Chapter 117

"It's your self-inflicted behavior."

As he spoke, he grabbed Solitaire's hand to stop this weirdo's strange behavior.

But he just stopped one of them, and the other Line was already dissatisfied and grabbed his other hand, hoping that he would continue to wipe her face.

At this moment, stopping the "yandere" and being pulled by the "loli" made Ash doubt whether he was on the battlefield.

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The main force of the enemy army was captured, and some of the more than 40,000 prisoners of war buried their bodies. The other part began to build a forward base in front of the empire's gateway under the supervision of the kingdom's soldiers.

The defenders, who were originally prepared to support the vanguard at any time, saw at dawn that the enemy had actually built their position to their feet.

This made Baxter, the father of Ludwig and the last three knights, who was almost fifty years old and had passed the throne early and retreated to the second line. At this moment, he was sitting on the wall of the pass, but he had a look of tears in his eyes. .

And Ludwig's eldest son, Keynes, the family's most promising star, saw his father's body that was left outside and was obviously tempting others to clean it up. He wanted to lead people out to avenge his father.

"——Those beasts! They insulted my father like this!" Keynes looked at Ludwig who was crushed into a ball by the inexplicable brute force under the rock wall that rose from the ground under the magic, and was just thrown to the ground. If Grandpa hadn't been holding him back, he wouldn't have been able to control himself and would have led others to kill him.

"...Lord Baxter, Lord Keynes, there is information coming from the core of the barrier. Someone is analyzing the national defense barrier... What should I do?"

"Just let the Magical Agents handle it. Isn't that their job?" Baxter didn't have any thoughts for the time being. He cared about these small things that happened from time to time and impatiently waved away the magicians who came to report.

Although the magician was still hesitant, he still silently planned to retreat. But before he had taken two steps, Baxter suddenly thought of something and turned around to look at the magician behind him:

"Wait a minute! Tell the Magical Agents! Let them capture those guys who want to analyze the defense barrier! Capture them all alive! I want to use them to exchange for the murderer of Ludwig! And... .Ludwig’s bones.”

"But... Lord Baxter, the other party must have many people protecting him, so that must be..."

"That's something they should consider. If they can't do it... they'll all be waiting to be sent to the front line of the battlefield as death squads!"

"....I understand, Lord Baxter."

The old magician was a little helpless. Although he felt that this task would not be easy, the other party was the father of a nobleman after all.

No, it should be the noble's grandfather now. After all, Ludwig is dead, but they are people they can't afford to offend anyway, so they can only inform the magic agent team who are on standby.

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The other side.....

Solitaire pressed her hand on the barrier, causing several magic circles to attach to the defense barrier starting from her palm.

"I see, that's it~ The main body is the highest masterpiece of defense palace magic that unified the empire. The isolation barrier is a revised version... I encountered Mahat's barrier last time when I analyzed it. This one is a little more complicated, but there are It’s not difficult to master the previous foundation.” Solitier closed her eyes and felt it silently, then looked back with a smile: “It will take about five or six days.”

"...so slow."

"Oh, this is already very fast, and this is not something hastily arranged, but the wisdom passed down from ancient times to the present. It is more than a little more complicated than the Golden Land Barrier on Mahat's side. If it weren't for With the previous experience, I have also seen the detailed theoretical basis of human magic from you over the years. It would take at least half a year to figure it out from scratch. "

Solitier, who didn't even open her eyelids, was focused on exploring this legendary thing. Although she was explaining it, her tone was inexplicably high. It was obvious that she was inexplicably excited just by studying this thing.

Behind her, Ash, who was sitting on the collapsed tree trunk, was feeding apples to Line who was sitting on him, while worrying about the promise of returning to the Magic City at noon, which was definitely not going to work.

But there is nothing we can do. Now that the barrier is broken and we are coming, we can't stop suddenly and go back... We must at least take down the other side's border pass - Demont Pass.

Otherwise, retreating like this would not give the other party a chance to breathe, and it would also be troublesome for them to wait for the empire to send more troops.

Although he is not afraid, and he has more time than humans, there is no reason to let go of the opportunity that appears in front of him.

And maybe those guys from the Magical Agents who like to harass people now... He originally thought so.

In fact, before Solitaire's analysis had started for too long, Ash saw the other end of the barrier appear. Five people wearing Gestapo-like military uniforms, police-like dress hats, and light-colored cloaks appeared. Magician.

"...Did you show up just after you thought about it?" The appearance of that group of people made Ash couldn't help showing a speechless expression, but Solitier looked back and smiled: "I'll leave it to you to deal with it~? "

"Ah, they're just five bastards with some strength, don't worry about them."

Although he said so, only a very few people like him can say such words.

