Chapter 159: Trust Me

I thrust my hand forward, switching classes mid-motion. Mana surged through me as I cast Fireball. The blazing orb slammed into the old man’s chest and exploded, launching him backward into the wall with a heavy crash.

Ravelle was already back on her feet, rushing me with murderous intent. I looked up just in time to see a pair of bare feet flying toward my face.

Oh, come on. A dropkick? That would’ve been the only thing left on my bucket list.

The kick connected hard on my face. I hit the ground, head ringing. I shook it off quickly and pushed myself back up. Both of them were coming at me again.

I ducked under the old man’s next sword swing and drove my shoulder hard into Ravelle’s body, knocking her off balance. In the same movement, I slashed upward and cut across her arm.

"Damn. You two are the most amateurish couple I’ve ever seen. And trust me..." I deadpanned, breathing heavily, "a lot of people have tried to kill me."

Ravelle wiped blood from the corner of her mouth, eyes narrowing. "Aah, there it is. The real Ace. Look at you... dead eyes. No light behind them."

"Hmm," I muttered. "You should’ve taken the third option."

The old man spat on the floor and pushed himself up, sword still in hand. "We’ll see about that, fellah."

He then conjured a second sword in a flicker of mana and tossed it to Ravelle. She caught it smoothly.

"Hey," I said, keeping my dagger ready. "Ravelle... that your real name?"

She smirked and knowingly squeezed her heavy breasts together with her free arm, putting on a little show even in the middle of a fight. "Yep."

"An assassin who gives out her real name?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Trust me," she replied, voice dripping with confidence, "Ravelle is the last thing my victims ever hear. So it doesn’t matter."

I gave a slow nod. "That’s a first for everything."

She glanced down at her naked body, then back at me with a playful smirk. "May I wear my dress first?" While still holding the sword in one hand, she pinched her own nipple, twisting it lightly. "I don’t wanna be butt naked when I kill you. I hate getting blood on my skin... the stench never comes out."

I didn’t reply. I just stared at her for a moment, then kicked her crumpled dress across the floor with my foot, nudging it toward her.

"Yay, thanks!" she said cheerfully, as if we weren’t trying to murder each other.

She handed the sword back to her husband for a second, quickly slipped the dress over her head, and adjusted it over her thick curves. Once it was on, she took the sword back and gave it a little twirl.

"Alright, that’s better," she purred, flashing a dangerous smile. "Now... let’s go."

I moved first, dashing toward Ravelle. She took a step back and ducked, leaving the old man behind her with a clear opening to slash his sword at me.

I raised my dagger just in time, steel crashing against steel in a shower of sparks. At the same moment, Ravelle tried to stab me in the lower abdomen. I stepped back just in time, the blade missing me by only a few centimeters.

"Can you just stay still," Ravelle said as she swung her sword again, "so I can kill you? Pretty please?"

I deflected her slash with my dagger and retreated another step. Fighting two opponents with only a knife was exhausting. I had used knives plenty back in my old world, but never in actual combat. This was a completely different experience.

"They say you have a tremendous number of dead souls around you," Ravelle said as she caught her breath. "Is that true?"

"Hmm." I shrugged. "Want to join them?"

The old man grunted and thrust his palm forward. An ice shard shot through the air, and I tilted my head aside just before it could pierce my skull. It slammed into the wall behind me instead.

I immediately switched combat classes and activated Grave Step.

My body burst forward in a blur.

The old man barely had time to react before I slammed into him, wrapped an arm around his waist, and drove both of us through the doorway. The door burst open with a loud crash, and his back slammed into the opposite wall inside what looked like another room.

He grabbed me by the throat and threw a punch.

I knocked his hand aside before the grip tightened, drove my forehead into his nose, then planted my feet and punched him square in the chest.

"GAH!"

He crashed backward, smashing through another door behind him. We both tumbled into the next room and hit the floor together. I ended up on top of him, forcing my dagger toward his throat, but he caught both of my wrists before the blade could sink in. Despite his age, the old bastard was unbelievably strong.

"Honey?" a man’s voice called from somewhere inside the room. "Did you bring him?"

Both of us looked up. And... we probably wish we hadn’t looked up.

A man was chained spread-eagle to the bed, wrists and ankles secured with iron restraints. He was completely naked, blindfolded, and there was a wine bottle lodged in a place I really didn’t want to think about.

"Come on!" the man pleaded, squirming against the chains. "Did you bring him? Please!"

I looked back down at the old man. He looked just as caught off guard as I was.

Neither of us said a word.

We immediately resumed trying to kill each other. The tip of my dagger was pressed against his throat now, barely scratching the skin.

Footsteps rushed up behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see Ravelle swinging her sword. I rolled away before the blade could reach me, but the old man used the opening to climb on top of me. He snatched up his sword from the floor and shoved the blade sideways toward my neck, gripping the hilt with one hand while forcing extra pressure against the flat of the blade with the other.

"Fucking..." I grunted. "Ggh..."

I switched classes again and activated Shadow Leap.

My body dissolved into black smoke before reappearing beside the bed. I rubbed my throat as I caught my breath. The old man stood up, casually spinning his sword once in his hand as if he had all the time in the world.

Our eyes met.

He lunged first.

His speed caught me off guard. Our weapons collided, but his experience completely overwhelmed me. My dagger flew out of my hand, bounced across the floor, and slid underneath the bed.

I cursed under my breath, stepped backward, and barely avoided his next slash.

Before I could create any distance, Ravelle charged from the side and slammed me onto the bed. She drove her fist into my nose, sending blood running down over my upper lip.

"Honey?" the chained man asked again. "Is that you? Please say something."

Ravelle wrapped both hands around my throat and began choking me. She couldn’t find a good angle to stab me while pinning me down, so she settled for squeezing the life out of me instead.

I struggled beneath her.

The old man stood beside the bed, sword in hand, but with Ravelle on top of me, he couldn’t risk swinging without hitting her.

"Move," he whispered. "He’ll hear us."

"Just fucking stab him!" Ravelle snapped.

"You’re in the way, moron!"

"Then fucking do it before he uses Shadow Lea..."

That was exactly what I did.

I activated Shadow Leap and slipped out of her grasp. I reappeared above the bed and immediately began falling, but before I landed, I cast Shadow Leap again.

The second jump carried me back into the corridor. Both idiots cursed under their breath before rushing after me.

"You even know what Cadence did?" I asked as they stepped into the hallway.

Ravelle quietly shut the door behind her. "I honestly don’t care what he did, Ace."

"You should," I replied. "He murdered Jelda and her mother."

"I don’t know who Jelda is, and I don’t care." She shrugged. "I’m an assassin, Ace."

"But you’re still human."

The old man beside her chuckled. "We’re just as human as you are," he said. "Trust me."

The old man lunged at me without a moment’s hesitation.

With my dagger still lying somewhere under the bed inside the room, I had no choice but to rely on instinct. I ducked beneath his swing, feeling the blade whistle just above my head, then slipped past him before he could recover.

Before either of us could make another move, footsteps echoed up the corridor.

All three of us froze.

A woman appeared at the end of the hallway, climbing the stairs alongside a massive dark-skinned man. He towered over everyone else, broad enough to nearly fill the corridor by himself. His heavy footsteps echoed through the floorboards as he walked.

He glanced at the three of us and let out an easy chuckle.

"Evening."

We all gave small nods in return, pretending nothing was out of the ordinary.

The pair continued down the hallway, reached the room behind us, and stepped inside without another word. A second later, the door closed behind them.

Silence settled over the corridor once again.