The moon hung high in the sky, alone in an empty firmant, with no stars or clouds to accompany it. Its pale rays fell upon the dark city, bathing the deserted streets in a cold, distant glow.
High above, on the rooftops, several shadows could be seen moving swiftly. Their movents were so rapid that they seed to blur against the moonlight.
Yet not a single sound could be heard: no creaking of wood, no rustling of fabric, not even the scrape of a foot against the tiles.
It was as if the shadows themselves were part of the wind, gliding over the city with an unnatural stealth.
Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, Alexandra controlled her breathing as she quickly surveyed the various paths and routes she could take to get even further away from the assassins.
The assassins who were following them began to attack, throwing daggers aid at her vital points or her legs.
The daggers sliced through the air, moving with speed. They whizzed past the assassins and shot forward like lightning, emitting a faint whistling sound as they headed toward Mira and Alexandra.
Hearing that sharp sound, both of them turned to look.
Alexandra didn’t waste any ti. She quickly climbed down from the roof through the narrow gap between the houses, letting herself fall with force. Her body crashed into a street stall.
The structure collapsed under the weight of her fall. A grimace of pain crossed her face, but without pausing, she stood up in the middle of the street, just as the assassins reached her.
With no other choice, Alexandra assud a fighting stance. She placed one hand behind her back and, gripping her rapier with the other, stared intently at the assassins. Her expression was cold and indifferent.
The assassins waited no longer and launched their attack, determined not to give her any chance to escape or try any tricks.
With calculated movents, Alexandra raised her rapier and blocked the first attacks, deflecting the daggers by just a few milliters.
CLANG! CLANG!
The clang of tal echoed through the air, and sparks flew every ti the blade of her sword grazed the daggers, as Alexandra skillfully fought her way through.
She retreated nimbly, dodging and blocking relentlessly. The attacks gave her no respite, but her feet moved swiftly, light as shadows. The rapier spun in her hands, responding to every threat.
Suddenly, she felt a gust of icy wind brush the back of her neck: she ducked at just the right mont.
The assassin’s dagger grazed her, close enough to snip off a lock of her hair. Alexandra quickly sat up, twisting her body, and kicked the nearest assassin.
The blow to his stomach sent him staggering backward.
"Argh!"
The man clutched his abdon, and when he looked up, all he could see was Alexandra’s fist, wrapped in mana.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Three direct blows struck his face. A gush of blood accompanied the crack of his nose breaking.
Before he could react, Alexandra thrust her rapier through his neck. A crimson torrent gushed from the wound, bathing her handso face.
Without pausing, she took several steps back, dodging the counterattacks. With her free hand, she deflected her enemy’s arms, and with her rapier, she struck with precision at every opportunity.
CLANG! CLANG!
The tallic sound continued to echo through the streets. From above, with the sharpness of a hawk, one could see Alexandra surrounded by a group of assassins moving in unison.
She dodged nimbly, weaving in and out of the attacks, but now and then the daggers found their mark, cutting her skin and slowly staining her body with blood.
Even so, Alaxandra’s expression didn’t change in the slightest: cold as ice, she stood her ground.
A stronger collision forced her to block head-on. The impact sent her flying several ters backward, her feet scraping the ground. Only then was she able to catch her breath since the battle had begun. However, her mana was nearly depleted.
"This is getting tricky...," she muttered breathlessly.
Her face was covered in blood and sweat. She had multiple cuts all over her body, and her damp hair clung ssily to her face.
Alaxandra exhaled, inhaled, trying to control her breathing. Then she returned to her fighting stance, her gaze fixed on the remaining assassins.
There were five of them. The others had already fallen dead.
She swept her hair back with a simple, elegant gesture, full of arrogance.
"What are you waiting for, pigs? Attack!"
Alexandra looked at them with a faint smile that betrayed her contempt.
Standing before them was Alexandra Augustus of Revoun, the second princess of the kingdom of Revoun, her body covered in blood and sweat.
Yet, in the cold glow of the moon, that image was not grotesque, but surprisingly captivating.
The silvery light bathed every curve of her silhouette, highlighting her wounded form as if she were a sacred statue stained red.
Her beauty was not ordinary: it was rare, exotic—a radiance impossible to ignore even in the midst of battle.
Alexandra didn’t look like a woman on the battlefield; she looked like a queen destined to rule amid the bloodshed.
...
Elsewhere in the city, Adam stood face-to-face with the man with brown hair. They stared intently at each other—one wielding a sword as black as a starless night, the other a pair of daggers.
Adam felt his hair blowing in the night breeze, while in the distance ca the echo of clashing tal. But he didn’t care.
But... at that mont, sothing unexpected happened: the brown-haired man dropped his daggers.
The sharp tallic sound echoed throughout the room. Adam raised an eyebrow at the sudden move, but when he saw the man assu a martial arts stance, a faint smile appeared on his lips.
"So you’re going to fight using martial arts."
Adam decided to play along; he sheathed Repentance and also assud a martial arts stance.
"My na is Silas," said the brown-haired man, looking into Adam’s dark eyes.
"!!!"
Adam froze for a mont before bursting out laughing.
"Oh, how noble of you."
"You should know the nas of the people who will take your life."
After saying this, Silas lunged at Adam.
Adam watched him zigzag across the room, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. He saw how his fists, covered in silver mana, glowed with every movent.
Silas unleashed a flurry of punches that ca down like lightning—fast and fierce—, but Adam blocked them with ease. His counterattack was imdiate: a roundhouse kick that sliced through the air with devastating force.
Silas leaned back, dodging the kick that left a strong gust of wind in its wake.
He quickly regained his composure and, without losing montum, lunged forward again, this ti with a combination: a quick jab, followed by a one-two, and finished with a knee strike straight to the stomach.
Adam dodged the flurry of blows, whose impacts echoed in his ears like gusts of wind, and blocked the knee strike with the palm of his hand.
He felt a sharp, piercing sound reverberate throughout the city. He took a step back and, without giving his opponent a mont’s respite, lunged forward again with a series of kicks that ca one after another like relentless lashes.
He saw Silas, refusing to back down, respond with his own frenzy: a combination of punches, hooks, and knee strikes that clashed against the air, seeking to break through his defense.
However, Adam moved like a snake in a split second and launched an uppercut with such speed that Silas could only watch as it struck his chin.
Adam noticed Silas’s eyes cloud over for a second before returning to normal, only for him to land a straight kick to the chest that sent him flying several ters backward.
He heard Silas gasping as he caught his breath.
"Cough... cough..."
Silas stepped forward and closed the distance in the blink of an eye; with a quick move, he threw a jab straight at Adam’s face, followed by a powerful right hook. Adam realized that his punches were straight, brutal, and ant to destroy.
He twisted his torso, dodging the blow by inches, and responded with a roundhouse kick aid at Silas’s ribs.
He felt the impact whistle through the air, but saw Silas drop his elbow and block it.
Without hesitation, Silas launched a low kick at his supporting leg, trying to destabilize him.
Adam watched as the blow struck the wood, but he leaped backward and countered with a front kick that sent Silas reeling.
Adam saw a trickle of blood running down Silas’s lips. He watched him wipe it away with the back of his hand, smiling slightly.
Then he saw him stretch his body with firm movents, flexing his muscles as if awakening every fiber of his being.
When he finished, Silas looked up and calmly fixed his gaze on him.
"Enough with the warm-up... let’s get serious!"
Silas looked at him with a smile, but at the sa ti, his expression hardened. The daggers he had dropped earlier returned to his hands as if they were an extension of his body.
Adam did the sa, drawing Repentance once more.
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