Chapter 87 - The Assassins' Mission (Part 2)

  Chloe Evenhart:

  The full moon illumihe area as I ran through the darkness of the night. On that farm, only the sounds of crickets filled the air. The mansion was a bit far from where we were, and the workers were likely already asleep. As I moved through the field, I tried to make as little noise as possible. Only the guards were patrolling.

  As I exited the field, I saw a guard standing near a post with magical light. My bck outfit helped me blend into the darkness, but this was still problematic. I aimed my finger and shot a small ice pebble that made a noise.

  “Hm?” He turo the side.

  I quickly ran and jumped onto his back, grabbing his ned pulling him backward.

  “Wha—”

  “Killer Bubble!” I murmured, cutting him off.

  From my hands, a bubble of water emerged, enveloping his entire head.

  This was one of the forbidden spells our family used for stealth assassinations. A bubble of water would form around the target’s head, taking them by surprise. The bubble not only drowhe target but also prevehem from screaming.

  As he struggled, I took out a dagger and plu into his neck. The soldier began to thrash, and I made the bubble drown him even more. He fell dead, and I dragged him bato the field.

  “Good job, Chloe!” Kinue said to me.

  She was standing beside three bodies, holding her bloodied halberd.

  “What? You already took out three?” I asked, surprised.

  Kiwirled her halberd and poi to the other side.

  “Four, ting the one over there a little farther away,” she replied.

  “Show-off…”

  She helped me drag my dead target over to where she had pced hers.

  They seem heavier when they're dead.

  We tinued moving through the field, and I poioward a darker path away from the light posts. Kinue could see better in the dark, and I was already used to moving stealthily, so it was better for us to stay in the shadows.

  We started running silently, and Kinue leaped up into a tree.

  “The guards are mostly in the area closer to the mansion, and there are probably more of them patrolling inside,” she said.

  I agreed, and we began running again.

  I leaped and nded softly on the ground.

  Icy Steps!

  A thin yer of ied beh my feet, allowio glide silently along the path. It was a quick way to move without making any noise.

  As I approached the mansion, I noticed a window high up.

  Kinue joined me.

  She moved back, ran quickly, and jumped, reag the open window. She threw me a yellow rope made of light. I grabbed the rope, and she quickly pulled me up.

  “Oops!” she said.

  A man was turning the er.

  “What the…” Before he could finish, Kinue jumped, throwing a metal ball into the air and kig it. The metal ball shot forward at high speed, striking the man’s head and knog him out. She dashed forward, catg the metal ball before it hit the ground, and pulled the man back so he wouldn’t colpse loudly.

  “No one o know we made this little mistake…” she said.

  “Of course…” I agreed.

  We dragged the man away and killed him. Kinue pulled her halberd from her ste bracelet and was about to put away the metal ball, but I stopped her.

  “What is it?” she asked me.

  “Let me hold that thing,” I said.

  As soon as I grabbed it, I had to use all my strength to avoid dropping it.

  This thing is the size of an apple and weighs this much!

  I hahe metal ball back to her, feeling a bit incredulous.

  She looked at me and smiled.

  “The perks of having superhuman strength as a demi-human bined with being a Transmitter,” Kinue said.

  “If I kicked that metal ball with that much force, I’d definitely break my toes…” I replied.

  We tinued walking through the mansion. We had dragged the body into a small room.

  Ihe mansion, we could move more quickly.

  “How do you think Nate’s doing?” she asked me.

  “If we hear the sound of thunder, we’ll have to either go help... et far away. Mom assigned him the hard part.”

  His role ierritory would be to and the army and lead my personal guard. He’d handle military affairs while I’d be the political figure as the Duchess.

  As we turhe er, I walked over to the window.

  “The staff quarters should be in that dire, but lower down,” I said.

  Kinue opehe window and jumped to the ground.

  She nded in front of two guards, spinning her halberd, striking oh the spear side and stabbing the other with the bde side.

  I jumped dht after her, slowing my fall with the wind element.

  “Do they have the key?” I asked as I watched her search their bodies.

  “No.”

  As soon as I nded beside Kinue, I took two needles from a partment on my leg, aopped at the entrao the staff quarters.

  Kiored her halberd in the bracelet and grabbed a dagger from her waist.

  I ’t wait to turn 12 a a bracelet too…

  Stopping in front of the door, I crouched down and started w on the lock with the needles, unlog it while Kinue kept watch. We opehe door, and the pce was very dark.

  Kinue geed a yellow ball of light that illumihe quarters.

  “Is it time to work?” a child asked us.

  Kinue increased the iy of the light in the room, and we saw several children lying on the floor in the dark.

  The quarters were really just ay room where the childre on the ground. I noticed that some of them were not in good dition and were filthy.

  The pce stank, and in the er, there were buckets where they relieved themselves.

  Kinue lowered the mask that covered half of her face.

  “Are you all okay?” Kinue asked.

  These bastards were keeping children in captivity.

  Kinue pulled a light globe from her bracelet, activated it, and tossed it onto the floor.

  “Stay here. We’re here to help you, but don’t leave this pce,” she said.

  We had to check where the children were and if any were injured.

  “Some others are in the mansion. They were taken to those people,” one of them said.

  “We’ll look for the others, but you o stay here. We’ll be back with help soon; we just came to make sure you were okay,” I said.

