What’s the difference between a duel and an assassination?
In the former case, it could be defined as a fight that takes place to determine victory or defeat with explicit or implicit consent from both sides.
In the latter case, one would immediately divide the two figures into a victim and an aggressor. Unlike a duel, the act of assassination is secretly executed, operating under a principle of stealth.
But here.
For the Madame holding a black parasol, the boundary between duel and assassination was itself a blur. Thus, she had not judged or evaluated such actions carelessly for some time.
To stand before an enemy and fight boldly was close to a duel, but bestowing death without the opponent noticing was closely tied to assassination.
It was the same this time.
Taking a life felt like a kind of loneliness for her, so quiet and solemn.
A soft violet ray flew first toward the girl with black hair, painting a delicate picture, but…
“……”
The girl barely managed to throw herself onto the bed, evading the Madame’s assassination.
Standing right next to her, Ares Helias was engulfed in fear towards the Madame, unable to react or even comprehend the situation.
Tap tap.
The Madame tapped the old, dark brown floor with the end of her parasol.
“……”
“Ares, get ready to run.”
The black energy seeping from Rin’s pajamas started to dampen the room like a street after rain, noticeably trembling the corners of the Madame’s eyes.
“Authority?”
‘I know this.’
Noticing she was not an ordinary person was one thing, but to realize it at first sight? Rin took a deep breath, tightening the collar of her pajamas to hide her tension.
‘Why is she targeting us?’
At first, she thought it was obvious that the Madame had come after Ares. He must have learned a secret that he wasn’t supposed to know, so he was being silenced.
But there were discrepancies in that reasoning.
The information that Ares Helias possessed was simply, “The nun of Helios has killed the nun of Demeter and fled.”
However, he added this at the end.
The Cathedral Side seemed to have no intention of hiding this incident and might announce it at any moment.
‘Trying to silence Ares with something that the whole of Batian will know about tomorrow seems odd.’
In the midst of this coercive and unjust violence, Rin wanted to buy time by talking in order to gather information, but it was far from easy to extract anything from the woman with a chilling smile at her lips.
“Why are you doing this to me?!”
But sometimes taking action rather than thinking it through is the right answer.
Just like Ares Helias was doing right now.
Was the injustice in his voice just the right amount of amusement? The Madame responded with a slight smile.
“Just like you and that child have the unique ability of divine power. I also have a bit of a special sense. I call this the Sixth Sense.”
“……The Sixth Sense?”
Usually, when a person is born, they possess five basic senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.
Of course, Rin had read about other senses being discovered through books, but that wasn’t important right now.
Typically, the Sixth Sense refers to some sort of supernatural ability, and the Madame nonchalantly declared that she had such an ability.
“My sense is telling me that if I chase after you, I can find some clues.”
“Clue?”
“Yeah, it was quite fortunate to encounter a child with Helios’ imprint. It was quite wise of you not to go directly to the nun.”
A sense that the conversation was going awry made Ares’s expression briefly stiffen, but the Madame did not miss that, slowly furrowing her brow.
“You don’t know, do you?”
Though she had said nothing, it seemed she had grasped everything, sighing deeply.
“You don’t know anything about the fled nun of Helios. You really thought that the child with an imprint just visited the Cathedral? But…”
The Madame kept tapping the floor with her parasol as if organizing her thoughts. It echoed like a warning for the two students to stay still and wait.
But the two weren’t just going to stand there.
In a weaponless situation.
Rin gathered mana and channeled it into her fist, twisting her body to smash the window and throw herself outside.
‘If I stay here, I’ll end up dead.’
It didn’t seem like she would apologize for misunderstanding and leave. She would be silenced one way or another.
No longer a childhood friend, as soon as Rin landed on the street, Ares followed closely behind. They both exchanged glances, ready to jump away.
“Uh?”
Something sprang from Ares’s thigh.
It was hard to see precisely, but Rin caught a glimpse of a violet butterfly flitting by.
Krrk!
Ares Helias rolled on the ground, clutching his thigh. Blood poured from the clean hole in his right thigh as if a faucet had been turned on.
“I’m also quite fond of night walks.”
Despite jumping out of the hotel window, not even a speck of dust clung to the Madame, and she approached them with a relaxed stride.
