— Hazel’s POV —

  "Hoho... I do enjoy surprising others, but I hate being caught off guard, you see? So let’s not be so hasty, hmm?"

  The man in the surprise-faced mask spoke smoothly, his tone amused yet arrogant.

  Greg, standing firm with his greatsword, didn’t lower his stance.

  “Who are you!?”

  I knew his intent. Stall for time and give the citizens time to escape.

  The masked man placed a hand over his chest and bowed slightly—a gesture eerily similar to how Tian greets people.

  "Ah, where are my manners? Apologies for the delayed introduction." His voice dripped with mock politeness.

  “We are Clownemo, jesters who seek to sow a myriad of emotions in this world. My name is Shock.”

  “I’m Joy!”

  “Anxi.”

  Each of them spoke with distinct personas. Shock was smooth and mocking. Joy was exuberant, practically bouncing with excitement. Anxi was measured, her voice carrying an almost noble elegance.

  Clownemo.

  I committed that name to memory.

  They would all die.

  They came from the town.

  A terrible thought surfaced in my mind.

  Tian narrowed his eyes and asked. “What happened in the town?”

  Shock’s head tilted slightly.

  “Oh, fret not about your precious town.”

  A playful lilt.

  His words carried a smirk I could hear.

  “Our remaining trio is presently playing with your guildmaster. Meanwhile, your comrades are having their fun with the orcs we provided.”

  A cold weight coiled in my stomach.

  Guildmaster Karin—alone against three of them?

  Even if she was stronger, she was one person.

  And the orcs—

  Could it be…?

  Greg voiced what we all wanted to know. “What is your intention!?”

  "We were contracted to end the lives of the lord’s son and daughter." Shock didn’t hesitate. "So would you mind stepping aside and allowing us to fulfill our contract?"

  The sheer casualness of his words made my blood boil.

  I didn’t know the lord’s children, but they were likely evacuating with the citizens.

  Greg scoffed. "You want to kill two kids, yet you radiate enough power to kill everyone here."

  Joy grinned. "Why state the obvious? It’s annoying to find two brats in the middle of thousands of people! It’s simpler to just end them all!"

  Greg clenched his teeth. “You’re out of your damn minds…”

  Joy tilted her head, eyes glimmering with amusement.

  “Moreover, it’s your fault. If you hadn’t evacuated, we would’ve attacked the lord’s mansion instead! It would’ve been so much easier to kill them in their home!”

  Then her face twisted in irritation.

  “Seriously, how did you even find out about our plan? Even the rat from yesterday didn’t escape alive. How did the information leak?”

  My blood boiled.

  The rat from yesterday.

  I took a deep breath—inhaled.

  A familiar, faint scent clung to them.

  I took a step forward.

  “You… it was you, wasn’t it?” My voice trembled, claws curling into fists. “You killed my master, nya!?”

  Shock raised an eyebrow. "Your master?"

  I spat his name like venom. “Matias!”

  Joy blinked, tapping her cheek.

  Then, she clapped her hands together, grinning.

  "Aha! The rat’s name was Matias! So he was your master? Ohhh! That’s how the information leaked!"

  “You—!?”

  Tian placed a hand on my shoulder. A silent warning not to lose control.

  Joy laughed. “You see, he found the orcs, and unfortunately for him, he found us too.”

  Freed’s hunch was right.

  “But it wasn’t our fault he died!” Joy giggled, as if she were talking about a funny joke. “He just happened to recognize one of the ‘food’ we brought. His former companion? Ex-lover? I don’t know~”

  Greg’s eyes widened in horror. “You’re saying… you brought humans as food for the orcs!?”

  Joy pouted. “Huh? They were just slaves. What’s the problem?”

  Greg’s face twisted in disgust.

  Joy continued, grinning.

  “Anyway, since those two were acquainted, I decided to make a game out of it!”

  Her voice was bright and cheerful. Her enthusiasm in recounting the tale resembled that of a child who had just encountered a new and exciting experience.

  “I let them fight!”

  She clapped her hands.

  “Whoever won would get freedom!”

  A hollow chuckle left her lips.

  “The food begged him to die for her so she could escape. But ohhh, that only made him angrier!”

  Joy leaned forward, voice filled with glee.

  “He looked at her like he’d finally found the perfect revenge target.”

  The words hit like a blade to the gut.

  Did he…?

  “So, they fought.”

  Her eyes glowed with twisted excitement.

  “Do you want to know the outcome?”

