Regressor of the Fallen Family Novel - Chapter 282
Chapter 282: An Evening of Profound Quietude
Whoosh!
A slight shiver rode in on the crack of the window, ushering in a winter breeze that carried a whisper of unease. Logan, attuned to the subtlest shifts, barked, “They’re on their way!”
Eileen, sharing his intuition, nodded warily as two shadow-draped blades materialized above her. Her eyes widened in alarm.
Clang!
Logan’s aura surged, a tapestry of golden light deflecting the daggers, dispersing the attackers’ presence into thin air once more. Their invisibility skill was uncanny, defying belief even in the moment of its manifestation.
“Sense their approach! Stretch your senses to their limits!”
Though striving for composure, Logan’s mind raced. *They must be of force blade caliber… to resist the aura?*
Ordinarily, individuals struck by such potent aura would be incapacitated internally, yet these assailants maintained their invisibility and agility. Logan speculated that the shadowy force blades might harbor arcane secrets or magic.
But a more troubling thought gnawed at him. *Why hasn’t Victor…?* Was this a spectral assault? Instead of regular guards, Victor and Jorje, the highest-ranking knights, were on duty. If these were indeed spirits, any knight below top-grade would be ineffectual.
Yet Victor’s response lagged unusually. *Could he have been incapacitated already?*
A foreboding grip tightened Logan’s jaw as daggers reappeared around him.
Boom!
Alert once more, Logan moved to parry the attack, yet Eileen’s sword, Frigus, intercepted the daggers before him.
Despite their successful defense, Eileen’s expression soured.
“They’re formidable.”
It was more than a mere ruse that countered the aura.
For Eileen, at the pinnacle of the top-grade and peering beyond the realm of superhumans, to be unsettled by repelling just two assailants revealed much – and furthermore…
*These invisible foes are swift.*
Their presence felt but unseen or unheard.
Whether through magic or a Force skill, their ability to blur vision was formidable. The rumor of their past feat of slaying a superhuman now seemed plausible.
Yet, *I must exert more power.*
Focusing, Logan’s sensory field expanded beyond the bedroom’s confines, enveloping a radius of about thirty meters in all directions. A sensory domain wider and more peculiar than his teacher’s astonishment, though not reaching the extent of his trained sensory realm during slumber.
And then, he sensed Victor on the periphery of the bedroom.
Relief washed over him that Victor remained unharmed, yet…
*Amidst this chaos, this… Ah?!*
An inkling struck him, and thin golden lines struck the bedroom wall. The translucent barrier shattered, replaced by blue streaks, allowing the night sounds to drift in.
“Hurry!”
In the midst of the silent assailants, a resolute voice cut through.
“Your Majesty!”
With those words, Victor burst into the room, wielding a gray force blade, splintering the door.
“You’re late, you imbecile! They attacked just now!”
Caught off guard, Victor hesitated as a black dagger sliced through his armor from behind, but his senses sharpened, and he sprang into action.
‘Victor takes two, Eileen three. The rest are mine.’
To any other, even a superhuman, the foes would have posed an overwhelming challenge. But for Logan, who tracked every move of the assailants…
Flash.
Slice.
Swoosh.
Logan’s aurablade struck true, materializing another attacker—or rather, a fallen foe—hovering mid-air. The enemies made no sound, but their movements grew frenzied.
‘Excellent, they’re vulnerable.’
Logan’s golden aura, sinuous as a serpent, conjured up fallen foes one after the other.
The foes, undeterred, unleashed black daggers from all directions.
*Ugh!?*
Simultaneously, an alien energy enveloped Logan, seeking to immobilize him.
An unexpected and potent sorcery. Even momentarily, it froze Logan’s movements.
In that instant, shadowy force blades extended from the black daggers, aiming for Logan.
Kwaaang!
“Huh!?”
Among the attackers, who maintained their silence, a gasp escaped as their blades neared a direct hit. At the eleventh hour, Logan’s golden aurablade, a protective cocoon, encased his body seamlessly.
Five assassins, now visible, staggered, struck by the clash with the aura—a common reaction for Force wielders clashing with aura.
Logan seized the moment.
Flash.
Whoosh.
Crack.
His aurablade, weaving, pierced all five throats simultaneously.
“G-gack…”
Before a gush of blood could erupt, the room’s atmosphere shifted dramatically.
“Gasps!”
Eileen and Victor sensed the shift instantly as the assaults from the three remaining unseen foes ceased. The palpable aura of death that pervaded the space ebbed significantly.
Victor concurred.
“Tch! Your Majesty! They’re fleeing…”
While Eileen and Victor interpreted it as a retreat, Logan sensed otherwise.
“Not yet!”
Within his sensory range, the remaining five assailants, seemingly resigned, hurled themselves at him recklessly. To an observer, their frantic movements and the sudden aura of surrender might have seemed like a death wish. But Logan recalled the vanguard’s act from a month prior.
Rustle.
Whoosh.
His reactive aurablade swiftly located the bodies of the five, encircling them in a golden ring.
Before their bodies could paint the room crimson with their last stand…
“Begone!”
