Chapter 159: She... was the most coveted piece on this entire board.
"Hah... Hah... Hah..." Audrey breathed heavily, her gaze fixed on the moon.
Her black hair was stained with blood, as was her wounded body; her chest rose and fell violently. Around her, the corpses of the assassins covered the ground like withered leaves.
The night breeze carried with it a metallic stench, mingling with the smell of blood that permeated the air.
"Hah..." Audrey inhaled and exhaled sharply, controlling her ragged breathing as she endured the pain of her wounds. They burned as if they were live fire scorching her flesh.
At that moment, Martha appeared. She was covered in blood and wounds; in her hand, the large scissors she used as a weapon dripped slowly.
"I’m sorry, my lady, for the delay." Her voice was tense. She bowed immediately, apologizing for her incompetence, for having left her mistress in danger for so long.
"Did you encounter any authorities?" Audrey asked, completely ignoring the apology.
"No, my lady." Martha shook her head. "I found that very strange, as the authorities are quite strict."
"I see... so the head of the family that controls the city is also involved." Audrey swung the sword, shaking off the blood that covered the blade. "It seems they’ve been plotting against me for a long time, and I didn’t even know it."
With a slight sigh, she looked up in the direction of the luxurious inn where Kael was staying.
"Let’s keep going... before more killers show up."
After saying that, they both began running through the deserted streets of the city, leaving the field of corpses behind.
...
"Enough warming up... let’s get serious."
Silas said with a smile, but at the same time, his expression hardened. The daggers he had dropped earlier returned to his hands as if they were extensions of his body.
Kael did the same, drawing the coin sword again. He knew that Silas, seeing himself outmatched in martial arts, had decided to resort to his daggers, the weapon he mastered best.
The aura around their bodies became more intense and heavy, so much so that it began to affect their surroundings. The air became thick.
In the blink of an eye, both disappeared from view, leaving only residual images and destroying the ground, which cracked into a web-like network of fissures.
Clang! Clang!
The metallic sounds echoed violently as Kael and Silas moved at high speed across the rooftops of the city. Each clash of steel lit up the night with fleeting flashes.
Silas launched a direct cut to the ribs, fast and precise. But Kael, with a subtle movement, deflected the attack with his coin sword and immediately counterattacked with a punch to the stomach.
"Puja..." Silas spat and flew into the air, losing consciousness for a moment before struggling to recover.
But Kael was already behind him. His hands tensed, he took a deep breath for a moment, and then delivered a powerful blow that hit Silas squarely in the back.
"Kuh-hunk!" Silas shouted, gritting his teeth as his body hurtled downward. He could clearly feel several ribs snapping under the brutal force of the blow.
Boom!
Silas’s body slammed into the ground with a deafening crash, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.
Kael descended calmly, his movements steady, as if none of it had been more than a simple exercise.
The cloud of dust began to slowly disperse, revealing Silas’ condition. When it cleared completely, he could be seen in the middle of a small crater, blood running down his body.
He struggled to his feet and climbed out of the crater. If it weren’t for the aura protecting his body and the qualitative change he had undergone upon reaching rank 7, he would have died a horrible death.
"Hah..." Silas calmly looked at Kael and stood up completely, then said, "How can he be so strong?"
"You still have the strength to ask," Kael began to approach slowly, his footsteps echoing throughout the lonely street.
When he was close enough, he looked him in the eyes, his expression blank, and said:
"That’s it, all that talk for this?" The contempt in his voice was palpable. Kael was really hoping for a good fight, but he was bound to be disappointed.
Silas gritted his teeth and lunged forward at high speed, unleashing a combo of slashes. Kael raised his coin sword; it moved with deceptive slowness, deflecting the attack to one side, and immediately delivered a knee strike that landed squarely.
Bam!
"Puaj...!" Silas spat blood mixed with saliva, clutching his stomach as he staggered backward. He shook his head violently, struggling to regain his composure, until he decided to unleash all his strength.
