Chapter 16: The Assassin’s Demise and a Grim Return

The spot where Elara had stood was instantly engulfed in a fireball.

The magic persisted for a full three seconds.

Once the flames dissipated, only a scorched patch of road remained.

Yet, the assassin showed no sign of relaxation.

He sensed that Elara hadn’t been incinerated to ash; rather, she had vanished abruptly from the center of the spell.

It was as if she had evaporated into thin air.

He could no longer afford such considerations; this potent, exceptional magic had nearly depleted his mana, necessitating an immediate replenishment.

Reaching into his pouch, he withdrew a mana recovery potion.

It was then that Elara materialized from thin air, launching a dark arrow directly toward his wrist.

To the assassin’s eyes, the dark arrow had been fired from Elara’s position, vanished suddenly, and then inexplicably reappeared right by his hand.

Despite his best efforts to dodge, two of his fingers were still severed.

“Gah!”

The assassin’s eyes gleamed with savagery. “Space magic!?”

His voice was hoarse and grating, like a erhu made from tin cans.

Elara still felt a lingering trepidation from the sheer power of the exceptional magic. Had it not been for her ‘Voidwalk’ spell, she would have been reborn once more.

Now that her hand was revealed, there was no need to conceal it further.

“Who exactly are you?” Elara demanded again.

“I merely do what I’m paid for.”

Before his words even finished echoing, the assassin instantly conjured two smaller fireballs, hurling them at the pair. He seized this brief window to break free from their encirclement.

In the next moment, an ice cage formed over the spot where the assassin had just been.

Hilvyn’s ‘Ice Thorn Cage’, which she had been brewing for half an eternity, had landed on empty air.

“Don’t let him recover!” Elara cried, her words unfinished as she shot forward like an arrow from a bow.

Hilvyn dodged the fireballs, preparing to unleash her own attack on the assassin.

However, the assassin already had a mana recovery potion clutched between his teeth.

*Crack.*

A crisp sound followed immediately.

The assassin fought off Elara, who had surged forward, while casually spitting out glass shards.

‘Blaze Armor’ ignited once more upon his body.

Hilvyn silently cast ‘Swiftness’ upon Elara, then began to channel her ice magic.

She was severely restricted in this fight; she hadn’t learned any advanced wind-based offensive spells, and both the power and flow of her ice magic were heavily weakened by the ‘Sea of Heat’.

Elara, on the other hand, grew bolder with each clash. The high movement speed granted by ‘Shadow Stealth’ and ‘Swiftness’ made it increasingly difficult for the assassin to keep up.

Though she had sustained minor injuries, they did not impede her movements in the slightest.

The assassin had been constantly wary of Elara’s spatial magic, diverting his focus, but to his surprise, she had never used it again.

Having been toyed with by two women, losing two fingers, and suffering various cuts and burns across his arms and body—wounds that were continuously seared by the ‘Shadow Blade’ effect—he finally snapped.

His anger and desperation surged.

He abandoned his defensive stance, no longer searching for openings, and instead launched a full-scale assault.

This was precisely what Elara had intended.

Elara deliberately exposed an opening, feigning a loss of balance after being struck. The assassin seized the opportunity, unleashing a powerful punch.

“Ice Wall, protect me!”

She pretended to panic, but in truth, the scales of victory had tipped in her favor the moment the assassin’s mana began to dwindle.

The assassin shattered the ice wall with a single punch.

Behind it, however, stood no one.

“Too late to realize now,” a voice echoed from behind the assassin.

Elara plunged her twin blades into the assassin’s left and right chest, without the slightest hesitation, ensuring that even if his heart were on the right side, it would still be pierced.

“Ah! Ugh, ugh, ugh—”

Yet, he did not fall. Instead, the flames on his body surged dramatically with a prolonged roar. Elara was startled, attempting to retreat, but she was not fast enough to evade his turn.

A fiery punch landed squarely on Elara’s abdomen.

Elara was sent flying several meters, like a kite with a snapped string, before crashing heavily to the ground.

“Sister—!” Hilvyn rushed over immediately.

“Cough, cough…” Elara tasted blood. “Don’t worry about me yet.”