The magician of the magic spy team opposite him looked at him as if he was looking at a countryman who was ignorant of the world.

Because the shadow warriors existed thousands of years ago during the unification of the empire. They were special organizations set up specifically for assassination and used to assassinate magicians.

And their magic spy team naturally also has a long history. It is an imperial military spy team composed of magicians. In other words, it is a force composed of the strongest magicians in the empire. It is also a force dedicated to suppressing civil strife and guarding the border.

Although the first-level magicians of the Continental Magic Association can indeed be said to be the strongest magicians in the entire continent including the empire, the empire has actively used magic in the military since thousands of years ago. They are also magicians specializing in combat in the empire. They are very good at hunting magicians. Because they are a force to suppress civil strife, they have rich experience in hunting human magicians and will not take the so-called first-level magicians.

1 vs. 1, they may not be able to defeat the first-level magicians, but that is only against the veteran first-level magicians. If it is a newcomer like Philen and Yubel who have been interviewed... it would be quite difficult to defeat such magicians who specialize in fighting people and magicians.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Magic Special Forces alone can annihilate a country.

".... Let's capture them alive quickly, otherwise Lord Baxter will be really angry, and we will all be in big trouble."

The captain of the Magic Special Forces, who is strong enough to rival the veteran first-level magicians, Heywood, an old man who looks to be in his 60s, silently lowered the brim of his hat and walked away.

"Understood!"

Facing the nightmare of the imperial magician, the captain who frightened all the imperial magicians, the arrogant magicians under his command did not dare to talk nonsense, and quickly followed, waiting for the barrier to open, and then captured the three alive and handed them over to Baxter.

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Three people at the edge of the barrier

Solityel was still concentrating on analyzing, not caring about the appearance of the Magical Special Agents, leaving everything to Ash.

"Those guys look so annoying, it's rare to get a reward from Master Ash, but they suddenly jump out..." Linie bit the apple in his hand unhappily, muttered and raised her head, and asked innocently: "Master Ash, when they come, can I kill them too?"

"... I'll do that, your mission is to protect Solityel."

"Ah... I want to do it too,"

"Don't be willful."

Carefully biting the apple handed to him by Linie, Ash couldn't help thinking... This apple seems to be really better than eating it alone, and he was even a little worried that he would not be led astray by Linie.

After worrying for a while, he could only put Linie next to him first, and after waiting for a while...

Not far from the barrier, a small opening suddenly opened.

The members of the Magical Special Agents rushed over in unison.

The well-prepared and close-combat-savvy magician raised his wand to attack the three people not far away.

However... he had just raised his wand, the magic circle had not yet been formed, and his tilted body and wand had not even crossed the outer layer of the double-layer national defense barrier, but his body was no longer under control, and his vision was strangely reversed, and he could no longer see the target.

But the magicians behind him could clearly see that Ash in the distance suddenly disappeared, leaving only a residual image, as if he had moved through space and arrived beside his teammates, passing by them and coming behind his companions.

But his companions seemed to have not noticed this at all, and they were still standing there without moving.

And their captain vaguely discovered that it was Ash's hand knife that slashed his subordinate's neck.

It should have been just a hand knife, but it drew a unique trajectory, and even added the power and sharpness of a blade, splitting the neck and body of the subordinate in two, and it was so sharp that the flesh seemed to be a beat late to notice it.

When he slightly made way to give them space to come over, a line of blood appeared.

The head of the magician who was standing stiffly in place slid down the next moment, and blood gushed out like a fountain. The body fell to the ground only after Ash walked away.

In an instant, it really happened in an instant, and then it ended.

The whole process was so fast that the thoughts could not react. Everyone even thought that their companions were stunned at first, until their companions' heads fell to the ground, they also crossed the barrier, and the barrier was also closed again, and they realized what had happened.

Looking at his subordinates falling to the ground with blood gushing out like a spring, Heywood frowned but immediately realized that it was not the hand knife that chopped, it should be the impact that emerged in front of the hand knife, which created all this.

"High-speed movement... Are you from the mountain tribes of the southern countries?" The well-informed Heywood saw the source of the magic at first sight, and vigilantly released the magic power to resist the possible high-speed movement.

Ash did not answer, but looked him up and down and smiled: "You are quite strong. If you join the kingdom, I can give you the lowest noble title, so that you don't have to be a dog in the empire, and your teammates can all get glory and wealth. How about it?"

"How many times do you think I've heard similar words?"

"Reject?"

"Of course..."

Before Heywood finished his sentence, Ash, who was walking towards him step by step, disappeared again.

Heywood, who was well prepared, was not a fraud. Although he did not notice the fluctuation of magic power, he was alert and immediately launched the defensive magic.

