[Lucielle’s POV — Ashcroft Territory — Continuation]
The Fox Beasts.
Now, where I came from, foxes were...well...foxes.
People always called them cunning little creatures, and the wild ones certainly weren’t something you’d casually pet. The cute ones ended up in zoos behind thick glass, while the truly wild ones stayed far away from cities.
Normal people didn’t exactly wake up one morning and think, "You know what sounds fun today? Let’s wrestle a fox."
But this was a fantasy world. Apparently, common sense had packed its bags and left centuries ago. Here, fox beasts roamed freely across the northern forests as if they owned the land.
And honestly...they practically did. Unlike the foxes from my old world, these monsters weren’t the size of dogs.
No, they were as large as fully grown big lions; their snow-white fur blended perfectly with the frozen landscape, making them almost invisible until they decided they no longer wished to remain hidden.
Their ears were longer; their claws could shred through thick leather; their fangs could tear straight through steel armor, and as if whoever designed this world wasn’t satisfied with making them walking nightmares...they added one more feature.
They were almost completely immune to magic.
’Who the hell is the author again of this world?’
Whoever was responsible for creating this world clearly had a personal grudge against humanity. Everything here came with some ridiculous supernatural upgrade; dragons breathed fire, trees occasionally tried to eat people, and foxes ignored magic.
At this point, I wouldn’t even be surprised if the chickens could cast lightning.
But...
But...
But...
WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT I’D MEET THEM THIS EARLY?!!!!!! FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!
My survival instincts immediately took over, and without even thinking, both of my hands grabbed the back of Cassian’s coat firmly, very firmly.
I stood directly behind him like a frightened baby chick hiding behind its mother. Look before anyone judges me... In my previous life... I was already a weak, independent, overworked office worker.
Now I had reincarnated into the body of a noblewoman who probably couldn’t even lift a sack of rice.
So yes, I had evolved. From a weak, independent man... Into a weak, dependent woman. Life really looked at Minato Takahashi and said, "Congratulations. You will always be first in line for suffering."
In front of me...Cassian Ashcroft stood as still as a mountain, one hand rested firmly around the hilt of his sword, the silver blade reflecting the pale winter sunlight as he calmly pointed it toward the forest.
His expression didn’t change, not even a little. Around him, the Ashcroft knights slowly spread into formation, although there weren’t many of them...not a single knight stepped backward. Every sword was drawn and every pair of eyes remained fixed on the forest.
Then...I finally saw them, those yellow-green eyes, one pair, two pairs, ten, and twenty...more and more glowing eyes slowly appeared between the snow-covered trees. Low growls echoed through the frozen forest.
Grrrrrrrrrr...
The white bushes trembled, heavy footsteps crunched against the snow, and one after another... Massive foxes emerged from the forest; each one was nearly as large as a lion. Their thick white fur disappeared into the snow whenever they lowered themselves to hunt.
Long fangs protruded from their mouths as freezing mist escaped with every breath; their tails slowly swayed behind them...dozens of tiny blue crystals forming around the fur.
"I suddenly don’t want to explore the territory anymore in the future..."
"Just stay behind me; I will protect you," Cassian said as his one hand was on me, shielding me from them.
How exactly had we ended up in this life-threatening situation? Honestly? Nothing particularly dramatic. After finishing lunch, we had planned to return to the manor.
Simple, peaceful, and normal, but then winter decided to file a complaint. A blizzard rolled across the road without warning, burying half the path beneath thick snow.
The carriage became hopelessly stuck; several knights climbed down to clear the road while everyone else stood guard. Then without warning...one knight screamed as a giant white blur burst from the forest; something grabbed him by the leg, and before anyone could react...
WHOOSH!!
He was dragged screaming into the woods as if a ghost had reached out from beneath the snow.
Five seconds later the first Fox Beast walked out from between the trees, then another and another until we found ourselves...surrounded by creatures that definitely hadn’t appeared in Reina’s cheerful little summary of the novel.
I swallowed hard as everyone was already drawing their weapons.
SHIIIING!
Steel sang through the frozen air; the knights immediately formed a defensive circle around the carriage. Cassian stood at the very front, one hand rested on the hilt of his sword. His expression didn’t change, not even a little.
It was as if twelve monstrous beasts capable of tearing grown men apart were nothing more than an inconvenience delaying his schedule.
One of the knights lowered his stance. "Your Grace...there are twelve."
Cassian’s eyes never left the beasts. "Yes, now just focus on saving yourself."
Low growls echoed from every direction.
GRRRRRRRRRRRR...
The fox beasts slowly circled us; deadly eyes, white fur, and blue crystal-like frost gathered around their tails. The snow beneath their paws gradually froze into shimmering sheets of ice.
One beast lowered its body; its muscles tightened. The knight beside Cassian shouted, "COMING—!!"
The fox beast exploded forward; it crossed nearly twenty meters in the blink of an eye.
"So fast—!!"
The knight barely managed to raise his shield.
CRAAAAASH!!
The impact threw both man and shield across the snow before the beast could sink its fangs into his throat—
SHHHHK!!
A silver flash sliced through the air; for one brief moment everything became silent. The charging Fox Beast landed and took another step.
Then...its body split cleanly into two perfect halves, blood-painting the snow crimson.
