I heard Evelynâs voice from somewhere. I looked at where the voice came from but I couldnât see anyone. She probably used Transparency Magic to hide.
After spitting a little bit of blood out my mouth, I checked my Fraker-skin vest. It got torn apart here and there due to many magic attacks but still, it was nearly intact. Â
âInsane? This is the way of Assassinâs swordsmanship. Even if you get killed, you must kill your opponent. Did you forget about this fact?â
âChut, youâre right. But thereâs also another fact. Running away from an unbeatable opponent is the way of Assassinâs swordsmanship as well.â
âYeah, youâre right. Thatâs why I am good at running away.â
âDonât you think itâs time for you to run away right now?â
âNot at all.â
I chuckled. She must be thinking that Transparency Magic was a very powerful skill.
However, there was a critical downside of Transparency Magic. The one who used that magic couldnât see anything as well.
Of course, Masters could feel the opponentâs movements through energy and mana but only if the opponents were normal people. They could not feel the energy or mana of those who learned Assassin skills like me.
I immediately silenced all the energy and mana in my body.
Now, we were in the same situation. As I couldnât see her, she couldnât see me as well.
âRun away? Or keep fighting? What is your choice, Evelyn?â
I picked up a few sharp stone pieces around me. Then I intentionally stepped on a slate of stone as if it was a mistake. As she heard the sound, she spelled Calypter Attacks and Explosion Bombs right away.
Those attacks hit only my surrounding areas. It seemed she couldnât find my exact location. Her attacks were scattered and inaccurate.
Several pieces of broken stones made a few scars on my body and cheeks but I didnât care about them. I kept staring at where those magic attacks came from and looking for my opportunity.
Shortly after, I threw two sharp stone pieces. And one of them got stuck in the air.
âArgh.â
I heard a short groaning sound from somewhere so I slightly lifted one corner of my mouth. It didnât give her huge damage but I achieved my goal anyway. The blood was dripping from the area where the stone piece was stuck.   Â
âNice.â
The blood kept dropping. Every time the blood dropped, I threw stone pieces to attack her.
At last, she showed herself and rushed towards me.
âWhite Mask!â
âLetâs finish this duel.â
After a few collisions, my waist got slightly sliced by her Zelsa. It was not a deep wound yet I felt a severe pain. Then I grabbed her forearm and stroked her shoulder with my right wrist very hard.
Now, she had only one dagger in her hand. I didnât stop attacking her. I kicked her waist with my knee a few times.Â
âDammit.â
She tried to put her two daggers together to use magic skills but she couldnât because I was grabbing both of her hands. Magic skills of most Sacred Weapons could only be activated by both specific shout and specific posture. So, I stopped her from making the posture.
After I gave her a knee kick many times, she fell down on the ground helplessly. I pressed her down to the ground with all my strength and put the tip of Yojo on the back of her neck.
âWhy didnât you just run away?â
âYou⌠White MaskâŚâ
âLetâs finish it here.â
Her eyes were full of despair. She probably sensed that her death was near.
âHey, youâre making a mistake right now. If we become dead, you will be dead as well.â
âWhat bullshit. Every human dies anyway.â
At the moment I was about to pierce through her neck, Yojo started trembling. My hand was very cold. So, Yojo just must be crying right now.
The signals of Yojo were always only two, either yes or no. And this time, I felt Yojo was telling me not to kill Evelyn. I was about to kill her a moment ago. So, unless Yojo was trying to stop me, it didnât have to cry.
âWhy the hell?â
Evelyn was a very dangerous woman. If I let her live this time, there would be a huge trouble in the future.
However, Yojoâs signal was always correct only except when it led me the way during the fight against Katrianne. I mulled it over for a while and then poked Yojo on the ground right next to Evelynâs face.
After she saw Yojo poked on the ground, she stared at me with trembling eyes.
âAre you sparing my life?â
âYeah. So just beat it.â
Once I took my hand off from her, she quickly stood up.
âWhy are you sparing my life?â
âI donât even know.â
âWhat the hell are you talking about?â
She was confused but I didnât care about her and picked up my Yojo.Â
At that moment, I felt an enormous energy from outside the building. Evelyn and I made frightened faces and looked at the destroyed prayer room at the same time. Yet, we couldnât see anything. The energy must be coming from afar.
âDammit! Why is she coming now? Why couldnât she come earlier?â
âWhatâs wrong? Do you know whose energy it is?â
I didnât answer her question and hurriedly picked up the Jade Magic Ball of Great Sin on the floor. Then I threw it far away into the middle of Lake Kara.
As soon as I threw the ball out, the wall of the prayer room collapsed down and one person came inside the building. She was Armida. She dusted off her clothes and walked into the hallway.
âItâs around here for sureâŚâ
Evelynâs eyes were trembling because of Armidaâs enormous energy.
I glanced at Armida.
âWow, you came so early.â
âHuh? Youâre here too? What are those scars?â
As she made a fuss about my scars, I sighed shortly.
âNothing. Why are you coming now?â What were you doing until now?â
With a sheepish face, she smiled.Â
âGot a new haircut and some supplements as well. Also, I got skincare treatment⌠I told you already about going to a salon.âÂ
âAlright then. Letâs go home now. The festivals are over. We donât have to stay here anymoreâ
Yet, she made an awkward face and kept looking around.Â
âWell, thereâs something I need to investigateâŚâ
âLike what?â
âI felt that someone was summoning demons. It must be around here for sure. Havenât you seen anybody?â
I stared at Evelyn who was trembling with her head hung low. If I told the truth to Armida right now, she would be dead for sure.
