What she did was seemingly simple, but without high magical power, this would not be a magic of decent power. In fact, it required a high level of skill.
For the time being, she would try to stop them from acting in a way that might make them realize that Iris was not Iris. What she could do was to use magic to repel them and have them run back, and then chase after them.
If they leave the city, they would stand out. They would probably try to escape to their hideout in the city.
âBenedictâs nose would be troublesome. Even if she didnât get spattered with blood, if he smelled blood from afar, he would probably notice that she smelled of strangerâs blood. Then it was not a good idea to smash their hands and feet off⊠Hey, whatâs this unreasonable bondage play.
The fact was, the magic «Deodorant» existed, but if she went back home magically deodorized, that would be suspicious in another way. She had to get out of the situation in a way that would not attract Benedictâs nose.
Even if you look at the attack magic that Iris usually uses, there are many things that might cause the attacker to bleed. Fire magic will leave the smell of burning human bodies on you. To deal with these guys without leaving any smell and without any traces of the fight, she need to useâŠ
The charms protecting the two assassins lost their power, and ice fell onto their hands.
And thenâŠ
âGeehhh!â
With an audible sound, both of their arms were covered in ice.
The ice on both arms attracted to each other like magnets, and they adhered to each other, transforming into a single constraint.
This was a low-grade water elemental magic, «Ice Lock». It is a spell that creates shackles of ice to restrain the target.
It was intended to bind the target without inflicting injury, but if left unchecked, the frostbite would gradually become more severe and eventually lead to necrosis of the hand, which in itself was frightening magic.
This may have seemed a little strange, but no one would suspect that she was the most powerful Undead inside.
âNow, they wouldnât say, âIâm going to fight using capoeira because my arms are shackledâ, would they?
(TLN: Capoeira is some sort of a Brazilian martial art that uses mainly feet.)
Or if they were prepared to tear off their arms, they could fight by slamming the ice blocks on their shackles. However, it seemed that they had no intention of battling to that extent with any abandon, and the two of them easily turned on their heels, hit the run, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
They ran into the back of the narrower alley. Their movements were quick. It would be difficult to catch up with them in a chase. But with her Abyss Spiritâs ability to read feelings and moods, it would be easy to track them.
The hostility was no longer there, perhaps because they had given up on the attack. Slightly confused, slightly puzzled, slightly terrified. The pain was evident, perhaps because their arms were encased in shackles of ice.
After a moment of pause, the pain disappeared from both of them.
The assassins did not seem to be able to use magic, but if so, they would at least have potions for healing. They would have recovered when they took distance and hid.
âYou think youâve covered it up. Thanks for your efforts. So, the destination to which you flee isâŠ
Just as there was a branch of the Adventurersâ Guild that governed the territory in this city, there must be some sort of base of operations for the Night Pythons.
Adan and Jonas returned to the room in the apartment complex they were using as a temporary base and slumped against the wall.
Silence reverberated through the room, with only their ragged breaths echoing noisily in the air. Adan was the first to open his mouth.
âWeâre screwedâŠâ
Jonas remained silent. Adan knew that they had failed.
Adan took a piece of metal from his pocket and threw it carelessly on the floor.
It was shiny like gold, but was entirely blackened and smoked white like it had been burnt.
This was a charm. It was a disposable item that temporarily protects against magic.
The opponent was a fourth-grade Guard, a magician. Although they thought it would be a somewhat troublesome job, all they had to do was catch her while the magic was being withstood by the protective charms.
However, the charms broke in less than a quarter of the time that had been expected.
Even though she was a fourth-grade Guard, she was still just a kid. There was no way she had this much magic power. If soâŠ
âNight Pythons, they gave us second-hand goods.â
âI bet they did, damn it.â
Adan spit it out, and Jonas agreed. They thought they had been provided with charms that had already been used to a certain extent and whose durability was already diminished.
The two are only in the position of undertaking a dirty job for money.
What they were concerned about was the compensation and the penalty for failure of the mission. If the cause of the failure was on the side of the Night Pythons, they could come on strong in negotiations. In fact, they thought they could make a debt by putting their lives (or arrests) in danger.
If thatâs the case, so be it. Whether or not the Night Pythons would be in trouble for their failure was of no concern to them.
âThe next contact was tonight, right?â
âYeah, the usual place.â
âAll right. Weâll take turns resting until then.â
They nodded to each other. Never dreaming that they would be caught.