  We had to close the door, and I locked it by freezing the lock to save time.

  “We’ll e back to help them soon,” I said to reassure Kinue—and myself.

  “At least we left them with some light…” Kinue said to me.

  We tinued advang through the area, staying alert to every movement, trying to avoid alerting the soldiers too soon.

  “You there! Identify yourselves!” a voice suddenly shouted.

  Without wasting any time, I pulled out my needles, quickly coating them with water, and shot them toward the source. Kinue dashed towards the soldier, and as soon as the needles hit him, she leaped at him with her dagger.

  “What the hell is this!?” Another soldier appeared, clearly armed.

  He raised his hand, pointing it in our dire.

  A mage!

  “Earth on!”

  A spiked ball was uoward Kinue, but my friend raised a yellow barrier, proteg herself. The mage advanced on her, brandishing a sword, and I ran, using a water jet on my feet to gain speed.

  I drew a dagger and jumped towards him.

  “Damn invaders!” he shouted, raising a wall of earth.

  I dodged to the side, joining Kinue.

  “A mage... so we go all out, right?” she asked, with a grin.

  “Of course!” I replied as we began to circle the mage in opposite dires.

  “Who are you?!” he shouted, stomping the ground hard.

  A spike of earth shot up from the ground towards me. I reacted quickly, raising a wall of frozen water to shield myself. I moved around the barrier, preparing a forbidden water spell.

  But as I rouhe er, I realized he had disappeared. I looked up and saw a ball of earth ing at me, exploding into a rain of sand. I jumped back, raising a water barrier.

  “Damn it!” he cursed, trapped ihe barrier.

  He tried to distract me to kill me.

  The earth mage mao escape the barrier, but Kinue appeared right behind him with her halberd.

  “You’re dead!” he shouted, furious.

  Kinue was about to strike him, but a n of earth shot up from the ground, shielding him. The mage jumped back, and a wall of earth with spikes emerged behind him.

  “Swarm of Thorns!” he waved his hands, and the wall began to shoot out spikes tinuously. The mage then raised a n of earth at great speed, lifting himself high into the air.

  Kinue raised a light barrier to protect herself.

  I started running and, with an explosion of water under my feet, propelled myself upward with the wind.

  The soldier was drawing a bow from his bracelet.

  Fming arrow or sound arrow?

  “Blue Eagles Swarm!” I shouted my forbidden spell, summoning a water golem in the form of a bird that exploded on impact, knog the bow away.

  We nded on the ground at the same time, and I lu him with my knife.

  The mage blocked with his sword, and we exged quick blows.

  “You’re plicit in what’s happening here. An arm anized crime is using these nds!” I accused.

  “So what? Who are you to pin about anything?” he retorted with a sneer.

  I parried his bde and, taking a step back, created aaff. I spun and struck his head with the hammer-like tip of the staff.

  “AH!” he screamed, stumbling ba pain.

  My ice on shattered, but it served its purpose. The tip of the hammer had injured him.

  “You little brat!” he shouted, pressing a hand to the wound.

  I pointed my fi him and then upwards.

  “SHIT!” he screamed as he saw hundreds of water eagles.

  The eagles dove at high speed toward the soldier. He quickly raised ahen wall to protect himself, but the water from the eagles turo id exploded upon tact with the barrier. One by ohey detonated as they struck the mage’s earth defense, each carrying a powerful wind bomb within. The frozen bodies of the eagles shattered, creating an explosion of ice fragments that tore through the air.

  The earthen barrier began to crumble uhe tinuous impact. The soldier tried to gee more earth to reinforce his defense, but as he did, new ice eagles u him, exploding in a series of detonations. The battle tinued as he struggled to keep his earth defeive, but he gave up when the eagles started breaking through the gaps aonating inside.

  “Damn it!” He started running, trying to get away, but more eagles swooped down at him. One of them struck him, sending him crashing to the ground.

  “HELP!” he screamed, looking up in despair. The flock of eagles dove down with sharp ice beaks, pierg aonating around him.

  ‘Bam!’

  ‘Bam!’

  ‘Bam!’

  Each explosion tossed him from side to side, his body being shredded with every impact. I sloroached, while the eagles circled above, waiting for my and.

  I pced my foot on his chest, leaned down, and answered his earlier question.

  “This little brat here is the ruler of these nds, and you dared to trespass on my territory. This is my hunting ground, and you’ve harmed my kin!” I said, plunging my knife deep into his eye.

  “AHH!”

  Kinue appeared beside me.

  “Let me hahis,” she said, swinging her halberd, and with incredible speed, she struck the fallen soldier’s neck, severing his head.

  “Do you think we drew too much attention?” I asked.

  ‘BOOM!’ an explosioed from within the mansion, and a massive lightning bolt shot into the sky.

  We exged gnces, already guessing who was responsible for that.

  “I guess we’re abandoning the stealth strategy…” I said.

  “Agreed,” she replied.

  We both sighed.

  “Let’s go!” I ahe eagles, and they began desding from the sky, merging to form a rger water golem in the shape of a monstrous knight with parts of it frozen.

  “You’re almost creating a fully i,” Kinue remarked.

  “I’m almost there,” I said. We walked toward the mansion to finish our task.