Her words implied she wasn’t dead, urging Hilvyn to deliver the finishing blow.

However, the assassin had already collapsed to the ground, utterly still. Blood slowly pooled around him, and the ‘Sea of Heat’ magic dissipated.

After careful consideration, Hilvyn still went to Elara’s side.

“Master…” Hilvyn knelt beside Elara, continuously casting ‘Healing Wind’.

The efficiency was painfully slow.

Cole and the butler disembarked from the carriage and jogged over, offering two vials of potion.

“Please use these.”

Elara took them.

She appraised them.

[Name: Advanced Life Recovery Potion]

[Effect: Can reattach severed limbs, heal fractures, internal organ damage…]

The extensive list of effects made her own injuries seem almost unworthy of such a potent medicine.

But there was no harm in using it, especially since she was in considerable pain.

Less than ten seconds after consuming a vial, the discomfort vanished.

“Thank you.”

However, this was not the time to marvel at the potion’s efficacy.

She stood up, cautiously approaching the corpse—her twin blades still embedded within it.

“What organization does this assassin belong to?” Elara asked Cole.

The assassin had been too professional, without any wasted movements. His initial rounds of attacks were precise, aimed at a swift kill. Had it not been for her spatial perception, an ordinary A-rank adventurer might have fallen victim to the first ambush.

Cole shook his head; he had been preoccupied with matters at the trading post. The butler, too, was unaware.

Elara began to review the battle.

The greatest contributor was her spatial magic. It truly lived up to its reputation as a rare and cunning attribute.

Moreover, during their later exchanges, the assassin had clearly been on guard against other spatial abilities she might possess. His momentary lapse in vigilance ultimately became his undoing.

As she pondered, Hilvyn pointed at the corpse. “His body is turning black.”

Indeed, the assassin’s body slowly darkened, and then, before their eyes, his blood and flesh turned to dust.

“Is he… truly dead?”

Cole questioned, finding it difficult to judge a situation where nothing remained of the body.

“Perhaps.”

Elara replied, stepping forward to examine the leftover items.

A pair of trousers and a storage pouch.

Elara confirmed it was a mundane storage pouch before retrieving its contents.

There wasn’t much inside: a stone, four mana recovery potions, one intermediate life recovery potion, and some simple dry rations.

She appraised the stone.

[Name: Perception-Concealing Magic Stone (One-time Magic Tool)]

[Effect: Greatly conceals one’s presence.]

It was a pity it was a one-time item, but its effect certainly justified it.

“Are these items safe to use?”

Hilvyn was wary of any traps.

Elara confirmed through appraisal that they were ordinary potions and collected them all.

“Let’s continue our journey.”

They needed to avoid any further complications.

Elara’s abdomen had a large hole burned through her clothes. She changed into spare attire, retrieved the frightened horses, and the four of them took turns resting, traveling through the night.

By dawn the next day, before the sky had fully lightened, they finally reached the gates of Shepherd’s Wind City.

Before entering the trading post, Cole turned back and expressed his gratitude.

“Thank you both again. I will contact the Wind Whisper City trading post shortly to inform the guild and have your reward upgraded to A-rank.”

“As for the assassin’s matter…”

“I will handle it.”

This young lord was not merely outwardly kind; he would pursue the truth to the very end, for he harbored a grand ambition.

The ambush during this journey was clearly orchestrated by someone who knew Cole’s itinerary.

Afterward, Elara and Hilvyn rested briefly, politely declining Cole’s invitation for hospitality, and immediately headed back to the city.

Elara also needed to inquire about the assassin’s origins as soon as possible.

The Vice Guildmaster might know.

With that thought, Elara tugged on the reins.

“Hup!”

By evening that same day, the two had returned to Wind Whisper City.

Breathing in the air scented with wind chimes once more, both Elara and Hilvyn let out a collective sigh of relief.

“I want to eat toasted bread in a bit,” Hilvyn suggested.

“All right.”

At the Adventurers’ Guild.

Hilvyn pushed the door open and greeted Serene.

“Serene, we’re back!”

Serene looked up, her expression hardening.

Elara instantly felt a sense of foreboding.

“Miss Black Rose…” Serene’s lips parted. “Mr. Cole is dead.”