  She sighed dramatically.

  “The man pierced her heart with his greatsword.”

  “But she burned a hole in his stomach with her fireball.”

  “They killed each other.”

  Joy spread her arms.

  “A perfect, romantic tragedy!”

  I felt my chest tighten.

  Almost seven years.

  Seven years, and this was the answer.

  A lifelong mystery—

  Unraveled in the words of a mad girl.

  — Esta’s POV —

  "Hah… haha…" A chuckle slipped out—then another.

  Before I knew it, I was laughing.

  “Hahahaha!”

  Harder. Louder. I couldn't stop.

  I had spent years wondering.

  And this was the answer?

  “Did you hear that, Hazel!?”

  I grinned, wide and cruel, my laughter still lingering in the air.

  “He used us as revenge puppets.”

  “He was nothing more than a scoundrel after all!”

  Hazel’s pupils contracted.

  Her breathing calmed.

  I saw it.

  The moment she understood.

  No matter what was behind those regretful eyes.

  No matter what kind of man he was before us.

  He was nothing but a scoundrel.

  Hazel exhaled before smiled. “Thanks, Esta.”

  She turned to Joy.

  “And you—”

  Hazel’s ears twitched, her tail flicking.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “That was a fascinating story, nya.”

  A soft purr, but her claws were out.

  “As a thank you—”

  Her sharp fangs glinted.

  “I won’t hold back, nya.”

  “Hahaha! That's the spirit, Hazel!” I laughed.

  Joy beamed. “Oh!? I can’t wait for my reward!”

  Anxi sighed. “Enough. Our targets are behind them.”

  The battlefield crackled with tension as Anxi's words hung in the air.

  — 3rd Party’s POV —

  The battlefield erupted in chaos.

  “It has been a while since I felt so calm, nya,” Hazel remarked, her composure belying the storm that was about to be unleashed.

  “You dared kill my revenge target! So be ready to be my prey instead! Hahahahaha!”

  Esta’s laughter rang through the air, wild and unrestrained—a stark contrast to her usual stoic demeanor. Her calm light-green eyes burned with a berserker’s madness.

  On the other hand, Hazel’s cheerful and carefree demeanor turned into a silent predator.

  Esta paused her laughter abruptly. Then—

  “Berserk.”

  “Beast Mode.”

  In an instant—

  Power surged.

  Esta’s eyes glowed a feral red, her mana crackling like a storm.

  Hazel’s pupils sharpened to slits, her fur bristling as dark-brown energy coursed through her limbs.

  Esta’s power tripled. Hazel’s doubled.

  The moment their transformations activated, they vanished.

  No—

  Esta vanished in a blur.

  Ten razor-sharp wind blades—each the size of a crescent moon—ripped through the air, homing in on their targets. At the same time, Hazel melted into the shadows, her form vanishing as if swallowed by the battlefield itself.

  Their enemies barely had time to react before darkness came alive beneath them. Shadows coiled like living chains, ensnaring their legs in Hazel’s grasp.

  A perfect ambush.

  But their foes were no amateurs. They had seen battle—thrived in it.

  The instant Hazel’s shadows coiled around their legs—

  The ground shattered.

  Jagged pillars of stone exploded upward, tearing through the battlefield in a violent upheaval.

  Simultaneously, a torrent of fire roared forth, consuming the air between the two sides in an explosion of heat and power.

  *BOOM!*

  The sheer force sent shockwaves through the battlefield, scattering the shadows and shattering Hazel’s grip.

  "They're so energetic," Greg mused, tightening the grip on his greatsword.

  "Girls are indeed terrifying when they're angry," Tian chuckled in agreement.

  "Haha! I know, right?"

  There was no more room for hesitation.

  "Tiger’s Aura."

  "Shadow Clones."

  *Whiirr!*

  A crimson glow erupted around Greg, manifesting the spectral form of a massive tiger, its fangs bared, its claws poised for the kill. His muscles swelled, his speed and strength surging twofold as the beast’s power coursed through his veins.

  Tian’s body flickered—then split.

  Four identical copies of himself materialized in the air beside him, each wielding ethereal daggers that shimmered with lethal intent.

  In perfect synchronization, they charged into the fray.

  The real battle had begun.

  Greg charged first, his towering form a blur as he lunged straight into the fray. At the same time, Hazel re-emerged from the shadows behind Shock, her clawed hands wreathed in a dark-brown aura, slashing toward his exposed back.

  A killing blow.

