?In the moment Howard accelerated, his body didn’t move forward but veered to the side instead.

Several blurred shadows flashed from the edge of his vision, without a sound of breaking air, only a faint thud was heard.

Observing the several small holes that now punctuated the ground, Howard was drenched in a cold sweat.

It was instinct that saved him in the nick of time.

Had he not changed direction just then, it wouldn’t have been the ground that was pierced but his own body.

Although he hadn’t seen clearly what it was, Howard had no desire whatsoever to have his body penetrated by foreign objects.

Where had the attack come from?

After dodging the first attack, Howard immediately sought cover behind some bushes.

Though the foliage couldn’t serve as a barrier, it at least might obscure the attacker’s line of sight.

If he could just find a moment to breathe, Howard knew he could find an opportunity to counterattack.

However, it was clear the attacker had no intention of letting Howard off so easily.

The moment Howard took cover behind the bushes, the second round of attack descended.

Again, without any warning, his instincts for danger erupted forth.

There was no time to think.

Howard executed a forward roll away from his cover.

The next instant, the ground where he had been burst into a cloud of dust.

“Did it hit?” A young but distinctly unremarkable male voice echoed close by.

The man didn’t respond, merely watching ahead expressionlessly, his longbow drawn once more.

“He can’t escape,” he murmured softly.

Retreating once more behind the wall, Howard’s breath quickened as he rapidly channeled the mana within his body, infusing it into his limbs.

This significantly enhanced his mobility and, by extension, his ability to dodge.

Yet, this was not a sustainable solution.

Without identifying the attacker’s position, passive evasion would only lead him deeper into the trap that had been meticulously laid out for him.

However, the nature of the attack was unlike anything he had ever encountered.

He couldn’t see the incoming projectiles, nor could he sense any fluctuations in mana.

Although Howard attempted to deduce the attacker’s location based on the direction of the assaults, his lack of specialized theoretical knowledge made it impossible to accurately pinpoint the origin of the attacks.

This form of attack left no arrows lodged in the ground as evidence, unlike a bow; Howard’s only clues were the vague small holes scattered across the ground.

With his vision limited and his supposed backup, Greg, unreachable due to severed communications, Howard found himself utterly isolated.

Moreover, considering Greg’s likely compromised position, his situation was probably no better than Howard’s own.

And what of Ali? With both hidden members of their party already targeted by the enemy, the circumstances of the sole exposed member of their team appeared grim at best.

The outlook was, to say the least, not optimistic.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the small building, in a corner kitchen, Ali leaned against the doorframe with a trace of unease, her gaze shifting between the cheerful courtyard outside and Lilianne, who was merrily indulging in her meal inside the kitchen.

A faint smile graced Ali’s face as the little girl, unencumbered by shyness, returned a broad grin.

Observing Lilianne’s smile, Ali’s fist tightened at her side.

The situation seemed increasingly dire.

Though unaware of the specifics, Ali could sense a shift in the atmosphere, a prelude to something ominous about to unfold, if it hadn’t already.

This was the source of her anxiety.

She was determined to protect Lilianne at all costs, but without a clear understanding of the current circumstances, crafting an effective response was out of her reach.

With Antalya not nearby and no word from Howard and Greg, who were hidden in the shadows, Ali found herself isolated in combat.

“Young lady, you seem unfamiliar to me. Are you new here?”

A voice, tinged with a hint of raspiness, drifted down from above.

Startled, Ali looked up to see a young man perched at the edge of the kitchen’s roof.

When had he appeared there?

In an instant, her body reacted, and Ali mobilized the mana within her, preparing for conflict.

The newcomer seemed unconcerned by her defensive stance, merely pinching his earlobe and observing her.

In the time it took to breathe, Ali had fully mobilized her internal mana.

The utilization of mana was what differentiated a magus’s strength significantly.

A magus without mana was at best a physically robust ordinary person.

However, with mana, a magus could face hundreds of foes.

Responding to Ali’s command, the mana formed an almost imperceptible protective barrier around her.

Despite the protection afforded by her mana, Ali felt far from safe.

Against ordinary adversaries, a level 3 magus could easily match several fully equipped squads.

