An ordinary fighter would quickly lose facing so many foes, but Maven was no ordinary. The girl bounced upwards, and with a double flip jump she landed on the face of the fake merchant. One skull-cracking kick on his cheek bounced his two teeth off. He won’t be able to do his fake smile again.

Other bandits immediately diverted their attack, barraging Maven with their weapons repeatedly and in turns.

This time Maven could only dodge around. She jumped and ran gracefully like a dancing butterfly, looking for an opening. Her dagger then thrusted at an exposed enemy chin like a stinging bee.

One dagger slash scratched Maven on the shoulder, followed by a trident thrust which passed just half an inch above her shoulder.

Watching the bandits' actions, Calhoun yelled, “This is your golden chance! Five hundred crowns for anyone who can kill Maven!”

That offer poured the oil into the fire, motivating the bandits to incite more rapid, powerful and ferocious attacks. The swarming attacks disrupted Maven’s movement. Blood began to splash from her new wounds.

Yet, suddenly Maven vanished. Like a shadow running at the speed of wind, she escaped from the surrounders' repeated attacks. The bandits began to look around, looking for her. A split-second later, one of them collapsed with a wide open cut on the chest.

Then came three consecutive slashes, spilling blood from three more bandits' hand, eye and shoulder. More gang members entered the room only to fall victim to Maven’s furious attacks.

“Move aside!”

Another slash.

“Go away!”

Another stab.

“Retreat, we don’t want to die!”

The bandits backed off, unwilling to die in vain.

Calhoun frantically yelled, “Hey, what are you doing? Get her! Use your skills! Or should I….”

Suddenly the scarface boss quickly lifted his saber in reflex, parrying a flash of attack.

The next second, another bandit fell.

One of the older members neared towards the two leaders and pleaded, “Bosses! You have to get out of here. It’s already too dangerous here! The enemy is going ber….aaargh!”

“Polgar!" Calhoun’s yell was too late. His most senior and loyal underling had fallen with blood spilling from his nape. Clearly Maven was already out of her mind, even the Viperwolf most friendly and closest to her was not exempted from her rampage.

The boss didn’t even get to blink. Another quick dagger thrust came at him. He countered in reflex but hit nothing. He subsconsciously looked for his enemy, but another attack from Maven, Treacherous Stab threatened his heart.

Calhoun evaded, but Maven was quicker than him and managed to land a scratch near the base of his arm.

"Damn!" Calhoun hacked his saber. Maven backed off, avoiding the attack completely. At the same time, other gang members began to attack her again.

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Calhoun groaned and held onto his arm. His wound turned out to be pretty deep and it bled profusely.

There was no other choice.

Gritting his teeth, the boss eventually decided to carry her unconscious wife. He then dashed to one side of the wall. Calhoun uncovered the carpet displaying the gang’s symbol, pushing the thick wooden wall until it opened. He entered and closed it again.

On the other hand, Maven who was still running amok noticed Calhoun’s escape. She moved towards the secret exit. Suddenly she slowed down drastically. Her face turned pale and her body felt heavy at once. It turned out that she had spent too much energy and reached her limit.

Even low class fighters like the bandits recognize that symptom. When they directed their eyes on Maven, they smiled wryly. ”Hehehe. Are you tired, girl? It’s time to sleep.”

”After we have some fun with you, of course.”

This time Maven was in pinch. She had to break through at least two dozen bandits to escape through the front door.

Maven’s body recovered after a moment’s pause. Her two daggers flashed against dozens of hands, feet, and weapons. She felt like a mouse fighting against a bunch of cats.

Yet even a mouse could still bite, as evidenced from her success wounding another two bandits. In turn she received wounds on her thigh, shoulder and hip. Maven kept evading. Step by step, slowly but surely she drew closer to the exit.

A trident bolted right towards Maven’s heart. She evaded to one side, but was greeted by another machete which was also aiming for her heart. While she tried to dextrously fend off the attack, suddenly the tip of that machete was halted just an inch from her breasts. The wielder, a bandit with dense beard was stunned on the spot without expression. And then he fell to the side like a doll which string has been cut off.

The other bandits refrained from attacking Maven. They were also stunned from seeing their partner’s demise. Even more jaws dropped on seeing a person at the doorstep of the exit. It was Declan the cleric.

“Your timing isn't perfect, Dec, but at least it's not too late.” Maven groaned, pressing her hand on her bleeding thigh.

Scratching his head, Declan smiled naively. “Sorry, Mave. The needle traps back then were really troublesome. Now let us take over from here. Soldiers, charge!”

Came yet another surprise for the bandits. About twenty soldiers in light armor rushed through the entrance. They exploited the surprise factor by burying their weapons into the vulnerable enemies.

In the middle of the fight, Declan was more focused on bringing Maven to the side. The cleric put his hand over Maven’s wound and shouted, “Vitali!”

His trident, which also functioned as a magic staff glowed in his left hand. His right hand also glowed, chanelling the warm current into Maven’s wound. The pain dissipated, the wound became clean and slowly closed magically. Declan moved his hand, ‘cleansing’ his partner’s other wounds.

“Thank you!” Maven smiled weakly.

Declan nodded, then turned around to observe the battle. “It seems we have prevailed over the enemies,” he said.

Then he gasped and asked Maven again, “Where are their leaders?”

The elf pointed towards the tapestry. “They escaped through that secret door over there.”

Hearing that, Declan rose and immediately went toward the secret door. “We have to catch them!”

Maven stood up as well, chasing him. She then held her partner's hand and said, “Wait, Dec! I don’t want to fight them again. Let’s just get out of here and return the rosary.” She then took out the relic she picked up from the floor.

Declan immediately took the relic and slipped it into a pocket in his robe while saying, “We have to settle this, Mave. I have promised to Baron Le Toadt to wipe the Viperwolves, the most dangerous criminals in this city out, especially their leaders. As long as Calhoun and Theana are still free, they will always going to rebuild their gang and hunt you to the end of the world. It’s too late for mercy, Mave. The only option left now is to capture them, dead or alive. Remember what Father Nigel has taught us, that we have to bring about justice. Come on, don’t doubt anymore!”

Maven in fact was still in doubt, but Declan pulled her by hand. When they arrived in front of the black-yellow tapestry, he asked, “This door is made of wood, isn’t it?”

“Eh, yes, but…”

Without waiting for Maven to explain, the tall, robust priest raised his trident above his head, then swung it down as hard as he could to release the move, Power Bash.

Both the thick wooden board and the tapestry were shattered by the power of this cleric. Without a shred of doubt he went in and Maven followed behind.

He should have just pushed the door.

A feeling occurred to Maven, a suffocating feeling. It was not due to her betrayal against her foster parents and teachers. Instead it was her worry for Declan who seemed to not had enough grasp in the matters of battle tactics and strategy.