Chapter 87 - The Assassins' Mission (Part 2)

Chloe Evenhart:

The full moon illuminated the 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 cornfield, I tried to make as little noise as possible. Only the guards were patrolling.

As I exited the cornfield, I saw a guard standing near a post with magical light. My black 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 turned to the side.

I quickly ran and jumped onto his back, grabbing his neck and 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 drowned the target but also prevented them from screaming.

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

“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.

Kinue twirled her halberd and pointed it to the other side.

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

“Show-off…”

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

They seem heavier when they're dead.

We continued moving through the cornfield, and I pointed toward 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 landed softly on the ground.

Icy Steps!

A thin layer of ice formed beneath my feet, allowing me to 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, reaching 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 corner.

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

“No one needs to 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 storage 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 handed the 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 combined 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 continued walking through the mansion. We had dragged the body into a small room.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

Inside the 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... or get far away. Mom assigned him the hard part.”

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

As we turned the corner, I walked over to the window.

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

Kinue opened the window and jumped to the ground.

She landed in front of two guards, spinning her halberd, striking one with the spear side and stabbing the other with the blade side.

I jumped down right 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 landed beside Kinue, I took two needles from a compartment on my leg, and we stopped at the entrance to the staff quarters.

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

I can’t wait to turn 12 and get a bracelet too…

Stopping in front of the door, I crouched down and started working on the lock with the needles, unlocking it while Kinue kept watch. We opened the door, and the place was very dark.

Kinue generated a yellow ball of light that illuminated the quarters.

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

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

The quarters were really just an empty room where the children slept on the ground. I noticed that some of them were not in good condition and were filthy.

The place stank, and in the corner, 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 place,” 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 need to 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 come 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 continued advancing 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 alarmed.

He raised his hand, pointing it in our direction.

A mage!

“Earth Cannon!”

A spiked ball was launched toward Kinue, but my friend raised a yellow barrier, protecting 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 can go all out, right?” she asked, with a grin.

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

“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 rounded the corner, I realized he had disappeared. I looked up and saw a ball of earth coming at me, exploding into a rain of sand. I jumped back, raising a water barrier.

“Damn it!” he cursed, trapped inside the barrier.

He tried to distract me to kill me.

The earth mage managed to 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 column 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 continuously. The mage then raised a column 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.

Flaming 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, knocking the bow away.

We landed on the ground at the same time, and I lunged at him with my knife.

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

“You’re complicit in what’s happening here. An arm of organized crime is using these lands!” I accused.

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

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

“AH!” he screamed, stumbling back in pain.

My ice weapon 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 finger at 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 an earthen wall to protect himself, but the water from the eagles turned to ice and exploded upon contact with the barrier. One by one, they 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 under the continuous impact. The soldier tried to generate more earth to reinforce his defense, but as he did, new ice eagles launched at him, exploding in a series of detonations. The battle continued as he struggled to keep his earth defense active, but he gave up when the eagles started breaking through the gaps and detonating 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, piercing and detonating around him.

‘Bam!’

‘Bam!’

‘Bam!’

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

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

“This little brat here is the ruler of these lands, 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 handle this,” 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 explosion erupted from within the mansion, and a massive lightning bolt shot into the sky.

We exchanged glances, 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 commanded the eagles, and they began descending from the sky, merging to form a larger water golem in the shape of a monstrous knight with parts of it frozen.

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

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