As soon as that thought crossed his mind, a sharp blade sliced through the air from the shadows and shot directly toward him.
At the same instant, an image appeared in his mind.
The supernatural perception granted by his instincts allowed Arthur to predict the trajectory of the attack before the blade even completed its course. His body reacted naturally, dodging with ease.
The dagger flew past him and violently embedded itself into a nearby tree.
Arthur turned his head toward the direction from which the attack had come.
A smile immediately appeared on his face.
"So you've finally arrived!"
His voice sounded strangely excited.
The four figures who emerged from the shadows were momentarily surprised.
Seeing the almost relieved smile on the King's face, an uncomfortable feeling ran through their bodies. That was not the reaction they had expected.
The four exchanged brief glances before turning their cold eyes back to him.
"King Arthur... so you really planned to lure us here."
They were not fools.
How could they fail to recognize such an obvious trap?
This was not some hidden conspiracy but a deliberate provocation.
Even so, they had chosen to come.
Because if they let this opportunity slip away, they might never again get this close to King Arthur.
Regardless of the risks, they represented the interests of the Saxons.
They had to act.
"But unfortunately..." one of them said with a cruel smile, "you're still far too young and inexperienced."
A dagger suddenly appeared against the neck of an unfamiliar woman.
The man dressed in black displayed a dark smile as he pressed the blade against her skin.
"Our target was never you."
Arthur was surprised.
Instinctively, he turned his head.
Only then did he realize that Scáthach had disappeared from his side.
The truth became immediately clear.
The previous attacks had merely been distractions.
Arthur had never been the real target.
Their objective was the woman standing beside the King.
Even without much thought, it was easy to understand the plan.
The Saxons intended to use someone close to the King as a hostage and force him to accept their demands.
In their assessment, Artoria represented a much greater risk because she was armed.
The seemingly fragile woman standing beside Arthur, on the other hand, appeared to be an easy target.
And just as they had predicted, they had captured her without any apparent resistance.
The King himself had probably never imagined that they would choose the woman beside him as their target.
Artoria immediately stepped forward.
However, Arthur placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't act rashly."
Although she didn't understand the reason for the request, Artoria immediately stopped moving.
She trusted Arthur.
"What exactly do you want?" Arthur asked in a grave voice.
At the same time, he silently prayed that these people wouldn't do anything stupid.
His original plan had been to capture them alive so Morgan could interrogate them later.
If something went wrong now, they could all die and the entire operation would be wasted.
"All we want is a territory where we can live. Is that really too much to ask?"
The man in black pressed the blade even harder against Scáthach's neck while staring at Arthur.
"There's no need to be so cruel when dealing with people, don't you think?"
The blade lightly pressed against her skin.
A thin line of blood trickled down Scáthach's snow-white neck.
"If that's the case, why didn't you try talking to me instead of forcing me into an oath?" Arthur asked.
"No words in this world have any value," the man in black immediately replied. "Only oaths can be trusted."
His eyes remained fixed on the King.
"Swear an oath."
He raised one finger.
"First: you may never abdicate the throne."
A second finger rose.
"Second: you may not attack any Saxon for the next one hundred years."
His smile became more threatening.
"If you refuse..."
The blade sank a little deeper.
"This woman will not live to see dawn."
Arthur immediately raised a hand.
"Wait!"
Seeing the worried expression on Arthur's face, the man in black relaxed even further.
His smile widened with confidence.
"I'll give you only ten seconds to think."
"Ten."
Arthur's eyelids twitched slightly.
His mind raced.
Is there any way...
Any way to keep them alive?
"Nine."
The countdown continued.
His anxiety grew.
"Three."
"Two."
Suddenly, the man in black felt something move within his arms.
His gaze sharpened.
"Don't move!"
he roared.
"Do you want to die?!"
"Die...?" Scáthach quietly repeated.
As if she were genuinely considering the word.
"Actually..." She slowly lifted her eyes. "I really wanted to."
Her tone remained calm.
"But recently I've started reconsidering that idea."
Her crimson eyes met his.
