Vexion smiled as she replied in a shadowy voice that completely concealed her real one.
"No need for dialogue. Master says conversations before a fight should only exist for tactical purposes or to gather information. Unless you have something useful to say you can di- ....."
A soft chuckle escaped her lips as her senses detected slight movement to her left before she could finish her statement. Without even turning fully, she glanced toward the disturbance.
A figure clad in black suddenly appeared. His dagger sliced through the air with terrifying speed.
Kai.
The strike missed completely.
Kai's eyes narrowed as he immediately merging with the wind itself and becoming nearly impossible to detect through ordinary means. Confusion surfaced in his mind.
Nobody survived his first strike against them.
Unless they already knew his abilities. Or they were far stronger than him.
Hidden within the wind, Kai moved silently through the battlefield as he observed his opponent reappear several meters away. The dark silhouette of a curvaceous woman stood calmly in the air. Eerie. Almost unreal.
Lee immediately understood what had happened.
Kai had struck nothing but an illusion.
"A mirage skill."
Lee dashed forward without hesitation. If long-range observation failed, close combat would reveal more information. Moving in coordination with Kai, the two attempted to surround Vexion from opposite sides and launched surprise attacks simultaneously.
Again, they missed.
The woman's amused laughter sounded from behind them. Kai and Lee exchanged grim smiles before disappearing into the wind once more.
This wasn't good.
They both blended once more with the wind, becoming non existent to the average eye. They knew however things were not in their favour. Failing twice, both times being surprise attacks was not a good sign, especially for an assassin. One trick ponies unfortunately. But it didn't matter, so long as it worked, they would do again. Not like they had a choice though. And so they could only try to increase their speed, the air blurring as they appeared Vexion again, Kai draw the dagger attempting to take her head.
His thought process was simple.
'If we can't hit her, none of this matters. We need to be faster than her mirage skill can activate.'
The blade reached its target.
Or so he thought.
The woman vanished.
Another illusion.
"Damn it."
At almost the same moment, Lee moved. The instant Vexion reappeared elsewhere, he launched himself forward.
His reasoning was equally straightforward.
'Every skill has limits. Cooldowns. Mana cost. There has to be something.'
Unfortunately not in this case.
His blade never reached her. Instead, an invisible force slammed into him. A violent pressure erupted from nowhere. It wasn't wind. It wasn't mana. It felt as though reality itself had shoved him away.
Lee was launched through the air and smashed into a building. The impact carried him straight through the wall. Dust and rubble exploded outward.
Kai's eyes widened. Turning toward where Vexion had been moments earlier, he discovered she had vanished completely. A sudden chill crawled up his spine.
His Instinct screamed for him to dodge, he could feel a ridiculous sense of danger from above his head. He obeyed and tried to dodge. However, he was simply too late
Unlike Kai, Lee wasn't struck by a pushing force. The moment he attempted to activate his skill, an overwhelming pulling force seized him. His body shot upward. In pure instinct, he unleashed a barrage of dagger strikes.
Nothing happened.
The invisible force held him completely immobile.
Then the pull vanished, only to be replaced by another force.
A push.
The two opposing forces began compressing toward one another as if attempting to crush him between them.
Just before disaster struck, Kai burst from the rubble. His speed exploded once more. A black streak shot across the battlefield as his blade focused toward Vexion.
Again, he hit nothing. Another mirage.
Lee finally escaped death as the crushing forces disappeared. The two assassins regrouped and desperately searched for their opponent.
Kai eventually spotted her.
She sat casually atop a distant rooftop, one hand resting beneath her chin, watching them. Though her features remained hidden beneath the dark mist, her posture alone radiated amusement.
Kai and Lee felt increasingly unsettled. This woman was far beyond anything they had anticipated.
Without speaking, the pair merged into the wind again. Powerful currents erupted around the battlefield. Dust and debris rose into the air as they transformed the entire area into a raging storm.
If they couldn't find her, they would force her to reveal herself.
Vexion watched the growing maelstrom and chuckled softly. At least they had finally identified the core problem. That alone deserved a little praise.
Her eyes narrowed.
Dozens of mirages suddenly appeared around the battlefield. Every duplicate raised a hand simultaneously.
Push.
An overwhelming force exploded outward. The raging winds were violently forced back, and the storm itself began collapsing. Kai was thrown backward and crashed onto another rooftop, struggling to regain his footing.