“Even though it was unintended, it turned out to be more fruitful than expected. To have two people with a divine imprint is quite a stroke of luck.”
“Don’t think it’ll be that easy.”
The black energy was now beginning to surge from her entire body.
Without a sword or staff, Rin’s bare hands trembled, but she squeezed her fists tightly to hide it.
“I’ll admit your power is certainly impressive. If you had handled that power a bit more skillfully, I might have had a tough time as well.”
The Madame chuckled behind her hand, smirking.
“But beautiful lady, during the night. Especially on a night when such a thin crescent moon is out…”
The violet rays began to move again. Although Rin cut through them with the black energy, it was futile.
Fwoosh, fwoosh.
Two new lines of attack appeared from behind, piercing through Rin’s thigh and armpit.
“Gah!”
Instinctively expelling a gasp of breath, Rin stumbled forward. The turbulent black energy immediately wrapped around her to protect its owner, but—
“In the pitch-black darkness, what one must be most wary of is indeed the light, my lovely girl.”
A faint violet glow clearly manifested before Rin. What had started as one soon became three. Then, it multiplied.
Before long, it transformed into a swarm of butterflies.
A multitude of violet butterflies fluttered around, seemingly protecting the Madame who was out for a night stroll.
In the midst of it all, the Madame received the moonlight pouring down onto her, smiling like a crescent moon.
*
“Ugh, huh.”
Unfortunately, the place where the nun of the sun god had awakened was a cold, dark room where she could feel no trace of the god’s grace she had faithfully believed in.
As she heavily lifted her eyelids, nun Lucia tried to extend her hand to check her surroundings, only to realize something was binding her limbs.
Slowly scanning her surroundings, all she saw was darkness. Although the gag in her mouth hindered her breathing, Lucia took slow, deep breaths, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dark.
While not everything became clearly visible, the outlines began to appear softly, like a rough sketch of a painting.
‘Ah…’
Recalling what had happened to her, Lucia began to weep as if waiting for the right moment.
Someone supporting the nun who served the goddess Demeter had sent an assassin after her. Thanks to May, her reliable friend, she had returned to the Cathedral, ready to confront Demeter’s nun, but…
‘She was already… dead…’
It didn’t end there.
The priest she had trusted her whole life had knocked her out with medicine on a handkerchief.
It sent chills down her spine, yet she didn’t want to believe it.
How could the one person she trusted and relied upon betray her?
What on earth was happening?
In this situation, Lucia thought it more appropriate to seek a way to escape by taking action rather than simply being afraid, but she couldn’t move at all.
Even though she carried the grand title of Saint Candidate, in reality, she was just a simple village nun.
In other words, she could be called an ordinary country girl.
In this coercive and violent situation, all she could do was cry, with no means to resist.
Suddenly, a piercing light filled the room with a creak.
A lamp gently illuminated the priest’s face from below.
“Ugh! Ugh!”
Struggling to beg for mercy, Lucia flailed, but the priest merely smiled gently, making the sign of Helios.
“Lucia, you must be quite startled…”
“Ugh, ugh!”
“But this is for the god’s sake. You are about to become a martyr.”
“Ugh!”
“I will explain it to you slowly. I’m sure you’ll empathize and understand once you hear it.”
“Ugh!”
“Shut up!”
A fierce impact jolted the back of Lucia’s head, and she could sense her slightly clearer vision shaking once again.
Amidst the swirling sight, Lucia watched as the priest grabbed her mouth and slammed her head against the wall.
“Be quiet, Lucia. Isn’t it hard to endure the noise?”
“Ugh…”
Desiring to say something, but fearing another blow to her head, Lucia remained silent this time.
“Alright, very well. First, the nun you supposedly killed. That is to say, you were framed for killing the nun of Demeter; she was the confidant of the First Prince.”
What on earth is that?
I killed her? Framed?
Lucia had no idea what was happening, but the priest continued to speak without any regard for her confusion.
“How dare a mere dog of the royal family carry the holy name of a saint? Isn’t that so, Lucia? That’s why you became a sacrifice. You killed Demeter’s whore and burned your own body to provide us with warm light.”
Just like Helios.