"Of course, if you manage to get rid of me while I'm still thinking about it, I wouldn't mind."
A smile slowly appeared on her face.
But there was no warmth in it.
Only coldness.
"Unfortunately, incompetent assassins probably aren't capable of that."
The temperature seemed to plummet.
The assassin felt an icy chill crawl up his fingers.
When he looked back at Scáthach, he met those red eyes.
For the first time in his life, he felt fear.
Without hesitation, he struck with all his strength.
CLANG!
The metallic sound echoed through the night.
The blade struck a wall of ice that had instantly formed in front of Scáthach's neck.
Before he could react, a crushing force slammed into his abdomen.
The man was sent flying backward.
Even as he rolled across the ground, he did not panic.
He immediately began chanting a spell.
Flames exploded around him.
A massive fire dragon emerged from the darkness, illuminating the entire area as it charged toward Scáthach with terrifying presence.
Scáthach raised her head.
The wind generated by the flames caused her long hair to dance.
The red glow in her eyes seemed to reflect the fire itself.
She raised a finger, and an ancient rune formed in the air.
Instantly, countless ice spikes appeared before her.
The dragon collided with the frozen barrier.
Explosions of steam filled the surroundings.
Scáthach raised a finger again.
"She's a mage!" shouted the assassin who had been thrown away.
"We can't fight her from a distance!"
The four men immediately drew their weapons.
The next instant, they charged simultaneously like hungry beasts.
Trying to eliminate any possibility of escape.
The assassin displayed a cruel smile.
He had no intention of killing her.
Perhaps breaking a few bones.
After all, they needed her alive for negotiations.
CLANG!
The result, however, was completely different.
By the time they reached her, Scáthach was already holding a crimson spear.
The weapon blocked two attacks simultaneously.
The other two found themselves stopped by a wall of ice that had formed behind her.
One man lunged with a dagger.
Another attacked with a longsword.
Both struck at the same time.
Scáthach moved her spear.
The tip deflected the sword.
At the same time, she leaned backward as a dagger passed just inches from her face.
Scáthach placed a hand on the ground.
She bent her legs and launched herself forward.
Her foot struck one man's face, and at the same time, her spear thrust forward.
An explosion of blood stained the night.
"I understand a little martial arts as well," she said as she landed gracefully on the ground.
Behind her, the assassin wielding the dagger collapsed dead, his eyes wide with disbelief.
Scáthach turned toward the three survivors.
A satisfied smile appeared on her face.
"Come."
She lightly spun her spear.
"It's been a very long time since my last serious fight."
Her crimson eyes gleamed.
"So attack."
The three men instinctively stepped back.
Scáthach noticed and shook her head.
"Retreating from battle is cowardice."
None of them answered.
They simply continued backing away.
They had never imagined encountering someone so monstrous.
At that moment, two women appeared farther ahead.
Both were extraordinarily beautiful and completely unknown to the assassins.
The three exchanged glances and discreetly nodded.
Then they rushed toward them.
"Watch out!"
Arthur immediately raised a hand to activate his runes.
He wasn't worried about Scáthach.
But that didn't mean he would allow innocent people to be attacked.
Those two appeared to be noble ladies from some neighboring kingdom.
If anything happened to them, it would become a huge problem.
However, before he could even finish activating the rune, screams echoed through the night.
Arthur blinked when he saw that the two women had changed.
He rubbed his eyes and looked again.
The blonde woman was smiling gently.
Beside her stood a girl with long purple hair and a calm expression.
Arthur let out a long sigh of relief.
Merlin's illusions were absurdly realistic.
That old pervert was completely unworthy of trust.
And at the same time, terrifyingly reliable when it came to magic.
"Oh my..."
Morgan observed the three unconscious men scattered across the ground and let out a theatrical sigh.
"I had just stepped outside when I saw three men running toward me with such excited expressions."
She placed a hand on her chest.
"If I were an ordinary girl, I truly wouldn't have known what to do."
Then she casually glanced toward Agravain, who was approaching from behind.
Her smile vanished.
"Take them to the interrogation room."
(End of Chapter)