Logan’s command expelled their bodies out the window.
Rooooaaar!
Rrrrrumble.
The ensuing explosion from multiple assailants detonating simultaneously reverberated through the castle, visibly shaking its foundations.
Observing the aftermath, Eileen, pallid, clutched Logan’s attire with trembling hands.
“By the heavens. These madmen…”
“Do not fear. They have been vanquished, and in the future…”
Logan, too, relaxed his tense countenance, breathing a sigh of relief.
“They are akin to phantoms… Oh, my apologies.”
As the king and queen sought solace in each other, Victor, belatedly noticing they were clad in nightwear, coughed awkwardly and turned away.
*Gasp!?*
Logan’s spine tingled as he whirled around to confront a black dagger materializing from thin air.
It was an ambush, exploiting their momentary lapse after defeating the initial assailants – a chilling strike from a foe whose presence eluded even Logan’s acute senses.
‘ORRA!’
Instinctively, Logan triggered the time acceleration of his aurablade Lux, heightening his awareness and tension to an extreme, as time seemed to slow in his heightened state. A surge of imminent danger prompted a skill.
Among the seven cores of Force within his being, an eighth core erupted, amplifying his consciousness and empowering him further.
Yet, this time, it was a misstep.
The accelerated mind and heightened power failed to synchronize flawlessly, causing a momentary hesitation of his aurablade, leaving an opening for the enemy.
As he sought to intercept the foe in that split-second lapse, the realization dawned: he might survive, but Eileen would not.
‘NO!!!!’
As a sense of doom clouded his features, Eileen, wide-eyed, also caught sight of the black dagger reflected in her husband’s fiery gaze.
She teetered on the brink of death from an assault that skirted the edge of mortality.
Her relaxed nerves snapped taut in an instant, her instincts recognizing that it was too late to avert the danger.
‘NO!’
In the fleeting moment of impending peril, memories flashed before her eyes.
Some relive their entire lives, others recall cherished moments on the brink – absurdly, she recalled a recent incident that had ruffled her pride.
– Are you concerned for me now? Me, the emblem of McLaine’s female warriors and the very first female chief knight? Fear not, I shall not burden you!
It could have sparked their first major quarrel since marriage, had her husband not promptly apologized then.
The looming threat of lurking assassins became inconsequential. Becoming her husband’s weakness was a humiliation she could not abide.
From a tender age, she had aspired to transcend the role of a typical noblewoman and become a knight, propelled by her innate talents and a simmering resentment towards Grandia’s conventional portrayal of women as docile and supportive figures only.
Despite enduring endless ridicule until meeting Logan, her determination had carried her thus far.
Even if fate had thrust her into the position of queen, her mindset remained unaltered.
But was this to be her final chapter? Perishing as a liability to her beloved?
– Absolutely not!
She refused to meet her end in such a dishonorable manner.
That resolve stirred her latent potential. She breached the self-imposed barriers of her martial training, striving to ascend further as the chief knight.
– Recalling the tenets and aspirations of her martial journey…
Though she had yet to fully grasp the concept of ‘Trait Design’ espoused by her husband, in that critical moment, she embraced her personal ideals and goals.
Unified in purpose, her mind and body animated her creed and ambitions.
Unyielding.
Unwavering.
To never be a hindrance to a loved one.
And above all…
– To stand independently and impregnable.
In the instant her cerulean eyes gleamed, a crimson Force burst forth, manifesting into a radiant aura that enveloped her form instantaneously.
A slender shield of red aura multiplied, layer upon layer, fortifying a bulwark akin to an invincible citadel.
This marked the maiden appearance of the ‘Invincible Citadel,’ a trait synonymous with McLaine’s premier female superhuman, known as the ultimate defensive ability for generations to come.
Clang!
Amidst a symphony of metallic echoes, the black aurablade assailing her was rebuffed.
Golden aura surged, dissipating the assailant without a trace.
Boom boom boom.
“Ahh, that startled me.”
One side of the royal chamber now in ruins, Logan exhaled a breath of relief, drawing Eileen close in a reassuring embrace.
… Though he soon withdrew with a wry smile, considering the formidable red aura barrier.
“I did promise not to impede you,” Eileen remarked with a hint of satisfaction.
Logan could only shake his head, chuckling in response.
As the royal couple basked in the joy of safety and relief…
“Your Majesty!”
This time, Victor, a beat behind, cried out in a mix of alarm and relief upon realizing the ordeal had concluded.
* * *
The king had narrowly escaped an ambush.
Unlike the previous incident a month prior, this event could not be shrouded in secrecy.
With the royal quarters in disarray, over a dozen bodies discovered, and an official statement confirming the king’s grave injuries from the assault, word spread swiftly.
– The assailants were skilled aura users specializing in assassination.
– There existed only one faction known to mobilize such formidable individuals.
Incredible as it seemed, the aftermath of the incident, broadcast by the McLaine royal family, reverberated across the kingdom and beyond.
The detailed disclosure, stopping short of implicating ‘that faction’ by name, left little room for doubt.
And among those affected, it was undoubtedly an individual in the western Empire who felt the most profound shock.
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