Chapter 16 | A Mere Princess of a Fallen Kingdom Dares to Order Me Around?

Late in the night.

All was silent, even the chirping of insects had grown sparse.

"Get ready to move."

At almost the exact same moment Arno muttered those words in his mind...

Inside the tent surrounded in the center, Leo’s tightly closed eyes snapped open!

He turned his head and glanced at the girl sleeping beside him.

In the deep of a late winter night, the chill was biting. Lucrezia Sylvania was curled up entirely within her blanket, wrapped up like a tight little mound. Only half of her pale, delicate face—still carrying a hint of baby fat—was visible. Her breathing was long and steady, completely defenseless.

Leo’s large hand reached into the blanket with practiced ease, sliding down the soft curve of the girl’s waist and pressing firmly against her warm, flat belly.

"Mmh..."

Lucrezia, who was in the middle of a sweet dream, felt her body suddenly hollow out!

It felt as if her soul had been violently seized by an invisible hand. An indescribable sense of soreness and weakness instantly washed over her entire body.

She let out a whimper, like a kitten having its tail stepped on, and instinctively tried to curl into a ball.

"Good girl, don't move. I’m just borrowing a bit of power."

Leo felt the suction coming from his palm, his gaze narrowing slightly.

53%.

He precisely drained the mana she had mostly recovered, leaving her with about 10% just in case.

Boom!

A searing, majestic surge of mana instantly poured into his fractured origin. While it brought a burning pain, it also brought a long-lost sense of power.

Though it was only temporary, and only at the 【Heroic】 level.

For dealing with these small fry, it was enough.

Leo’s fingers moved rapidly through the air, leaving afterimages in their wake.

There was no chanting, no wind-up.

Two pale blue arcane runes flashed and vanished, like two invisible mines silently buried in the dirt at the tent's entrance.

【Arcane Trap】

Having finished this, Leo adjusted his collar and put on a groggy, sleepy expression.

He lifted the tent flap and walked out unsteadily.

"Who’s there?!"

Raz, who had been in a feigned sleep by the embers of the campfire, sprang up. The dagger in his hand glinted coldly under the moonlight as he broke into a cold sweat.

"Hiss... Ow, ow, ow..."

Leo clutched his stomach, hunched over with a sickly complexion, and waved a hand dismissively. "Don’t be nervous... It’s me, Medivh."

Once Raz saw it was him, he relaxed, though a flash of suspicion and murderous intent crossed his eyes.

This kid was about to die, yet he was still causing so much trouble.

"What is it?" Raz asked in a sinister tone.

"That..." Leo squeezed his legs together, looking embarrassed as if it were hard to speak. "Maybe the meat from tonight was a bit too oily... my stomach is acting up. I want to go over there to take care of business..."

As he spoke, he glanced shrinkingly at the pitch-black woods around them, pleading pitifully:

"But it’s just too dark... brother, could you... accompany me for a bit? I’m afraid there might be magical beasts."

Raz was stunned. Feeling guilty from his own schemes, his first instinct was to refuse.

But his gaze quickly swept over Leo’s thin frame and then flicked toward Arno’s tent.

Actually...

Raz glanced at Arno’s tent not far away.

This was perfect. Since he had delivered himself to the door, it saved him the trouble of going into the tent and making a noise that might wake the little one.

In these pitch-black woods, he could slip a knife in without anyone knowing, then give him a push into the swamp...

"...Fine, let’s go."

A cruel smile curled on Raz’s lips. He hid the dagger in his sleeve and followed.

"What the hell is he doing?"

A gap was pulled open in the flap of Arno’s tent. Arno and the others, who were just about to rush out, were all stunned by the scene.

"Damn it, he’s probably just up for a night leak. What bad luck," the tiger-man Talen cursed in a low voice.

"Tsk! Let's watch for a moment. I hope Raz doesn't go looking for trouble for no reason..." Arno’s eyes were dark and cold as he signaled for everyone to stay calm.

...

At the edge of the camp, deep in the shadows of the red mangroves.

Leo walked ahead with stumbling steps. Raz followed behind with his dagger drawn like a grim reaper, the distance closing rapidly.

Three steps. Two steps. One step.

Raz looked at Leo’s defenseless back, a feral light erupting in his eyes.

Now!

He violently raised the dagger, aiming it right at the back of Leo’s heart to strike!

"Ah!"

Leo, in front of him, suddenly let out a suppressed cry of alarm. He stopped abruptly and pointed at the ground. "What is tha—"

Raz was startled by the shout. His movements instinctively faltered, and he subconsciously looked where the hand was pointing. "What?"

In that 0.1 second as he looked down.

The "weak and frail" young noble suddenly moved like a slippery fish, instantly closing the gap and flashing to Raz’s side!

"Shh—"

A cold palm, like an iron vice carrying an indisputably terrifying strength, slammed over Raz’s mouth and nose, choking back all his cries into his throat!

Raz’s pupils shrank violently!

Not good!

Just as he was about to retaliate with his dagger, Leo’s right hand had already risen like lightning. Frost condensed at his fingertips as a three-inch long, sharp ice spike suddenly sprouted. Without the slightest hesitation, it plunged ruthlessly into the soft flesh of his neck!

Pfft—!

The ice spike pierced through the trachea and the carotid artery.

Leo leaned close to his ear, his voice soft as if he were coaxing a child to sleep:

"Deep breaths, the dizziness is normal."

Raz’s body twitched violently several times before the light in his eyes quickly faded.

Warm, metallic-smelling blood sprayed out along the ice spike, splashing all over Leo’s hand.

Leo let go, allowing the corpse to slump to the ground like a pile of mud.

He looked at his blood-covered hand. That hot, viscous sensation spread along the lines of his skin, carrying a nauseating reality.

Leo was dazed for a moment.

This was entirely different from sitting in front of a computer pressing keys or killing from a distance.

There was no kill notification, no experience bar ticking upward. There was only the residual body heat on his fingertips and the lingering scent of rust in his nose.

"Tsk."

Leo frowned, flicking the blood droplets from his hand. A wave of nausea surged up, and he quickly took several deep breaths to steady himself.

"Special effects being too realistic is also a bit of a hassle..."

He muttered a complaint to himself, forcibly suppressing the discomfort in his heart as his eyes cleared.

"Well then, the show begins."

...

"What's going on? Why is it taking so long?"

Back in the camp, Arno watched the silent woods, the sense of unease in his heart growing stronger.

"Something’s wrong!"

Arno stood up abruptly, the intuition honed from years of walking the line between life and death making his hair stand on end!

"Move! Something happened!"

He threw open the tent flap and roared, "Lily! Go grab the little one! Talen, Buman, with me into the woods!"

"Roger!"

The female archer Lily, who had long been unable to contain herself, wore a cruel, savage grin as she bolted toward the tent shared by Leo and Lucrezia.