Reincarnated Hero System - Chapter 1231 - 1231: The ‘Stone Protector’ [Bonus 4]

Sharon’s Lady-in-Waiting, having already concluded that the fire was an attack, or at least part of one, scanned the gathering crowd warily for anyone suspicious.

She turned to Sharon, about to suggest they find cover since they were too exposed, but before she could speak, in the corner of her vision, she saw one of the emergency personnel tending to an injured maid affected by the fire reach into their first aid box and pull out something that clearly did not belong there—a crossbow.

“!”

The emergency personnel immediately aimed at Sharon and fired the crossbow, unleashing several arrows at near sonic speed.

Sharon’s knights reacted instantly to the threat. Their weapons were already drawn, and two of the six knights that surrounded her immediately swung their magic-coated blades, knocking the bolts up into the air.

A third knight charged towards the shooter, and in that instant, the bolts, reacting to the magic power that coated the blades that the knights had used to knock them away, exploded, unleashing a pulse of law energy across the area.

In the same second that Sharon’s knight’s blade sliced through the extended arm of the crossbow-wielder, a strange wave of universal law energy washed over all of them.

Immediately, lights flashed on the hands of several knights, dormant magic circles manifesting and activating, sending lightning coursing through their bodies at relativistic speed, immobilising several of Sharon’s knights.

Sharon’s Lady-in-Waiting also had a magic circle appear on her right palm, shocking her with lightning, since she’d been holding Sharon’s arm, the lightning transferred to the princess, the immense power nearly coursing into her heart.

Given that it was powerful enough to immobilise even a Level 700, it was obvious the damage it would deal to Sharon, who wasn’t even Level 200 would be immense, however, the Lady-in-Waiting, through sheer force of will, managed to let go of Sharon in the one second she could still move before being completely immobilised, sparing Sharon that deadly fate.

The other Living Legend within Sharon’s knights, along with several other knights, specifically those who had, earlier in the knight, reached out to grab and move away members of the crowd they’d encountered at the stairwell, also had magic circles manifest and deliver powerful lightning, paralysing them.

As if the sudden white lightning was a signal, several of the ship’s security personnel, including one who had been asking Sharon’s knights for an explanation about the fire, drew their weapons and charged straight at the princess.

But not all of Sharon’s knights had been immobilised, as not all had made contact with the crowd earlier, and those who remained mobile immediately drew their own weapons, and within seconds, a fight had broken out.

The rapid series of events stunned Sharon both physically and mentally, but she quickly calmed herself and tried to help her Lady-in-Waiting, the strongest and closest protector she had.

Despite the pain in her right arm, she bit her lips to clear her head and quickly noticed the lightning was coming from the magic circle on the older woman’s right hand.

Sharon understood that a magic circle capable of releasing lightning strong enough to immobilise a Level 725 existence was beyond what she could directly handle.

‘But what if I could disrupt it just a little?’ she thought, rousing her own magic power in an attempt to blast attack magic at it to interfere with it.

But before she could even act on that thought, the state of the ambient universal laws changed.

Law energy gathered around the Lady-in-Waiting and the other Living Legend, the magic circles embedded on them cracking and shattering under a powerful burst of energy.

The two Legendary-Level existences broke free from the restraints, roughly seven or eight seconds after being immobilised, though their muscles remained stiffened.

The Lady-in-Waiting dropped to one knee, and as Sharon reached out to support her, the older woman quickly created a shield with magic to protect the princess until her mobility was fully restored.

At that moment, an immense pressure descended upon the deck.

Everyone—Sharon, her Legendary-Level guards, the disguised assassins among the security & emergency personnel, her knights fighting them, and the genuine security & emergency personnel—was immobilised by the immense force of magic and law energy.

The intense magic, which the Living Legends immediately recognised as coming from someone at a higher level than themselves, bent the surrounding earth laws to the source’s will, causing the energy to swirl around the attackers and encase their bodies in stone up to their necks.

Pressurised streams of magic poured into their mouths, noses, and ears, overloading their brains, and their eyes rolled back as they lost consciousness within their stone prisons.

The immense magic pressure faded soon after, and Sharon’s knights recovered their mobility, while the magic circles producing the white lightning cracked and broke apart.

The princess’s Legendary-Level guards immediately turned their gazes toward the source of the powerful magic, who hadn’t concealed themselves after releasing the pressure.

From the gathered crowd, part of which had scattered when the security personnel suddenly attacked Sharon, a man stepped forward.

He wore a long overcoat over a simple white button shirt, the first two buttons loose, paired with black trousers and leather shoes, his hands in his pockets as he walked toward them.

“Now this is quite the situation you’ve found yourself in, don’t you think, Your Highness Sharon de Aelum?” he said.

