The location was a relatively unpopulated region in the Golden Dragon Clan Estate.
Elena currently stood face to face with a group of figures wearing tight black clothing as expected of assassins.
"You've finally decided to show yourself?" She commented with a smirk, panning her gaze over the group.
'They're all in the middle stages and early stages of 4th class. This Black Dragon Clan is seriously underestimating me.' She thought inwardly.
It was to be expected since this was only the second wave, but she was still a bit disappointed that she wouldn't get to personally fight today.
'16th Infantry Unit, respond.'
Elena allowed her hand to hover over the ground below, dripping her mana into the earth as if it was liquid.
Within milliseconds of her snarky remarks, a group of 15 soldiers in glowing white armor materialized before her.
The assassins hadn't yet been able to move yet.
"Let's make this fun. The 16th Infantry is the weakest unit in my army. If you can beat them, maybe you have the qualifications to be considered ants in my eyes!"
She smiled giddily and flicked her wrist forward, giving the command to charge.
In such a situation, why would she let her enemy have the first move?
As she'd claimed, the 16th Infantry was Elena's newest formed and thus weakest unit. Its strength was still around the same level as that of the assassins', making it so they wouldn't suffer an immediate defeat as they would in front of any other troop.
15 white-clad soldiers charged as one, meeting the group of 20 assassins before they could take advantage of their mobility.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Swords and spears clashed against short swords and knives. Despite the sudden nature of the situation, the assassins didn't panic in the slightest.
They worked as a well-oiled machine and immediately reacted to the change in the situation.
The leader of the group was a man named Dylan. Within the Black Dragon Clan, his rank wasn't too high, but he was the son of an outer elder.
This mission was one of many he'd been assigned in the past few decades, and the team that followed him was able to follow his command as if they were parts of his body.
Whoosh!
He slid his knives against the great sword of his enemy and forced the larger blade to the side. The second he finished this maneuver, he pushed on the balls of his feet and retreated several meters.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
His unit followed directly after, waiting for his command to move.
'The enemy is more difficult than expected. This might not be an operation our team can handle.'
Dylan was a man who'd been in the field long enough to develop an instinct for these sorts of things, and he wasn't the type of person to throw away the lives of his brothers in a hopeless battle.
'First, test the waters.'
His eyes sharpened as he made the decision. Within a split second, he'd already vanished into the shadows, turning into a small trail of smoke that swerved through the air until it was directly behind the head of the main Valhalla Soul.
'Shadow Demon Art First Form: Void Slash.'
The Shadow Demon Art, the main art of the Black Dragon Clan's Covert Operations Division, was an art that used a single slash to end all things.
Dylan's figure materialized like a ghost, his legs wrapping around the Valhalla Soul's head and constricting its movements. Within an instant, his knife was already stabbed through the enemy's helmet, his attack in the process of executing.
Shing!
A black flash of light cut through the Valhalla soul and connected Dylan's knife to the ground. As the Valhalla Soul split in two, Dylan jumped back and surveyed the area, keeping his eyes focused on Elena.
Shing!
Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!
All around, the 19 remaining members of his squad followed his movements and launched a coordinated attack. From the start, they had higher numbers than the enemy, and as a unit trained to fight above their own level, dealing with them was far easier than their initial collision made it seem like it would be.
Dylan's eyes narrowed.
'It shouldn't be this easy.' He thought with a frown.
The dangerous aura he felt from Elena indicated that her true power was far beyond this.
The itching feeling in the back of his mind refused to leave, and as if confirming his thoughts…
"Oh! You're a lot more skilled than I expected."
A teasing voice came from the very enemy he'd been so carefully watching.
"Hmm, this is where we have a problem. Everyone else is too powerful, and I don't want you to die just yet…" Elena muttered, placing her finger on her chin in thought.
"Well, I guess I'll just do it myself."
She smiled and swept her hand through the air, grabbing the sword that materialized from her spatial ring.
It was an incredibly familiar thin single-edged blade, the same blade Damien had Vormec forge her all those years ago.
However, this blade was no longer the same as it used to be.
In its current state…
Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!
Elena's movements were soundless. Her sword moved through the air with such precision that it barely made a sound.
Before Dylan could process her movements, he suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his legs.
Spurt!
Spurt!
Spurt!
Simultaneously, the extremities of each member of the squad tore open, forcing them to collapse to the floor, blood spraying wantonly around them.
'What…just…'
Dylan's eyes widened in shock.
'This mission is impossible.'
The thought he had earlier was instantly confirmed.
'Our priority is escape!'
Dylan gritted his teeth and pushed his mana, connecting to his spatial ring and summoning a certain item.
"Ah, ah, I can't have you doing that."
Elena's voice was like a reaper's. She appeared behind Dylan and stabbed her sword through his torso, pinning him to the ground.
"You seem to be the leader of this little group, so answer a few questions for me. When it's done, I'll give you a painless death. How's that for a deal?"
Dylan's eyes burned in rage. Dying on a mission was one thing, but being humiliated by the enemy like this wasn't something he could ever accept!
Ptui!
He launched a ball of spit at Elena's feet.
"I'll never bow to scum who opposes our clan!" He said firmly.
Without waiting for a response, he flared his mana into the atmosphere.
VOOM!
A talisman appeared in the sky and covered the area. The 20 members of the assassination squad were covered in a bright light as their bodies were connected to the talisman.
"Teleportation Device?" Elena muttered. "That's a bit troublesome."
She wasn't a spatial expert who could interfere with the spell's activation, nor was she a formation master who could break the talisman's function before it activated,
However, on the other hand…
'Isn't it better for me if they return?'
Fighting an endless horde of weaker enemies wasn't fun at all. Even if Elena was participating in this fight for more serious reasons, it didn't mean she wanted to prolong something that didn't need to be prolonged.
"But I can't let you think you beat me. I can't cancel the whole formation, but…"
Elena smiled and looked down at the man pinned to the ground before her.
"…I'll keep you here for now."
She withdrew her sword and brandished it into the air.
'Severing Evil.'
A flash of light encompassed the environment.
In reality, it was two flashes combined into one.
In the first, a bright white sword light cut through something ethereal, something formless.
In the second, 19 bodies vanished from the surroundings, leaving only two.
Dylan shivered as he collapsed to the floor and coughed blood, backlash from his sudden disconnection from the talisman formation.
Meanwhile, Elena stood with the same indifferent smile on her face.
This man might've been somewhat low on the food chain, but he surely had some information…right?
Well, there was nothing left to do but find out.
And finding out…was one of Elena's favorite things to do.
