine sniping from the top of a mountain in a completely different district.
“I’m doing it right now.”
“Right now?”
“Yeah. The speech just started.”
Is she really seeing it and reporting accurately?
As soon as she notched an arrow and aimed her bow, pink wisps of smoke rising from the ground danced like flower petals around her.
At that moment, the scene was so beautiful that it left the girl spellbound.
It felt as if cherry blossoms were blooming in the chilly autumn.
The pink petals soon whirled around the arrowhead like a vortex.
Finally, when the Pink Hawk finished her aiming and released the bowstring, the arrow vanished without a trace.
“Huh?”
The girl couldn’t understand.
It didn’t fly too fast for her to lose sight of it.
The arrow definitely disappeared as if it had evaporated in an instant.
“We need to get out of here quickly. They’ll start searching this way soon.”
“Wait a minute. Is it over?”
“Yes. The target’s breath has stopped.”
Such a hollow ending.
Did the branch chief even realize he was dead?
If it were the girl, could she have reacted to that invisible arrow?
She wasn’t so sure. Even other Apostles would likely struggle to handle an attack like that.
It was truly an overwhelming assassination ability.
While feeling shocked internally, the girl followed the Pink Hawk down the mountain path.
If they descended like this, the association would have no way to catch them.
Just as she thought that, someone stood in their path.
It was a young girl in a white robe, looking youthful.
“I never imagined you’d shoot from so far away. I got hit pretty badly.”
The always composed Pink Hawk visibly panicked.
It was no wonder.
The girl, who at first seemed merely youthful, was actually the ‘Great Mage,’ rated among the strongest of S-class heroes.
“This is an unexpected turn of events. We need to run.”
“Do you think I’ll let you go that easily?”
At that moment, a massive roar echoed through the air.
Looking up, a colossal meteor was plummeting toward the mountain.
Only then did the girl grasp the gravity of the situation.
*
Just moments ago, where lush green trees stood, there was now nothing but dirt around them.
More importantly, the entire mountainous terrain had sunk into a flat, gaping hole.
There were no traces of life left in this desolate wasteland, and only the girl cloaked in a robe stood solemnly.
The Great Mage spoke through the crystal orb in her hand, communicating with someone.
“I missed.”
-You missed? You?
“There was an unexpected variable.”
The Great Mage recalled the girl who had been beside the Apostle.
She had utilized an utterly unknown and bizarre ability.
“But the attack definitely connected. The Apostle is surely dead.”
-That is somewhat fortunate.
The mana-imbued mask-wearer would soon meet his demise due to the fatal wound.
The crucial part was that the girl with the bizarre ability had escaped.
“I’ll need to initiate a manhunt.”
-Do you remember her face? You tend to forget things easily.
“I memorized the basic features. Curly cream-colored hair…”
-…Wait, what?
The Great Mage tilted her head at the reaction from the other side.
“What’s wrong? Yeon Hwa. Do you know her?”