In an instant, he vanished, shattering the ground beneath his feet. The air trembled, and he reappeared behind Kael, his face contorted with rage.
"Die, you bastard!" he roared, unleashing a devastating attack.
Swoosh!
The dagger sliced through the air, generating crackling friction, but Kael simply leaned forward, showing not the slightest surprise.
The weapon passed over him, striking nothing. In the same movement, Kael slid with the fluidity of a snake and unleashed a combo of punches that struck with brutal precision.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The fists struck quickly. Ribs, chin, temple, lungs, heart... it all happened in barely five seconds. Before the body could react with a flinch, Kael spun around and launched a roundhouse kick into the air, striking with force and leaving him completely disoriented.
"..." Silas fell to his knees on the floor. Blood began to pour from all his orifices, staining his face and hands. His vision turned crimson, blurred, as if the world had been stained with a veil of death.
The environment spun around him, with no point of reference. He couldn’t get his bearings; it was as if he had been drinking nonstop for a week, and now his senses were shot to hell. Words choked in his throat, unable to come out. All that remained was the irregular gasping of broken breath.
Kael, seeing him in that state, couldn’t help but sigh. So much for nothing. He raised his sword, its blade shining brightly in the moonlight, and with a decisive movement prepared to deliver the final blow, to end this game once and for all.
Just then...
"Don’t kill him!" came a somewhat weary female voice from behind him.
Kael quickly turned toward the source of the sound. His eyes focused on two figures emerging from the darkness. One was a woman dressed as a maid, with a large pair of scissors strapped to her back that reflected a menacing glint. The other, elegantly dressed, wore a shiny black dress with several slits that revealed the pale skin beneath.
It was Audrey Augustus and her maid, Martha.
"Don’t kill him, I need to get information out of him. Then you can kill him if you want."
Audrey’s voice sounded firm, even though her wounds were still visible. She approached with elegant steps, steps that retained the grace befitting a princess, even in a scene tinged with blood and danger.
"So you survived," Kael said, his tone neutral, as if commenting on something as trivial as the weather.
"I almost died several times, but it seems you finished him off quickly."
Audrey’s eyes flashed with a hint of surprise. She could clearly sense the rank 7 aura of the assassin Silas. Yet there stood Kael: unharmed, without a single mark on his body, as if the battle had been nothing more than a routine exercise.
Kael did not respond. His face remained impassive, without a single gesture to betray his thoughts. He remained silent and, after a moment, stepped aside. A cold thought formed in his mind: he could not return to the luxurious inn. That place was no longer safe.
"Did you find out anything?" he finally asked, although deep down he already had a pretty good idea of what was going on. The fact that none of the city’s forces were present in the midst of this was, in itself, an answer.
"That they were plotting against me," Audrey replied casually, as if discussing an insignificant detail. "And that the head of the family that controls the city is collaborating with them."
His tone was so light that it contrasted with the weight of his words. As he spoke, he turned his head toward Martha and gestured for her to tie up Silas. The maid obeyed immediately, tightening the ropes around the murderer’s body.
"Hmm..." Kael said nothing and remained silent, his thoughts a mystery.
I see... so that’s what’s going on.
His mind began to quickly piece things together. Three factions were involved: the Augustus royal family, the Lion Kingdom, and the Holy Empire.
The deduction was not complicated. First, the irregular arrivals of caravans from the two kingdoms; then, the presence of people directly linked to the royal mountain; and finally, Audrey’s words, who had told her that they were watching her.
In other words, her arrival had been known in advance. The moment she set foot on Mount Vigerth was the trigger: each force began to move its pieces. Most likely, the Holy Empire and the Lion Kingdom would try to use Audrey as a political pawn, while the Augustus royal family wanted her dead.
With this clarity, Kael understood the magnitude of the situation. In the eyes of others, he had become a disposable pawn. And with the action he had just taken, he was marked as an ally of the third princess, Audrey.
She... was the most coveted piece on this entire board.