The Death Mage that doesn't want a fourth time

76 To adventurers at the Adventurers' Guild -

After being betrayed by her stepfather and sold to a slave trader, Marie was stricken by despair.

Marie's real father had died while she was young and her mother had remarried before dying of disease. Deciding that he couldn't raise a daughter that he wasn't related to, he ignored Marie's mother's final wish and sold Marie.

Betrayed by someone she had loved like her real father, Marie gave up hope in living.

A girl in her early teenage years like her wouldn't be purchased by a brothel unless she had been blessed with exceptional looks. It was common for such girls to be bought at cheap prices and worked to death performing harsh manual labor in a mine.

Nobody could blame Marie for falling into despair.

"Fufu, what a beautiful bride. Please tell me your name..."

That was why she actually felt relieved to learn that she had been given to a Vampire as payment, thinking that it would all be over soon.

Even if by some miracle she was blessed enough to be purchased by a good buyer and set free one day, she no longer had a family that cared about her.

Living out her remaining decades in such sadness would bring her nothing but pain.

"So, you are unable to speak... It matters not. I will soon be able to taste everything with these fangs and this tongue."

As the Vampire's fangs were revealed, his well-featured face twisted into a beast-like expression.

As those fangs closed in on Marie's neck –

The window, which contained glass unlike most other windows in the city of Niarki other than the windows of the lord's house, shattered and glass scattered across the floor.

"What?! Guah!"

Black shadows flashed past his back and his sides, each of them causing a spray of blood to erupt from his body.

Marie simply stared blankly at this unbelievable sight. The being in front of her was a Vampire, an embodiment of evil that was supposed to be defeated by champions or heroes. Someone was tearing such a being into pieces in a one-sided fashion.

"Damn you, you coward!" the Vampire cursed. "Wounds like this will soon...!"

"They won't heal," said a voice. "These are kunai that apply the Holy Son's Healing Negation."

"There's also deadly poison on them that works on Vampires," said another.

"W-what?! That can't... be... Gobuh!"

With blood spraying from his mouth as if he were a fountain, the Vampire stopped moving.

The Vampire that was supposed to grant Marie an end to her life had perished.

His corpse had even been carried away by a masked Titan.

Vaguely wondering what would happen to her now, Marie was overwhelmed with fear. Instinctively, she picked up a sharp fragment of glass.

"Wait."

Before Marie could bring the piece of glass to her throat, the smaller assassin had grabbed her arm.

"Why are you stopping me?!" she demanded. "I'm begging you, please let me die!"

"No!" said the assassin. "It would be problematic if you were to die!"

"Why?" she asked. "You can find people who can replace me if you look just about anywhere!"

"There's nobody who could replace you!" said the assassin, with a forceful tone to his voice.