  But Shock moved—as if he had known she was coming.

  His dagger shot out in a vicious counter strike, its obsidian edge aimed directly for her throat.

  A deadly trade.

  *Pshh!*

  Hazel’s claws raked across his arm, leaving behind festering wounds. But before his blade could reach her, she dissolved into the shadows once more, slipping away like a phantom.

  Shock barely had time to recover before the next wave struck.

  From the front, Tian’s clones unleashed a storm of spectral daggers, each one honed to perfection.

  “Where are you looking at!? Hahahaha!”

  From the left, Esta’s crimson wind blades surged forth once more, whistling through the air like an executioner’s scythe.

  A seamless, merciless onslaught.

  But ten sharp rocks materialized before Anxi and shot forward at breakneck speed.

  At the same time, Joy conjured a fireball so massive like a second sun.

  *BOOM!*

  Anxi’s rocks collided with Tian’s ethereal daggers mid-flight, shattering them to pieces. The wind blades and the fireball met in mid-air, the explosion painting the battlefield in crimson and gold. Sparks and embers rained down like falling stars.

  Then, Greg struck from above.

  Descending like a meteor, his greatsword carved through the air, synchronized with the feral strike of the tiger’s spectral claws. The sheer force behind the attack split the earth beneath him, sending a shockwave through the vast greenfield.

  *Whaam!*

  But the trio moved together, leaping backward in perfect synchronization, narrowly escaping the devastating blow.

  Greg's greatsword crashed into the ground, splintering rock and earth, a crater forming where his enemies had once stood.

  “Tsk.” Examining his decaying arm from Hazel’s claw earlier, Shock clicked his tongue before muttering an incantation, “Purify. Heal.”

  Dark energy surged around his wounds, the decay fading, flesh knitting itself back together.

  Joy whistled.

  “Wow! Crimson wind blades and decay aura! Are you two…”

  She paused a moment before guessing,

  “Bloody Rakshasa and Silent Zombie Assassin!?”

  Hazel and Esta both snapped their heads toward her.

  "I don’t recall someone calling me that ugly nickname!" Esta snarled, her laugh stopped for the first time.

  "Who do you call a zombie, nya!?" Hazel growled, her ears twitching.

  Esta and Hazel unleashing another red wind blades and decay-infused claw aura in their direction.

  However, the trio agilely evaded the onslaught by leaping backward once more.

  "Haha! What a jackpot!" Joy smirked. "Our other client has been looking for you, you know?"

  Shock sighed, his grip tightening around his dagger. "So we can’t kill them, huh?"

  Anxi clicked her tongue. "Tsk. Missing some limbs should be fine."

  Esta and Hazel were oblivious to these nicknames.

  But, Joy’s casual words sent a chill down their spine.

  Who was after them?

  The empire? The holy kingdom?

  Their expression turned furious at the mere thought of those wretched people.

  But they didn’t have time to think. The battle was far from over.

  And they would not go down without a fight.

  The battlefield trembled, the air thick with the scent of burnt grass and smoldering embers.

  Hazel's feline ears twitched as she melted into the darkness once more, a silent predator stalking its prey.

  Esta, her wild grin never faltering, lifted her arms, summoning a maelstrom of crimson wind that crackled with blistering heat.

  Greg steadied his greatsword, his tiger's aura roaring like an enraged beast, while Tian and his clones moved in eerie unison, each step a calculated shadow.

  But their masked enemies were relentless.

  Anxi, Joy, and Shock moved like a synchronized force, each countering the storm that raged against them.

  Joy’s laughter rang through the battlefield as she spun in place, igniting the air around her. A wall of fire erupted, roaring outward to devour Greg and Tian’s advancing clones.

  "More! More! Let’s turn it all to ash!" Joy squealed, her pink twin-tails snapping wildly in the heat.

  Tian’s clones vanished in a silent puff of darkness, their ethereal forms disintegrating from the sheer intensity of the flames. But the real Tian had already moved.

  From the shadows beneath her feet, Hazel lunged like a demon unleashed.

  Her claws aimed straight for Joy’s exposed throat.

  A fatal strike.

  But a jagged stone spike erupted from the ground just in time, forcing Hazel to twist mid-air and land in a crouch.

  Anxi stood behind Joy. "Do not lose yourself in your emotions, Joy." Her voice was poised, but the twitch in her fingers betrayed her nerves.

  "Ohhh, Anxi~! You're such a worrywart!" Joy giggled, then clapped her hands together.