I blinked.
The beast didn’t even realize it was dead. Cassian slowly lowered his sword; not a single drop of blood clung to the blade.
"...Holy."
I glanced at him because this is what you expect from a final villain of the novel, after all. The remaining fox-beasts snarled together, then all at once they charged.
The Ashcroft knights rushed forward without hesitation; steel clashed against claws as snow exploded into the air. One knight drove his sword through a beast’s shoulder, only for another fox beast to leap from behind.
"Captain!"
SLASH!!
Claws ripped across the knight’s back; he crashed into the frozen ground. Another beast immediately pounced.
"DAMN IT—!!"
The formation began breaking apart; these creatures didn’t fight like animals; they hunted together. They distracted, surrounded, separated, and then killed.
They’re using teamwork. Who teaches foxes military strategy?! Maybe it’s natural.
A fox beast suddenly broke through the line. Its glowing eyes locked onto...
Me.
. . .
. . .
"Do not...tell me...I am going to die again..."
. . .
. . .
The beast lunged, and my brain immediately screamed, NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! I DON’T WANT TO DIE.
And somehow in fear, my legs refused to move. "Lucielle."
Cassian’s voice reached me in fear, and then a powerful arm wrapped around my waist, and the world spun.
WHOOSH!!
Before I even understood what had happened... I was already behind him. The Fox Beast’s claws swept through empty air. Instead...
SSSHHK!!
Its claws grazed the back of my left hand.
"...Ah."
A tiny sting, nothing more. Just...a shallow scratch, a single line of red, one drop of blood rolled slowly down my fingers, and the battlefield froze.
Cassian looked down, at my hand and at the blood.
And an absolute terrifying silence.
Even as the fox beasts hesitated, the temperature seemed to drop; one knight swallowed nervously.
"Your Grace...Please remember we cannot kill them...They are the part of divi—"
Cassian didn’t hear any words of the knight; he simply stared at that single drop of blood, and suddenly his eyes became more deathly than those of the beast there as he lifted his head.
For the first time since I had seen him, I saw something far worse than the coldness in his eyes. His ocean-blue eyes had become frighteningly empty, as if all warmth had vanished from the world.
The pressure rolling off him felt suffocating. One of the knights unconsciously stepped backward. Cassian finally spoke; his voice was too quiet.
"YOU..."
No one knew whether he was speaking to me or to the beasts. Then the snow beneath his feet exploded; he became a silver blur tearing across the battlefield. The first Fox Beast never even saw him. Its head flew through the air.
The second tried to dodge, and its entire body was cut apart before it could land. The third opened its jaws; Cassian’s sword pierced straight through its skull.
No hesitation and no wasted movement. Only precise and merciless slaughter. One beast attempted to flee.
Cassian appeared before it; his sword moved once, and the beast collapsed. Another tried attacking from behind, without even turning... He drove the blade backward through its heart.
Blood sprayed across the white snow; the white ground became silent except for the sound of steel cutting flesh. One after another...the fox beasts fell, and none survived longer than a heartbeat.
The knights had stopped fighting, stopped breathing, and stopped moving.
They simply watched because this was an execution. Within moments...all twelve Fox Beasts lay motionless across the snow; not one remained alive.
Cassian stood alone in the middle of the crimson battlefield; his silver hair fluttered gently in the cold wind, and drops of blood slid quietly from the edge of his sword, his armor, and his face. He totally looks like a psychopathic serial killer.
I stared at him with unbelieving eyes because he was more dangerous than the Reina narrated him to be. I looked down at the tiny scratch on my hand, and I think... I finally understood... Why the entire empire called him...
The Grim Reaper Grand Duke.
A strange feeling settled inside my chest because after everything I had heard about Cassian Ashcroft, after every horrifying story, the very first thing he had done was throw himself between me and death.
But before we could recover from all this---
GRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWLLLLLLLLL!!
The earth trembled; the sound crashed through the forest like thunder. Snow fell from the trees as another heavy impact followed.
BOOOOOOOM!!
BOOOOOOOM!!
The ground shook beneath our feet; every instinct inside my body screamed to run. The surviving knights immediately formed another defensive line despite their wounds.
One of them shouted, "Everyone, stay alert!"
Before I could even react, a powerful arm wrapped around me. Cassian pulled me behind him; his cloak shielded me from the open battlefield. I instinctively grabbed the back of his coat with both hands.
He didn’t look back; his eyes remained fixed on the forest as I asked, "W-what’s going on?"
"Just stay behind me," he said, still shielding me.
And then something massive stepped forward; branches snapped one after another.
CRAAACK!! BOOOOOM!!
And then a gigantic fox emerged between the shattered trees. Its body was nearly the size of a young dragon. Snow-white fur covered most of its enormous frame...but crimson streaks spread across its back like rivers of fresh blood.
Its nine enormous tails slowly swayed behind it; each movement caused frost to bloom across the ground, amber eyes cold, ancient, and far too intelligent as its gaze swept across the battlefield.
Across the fox beast corpses.
Cassian’s grip around his sword tightened. For the first time...the grim grand duke frowned, and the giant fox beast’s amber eyes glanced at us with pure fury, asking,
"HOW DARE A MERE HUMAN LIKE YOU KILL MY DIVINE KIN!!!"