Chapter 544: Trump Card

“Un... undercover?”

The blade of mana pierced through flesh and blood. The burned area gave off a nauseating scorched stench as a violent, foreign mana surged into his body and, in an instant, threw Coton’s internal mana circulation into complete chaos.

He coughed up bright red blood, the vitality in his body flowing away at a terrifying speed, yet disbelief still lingered on his face.

Because reflected in his eyes at this moment was that square, resolute face—his most trusted subordinate all this time, the vice-captain who had followed him for so many years, his firmest right-hand man.

Vice-Captain, Nell.

Even for something this classified and monumental, he had never once doubted him.

So now, the word “undercover” coming out of Nell’s mouth felt all the more theatrical and stabbing.

Even Sineel over to the side, who should have been just waiting for death, was dumbstruck. He had considered that if that damned Slav could contact him under circumstances like these, there might be some kind of backup plan—but he had not expected...

That this thick-browed, wide-eyed Nell was actually a damn undercover agent too?

He was actually an undercover agent? Who could have thought he was an undercover agent?

For a split second, Sineel felt that when it came to being an undercover agent, he really was not all that professional. He might even only count as a complete amateur.

“Why... why?”

Coton’s expression twisted as he demanded,

“Nell, after all these years of friendship between us, what I get in return... is your betrayal?”

“This isn’t betrayal, Coton.”

Nell let out a sigh, his gaze complicated as he said,

“From the very beginning, I’ve belonged to the Campbell family.”

“From the beginning, Campbell?”

Coton’s pupils shrank. He obviously knew as well about the current hostile relationship between the Campbell family and the Inner Council.

“That’s right. I only became your partner after joining the Royal Mage Corps, but before that, back when I was still studying at Saint Maria Academy, I was already following Duke Campbell, who at the time was also just a student.”

As Nell recalled that far-off time, he still felt unspeakably full of sighs. Back then, how many people, how many geniuses, had been awed into submission under that Lion King’s halo?

“His Grace saved my life. It’s just that very few people know about this, of course—you all didn’t know either.”

“So that’s why the Inner Council never suspected you?” Coton ground his teeth.

“Why would they suspect me? It’s been more than ten years since I had any contact with the ducal estate.”

Nell took out the dragon-slaying sword emblem that symbolized the Campbell family and smiled.

“Honestly, I never thought I’d see the day I’d be activated again. I originally thought His Grace no longer needed me.”

“More than ten years without contact, and the moment he calls, you go running back wagging your tail like a dog?” Coton sneered, full of contempt for Nell’s kind of stupid loyalty.

“Of course. But that’s not the only reason I did this.” Nell locked eyes with Coton and said quietly.

“Not because of being undercover?”

Coton was stunned. “Then it’s...”

“You went too far, Captain.”

Nell pulled the blade out of Coton’s body. Blood spurted out at once, splattering and staining the ground around them red.

Nell turned his head to look around. After that explosion just now, the middle of the road had already been reduced to a complete ruin. The residents of the surrounding blocks had probably all been jolted awake by that commotion, and yet it was still quiet all around.

Those ordinary people who had long since grown used to living humbly in the Lower District did not even have the courage, at a time like this, to obey their curiosity and secretly peek out.

“Really, you went way too far.”

“You... heh, I didn’t think you’d turn out to be just as much of a moron as that Sineel, you bastard!”

Coton’s expression grew even more ferocious from the pain, but several scrolls floated up around him and, as the fierce magic they released instantly tore apart the ground around Nell,

Nell had already dodged swiftly, as if he had predicted it.

He dispelled his blade, flickered to Sineel’s side, grabbed his hand in one motion, and helped him guide his mana flow, quickly repairing his injuries.

“And you too, Sineel. You really didn’t let me down; you did even better than I imagined.”

“You...”

Sineel’s eyes widened, then he quickly reacted.

“You’re the one who passed me the contact information?”

“Yeah. I originally thought you’d just stir up a bit of trouble and I’d look for a chance. I didn’t expect you to completely shatter their plan all by yourself.”

Nell clapped Sineel’s shoulder hard. “I really didn’t misjudge you!”

“Vice-Captain Nell...”

Sineel’s nose stung with emotion. In a situation like this, even that ferocious face of Nell’s—enough to make children cry—didn’t seem so scary anymore.

“Can you still move?”

“Of course. My injuries have already recovered quite a bit!”

Sineel sprang to his feet. The heart that had already sunk into despair ignited with the flames of hope once more.

“You two... think just the two of you can change the outcome?”

Just then, Coton staggered to his feet.

Blood was still flowing from his wound, the charred injury continually worsening, and the mana he poured in to maintain his strength was constantly tearing his body apart.

But as several magic devices were activated and slowly floated up, the injuries on his body were quickly stabilized.

Nell’s gaze sharpened. Mages really did have fragile bodies, but an experienced and powerful mage, in possession of a large number of magic tools, was very difficult to kill.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t wanted to stab Coton’s vital points with that blow just now—it was that all of Coton’s vital spots were protected by magic devices. Even a sneak attack couldn’t kill him in one strike.

