The Sword and The Shadow

"What's going on? He shouldn't be able to use the blink ability out of the dark, right?" Sartre said with a start at the sight.

He was well aware which gifts Leguna had, so he made sure to light the hall well. Yet, the candlelight didn't look like it was able to stop Shadow Blink.

"It's within expectations, Sir. Please remain calm," said One with her ever unshaken tone.

After Leguna disappeared, Sasha was left standing there alone helplessly. She was so terrified that her face paled completely from the sight of the weapon-wielding foes.

She only just came to understand that Leguna had been protecting her. It was quite insulting that the Stokians that wanted to capture Leguna didn't care about Sasha's life at all, yet Leguna was willing to take an arrow for her despite coming from an enemy empire.

Either way, he was now gone and left her there alone. Who could she blame, though? If not for her selling out, Leguna would still be there to look after her. He wouldn't become the terrifying and hateful Dark Requiem and would stay as the kind Big Brother Jaehart, would he?

But everything changed because she made that report. Because she betrayed him.

Sasha didn't receive any money for that, neither did she think about asking for protection. Only two people were harmed from that act: Leguna and herself.

She suddenly came to regret it deeply. Why did she listen to that voice and betray the kind man that cared for her so much? She really was silly, stupid and bad!

She slumped to the ground helplessly and stared into nothingness as if her soul had been sapped out.

Drip…

A drop of blood fell on glass. followed by a loud crash.

Leguna's equipment were all stored in the center of the exhibition platform inside a glass case. The sound came from the case shattering.

After that, he fell from the ceiling lightly. He didn't leave at all and only blinked away to analyze his situation.

Given how rushed the whole thing was put together, the capital's security wasn't that tight. Apart from the dangerous One, he didn't think the others posed much of a threat to him.

In fact, that was exactly what One desired. She had just returned from her mission and heard about Dark Requiem's presence in the millennium capital. The agency didn't give her any specific assignment, but she volunteered to be there. She had long wanted to meet him, but she didn't have a chance due to being from opposing nations.

There were also a few reasons the agency wasn't willing to send out more people.

The first was the lack of manpower, given how urgent the situation on the frontlines was.

Additionally, they got the tip from a little girl whose trustworthiness was dubious at best. If the magic academy didn't apply any pressure to the agency, they would've simply brushed it off by sending a person or two to check the situation out.

The agency didn't really care about whether it was really him anyway. The agency had every person of importance properly guarded, so he wouldn't be able to do much damage anyway. And there was no way they could catch Leguna alive. At the very least, nobody in the millennium capital would be capable of such a feat. Even Saron's capture of him was a miraculous exception.

I just have to pay attention to One and it'll be fine! he concluded after his assessment.

He first flung two shadow knives at the glass case containing his gear and jumped straight down. He didn't really care much about his armor and boots, but he definitely had to get Ebony and Lighteater!

But before he touched Lighteater, One moved. She zipped across the stairs so quickly that nothing but a blur was visible. The moment Leguna's blood dripped on the glass case, she already had a hunch about his intent. So, she managed to reach his equipment a fraction of a second earlier.

She drew a dagger from who knows where and pierced it forwards like a snake lashing out for its prey.

That strike wasn't targeted to Leguna, but it would definitely hit him if he continued his downward trajectory.

Leguna wasn't surprised at that either. He changed the flow of his impetus to move and landed on the ground after a backflip.

"Since your items have been claimed as spoils, it's up to us what we do with it, is it not?" One said with a hint of laughter.

"I beg to differ."

He smiled and held Lighteater in his right hand before tracing two beautiful arcs in the air.

She wore a look of surprise and was startled to notice that Leguna still managed to get his all gear back, not just his sword.

As he was adjusting his fall trajectory, he also sent out a few strands of shadow thread to grip onto his gear and used them to pull it to him. With them in hand, he tossed everything but Lighteater into his dimensional pocket.

[Looks like you're getting quite familiar with the use of Shadowedge,] Gahrona said weakly. She was barely holding on after a month without nourishment from souls.

[Teacher,] he said inwardly with complex feelings. Even though he was in better condition in this past month and his teacher was finally back, nobody but he knew how much trouble he had to go through. Not only was he exceedingly busy; he had also always been worried about something else.

And hearing Gahrona's voice again after so long made him feel like his central support was back in place. It truly felt good to be relieved.

[Alright, Ley. I know I wronged you the last time and owe you an explanation. But let's leave that until you escape first. Focus on what's in front of you.]

[Yes,] he said without dallying.

Gahrona was quite thankful that his disciple was willing to travel so far to get her back and not carry a shred of anger and dissatisfaction for her. During the decades she roamed Lance, she didn't get a single disciple. She didn't think she would make up for that by getting someone so interesting like Leguna as her disciple in her incomplete state after death.

While Leguna had obvious deficiencies when it came to his personality, he had shocking talent to make up for it. More importantly, he knew where gratitude was due. That was quite an important trait for a teacher. Who would want to spend so much effort on an ungrateful disciple? Gahrona was quite satisfied that Leguna showed her due respect as her disciple.

I wonder how much he improved in the past month… she thought without sending it across. She wanted to see how he would deal with the current situation.

"The number-one assassin of Stok doesn't seem like much after all," Leguna provoked.

One's surprise only lasted a few seconds before she reassumed her graceful facade. She laughed seductively and said, "Really?"

This time, it was Leguna's turn to start. He felt a numbing pain on his back and reached out his injured left hand only to find blood there.

It looked like One did manage to harm him with her impetus rather than her blade. Fortunately, impetus could only be extended at a limited range, so his vitals weren't harmed. They were quite evenly matched in that short exchange.

Leguna waved Lighteater around him and pushed it in the ground before he reached his right hand out to pull on the clothes near his left chest. His tattered server's uniform fell from his body, baring his upper body. While he wasn't heavily built, his muscles were plain to see.

"Not a bad figure," One said.

"Thanks for the compliment."

He drew Lighteater from the ground and charged at One.

The fight between two top assassins wasn't as amazing to witness as most imagined. They were far too quick and only blurry silhouettes could be seen, accompanied by a cacophony of metallic clangs. Their movements were completely indiscernible.

One was an 18th-stratum assassin and Leguna was using the fifth stage of Host of Darkness to compensate, though he was still slightly shy of the 18th stratum. So, he wasn't able to take advantage of Lighteater's Spatial Cut.

Even so, Shadow Edge and Shadow Blink helped even the playing field in Leguna's favor.

However, the balance was shattered in an instant. Leguna experienced a sudden breakthrough and his base impetus rose to the 16th stratum.

The sudden boost caused him to be on par with the 18th stratum proper with Host of Darkness. He was no longer suppressed and could use Spatial Cut.

One had her dagger cut in half when she was taken off guard. Had she not dodged in time, that strike would've cut her head in half too. One wasn't faring too well and her right hand was injured with the bone beneath it visible. It seemed that her combat prowess would be greatly limited.

Leguna easily avoided the attacks of the other agents and claimed their souls for Gahrona's nourishment.

Seeing so many people unable to take him down, Leguna had wanted to mock them. But One moved at that moment and flung a throwing knife at the shivering Sasha!