'There, there, that one, and her. That dude there, mark that one too, the old man there, and the three with the robes. Do you see the tall woman with short hair near the fountain? Yea, leave her alone..."

While George gave his speech, I was busying myself, marking the hell out of people. I marked those who brought hidden weapons and magic wands; that way, we could spot some bad apples from the get-go and do something about it.

So, by having me pinpoint the overall description and where they were, Renata and her Shadows would then make their preparations. Ah, yes. She called the assassins under her by shadows, and I thought it was cool, so why not?

'Phew, now that's a lot...' I watched in content after laboring myself.

It took a lot of work and focus, but I managed to pull it off in the end. Maybe we missed some, but it's still the majority of them.

Now, all we had to do was single them out and subdue them one by one, which brought us to the next phase.

And this was where things got a little bit tricky. So, I had to use magic to slowly hypnotize them so Renata and the shadows could ambush them. And the hardest part was doing all that without them knowing any better.

Sure, I could brute force my work simply by relying on Word Magic, but it would take too much mana, more than I could afford for this plethora of assassins hiding in the massive crowds of people. Thus, I opted for the option to make it enough just so that they would lower their guards, and then Renata would take over from there.

If marking them was like placing a prank note on their backs, then what I was about to pull off was literally like trying to pull a Houdini on them.

It was far from easy. The targets were many, and there was only one me. So I had to put my game face on and get it done.

Could I do it, though? That was the question.

Without a shred of doubt.

'You'll slowly wander to the left...more...you'll keep daydreaming...slowly until you're out of it...' I could. Take this dude, for example...

As soon as the man flickered out of focus for a split second, a woman in her thirties, skin kissed by the sun, found herself beside the blank-looking middle-aged man. He has a huge scar circling around his cheek down to the back of his neck.

Fuming with unhinged rage, she unleashed a fearful chop to the base of the man's neck, and It was over just like that. Afterward, to the surprised onlookers, the woman acted out as though she was his wife, who hadn't seen him for days, only to find him acting like a wandering vagrant out there in the open.

I kept watching with nothing but praise for the way how they fetched the targets. It was straightforward and efficient to boot. Very satisfying, indeed.

After that, the series of abductions begin in earnest. I hypnotize, and the shadows kidnap.

We move seamlessly like flowing water. If this was a movie, then surely there must be jarring and festive background music playing right now while the camera pans out from the distance, showcasing the shadows on actions.

George has long since finished his well-wishing speech to the crowds, and now we're in the middle of the event's climax. Various performances were presented to please folk.

Singing, a play, knight's duel, magician's duel, more singing and dancing. I saw so many things today...

Thankfully, it worked in my favor. Hours later, after the peak performance from the best songstress in Dawson's Fief, we were finished with the job too. Catching them filthy rats by the dozen.

Now, the party ain't over, though, boys. Nah, I saved the main dish for the last.

'Now, let's see how well you can dance, woman...'

----------------------------------------

The stage was set, the actors were in position, and the curtain was raised.

'It's showtime...'

Holding a fist-sized mana stone in one hand and a short staff in the other, the magician with a plain brown dress closed her obsidian-like eyes and began her incantations, hidden among the masses. Her dark green hair with bright highlighted tips fluttered gloriously among the swirling gale that found her due to the invocation of her spell. She was standing there in the eye of the storm.

George and Maya rose to their feet. And so did the guards, who immediately formed perimeters with alarming shouts yet disciplined moves.

"A Master Magician...a very powerful one!" Exclaimed Helena somberly from behind.

At that point, Howard caught me in the eyes. I simply nodded at him and threw my gaze back to the lone figure in the fountain, separated from the chaotic crowd.

I could tell the minute changes on her face, finding the development not to her liking. She was searching left and right for something, albeit subtly.

'Yeah, sorry about that. Most of them got caught...' I smirked lightly. 'What will you do next?'

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As if to answer my question, the woman finished the spell.

A huge dome of water covered the huge area, trapping hundreds of lives within it. Majestic and beautiful it was. I have no other words than that to describe what I was seeing.

"A domain...? It can't be..."

My knowledge of magic was far from complete. So, I didn't exactly know what the implication behind Helena's words was.

But I did know that it was a race against time. Those trapped civilians had only so much of a time before they got choked out of their lives.

"Guards!!" Shouted George valiantly.

Dozens of fully armored knights sprung forward and assembled into a spotless phalanx in front of us in a split second. Auras from their bodies burned bright, followed by the enchantment from the magic division that arrived in order.

Tendrils and chains of water smashed down on us, yet none of them had been successful in getting past the soldiers that were guarding us.

An impeccable defense with outstanding timing. Truly a wonderful performance from the Ducal House of Dawson.

"Alyson, keep the children safe..." Maya handed Adam to Alyson before she walked out and stood beside George, who stared the threat right in the face.