Sharon immediately turned her gaze toward the man the instant he spoke, eyes widening lightly in recognition.

“Marquis Franco?”

“In the flesh, Your Highness Sharon,” he replied.

Sharon silently helped her Lady-in-Waiting to her feet, and as the woman regained full control of her body, Sharon turned back toward the man she called ‘Marquis Franco’.

He had earth-brown hair and brown irises that reflected the light with a faint gleam. The features of his friendly smile-wearing face weren’t especially striking, but he wasn’t plain either.

“Thank you for your assistance, Marquis Franco,” Sharon said, repeating his name with a slightly louder voice that seemed to echo in the near silence.

Some of the onlookers who heard her voice echoed her words, and soon the identity of this man became clear to those who didn’t know him by face.

Marquis Franco, a high-noble from the nation of Isolon and one of the most powerful people currently on the planet.

He was a Sovereign Level existence known by the epithet ‘Stone Protector’.

“You’re welcome, Princess. But before we speak of gratitude, there are far more important issues,” the Marquis said, turning his gaze toward the crowd.

A group forced their way through, armed guards accompanied by uniformed crewmen, and one man wore a cap bearing a symbol that identified him as the captain of the Voyager’s crew.

He hurried over with a walkie-talkie hanging from his waist, and when he came close enough to properly see what had happened, his face drained of colour.

One of the cabin buildings was engulfed by strange white fire, fractures ran across the floor in every direction, people in Voyager Security uniforms were trapped within stone prisons, and grim-faced knights stood with swords drawn around a Princess of one of the most powerful nations on the planet.

“I was told that the security personnel on this ship were meant to protect the guests, and yet I find not only did these security personnel do the exact opposite of that to Her Highness over here, but so did those responsible for handling the emergency and dealing with the injured from this strange fire that still hasn’t gone out,” Marquis Franco said, turning his gaze to the flames burning the suite cabin building.

He snapped his fingers, raising stone walls to confine the fire and stop it from spreading to nearby cabins, then looked back at the Voyager’s captain, who was lost for words, unable to think of what to say to explain the situation.

Just then, the walkie-talkie at his waist buzzed, and a worried voice echoed through it.

[Captain, we have an emergency on Deck Layer 5! We found some of our security officers unconscious in the bathrooms of the locker rooms! Their uniforms are all missing!]

The loud voice echoed across the otherwise silent deck, and Marquis Franco’s gaze moved down to the device hanging from the captain’s waist.

The captain quickly lifted it, pressed the button, and spoke into it.

“How many were there?!”

There was a little static, but soon the voice from before rang out with a reply.

[24…25! 25, sir!]

The captain immediately raised his gaze and counted the people encased in stone coffins.

To no one’s surprise, the number matched the number of security personnel who had been found unconscious with their uniforms missing.

“Well, it seems that the matter at hand just got a little more complicated,” Marquis Franco said, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Clearly, this was a meticulous plot to assassinate Princess Sharon.

The fire had been used to flush them out of the building, and the emergency personnel and security officers were actually impostors who turned to attack them.

The only part Sharon’s group still couldn’t understand was how the magic circles that immobilised them had been planted. Even the two Living Legends had been caught off guard by the dormant magic circles that didn’t release any energy until activated by the energy released when the crossbow bolts fired at Sharon exploded.

That wasn’t something they could understand until they interrogated the captured assassins.

Sharon frowned lightly, glancing at the people encased in stone coffins.

‘I understand it’s an assassination plan, but I doubt these guys know much, except maybe the one who fired the crossbow earlier. He’s probably the only one who can explain how they immobilised even my Legends.

Thinking about it further, there doesn’t seem to be any reasonable way for them to have escaped, even if they had killed me. They’re likely all disposables who don’t know much.’

Those thoughts ran through Sharon’s mind when Marquis Franco spoke again.

“But, matter of the impostors aside, I’m rather curious. The Princess here was in quite the precarious situation, and I can spot a few nobles in the crowd, alongside their capable guards, who offered no assistance.”

He scanned the gathered crowd, and some of the nobles who had occupied the suites adjacent to Sharon’s flinched under his gaze.

Ignoring them, the Marquis moved his eyes to the edge of the crowd gathered in the open seating area in front of the residential cabins, focusing on the only person still sitting and sipping a cocktail as if he hadn’t just witnessed the near-assassination of a princess.

Stopping on him, Marquis Franco asked, “But I wonder why our friend over here, who looks more than capable of helping, also didn’t raise a hand. Trusted the princess’s guards that much?”

Eyes turned in the direction Marquis Franco was looking, including Sharon’s, and when she saw the person seated at the table sipping his cocktail through a straw, her eyes widened.