Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 100 - Eighty-Eight: Assassination (Part Two)

Chapter 100: Chapter Eighty-Eight: Assassination (Part Two)

What is that thing?! Malin thought subconsciously.

He had never seen anything move so fast... A monster? Malin wasn’t sure whether to describe the shadow as a monster or an assassin, but it certainly wasn’t a spirit, or else it wouldn’t hide in the shadow behind his sister and it wouldn’t launch a silent ambush.

In a moment of thought, Malin also instinctively reacted, pulling vines from his sleeves that turned into a whip and coiled around the creature’s legs.

The latter had not expected to be trapped in such a way and, losing the struggle of strength, fell forward, uncontrollably tumbling to the ground.

Without any hesitation, it threw two daggers from its hands, then turned into mist and vanished from Malin’s sight.

Until now, aside from Malin and Maya, the majority of people hadn’t noticed, or they only saw Malin suddenly swing his whip, seemingly lashing at the ground, but when one dagger struck into the back of a tall, thin man and the other hit Colin in the knee, they finally understood what Malin was doing.

"An assassin!" The guard immediately shouted loudly.

Colin collapsed with a grunt, directing them towards Boone: "Quick! Protect him! The culprit must be after him!"

Dak hesitated for a second and then let out a thunderous roar. The roar forced the assassin out of thin air.

At this moment, he had already drawn two short swords.

Malin drew his revolver from his waist and pulled the trigger at the assassin. The gunshot caused the culprit to move sideways at great speed, the short swords in his hands deflecting the bullets, then he took a step forward and disappeared from Malin’s view.

"Be careful!" The instructor cast a luminescent orb, its dazzling brightness shifting the shadows, and the assassin, leaping out from the shadows, had to twist and sidestep before throwing short swords at Malin.

Then Malin caught the short sword without any hesitation and threw it back at the assassin, who effortlessly deflected it.

"His shadow jumping has a time limit!" After shouting loudly, Malin swept his World Tree vine whip towards the assailant, who leaped towards Malin.

So, Malin drew his revolver once more from the holster—having fired a shot earlier without time to reload, but that didn’t matter. Releasing his grip on the whip, Malin rapidly emptied the bullets at the target.

Four successive clinks echoed as the assassin blocked the bullets with his short swords.

This was Malin’s first encounter with a brute who could deflect bullets with short swords consecutively, which, to be honest, kind of threw Malin off.

However, since the opponent had made it clear he wanted to kill Malin, he snapped his fingers and a small branch catapulted into his hand, which he used to block the incoming short sword. Even though the assassin’s short sword was clearly not ordinary, it was no match for the divine tree branch in the hands of someone with a divine giant tree father.

Both Malin and the assassin raised their feet at the same time and exchanged kicks, with Malin coming out on top—then immediately regretting it. He had to lash out with his whip once again, otherwise, the killer would have darted towards Faye’s two brothers.

What a pain.

The whip coiled around the assassin once more, and the latter had no choice but to jump into the void again.

This time, with the subsequent luminescent orb appearing, there were no tangible shadows beneath anyone’s feet,

Similarly, with more and more guards around, the assassin did not reappear this time.

Malin looked around, making sure it was indeed safe before approaching Margaret—who had already begun the efforts to rescue her brother, with Duck guarding by her side. Seeing Malin come over, Duck nodded in gratitude, "Thank you, Malin, if you hadn’t controlled that assassin immediately, my brother and I would have certainly died."

"I certainly don’t want to see Faye devastated at your funeral," Malin said, then glanced at Boone who was still clutching his wound in pain. However, considering that treatments for serious injuries and potions had been applied, it seemed he would be fine.

"How did you find out?" Colin, who was already receiving treatment from the guards, waved Malin over.

So Malin led Maya over. "It was Maya who sensed something was amiss," he explained. "She said she couldn’t see Prince Boone and Prince Duck in the mirror." Turning to the still trembling Leopard Girl, Malin hugged her reassuringly, "Don’t be afraid, Maya, tell Colin what happened."

Maya recounted the events in full detail.

After listening, Colin glanced at Malin. "My goodness, I never imagined I would get to see a future orc prophet in my lifetime. We must keep this a secret and contact The Great Forest Land!"

"I don’t want to leave my brother!" Maya bristled anxiously.

Malin quickly comforted his sister, "Don’t worry, I’m here. Rest assured, nobody is taking you anywhere without your consent, I’ll knock them all down!"

While saying this, Malin felt a bit uneasy—today’s assassin was the most difficult opponent he had faced so far. He did not have the advantage in strength and nearly made matters worse with a misplaced kick earlier.

Fortunately, he had the small branches at hand.

"Don’t worry, Maya. I will have The Great Forest Land send a Divine Master to confirm. If you do not agree, no one will take you away. Please trust the Church of the Goddess of Harvest, we are not human traffickers," Colin said with a smile, then when the guard pulled out a dagger to continue treatment, the young man couldn’t help but cry out.

"Colin, it’s okay to cry out if it hurts," the guard comforted him.

"I’m not a kid," Colin responded, and then looked at Malin again. "After what happened today, you shouldn’t go out for dinner. There could be danger if you take Maya outside."

"Exactly, that’s why I’ve decided to have a messenger inform Clovis about it later. We’ll deal with dinner after we’ve caught the assassin," Malin nodded. Colin was right; by disrupting the assassin’s plans, the failed assassin and his organization—if there was one—would surely be furious.

If Malin left the safety of the Church now, who knows what might happen.

By this time, the Church’s protection Array was fully activated, and any unauthorized persons would be imprisoned in a void space used by the Church to deal with unwelcome guests.

If the assassin still wanted to stir trouble, it would be the end of him.

Unfortunately, according to the Array’s update, no assassin appeared, not even an uninvited dog.

This made Malin feel a bit of regret but also a sense of relief.

After all, this kind of assassin truly scared him.