The semicircle formed by the hexagonal grid protected all the people inside.

Of course, it is called a semicircle, and the actual full deployment naturally includes the underground. It just looks like a semicircle on the ground. It can be said to be a complete defense state. Even the ground attack cannot reach them, and the enemy's magic power is completely isolated. However...

-Bang! ! ! A loud noise suddenly broke out in front of him, and the defensive magic was torn apart without any warning.

Like a meteorite impact, the overwhelming mass, strange magic, and purple thunder instantly shattered the defensive magic the next moment it was deployed.

The delayed sonic boom was transmitted to everyone's ears a second after the defense magic was broken, and even set off a tsunami in the air, blowing the fallen leaves and surrounding bushes into pieces.

The magicians who were caught off guard covered their ears in pain, and the captain who was still blocking the crowd did not give any reaction, but kept raising his wand.

But the fight between them was only a moment, and the duel between the two had already decided the winner.

Because the upper half of the magic wand was also blown away in the tsunami of the air, and even the captain was split into two sections at this moment, and when Ash suddenly stopped, the impact created during the supersonic movement was blown away.

The blood all over the sky, the smelly internal organs, and even the undigested food and excrement were all splashed on them under the effect of the shock wave, which was so disgusting that even the magicians who suppressed the rebellion and killed people like crazy were going to vomit.

No one complained, and no one dared to complain. Everyone just stared blankly at the boy in front of them who silently put away the blade without a drop of blood.

Let alone anything else, they couldn't even figure out whether the other party was a magician or a warrior?

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The short encounter ended in a blink of an eye.

But time seemed to be quietly stretched by an invisible force, and the faces of the magicians were intertwined with astonishment and disbelief.

"Just... one move?"

"How... is this possible!"

I don't know who trembled and made an unbelievable sound, and every word was like the echo of a heavy hammer, which was particularly harsh in the silence.

Some of the bloody magicians covered their mouths, and their wide eyes were full of fear and confusion about the scene in front of them; some took a breath of cold air and retreated involuntarily, as if even the air became heavy because of this fear.

Their reaction was like facing a nightmare that could not be described in words, and all reason and common sense were completely overturned at this moment.

The air was filled with an extremely depressing atmosphere, and everyone's heartbeat accelerated to the extreme, as if it would jump out of their chest at any time.

Because this powerful captain was killed in one move, they really couldn't think of how to resist this exaggerated monster.

Among the remaining three people, a middle-aged woman suddenly knelt on the ground:

"——I, I surrender... Please, please let me join the kingdom! I want, I want to follow you!!"

"Dell!? You are the deputy captain, how can you...?!"

The companion next to him looked back in astonishment and wanted to dissuade him, but before he finished speaking, another knife flashed.

Half of the man's head fell to the ground, and his body fell limply beside him.

Now, another team member followed and knelt on the ground, fearing that he would be late and end up like his companion.

Although they are extremely loyal to the empire and will never betray under normal circumstances,... this situation is definitely not normal!

"Very good, I like people who know the times. Tell me everything you know."

Ash put away his knife with satisfaction for the second time, and returned to his harmless state. He also squatted down and patted the two men's shoulders affectionately.

But the two men were like frightened chicks, their bodies trembled unconsciously, and they quickly told him everything they knew.

Let him learn more about the Magic Special Forces.

However, in fact, each of them didn't know much. After all, although they were extraordinary, they were just lower-class people and simply obeyed orders.

In addition to their education from childhood to adulthood, their loyalty was also maintained by the pervasive shadow warriors, the assassinations of the dead soldiers who might lurk anywhere, and the Holy Staff Court that checked and balanced them.

And when Ash learned that the other noble's order still wanted to capture him alive, he was really a little amused.

But he didn't care too much, so he asked someone to take them away, and just waited for the analysis on the other side while squatting on the other side to guard against the invading enemy.

Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

The area where Solitier was standing was covered in blood, taking on a dark red hue.... Despite the soldiers' careful handling and collection of the bodies, there were still many broken swords and fragments of armor remaining on the ground.

At least thousands of people died here.

There were shadow warriors and another team of magic spies, but no one could hinder the analysis process when facing Ash.

The cavalry brigade of a thousand people launched a life-or-death assault, but was turned into dust in an instant. After that, the place became completely quiet, and no one hindered the analysis... or the defenders realized that going out was no different from committing suicide, and were forced to give up hindering the analysis.

"It actually perfectly combines the ancient magic of origin with modern magic... I can't bear to destroy it."

Finally, Solitier, who had completed the analysis, put his hands on his chest but showed a look of regret, which made Ash feel a headache: "... Don't be sorry, solve it quickly."