I pointed at Lake Kara.Â
âI was fighting with that guy until shortly before. And the guy ran away.â
âOh, really? Okay then. See you later.â
Armida quickly flew towards Lake Kara. Evelyn looked at Armida flying far away and then walked closer to me.
âWho the hell is she?â
âI know you already got the scent of it. Why are you asking? Sheâs a spinster whose age is over 10,000 years.â
Evelyn seemed to figure out who she was. Actually, she kind of knew it already. Thereâs no human woman who could spout out such an enormous energy.
âWhy the hell did she come down to this worldâŚ?â
âI have no idea. She told me that sheâs trying to find some kind of crazy friend of hers. She said her friend is trying to destroy the whole world. But I think itâs just bullshit.â
âHehe.â
She giggled in a small voice. Then I scowled at her.
âWhy donât you go home now?â
âYeah, I should.â
âLeave in a hurry before I change my mind.â
As my eyes got full of murderous spirits again, Evelyn distanced herself from me.
âAnyways, I owe you big time. See you later.â
âI am not gonna see you again.â
âYes, you will. Actually, I think weâre gonna meet pretty often down the road. So, I will pay my debt next time.â
âSuit yourself.â
âGoodbye.â
She jumped down below the building in an instant.
I quickly took the healing potion out of my Subspace Pocket and sprayed over my scars. I didnât feel much pain during the fight. But once itâs over, my body hurt everywhere.
* * *
The plaza was a total mess. The bodies of dead Belbokes were here and there. The Holy Knights and some of Karaâs soldiers were wandering around and double-checking the dead demons.
I looked at the place where people were gathered around. Zenbe was standing in the middle of the crowd and scratching his head because people were praising him.
As I looked around the surroundings, I made a frowning face because the person I wanted to meet had already gone.
I walked closer to Zenbe while huffing and puffing.
âUncle Zenbe!â
Once I appeared and started making an angry voice, people around him moved to the sides.
Zenbe said hello to me with a happy face.
âHey, human. Are you okay?â
âWhereâs our client? I am talking about the Emir.â
âOh, she left already.â
âI told you to stop her leaving until I came back.â
He felt embarrassed and tried to read my face.
âHow could I stop her leaving when she wanted to?â
âWhat about the service fee that weâre supposed to receive from her?â
Zenbe rolled his eyes.
âShe said thank you to me very sincerely.â
âJust said thank you?â
âYeah. It was a very polite and sincere thank you. Unlike an Emir of a city, she was very humble as well.â
I smoothed down my face. Heâs so stupid. He just fought for one of the richest women in the world and got satisfied after hearing a sincere thank you from her. Phew. I would never be able to teach him how to make money.
We just saved the life of Karaâs Emir. Her social status was very high and her wealth was tremendous. She would probably repay her debt in other ways.Â
âWell, if sheâs a good person, she will repay her debt to us in some way.â
âYeah, maybe she will.â
âMaybe?â
As I scowled at him, Zenbe changed his words.
âShe will certainly repay her debt.â
I started looking around again. Thereâs another guy missing.
âOh, what about that zombie uncle? He also left?â
âZombie?â
âYou know, the skinny Master Swordsman. You said he came to your street vendor once, right?â
âOh, that guy? Why are you looking for him right now?â
I made a suspicious face.
âHe never came here?â
âNo. I havenât seen him for a long time.â
âReally? Other people havenât seen him as well?â
âWell, I donât know.â
âCould you ask people if that guy was here? He also came to this temple today.â
Zenbe went to ask some of the Holy Knights and Karaâs soldiers around us. And shortly after, he came back.
âNone of them saw him.â
âReally? Thatâs so strangeâŚâ
Callan came to this Saint Euroa Temple with me because he had business to attend to and we got separated around the halfway point. Thus, he must have seen the demons as well and shouldâve tried to join us to fight against the demons. However, nobody had seen him. It was very strange.
âNo way, that zombie uncle⌠is he on Evelynâs side?â
I could not completely rule out that possibility. He kept asking me to go home when we walked to the temple together. Besides, he said I would be in huge trouble because of women. It seemed he was talking about Evelyn.
âIf he and Evelyn were on the same side, their target wasnât the Emir of KaraâŚâ
If their target was the Emir of Kara, he shouldâve come here where the Emir was. Also, Evelyn was a professional assassin so it wouldâve been better for her to kill the Emir.
Instead, Evelyn drew peopleâs attention to herself by summoning and controlling demons. It didnât make sense at all if their target was the Emir.
âOh, they told me that someone robbed the holy relics chamber which is located in the underground temple.â
Once I heard that I turned my head quickly.
âWho was the robber?â
âWell, I donât have details. Some of the witnesses said it was an unidentifiable swordsman and a magician.â
Apparently, their real target was the holy relics chamber. The demons which came out of the main chapel were the distraction for the Holy Knights and Soldiers.
âA swordsman and a magician⌠which items did they rob?â
âI have no idea.â
âWell, we will be able to figure it out soon.â
Anyway, I felt quite uncomfortable.
They possessed the âJade Magic Ball of Great Sinâ which seemed to be made in Kronos, the Sky City as well as the daggers made of the Godâs Metal. Also, they robbed the holy relics chamber of the famous temple and used Demon Summoning Magic which was totally forbidden in this world.
I could only think of only one group of people who would do these kinds of things in this world. They must be the ones who were working for Armidaâs friend who ran away.
âFuc**** a**holes. Why did they come here and made me tired?â