“As expected of Coton, huh. So you really can’t be dealt with that easily?”

Nell shook his head with a bitter smile, then glanced to the side again.

“Sineel, are you scared?”

“Ha, at a time like this, what’s the point of talking about being scared or not?”

From the corner of his eye, Sineel glanced around. The other mages, after the chaos just now, had one after another come back to their senses. Under Coton’s command, they surrounded this place once again.

The hope Sineel had ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ just rekindled was once more extinguished by reality.

However, what was different this time was that, as long as this guy—whom he had previously found so annoying, yet now felt incomparably reliable—was standing by his side, he actually was not all that afraid or desperate.

At worst, they would just die.

“Good. Coton isn’t someone who eats grass, after all. Since that’s the case, I can only bring out the trump card I’ve never shown to outsiders—my last-resort ultimate move!”

Nell’s tone grew heavy as he spoke slowly.

And the moment those words left his mouth, whether it was the surrounding mages encircling them or Coton himself, their expressions all grew solemn.

Given how rigid and strict Nell usually was, any “trump card” he spoke of would definitely be an extremely terrifying move—he might even drag several of them down with him on his way to the grave.

Thinking that, everyone grew a little hesitant, unwilling to be the unlucky sap who stuck his head out first.

And in the few seconds while they were hesitating, Nell had already fully unleashed his trump card.

“Secret Art... Spatial Transfer!”

Nell took a deep breath and shouted. In an instant, a vast surge of mana erupted. After the high-speed chanting he had long since prepared, the space behind the two of them began to twist at once.

“Huh?”

Sineel didn’t manage to react in time for a moment.

Not only him, but the others also failed to react.

Nell’s so-called trump card was actually... Spatial Transfer magic?

Nell’s mouth crooked into a smirk. “I’ve known all along there would come a day when my identity was exposed, so from the moment I joined the Royal Mage Corps, I’ve been secretly training Spatial Transfer magic. In this entire mage corps, there probably isn’t anyone who can cast Spatial Transfer faster than me... And now, this power finally has a use!”

“So that means...”

Sineel slowly turned his head to look at thick-browed, wide-eyed Nell. “Your so-called trump card is... running away?”

“What else?”

Nell looked utterly matter-of-fact. “Two against nine—do you take me for an idiot?”

“...”

“Don’t just stand there, dumb kid—run!”

Before the words were even fully out of his mouth, Nell shoved Sineel into the spatial passage in one motion, then, at a speed faster than lightning, jumped in after him before anyone could react.

Right before the intense vertigo from Spatial Transfer hit him, Sineel was once again completely sure.

This guy was definitely cut out to be an undercover agent.

......

......

“Cough... cough, cough...”

In an unknown location, after riding out the dizzy, nauseating aftermath of the intense Spatial Transfer, Sineel raised his head and looked around.

This seemed to be somewhere by a river. A slightly chilly river wind blew over the surface of the water, and the faint mist made it hard for him to see very far.

Not far away, Nell’s tall back stood straight on the riverbank, giving a person a strange sense of reassurance.

“Vice-Captain Nell, you...”

Thud.

Before Sineel could finish, he saw Nell’s body sway and collapse limply to the ground.

His face went pale at once. He hurriedly rushed over and grabbed Nell, propping him up.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine... at least for now.”

Nell gave a bitter little wave of his hand. “That old bastard Coton is as terrifying as ever.”

Sineel lowered his head and saw that Nell’s abdomen had at some point been pierced through by a spell—no doubt payback for the sneak attack from earlier.

Fortunately, it wasn’t life-threatening.

Sineel let out a breath of relief.

After a bout of flustered scrambling, the two of them found a place to hide, lit a campfire, and began to recover their strength.

“Tell me, is this really okay?”

Poking at the firewood with a stick, Sineel asked in an offhand tone.

“What is?”

“Running away. Unlike me, the order you got, Vice-Captain Nell, should have been to stop Coton and the others from assassinating the eldest prince, right? We just ran off like this, but they still have the strength left to carry out the assassination.”

Sineel was still full of feelings about what had happened tonight.

One unexpected thing after another had piled up until he felt half-numb.

But... so that Slav named Bruce was actually on Duke Campbell’s side? No wonder he was so rich.

“No problem, huh? If you bail like this without finishing the mission, won’t the Campbell family blame you?”

“Heh...”

Listening to Sineel rambling on and on, Nell stared up at the ruined ceiling of the abandoned house and suddenly showed a strange smile.

“Kid, who said my mission failed?”

“Huh?”

Sineel froze, asking in bewilderment,

“You call this not failing? You saw it too—Coton may be injured, but he hasn’t completely lost his fighting strength, and the others are all fine. If they go to assassinate the eldest prince...”

“I have a trump card.”

“But isn’t your trump card running away?”

“...You brat, getting cocky now, huh? Who said a last-resort trump card can only be one?”

Nell gave Sineel a not-too-hard kick and chuckled.

“Relax. The trump card I just gave Coton is vicious as hell. It’s an ultimate move that smashes ten thousand arts with brute force. A mere Coton won’t be able to withstand it.”