Seeing Nyx running at full speed towards him, the armoured figure flinched and started to raise the short sword that was at his waist yet, much to Nyx's surprise, he suddenly hesitated before rapidly lowering it.

Though Nyx was perplexed, wondering why the armoured warrior before her would lower his weapon, her hand had already moved towards the makeshift pouch that contained the beast cores.

However, after grasping at nothing but cloth, Nyx remembered that she had put them on the desk while she had been reading.

Releasing a barrage of not so silent or ladylike curses at a machinegun-like pace, enough to make even a sailor sweat, without slowing her speed in the slightest, Nyx bolted to the left and up the dingy servant stairwell.

Even though she was confident that the armoured man wouldn't be able to enter the narrow space and give chase, Nyx knew that the man was not alone and had no intention of being trapped. Quickly increasing her speed as much as she could while climbing the spiral stairway, Nyx soon saw a bright light ahead of her.

"Target Acquired but running wild," roared a masculine voice that seemed to cause the very air to tremble. It was the man that she had just dodge, standing beside the narrow entrance to the stairwell. "Moving to the second floor. All units converge and contain. Eliminate all contacts that do not match the target's profile with extreme prejudice."

Now they had located their target; there was no need to capture and interrogate any others they came across. It wasn't their job to find answers.

As if invigorated by the discovery of their objective, roars of acknowledgement resonated around the mansion, the clang of armoured footsteps causing vibrations in the foundations of the building.

While Nyx could feel the vibrations in her feet, a frown appearing on her face, due to her ears being damaged she was unable to hear anything other than the high pitched ringing that seemed to be getting worse with each passing moment.

Arriving at the top of the stairs, Nyx was shocked to discover that another armoured man was already waiting. However, she couldn't help but praise her luck as she saw that one of his hands were occupied by the shield while the other seemed to have dropped the long dagger-like weapon as it reached out to grab her.

Stepping to the left before quickly spinning to the right and ducking under the man's outstretched arm, much to the man's surprise, Nyx sprinted past him.

While cultivation enhanced the strength and energy possessed, excluding the seemingly physic breaking skill and abilities one could learn, a cultivator's body had a limit the speed it could move — something that Nyx was taking full advantage as she seemingly danced around her opponent.

However, although she had trained her body for months, resulting in it being in excellent shape, Nyx was breathing heavily, sweat pouring down her body and dizzyness continually assaulted her senses as the urge to vomit fluttered around her stomach.

Quickly analysing the room she was sprinting through, Nyx noted that it was basically empty excluding a few beds and cots haphazardly placed. Apart from that, she couldn't see anything she could easily make into an impromptu weapon and immediately moved towards the exit.

Passing the doorway, only to find it lead into another large room with a single door on the opposite side. Feeling the vibrations of heavy footsteps from the man she had just dodged, Nyx couldn't help but push her body harder, increasing her breakneck pace.

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However, even though she was in a dire situation, Nyx couldn't help but be distracted by how terrible she was feeling.

She knew that something was wrong with her body, but before Nyx could afford to spend the time to focus on that, she had to try and work out how she was going to escape without getting into a direct confrontation with those that could probably end her life with a single hit.

Nyx was so distracted that she failed to avoid the shattered glass lying on the floor by the doorway, the sharp stabbing pains in her feet instantly slowing her speed as she started to leave bloody footprints on the floor.

Ignoring the pain from the shards that had lodged themselves in her feet and were only being pushed deeper with every step, Nyx rushed onwards and into the next room, only to slide to a halt, gasping for breath as if she had just run a marathon.

She was now in a spacious hallway, but instead of giving her more options, she found that she had run into a dead end.

In front of her, blocking the exit to another room and a stairway leading down, were four huge men wearing the same, black armour, their tower shields aiding to prevent any possible escape route.

"Princess, please stop. We are here to rescue you," said one of the men, trying to make his gruff voice as friendly as possible.

However, Nyx couldn't hear a word he said, and with the helmet on, she couldn't even tell he had.

After glancing behind her and realising the man that she had previously dodged was blocking the door, she had just come through. Nyx's eyes returned to their cold, indifferent state as her psychological mask returned to her features.

The hallway had no windows, and while there was a fireplace, it looked like it had been blocked a long time ago. It was also devoid of anything that could be useful, not even a picture frame hung on its walls.

A familiar feeling started to take over. As the situation seemingly became worse, Nyx's mind and emotions calmed, soon becoming as tranquil as a frozen lake.

While she was never one to give up, even if it was hopeless, after everything she had learnt from reading the documents the night before, a bitter resentment started bubbling up from the depths of her soul. To die now, after learning about her potential fate, felt like an omnipotent being was spitting in her face.

Nyx closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her cracked ribs causing a mild stabbing pain which was all but ignored as she prepared for what she believed could be her final battle in this body.

Seeing the changes in the princess expression before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, the armoured men believed the princess had given up resisting.

"Jenkins, secure the target. Ever-" the armoured warrior's words, who judging from his commands held a higher rank than the rest, stopped dead in his throat as Nyx's eyes abruptly opened and she bolted towards the two soldiers guarding the stairs in a zigzag manner.

The sudden change was so fast and unexpected, the warrior's minds couldn't help but blank for a split second, giving Nyx all the time she needed.

Just before she reached the two guarding the stairs, Nyx ran at the shield of the warrior on the left.

However, instead of slamming into it as everyone expected, Nyx suddenly threw her body backwards, letting her feet raise up before kicking out at the shield with all her strength.

The warrior didn't move, nor did his shield tremble in the slightest, however, the power behind Nyx's kick sent her body flying towards the man on the right at an incredible speed.

Twisting to avoid the outstretched hand that was trying to grab her, Nyx kicked off the man's wrist to increase her momentum.

The urge to use her knee to attack the warrior's face as she passed his head was extremely tempting, but Nyx knew that with her weak constitution, she would only hurt herself and reluctantly resisted.

After clearing the warrior, Nyx rotated her body as she soared in the air above the stairwell, finding the drop to be further than she had anticipated.

She also noticed that while the two men she had just passed were still turning, the other three were already rushing towards her.

Though Nyx couldn't see the expressions under their helmets, every one of them had an astonished, disbelieving look etched on their faces. As if they had just witnessed something impossible.

As if a princess, a person known to have no cultivation base, had just dodged past two elite, gem realm special force commandos seemingly so effortlessly, it looked like she was dancing.