Meanwhile, Lee used his wind skill to lower his presence almost completely. He slipped past a few illusions and thrust his dager out at what he could only guess was the real Vexion. With that his dagger shot out.
The instant he attacked, countless invisible forces slammed into him from every direction. Every mirage that noticed him activated Push. The crushing pressure surrounded him completely.
Kai and Lee couldn't help but curse. 'This fighting style was annoying and in their eyes cowardly. Run , push , run pull , run again and again and again. This figure was fighting so obnoxiously and lazily. Who trains to fight like this'
Bur they could do nothing. At the end of the day they were being tossed about and thrown into buildings by an enemy they couldn't even touch.
Kai's eyes widened. Gripping his dagger tightly, he exploded forward once more. A powerful gust propelled him so quickly that the rooftop beneath him shattered. He appeared directly before Vexion.
Instantly.
Vexion seemed mildly surprised. 'Oh, his speed increased again for a second, not bad'
But only mildly.
Because once again, Kai missed.
Another mirage.
Lee briefly found relief as several illusions disappeared, weakening the pressure around him. Frustration spread across both assassins' faces.
"Where is she?" Lee shouted.
Kai spun around desperately. Using his connection to the wind, he expanded his senses as far as possible.
The moment he found her, his face turned pale.
A single building away, the silhouette stood calmly. Not looking at them.
Looking at someone else.
Then Kai felt it the aura.
An overwhelming pressure descended upon the battlefield. It wasn't being directed at them. It was simply leaking from her existence.
And yet it felt suffocating.
His vision blurred. His knees weakened. He tried to warn Lee.
But when he turned, Lee was already on his knees, coughing blood.
Moments later, Kai joined him.
The pressure intensified. The aura felt unimaginably heavy it was both sharp and violent in how suppressive it was. As though a mountain had been dropped onto their shoulders.
Their bones trembled and their muscles screamed and eventually even breathing became difficult.
Kai desperately fought to remain standing while Lee attempted to merge with the wind once more yet it was useless. The aura seemed to exist everywhere. And wherever a trace if that aura was, nothing was allowed to be free , nothing could be done against it, it was tyrannical.
Both men began coughing violently.
Then the silhouette finally spoke. The voice remained heavily distorted.
"You can stop observing now." Her gaze remained fixed elsewhere."I haven't killed them because I assumed you would eventually make a move. Yet you haven't.". Silence still then Vexion chuckled followed. "Should I assume you wish to see them die?"
Kai and Lee exchanged painful smiles. Even in their current state, they understood something. This woman had never taken them seriously.
Not once.
The realization was humiliating yet strangely believable. Anyone capable of releasing such overwhelming pressure so casually had every right to speak and act so arrogantly. More importantly, someone was finally responding to her. A calm female voice echoed across the battlefield.
"May I ask why you've destroyed our lands so thoroughly?"
Kai and Lee's hearts surged with relief. The voice continued. "What enmity do you have with us? Who are you?"
Joy flooded the two assassins. Senior Sheva arrived. Vexion's eyes lit up beneath the darkness concealing her face. Excitement. Anticipation. Happiness.
The dark elf woman standing before her possessed a slender figure clad in battle-ready robes. A spear rested comfortably in her hand, apart from her master she had met someone who was relatively strong. Well somewhat, she had been trained by a monster so Unfortunately this opponent was strong but not powerful, but enough to be taken seriously.
Vexion guessed her strength to be around level 9 in the legendary tier. An amazing feat actually In terms of combat strength she wasn't that far off from herself. A delighted smile spread across her lips.
'Hehehe... what a perfect test subject.'
Her gaze briefly shifted toward Kai and Lee. 'Those two mainly rely on stealth, speed, and hit-and-run tactics. Wind manipulation and dagger arts. Typical elf combat styles.' Then she returned her attention to Sheva.
'This one is different.'
She could already tell.
A spear specialist making her a direct combat fighter. The fact that Sheva openly displayed her weapon instead of concealing it spoke volumes about her confidence.
Dante had taught her about people like this. The righteous types. The ones who introduced themselves before battle. The ones who valued honour. The ones who believed in fairness.
She recalled Dante saying they were called "true warriors". They placed great importance on pride and honour above all else.
And Vexion couldn't wait to break one.