Satsuki I Refuse to Be Your Enemy! Volume 5

1. Auflage 2022
ISBN: 978-1-7183-0188-7
Verlag: J-Novel Heart
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, Band 5, 250 Seiten

Reihe: I Refuse to Be Your Enemy!

After a long journey across Farzia, Kiara and friends have made it all the way to the province of Trisphede, where both the enemy nation Llewyne and their ally Salekhard have assembled their troops. But as luck would have it, they find themselves face-to-face with Kiara's former groom-to-be and Achilles' heel, the viscount of Credias! When she and Cain find themselves in a tight spot as they fight for their lives, Kiara comes up with a last-ditch plan: handing herself over to Isaac in exchange for her bodyguard's safety. Will Reggie be able to save her from the king's clutches before she's forced to turn on her allies?

Autoren/Hrsg.

Satsuki, Kanata

Weitere Mitwirkende

Fuji, Mitsuya

Quinn, Tara

Leseproben

Chapter 1: An Unexpected Reunion at Liadna

Lord Credias’ plump cheeks jiggled as he moved his lips.

Although there was still quite a bit of distance between us, somehow I just that was what he’d said.

A chill ran down my spine. Two years had passed since I’d escaped my marriage to the viscount. It hadn’t been long before he’d stopped sending people to Évrard to fetch me, so I had always assumed he’d given up on me. Yet here he was now, staring at me with such in his eyes.

Despite inhabiting a clay body, Master Horace made a sound much like a click of the tongue. “I figured out the trick here, little disciple. Those magical presences were spread all over the place as part of a trap laid for you.”

“A trap?”

“You know how that Ada girl was a spellcaster, but you couldn’t tell because of the contract stone she always had on her? It’s the same idea. That viscount scattered contract stones everywhere to throw you off his trail.”

While Master Horace was explaining his theory to me, something was afoot around Lord Credias. Several moans emerged from the cacophony of clashing swords. Ten soldiers standing at the front lines had begun to scratch at their own throats in anguish; one had burst into flames, while another was growing stone pillars from his shoulders. Every single one of them had been turned into a defective spellcaster.

“Watch... out,” I tried to shout at Cain, but I could barely get my voice out.

This wasn’t looking good. When I got down from my horse, there was so little strength in my legs that I all but collapsed to the ground.

Slamming my knees against the earth really smarted. Lord Credias’ powers were taking their toll on me, causing my mana to churn painfully throughout my body—enough to make me slump over on the spot.

I wouldn’t let that keep me down, though. Lord Enister’s men were few in number, so he already had his hands full keeping the Llewynian troops in check, and Cain had no hope of taking on that many defective spellcasters all by himself. If ten defectives attacked all at once, other soldiers were bound to get caught up in the crossfire, and soon we’d have no one left on the front lines.

My only option was to take them out here and now. Still, casting magic felt like an uphill battle. Not only was I feeling too woozy to concentrate, but my chills were severe enough to leave me on the verge of tears. I scolded myself.

“I can manage with a bit of recycling!” To psyche myself up, I slammed both hands against the ground. Accompanied by a harsh grating sound, the patch of land-turned-sand expanded outward. The sand engulfed the feet of the nearby defective spellcasters—as well as some of the surrounding Llewynian soldiers—before solidifying.

Unfortunately, it didn’t have much effect on Lord Credias. His horse staggered after its hooves were caught in the sand, but that was the extent of it.

However, the knights under Lord Enister’s banner charged forward, taking advantage of the opportunity to strike.

“That was so reckless!” Cain yelled as soon as he’d made his way back to me. He wasted no time picking me up, setting me down on his horse, and taking off; thus, I didn’t get to see how many defective spellcasters Lord Enister managed to vanquish.

“Sir Cain...” Just taking my next breath took a monumental amount of effort.

Cain kept me tucked under his arm like a ball. “Quiet. Getting you away from him takes priority over anything else right now.”

He was trying to get me as far from Lord Credias as possible. Unless we put some distance between myself and the viscount, there wouldn’t be a thing I could to help. For now, I just had to pray for Lord Enister to hold out.

Not long after he’d broken out into a gallop, Cain glanced behind us. “Get down, Miss Kiara!” he cried hastily.

Before I could do as he’d instructed, he threw himself over me from behind, pushing me down against the horse. Moments later, a tree went flying right past us.