  *BOOM!*

  A shockwave of flame burst outward, forcing Hazel back as the ground beneath her cracked and scorched black.

  But Greg was already on the move.

  With a beastly roar, he kicked off the ground, his tiger's aura expanding in size, a massive flaming beast leaping alongside him. His greatsword gleamed under the inferno's light, poised to cleave Joy in half.

  But the instant his blade swung downward—

  Shock moved.

  His dagger, barely visible in the dim glow, met Greg’s greatsword head-on.

  *CLANG!*

  Shock should have been obliterated. Dagger was smaller.

  But he wasn't fighting alone.

  The moment their weapons clashed, his shadow clones burst from the darkness.

  Four of them. All identical.

  Each striking with eerie precision.

  One grabbed Greg’s sword arm.

  Another slashed at his legs.

  The third lunged for his throat.

  The fourth whispered from behind him.

  "This is the end."

  A dagger plunged into Greg’s chest.

  Then—

  *BOOM!*

  Greg ignited.

  The wound burned, yes—but so did his aura.

  The tiger within him howled, expanding with violent intensity. The moment the dagger pierced him, Greg roared, his fire aura exploding outward in a blazing inferno.

  The shockwave tore through the clones, erasing them instantly.

  Shock leapt backward just in time to avoid being engulfed in the firestorm, but his masked face tilted slightly, as if impressed.

  Greg landed on one knee, blood seeping from his side, but his grin never faded.

  "Not bad... but you're still not enough."

  Tian seized the opening.

  Emerging from Shock’s shadow, he appeared behind him, his real dagger flashing toward the villain’s spine.

  But Shock was ready.

  As if predicting the move, another clone materialized from the darkness behind Tian—mirroring his own technique.

  A dagger met a dagger.

  *CLANG!*

  Two shadow users locked in deadly combat.

  And then—

  A blood-red storm erupted.

  Esta had finished preparing.

  Her hands rose above her head as a crimson wind howled, spiraling into a massive vortex.

  Her eyes gleamed with pure madness.

  "Let's make this battlefield even MORE FUN!"

  The entire sky darkened.

  And then—

  It rained blades.

  Hundreds of them. Thousands.

  Each formed from burning wind, whistling like a death song as they descended from the heavens.

  Anxi’s breath hitched.

  "Barrier—!"

  She barely had time to react before monolithic walls of stone erupted from the ground, forming a protective dome around her team.

  “Hahahaha!” But Esta only laughed harder. "DODGE THIS, THEN!"

  With a flick of her fingers—

  The storm reversed.

  The blades that rained down suddenly screeched to a halt—then shot forward at impossible speeds.

  The protective stone walls cracked under the relentless barrage.

  Anxi paled. "They'll break through—!"

  Joy, still grinning, simply threw out her arms.

  "Then let's burn EVERYTHING, Anxi~! Hahahaha!"

  A second sun ignited.

  An explosion of fire surged forward, meeting the crimson wind head-on.

  The battlefield became a swirling inferno.

  *BOOOMM!*

  The battlefield was unrecognizable.

  Once lush fields—reduced to smoldering wastelands.

  Ash choked the air, the scent of burning earth thick and suffocating.

  The sky above, once clear and blue, was now painted in the colors of war—crimson embers swirling against the backdrop of dusk.

  Only three figures stood within the firestorm.

  Shock.

  Joy.

  Anxi.

  Charred. Wounded.

  But still standing.

  Across from them—

  Greg wiped the blood from his mouth, his tiger’s aura flickering, its once-mighty form now barely visible. His muscles ached, his wounds deep, but his grin never faded. He lived for fights like this.

  Tian, his pristine butler-like composure cracked, clutched a wound in his side, dark blood staining his otherwise perfect attire. Yet his breath remained steady. His clones were gone. His strength was fading. But his dagger was still sharp.

  Hazel, her feline eyes sharp despite the exhaustion settling into her bones, crouched low, her fluffy brown tail flicking behind her. Her fur was blackened from Joy’s relentless flames, and her body bore cuts from Anxi’s stone shards—but her predator’s patience had not wavered.

  And Esta—

  Esta was still laughing.

  Her clothes were tattered, her arms bruised, and a trail of blood ran down her forehead, yet she stood tall, eyes gleaming in berserker madness.

  "Let’s go again, shall we?"

  Both sides were battered. Bloodied.

  Yet neither wavered.

  Because this war was far from over.