Chapter 65: Assassination [3]

Meanwhile, several meters away, Sofia was fighting two attackers of her own.

And unlike Lorenzo, she was winning.

Her twin sabers flashed through the smoke, their blades moving with an unfamiliar elegance.

One attacker lunged toward her abdomen.

Sofia sidestepped the thrust and struck his wrist with the flat of her blade.

CLANG!

His sword flew from his hand.

Before he could react, she drove her knee into his stomach and slammed the pommel of her other saber against his jaw.

CRACK!

The man collapsed.

His companion immediately rushed toward her from behind.

Sofia turned.

Her white hair fluttered as she raised both sabers.

The attacker’s sword descended toward her shoulder.

Instead of blocking it directly, she twisted her wrist and redirected the blade to the side.

Then she stepped into his guard.

Her saber stopped a hair’s breadth from his throat.

The man froze.

For a moment, Sofia stared at him.

She could kill him.

The thought came naturally, almost frighteningly so.

Before entering the Spirit Realm, the idea of taking another human life would have horrified her.

Now, after everything she had experienced, she understood that hesitation could cost her everything.

But before she could decide what to do, the attacker suddenly grinned.

"Got you!"

A second sword emerged from beneath his cloak, stabbing toward her stomach.

Sofia’s eyes widened.

She twisted desperately, but the blade still grazed her side.

At the same moment, she drove her saber forward.

SHING!

Her weapon pierced the man’s chest stabbing the heart.

...And just like that he was dead. The first human that she had killed.

Well, first real human. She had killed many in her trial.

Sofia retreated several steps, breathing heavily.

Her expression had turned cold.

’I almost died.’

She had been so focused on controlling the fight that she had failed to notice his hidden weapon.

That mistake could have cost her life.

She couldn’t afford to make it again.

The golden light within her body stirred and the side where she was hurt began to heal as golden flame surrounded her injury.

In matter of blink of eyes the injury was gone but...

’Ugh!’

The pain went through her body for using the golden flame and at the same time she felt her emotions become slightly dull.

It was side effects of using golden flame, whenever she was injured those flame would heal her but at the same she felt pain through out her body and her emotions would become slightly dull.

But in few hours those emotions would returned back.

She hadn’t even learned how to use it properly.

Yet now, in the middle of a battle against trained Awakeners, that power was responding to her emotions.

For now, she had to survive.

And she had to make sure Lorenzo survived, too.

The thought annoyed her more than it should have.

She didn’t want to save him.

She wanted to become to kill him herself.

But if he died here, at the hands of some unknown assassins, she would lose the chance to settle things on her own terms.

So, for the time being, Lorenzo Riina had to remain alive.

Preferably without getting himself killed in the next five minutes.

Unfortunately, the man in question seemed determined to make that difficult.

Lorenzo ducked beneath a sword strike.

The blade passed over his head, cutting several strands of hair.

He responded with a vicious swing of his axe, forcing the attacker to retreat.

But the other man had already moved into position.

A boot slammed into Lorenzo’s injured back.

BAM!

"GAH!"

Pain exploded through his body.

Lorenzo stumbled forward, nearly falling to his knees.

"I had enough of this bullshit! I can’t believe you can’t even killed one brat while Master Nex is facing against his bodyguard of same rank."

At that moment, Lorenzo heard a shout. Turning his head away he saw what appears to be man in early twenties with ’X’ scar on his right side of cheeks.

Lorenzo immediately he needed to make another ’X’ scar on other side of the face to make it symmetrical.

"This brat is tough more the we thought Nox!"

"Yeah, he’s really fucking hard to kill!"

"Fine. I’ll join you too."

The man named Nox clicked his tounge and immediately joined the battlefield.

BAAM!

THUD! THUD! THUD!

So when named Nox joined, he was blasted off by a single punch from him.

"What the..."

After rolling on the ground many times, he held his stomach, shocked by the strength with which he was punched.

The Nox stood there, having a wicked grin on his face, with a D- rank Aura revolving around him.

"Hehe, did you think the higher-ups will leave you alone after you killed so many of our compared in Appetite Of Heaven? Look around that’s why my brother Nex who’s Master came and I who is at D- rank along with E+ rank awakenres. You are done for, Scumbag piece of Overlord!"

But instead of feeling despair, Lorenzo smiled as well as he pulled out his gun from the holster while lying on the ground.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

All except the Nox died as soon as the bullet hit their head.

It happened so fast that Nox didn’t know what happened until it was already too late.

"You—!"

"He’s Scumbag for sure but he’s my Scumbag."

Nox heard feamle voice and turned around, only to found woman in Golden Dawn Academy Uniform with twin saber on her both hands while the edges of blade shine with what appeared to be a golden flame.

’He’s my scumbag and I’m the only one who’s allowed to killed him.’ Sofia didn’t said next part as she glanced at Nox before her.

He was at D- rank and she herself has broken through E+ rank yesterday.

Still, fighting against him would be death battle itself.

Nox stared at Sofia.

Then he glanced at the bodies scattered across the ground.

Finally, his gaze returned to the golden flames dancing along the edges of her twin sabers.

"...You’re kidding me."

He had expected Lorenzo Riina to be a troublesome target. After all, the boy was the son of an Overlord, and the reports about his actions during the Appetite of Heaven incident had been rather unpleasant.

But this?

An E- rank brat who could fight several ranks above his own.

A woman who had somehow slaughtered his subordinates and was now standing between him and his target.

And golden flames that he had never seen before.

Nox clicked his tongue.

"Whatever. You’re just another pretty girl who doesn’t know when to stay out of trouble."

Sofia’s expression remained unchanged.

"Are you done talking?"

"...What?"

"If you’re going to attack, then attack. I don’t have all day."

Nox’s smile twitched.

Then he laughed.

"Hahaha! You really have a death wish, don’t you?"

He took a step forward.

BOOM!

His D- rank aura erupted, spreading across the ruined street like a tidal wave.

The pavement beneath his feet cracked, and the surrounding flames flickered under the pressure of his mana.

For an ordinary E+ rank Awakener, standing before such an overwhelming presence would have been terrifying.

Sofia felt the pressure pressing against her body.