"Men of Dawson!!" Bellowed George hard once again, addressing the soldiers and the brave citizens who were burning to take up arms against the unknown assailants. "This is the chance to protect our oath, our family! Go forth and bring me that wench's head!! Fight and die if we must, but do so after we vanquish the filth away from our home!!"

"HU-HAH!!!" Loud cheers broke in unison.

"Shields! With me!!" A big and janky bald old man wearing tight and heavy armor, with scars all over his head, screamed his lungs out as he braced his shield up and charged like a freaking bull, piercing toward the water dome.

Steams rose and leaked out from the joints of his armor. Following the man's lead, dozens of knights with similar attires ran like raving dogs, leaving behind clouds of smoke in their trail.

What greeted their sturdy, enormous shields were the menacing and relentless spears of water that barraged down without a moment of respite. It was like they were marching toward a monster with hundreds of sentient tentacles that looked forward to shredding them to pieces. It was brutal and breathtaking at the same time.

"Can they hold?" Asked Howard tensely.

"They will. They are the proud Lions of the North. Don't worry." Replied Alyson firmly.

'...They look a bit beaten up, though.' I commented inside while studying the mana flow of the huge dome. 'This is sturdy and complex...It will take too long if I want to break this while hiding my own tracks. Hmm...'

And while I was lost in my own thoughts, something occurred. The dome was shaking, albeit slightly, due to relentless assaults from the soldiers.

The woman in question screamed profanity in return, throwing her murderous gaze at the stubborn heavy knights who were still standing tall under her relentless assault.

"Another one! Fire!!" Another ear-curling shout pierced the sky. It didn't come from George but from a middle-aged man in a dark orange robe standing in front of the rows of magicians.

George and Maya, another duo of Master Magicians, were also finishing up their spells in tandem. Their timing was impeccable, just when the dome had been weakened.

Cutting the overflowing blue dress just above her ankle, Maya took a stance while she drew a calm and focused breath in. Expelling them in one go, Maya kicked the ground, throwing herself upward before she spun acrobatically in the air and whipped out a kick into the air. From there, a sigil matured and shone, seemingly absorbing the impact of her blow.

Born out of her kick or spell, a huge water serpent enveloped by a layer of hissing lightning flew out.

The serpent trailed the air and found the dome almost instantly, biting and contesting itself against the dome's body.

Meanwhile, George was similar to the textbook magic user at a glance, contrary to his wife. A huge sigil manifested atop his head while he fed the sigil the appropriate amount of mana it deemed necessary.

A gigantic spear made out of the earth emerged out of thin air.

What the spear lacked in speed, it compensated in the power it hid beneath.

It soon shot forward toward where Maya's spell was.

It was a flawless combination attack, no matter how you look at it. Taking in the similarities of elements between her and the enemy, Maya did a magnificent job of adding lightning on top of the water to boost the speed and piercing effect. She used speed to deal in the first blow and made a hole in the defense for George's spear to wring it open as a clincher.

It was good. It was way beyond good.

BOOM!!!

But the thing is, their opponent was not too shabby either.

The dome, which encompassed a huge area, had shrunk to accommodate its only master, successfully blocking the attacks from all corners that came to ask for her life.

Meanwhile, people who were trapped ran away as their lives depended on it.

"Hey," I whispered to the twins beside me. "Are there many Master Magicians like her?"

"...I don't know about many, but someone who dares to do this to your family is either a lunatic or someone strong...But I think she is a bit weaker than the teachers at the royal palace." Commented Howard.

'So, someone at her level is already close to the royal magicians, huh? Aren't they weak...'

"Huhuhu." A small laugh unknowingly escaped my lips.

"What're you laughin' at, you weirdo?" Retorted Helena.

I was laughing simply because it felt funny. I couldn't tell her that I think I could beat this woman and the royal magicians, now, could I? So, I laughed instead.

'Okay, that should've been enough, right, Renata? Let's end the show.' I sent a will to a far and particular alley, where my trusty helper was.

And then, I drilled my focus toward the panting magician, hovering in the air as the ball of a fierce torrent encapsulated her from all the danger that may come her way.

'You. I will give you exactly ten seconds. Run if you wish to keep your life.'

It was as clear as a day that I scared the living shit out of her because not only did she was shocked due to the sudden interference, she had stopped attacking the knights altogether.

From there, it was obvious what the woman's next move would be.

Escape...

Maybe ten seconds was too long because she cleverly reached out and nabbed a downed knight as a hostage to deflate the morale of her pursuer.

A very smart move on her part, I must admit. But it didn't mean that I'd let her do whatever she wanted.

'You kill the man, and you'll die.' A simple threat.

But it was enough to do the trick. Thanks to that, the woman threw the injured knight away after gaining some distance and fled with her tail between her legs.

Thus, the successful escape of the Master Magician from the eyes of Dawson's patrolling soldiers served as the mark of today's event.

And all that was left for us was to reap the rewards...