Yet, facing this young man, Ali dared not let her guard down for a second.

She “smelled” the scent of mana on him as well.

This meant he was likely a magus too.

“Hey, it seems you haven’t answered my question yet,” the young man said, noticing Ali’s silence.

He scratched his cheek, then with a graceful movement supported by his palm on the roof’s edge, he landed lightly in front of Ali.

“You’re…the reinforcement Harry called for, aren’t you?”

As the young man spoke, Ali’s vigilance reached its peak.

She was ready to strike at the slightest provocation, regardless of who he might be or whether he was a magus.

His actions had already crossed a line for her.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, mana gathering in the palms of her hands.

With just a thought from Ali, this surging mana could transform into a torrent of lightning, seizing control of the young man’s movements.

However, the young man’s next action halted any thought of attack from Ali.

He took a step back.

“It seems I’m right, then. That guy might be annoying, but his intelligence is spot on,” he commented, leaning casually against the opposite side of the doorframe, locking eyes openly with Ali.

“You were brought in as a bodyguard, so you must at least know who you’re up against, right?”

As he spoke, the young man’s face broke into a radiant smile, reminiscent of an innocent boy, while he drew a dagger from behind his waist. 𝘪𝘳.𝘤𝑜

“If you’re looking for him…”

The moment the dagger’s reflection caught the light, Ali reacted.

With a slap of her left hand against the doorframe behind her, she surged forward, her right hand pressing towards the young man’s face, fingers crackling with electric light.

“Then that would be me.”

Neither voice nor motion ceased between them.

However, Ali felt no contact with her target.

Her palm pressed against the doorframe instead, the released burst of electricity instantly charring it to black.

It was as if she had witnessed an illusion; the young man had vanished.

Lilianne.

Almost simultaneously with the thought, Ali’s gaze snapped back to the kitchen.

It was completely empty.

Lilianne was gone.

The opponent’s target had been Lilianne from the start.

“Red Eye.”

Ali’s momentum carried her into the doorframe, halting her advance as anger, intertwined with mana, erupted.

“Such a rookie, unable to discern what truly matters.”

Not far from the kitchen, on a rooftop, the young man held an unconscious Lilianne in one arm and scratched his cheek with the other, watching the kitchen’s explosion of silver-white electricity with a grin.

“It seems this won’t be as boring as I thought.”

Standing on the ridgepole, the young man pressed a hand to his ear.

“Blindman, how are things on your end?”

No response came.

“Tsk, a slip-up, huh…” The young man’s mouth twisted in displeasure.

“This guy is really regressing, to make a mistake in such a situation. He’ll need a good talking-to when we get back.”

But for now, he needed to shake off his own predicament.

“Red——Eye——”

A roar, reminiscent of a wild beast’s bellow, emanated from the slowly dissipating electric light.

A figure, like a weightless shadow, burst forth from the remnants of the electric glow and appeared before the young man in an instant.

“Red——Eye——”

Two flashes of knife light sparkled in the air.

The dagger, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, was firmly in the young man’s hand, skillfully blocking Ali’s short blade.

“Ah, ah, young lady, you’re quite the hothead, aren’t you?”

With a flick of his wrist, diverting the force from the short blade, the young man, holding Lilianne with one hand and the dagger with the other, advanced instead of retreating.

“Engaging in close combat with me?”

His left foot slid into the bend of Ali’s leg, and his left shoulder thrust forward with concentrated force.

Iron Mountain Lean!

The young man’s movements were far quicker than Ali had anticipated.

Before she could recover from their initial clash, he had already countered.

The forceful impact squarely hit Ali’s chest, making her vision blur and her breath halt momentarily, as her body was sent flying far off the rooftop.

“You’re thirty years too early.”

With a mocking sneer on his face, the young man did not pursue further.

He merely watched coldly as Ali fell, then turned and disappeared among the rooftops with a few leaps.

Landing heavily on the ground, Ali felt a sweetness in her throat as traces of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

Not attempting to rise, she simply lay there, gazing into the clear, azure sky, somewhat dazed.

It was a complete and utter defeat in just a single exchange.

The opponent hadn’t even used his other hand, defeating her with a single move.

.𝒎