“What?!”

“The defective spellcasters are giving chase. I’m going to throw them off! Careful not to bite your tongue!”

“Uh, okay!” It was all I could do just to get out that reply. If I had tried to say anything more, there was a good chance I really would have taken off my own tongue.

Our horse dashed at breakneck speed through the gentle slopes of the woods. I was worried it was going to run us into a tree, but Cain spurred it onward, confident that it would steer clear of all obstacles.

Before long, the lethargy I’d felt had passed. We’d made it out of the viscount’s sphere of influence, presumably.

“I can use magic again, Sir Cain. Let me dow—”

I didn’t get to finish that sentence. A bolt of lightning tore through the nearby ground, drawing a cry from our horse as it bucked and threw us off. The only reason I managed to get out of it unscathed was because Cain had been cradling me in his arms.

“Are you alright, Sir Cain?!”

“I’m fine. I managed to stick the landing. However...”

Cain trailed off before breaking into a sprint, supporting my weight as he did. My legs still felt like jelly, but I did my best to keep up.

Someone flung a fireball at us from behind. Daunted by the explosion though I was, I managed to duck behind a particularly large tree for cover. When I glanced out from behind it, I saw three soldiers clad in the black capes of the Llewynian army, moaning and lumbering toward us. It was an ambush of defective spellcasters.

They looked like a bunch of zombies.

“Hey, little disciple,” Master Horace whispered while I stood there in a daze. “Something about these guys just isn’t right. I haven’t seen a single one of ’em fall apart yet.”

He was right. No matter how long we waited them out, their limbs never dissolved into sand, and they weren’t just blindly and mindlessly shooting off magic. And whenever they start spewing fire, too overcome with agony to hold it in, they were clearly taking aim at us.

“I’ve never seen defectives act like this.”

“Then... do you think they’re just regular spellcasters being controlled?”

“I doubt it. Just look at the way they’re moving; real spellcasters would have too much presence of mind for that.”

It was an unexpected and inexplicable situation we’d found ourselves in, but our only option was to fight back. Now that I’d gotten away from Lord Credias and could wield my magic at will, I jumped into action.

“Sorry!” I apologized as I cast my spell.

The earth beneath the defective spellcasters’ feet stretched out like a giant needle, piercing two of them clean through. Blood splattered and turned to sand before it could even hit the ground. The rest of their bodies soon followed suit, crumbling away into dust.

Meanwhile, Cain sprang toward another defective, weaving his way through the man’s onslaught of fireballs until he’d gotten close enough to take his head off.

“That was the last one, Miss—”

Cain went pale. It was pure instinct that I raised a wall of earth before I even had time to turn around; however, that wall was swiftly blown away. As I toppled over along with it, I once again felt every last bit of strength drain from my body, making it a struggle to get back up.

As soon as Cain had helped me up to my feet, he gulped.

“If it isn’t the very woman who fled from me! My, you’ve grown to look even more like Annamarie since the last time I saw you.” The moment that voice reached my ears, a shiver crawled down my spine.

There sat Lord Credias, no less than thirty mers away. Lined up in front of his horse were several defective spellcasters, their gazes all fixed on me as they shambled forward.

I shuddered to my very core. What accompanied the fatigue that washed over me was an overwhelming sense of hopelessness.

While I stood there paralyzed, Cain threw me over his shoulder and took off running.

“There’s nowhere to run. You and I have a magical connection; I’m something of a father of yours, after all. No matter where you go, I can tell where you are instantly. And the more you run, the more I’m going to make you suffer.” His threat was accompanied by a repugnant guffaw.

The defective spellcasters bolted after us. Lord Credias didn’t so much as budge. Perhaps he knew the exact range of his power over me, and thus was in no hurry; he was confident I would still be well within those bounds by the time his minions caught me.

“Sir Cain... Put me down...”

I knew I had to take out as many defective spellcasters as I possibly could. Yet there was nothing I could do while I was getting jostled around atop Cain’s shoulder, and I was still too weak to move a muscle.

“We’re too close for you to start helping.”

“But...!”

The defective spellcasters chasing after us weren’t all that fast, but unfortunately, magic was a projectile weapon in practice. With all the fireballs they were hurling at us, it was a miracle that none of...