The three remaining on the rooftops were likely long-range mages. They didn’t need to engage in close combat to cause damage.
But Eyolian wasn’t worried about them in the short term—the mages on their side had already cast a small magic barrier around Mr. Eldric’s work area. Two of them focused on maintaining the barrier, while the other two remained to supply Mr. Eldric with raw mana.
All Eyolian had to do was deal with the five warriors quickly and then shift her focus to the mages above.
With that thought, power surged through Eyolian’s body, her sword glowing with a sickly white light.
She had already identified her target—a man in black, wielding dark daggers in both hands. She had marked him as the most dangerous. Not because he was the strongest, but because she had struggled more than she liked to sense his faint presence.
Her early attack would take her out of the defensive formation, a flaw the attackers would exploit, putting her comrades in imminent danger. But Eyolian was confident in her ability to take down the assassin quickly without escalating the battle further.
First, because she trusted her own strength. And second, because she was certain her opponent would underestimate her.
If she attacked recklessly, they would likely welcome it. Who wouldn’t want to eliminate a reckless and weak opponent? After all, she was the weakest—whether among her comrades or the enemy itself.
Besides, her appearance didn’t help. Who would expect a delicate and beautiful girl like her to be capable of cold-blooded killing? They were probably already laughing at her for even carrying a sword against them.
Eyolian took a deep breath and launched forward with explosive speed.
Her comrades shouted for her to stop and return, but she paid them no attention.
Her false target was a broad-shouldered man in black, wielding a heavy sword as if it weighed nothing.
His dark eyes locked onto the approaching Eyolian, and a faint chuckle left his lips.
He effortlessly raised his massive sword into a defensive stance. He didn’t think much of Eyolian, simply kicking her away toward the assassin to finish the job while he focused on the real knights.
Her sword clashed against his, the force behind her strike surprising the man slightly. But still, he didn’t dwell on it.
He shifted his blade to knock her aside, into the midst of his allies to trap her. But her stance made that slightly difficult.
Still, Eyolian was sent flying, just not as far as the broad-shouldered man had intended.
She crashed into a distant wall and fell to the ground on her feet, looking dazed.
In that moment of vulnerability, a figure appeared behind Eyolian. She didn’t seem aware of his presence at all.
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The broad-shouldered man and his silent comrades turned their backs on her, focusing on the knights ahead. In their minds, Eyolian was already dead.
But that couldn’t be further from the truth.
With precise and graceful movements, she dodged the dagger aimed at her head without even looking.
She spun around swiftly to face the assassin, whose expression crumbled. The coldness in Eyolian’s gaze awakened a primal fear in him. Where had the reckless girl from moments ago gone?
Yet, he was bigger than her, more experienced than her. With renewed confidence, he attacked again—only for Eyolian to grab his wrist and shatter it with sheer strength.
He tried to scream, to alert his comrades about the monster disguised as a fawn. But no sound came out. Only blood, pouring like living waterfalls from his severed throat.
The last thing he saw was the impossibly beautiful girl staring at him with cold indifference.
Eyolian wasted no time, dragging his corpse into a dark alley.
Her plan had worked even better than she expected. At first, she had only aimed to eliminate the assassin due to his danger and return to defend the barrier alongside her comrades. But she hadn’t expected her actions to go unnoticed.
And who was Eyolian if not someone who seized an opportunity?
From the darkness of the alley, her eyes lifted to the rooftops, a small smile forming on her face.
She shoved the corpse deeper into the alley, out of sight, and stepped back herself, the shadows swallowing her form.
Now, she was the assassin.
- ??
The three figures on the rooftops were growing frustrated by the inefficacy of their spells against the barrier.
Every spell simply bounced off and shattered. If they kept this up, they wouldn’t accomplish anything, only draining their mana uselessly.
Their comrades on the ground were in a far better position, steadily pushing the three knights back.
So, to avoid being deadweight, the rooftop mages gathered together to form a high-tier triple-cast spell—an explosive force meant to shatter the barrier.
Their formation was slow, but it was progressing effectively. Combined spells always took the longest to cast, as they required perfect synchronization.
But that wasn’t an issue. They had done this many times before. Besides, who was going to stop them now? Luck was entirely on their side.
That was their final thought as their heads fell to the ground, followed by their bodies.
Their spell shattered before it could even form. The loud disruption drew everyone’s attention to the explosion’s source.
As the smoke cleared, all eyes landed on Eyolian, standing where the mages had been moments ago. Only now, their headless corpses rested at her feet.
Eyolian wasted no time. Her expression as cold as death itself, she leaped from the rooftop.
Her sword was aimed at the remaining four.
Now, they were the ones trapped.
Their gazes were filled with disbelief, as if they were witnessing the impossible. Especially the broad-shouldered man. A wave of immense fury ignited within him as he roared at the top of his lungs,
“Kill that bitch!!!”
- ??
The fight didn’t last long.
The remaining four lost their formation quickly under the assault. Their leader’s blind rage, demanding Eyolian’s head at any cost, only worsened their situation.
Eyolian exploited this, dragging the broad-shouldered leader away from the others.
Even though he was a tier above her in mana core rank, Eyolian was simply superior in every other way. His madness only hastened his death.
Afterward, she simply returned to assist the remaining knights. They couldn’t allow any of the attackers to escape. There were still four more barrier points to reinforce, and the fewer enemies they had to face, the better.
Eyolian didn’t participate in cleaning up the corpses—that wasn’t her concern. She simply returned to stand guard over Mr. Eldric, giving him a nod and a smile.
Though he returned the smile, there was tension in his eyes, as if he had witnessed a side of Eyolian he had always known existed but wasn’t prepared to face.
Eyolian didn’t mind. She knew he would love her regardless, and she would love him even if he didn’t. She simply nodded for him to focus on his task while she focused on hers.
And that’s exactly what happened.
Eyolian closed her eyes for a moment, her sword ready, her senses sharper than ever.
She hadn’t planned to reveal her strength in this way, but she had done it for the one she loved.
She was no longer the weak, helpless little girl. She could now protect those she loved.
But more importantly—
She could now kill.