Chapter 59 Tragedy

Hearing the whistling sound, Albert looked straight into the distance at the building where the archer was lurking. His eyes were fuming with rage as he thought about how an elaborate assassination plot had been set up in the heart of Adenberd where Ethan was supposed to be the safest.

"You must pay the price!" Albert muttered calmly but in a sharp, dangerous tone as he extended his hand while focusing all his battle-sharpened senses to figure out the precise location of the archer.

Below his feet, brownish particles began appearing which then slowly stretched out all around his body. While a large number of particles went underground below, rapidly creating a sort of sensory network that immediately broadened his senses to multiple folds.

"Oh, Goddess of Earth—Lend me your strength, to pierce the strongest of walls and to pursue fiends to the ends of the Earth!" Albert incited the incantation as his eyes glowed with a brown flare.

A lance rapidly began taking shape on the palm of his right hand as the particles around him churned in excitement.

The old man who could have been easily mistaken for someone on death's door, at that moment looked like a Bloodthirsty Asura from the depths of hell who would pursue his enemies to the very end.

The archer suddenly felt a chill creeping through their spine as their instincts practically screamed at them, alarming of an imminent threat.

They immediately pulled the bow back hurriedly looking over at where the murderous intent was coming from.

"Shit!"

The archer blurted involuntarily out of sheer fright as they saw Albert and the large, glowing brownish-black lance in his hand.

The sight was nothing short of witnessing an ominous menace that had their name written on it. The archer heaved a deep sigh of resignation as they braced themselves for the horror that was about to come.

"Blessing of Earth, Gaia's Gaze!" Albert muttered calmly as the lance in his hand fully materialized.

He gripped the lance tightly as from below his feet, the essence of earth entered his body making his muscles visibly bulge up with immense strength.

Albert stretched himself backward while gripping the lace tightly, sending all the accumulated raw power from his body into it as he got into a throwing posture.

The assassin also readied themselves as they removed the string from the bow gripping it with both their hands from the middle.

The flexible bow unexpectedly transformed into an unusual, pitch-black yet sturdy stick that also exuded the same if not more murderous intent as the lance. The assassin sighed again, brazing themselves as they spun the 'stick' rapidly with unbelievable speed like a turbine, so much so that an unusual darkish force field was made while the 'stick' seemed to completely disappear.

Finally, the moment came when Albert threw the lance straight in the direction of the archer. All the strength immediately left his body as he gasped for breath and stumbled back coughing from the backlash.

The lance immediately broke the sound barrier creating a massive booming noise as it shot ahead, and in just a blink of an eye—it reached the assassin.

"Ahh!"

"Sprrrr!"

"Crack!"

A massive boom sounded as the lance struck the spinning bow/stick and its dark protective force field, followed by the agonizing cries and groans of the assassin as they went flying backward due to the momentum.

The lance disintegrated into particles shortly after the impact leaving behind the assassin with broken bones and internal injuries as they landed limply far away from their initial spot coughing up blood violently.

"Ahh… Agh! Fuck! I was a goner without this bow!" The archer muttered with a muffled voice disappearing into the shadows while glancing at the intact bow that had hot steam coming out of it.

~~~

Meanwhile back on the street where the attempt had happened.

Anicia performed a minor healing incantation as she supported Albert who was walking limply. The day had gone an absolute eyesore for her and yet she was still worried for others.

One question in her mind was why the innocent little girl who was injured after getting hit by the carriage had to die.

The four assassins tried their best to escape as they used something akin to a smoke bomb to flee. However, Ethan had already anticipated something like that so he had beforehand asked Earlene to use her blessing of wind in that case. Therefore the attempt was foiled.

While one of the four assassins went berserk in desperation fighting Willkie which got him killed in a gruesome manner.

The other two assassins saw that there was no chance of escape and so they committed suicide by slicing their throats—this was the first thing that surprised Ethan the most from the rather… exhausting day.

And lastly, the fourth assassin was easily captured despite many struggles. He also tried to commit suicide but to no use as Albert knocked him out smoothly before he could even think to do so.

Suddenly everything was over, Ethan was safe and the city was a mess. Some of the courageous people who had run off previously returned to check the situation. And almost everything turned silent after all the chaos that occurred in just a matter of a few minutes.

Almost, because the sobbing of two girls coming from the broken carriage could still be heard.

The adrenaline rush ended and Ethan finally looked around him realizing the scope of the incident. In front of the carriage, the corpse of the little girl had gone cold. At the roadside, many buildings had been destroyed. People who were injured in the whole fiasco were on the ground groaning in pain while two were even dead.

Ethan shuddered suddenly as he saw all the bloodshed and destruction. And then his attention finally went to the sound of sobbing and crying just behind him.

When he opened the half-broken carriage door, Ethan saw the corpse of the woman who he had freed from slavery. The carriage's floor and walls were completely bathed with her blood. The two little daughters of the dead mother were quietly sobbing in a corner holding each other tightly in horror and shock as they shuddered.

The realization finally dawned on Ethan that he too had killed another human being and a little girl at that. He also realized that many innocent bystanders had to suffer because of the assassination attempt on him.

Ethan felt nauseated as he saw all the blood and gore. Even though Ethan was a genius; but he was still a normal earthling to his core who had never seen blood in his entire life.

He finally couldn't control himself and puked his guts out in front of everyone. At this moment, Anicia came forward and gently patted his back to comfort him.

Ethan went inside the carriage as he tried to ignore the corpse with an arrow sticking out of it and approached the two horrified girls.

"Hey… no need to fear now… It's fine… Shh…Shh…" Ethan consoled as he got one knee in front of the girls and on the rear of the corpse obstructing it from the girls' sight.

He felt guilty that their mother had died in such a terrible way in front of them. Ethan knew that he was indirectly the reason for this.

The two girls' emotions broke out like water rushing from a dam. The both of them jumped into Ethan's arms as their muffled sobs changed into loud cries of despair and sorrow.

"Old Man Albert, please request father on my behalf to compensate everyone appropriately who suffered losses today," Ethan said in a sorrowful tone as he continued to console the two girls. His clothes had gotten all wet from tears and blood.

Outside the carriage, everyone including some of the city people witnessed this heartbreaking scene with sorrowful, moist eyes and downcast looks.

Willkie, Fred, Albert, Jason, and everyone else looked at Ethan with blatant admiration and respect. All of them had seen how calm and brave Ethan was during the entire incident. He was clearly the target of the assassination but not an ounce of fear on his face.