Chapter 89: The Confrontation of Red and Black
This wasn’t the first time Evelia had seen him. Or rather, this wasn’t the first time they had come face-to-face.
Even though she didn’t know him well, they had already fought a few times before, usually because they were chasing the same target.
Even so, Evelia could tell that he was just like her. Once the mission was done, he would leave. He didn’t care about anything afterward. They had never fought to the death. In their eyes, there were only the mission and the goal.
The man was fully covered in black armor, from head to toe. The black cloak on his shoulders looked very similar to hers, probably also an alchemical creation.
Of course, Evelia’s cloak was specially made for her by the second prince. But she had no idea where his came from.
She had once asked the second prince about this mysterious man. She suspected that there might be a traitor in the House of Nightingales. But the second prince didn’t give her a clear answer. He just shook his head.
That gesture could have meant “no,” or “I don’t know,” or maybe even “this isn’t something you should be asking about.”
Clang—Clang!!!
Their weapons clashed again, but the calmness of that shadowy figure was making Evelia more and more irritated.
He was wearing heavy armor, so his speed was clearly slower than hers. But in terms of strength and defense, Evelia couldn’t break through him easily.
Even though he wasn’t as fast or agile, he still moved pretty lightly. After all, he had managed to silently appear behind her just now, despite wearing all that heavy armor. And she hadn’t heard a single footstep, even from that close.
— ‘Who is this guy, really?’
After one of her throwing knives was blocked by the metal on his hand, Evelia quickly stepped back, putting distance between them.
— ‘I’ve never heard of anyone like this in the House of Nightingales.’
But even though his fighting style was different from hers, Evelia could still sense something familiar in the way he moved. There were signs, small habits and tiny details, that made him feel like someone trained by the House of Nightingales.
Ting—!
Fighting a guy in full armor with small knives was just too much trouble. She could try to get up close and wrestle him hand-to-hand, but this was not the time to waste energy.
She still had something important to do. She couldn’t afford to stay here too long.
Whoosh—!
Using her throwing knives as cover, Evelia quickly escaped.
She had to hurry and find her real target. Once she killed them, she could leave. Hopefully, this black-armored guy hadn’t moved the target somewhere else.
Evelia ran fast ahead. The shadowy figure chased her without hesitation.
The sound of armor clanking behind her echoed dully in the tower. Her throwing knives didn’t slow him down at all, he dodged them all with surprising ease.
He even caught one in his hand, reversed his grip, and used it to knock away the others that followed. Then he threw that same knife back at Evelia with deadly force, aiming straight for her back.
He meant to kill.
Evelia flipped backward, twisting in the air to follow the curve of the staircase, and landed quietly in a dark spot where the moonlight couldn’t reach, silent as a shadow.
“......”
Evelia crept forward in the darkness. The shadow that was chasing her also went quiet. The sound of his armor was gone.
Now both sides were hiding in the shadows.
Where is he?
Evelia was growing more and more frustrated.
There wasn’t much time left.
She had to return soon. Only then could she change into her dress and wait for Armand to take her to the ballroom.
She didn’t want to be late. She didn’t want anyone to start asking questions. And more than that… she didn’t want to lose the chance to go to the ballroom.
As that thought passed through her mind, Evelia froze for a moment.
Did she really just think… missing the dance is worse than being suspected?
Was that how she really felt?
“—?!”
But before Evelia’s heart could give her an answer, a hard punch suddenly came from around the corner, flying straight at her face.
— ‘I can’t get hurt…!!!’
Evelia raised her arms as fast as she could, using her bracers to block the punch. Even so, the blow forced her to stumble backward several steps in a messy retreat. She took a deep breath and barely managed to stay on her feet. She almost coughed from the impact, but held it back.
After that punch, the shadowy figure paused and looked down at his fist, as if thinking, ‘Something feels off.’
But he quickly snapped out of it and swung the large sword in his other hand. The blade sliced through the air with a loud hum. That heavy piece of metal looked light in his grasp. His arm and waist moved with smooth, powerful precision, no hesitation at all.
Boom!!!
He brought the greatsword down toward Evelia without a second thought.
They still hadn’t found their target, so neither of them had any reason to stop. They kept fighting while trying to figure out where that person was hiding.
Amid flying dust and broken stone, Evelia dodged the attacks. Her already limited time was running out fast in this chaotic escape.
No choice now, she had to go all in.
Using the cover of darkness, she waited for the moment when the greatsword slammed downward. As the man bent forward from the motion, Evelia quickly moved behind him.
She slipped her arm around his neck from behind and raised her other hand, ready to stab the dagger down into his throat—
“—?!”
But before Evelia could strike, the man had already grabbed her wrist. With a strong twist, he threw Evelia right over his shoulder.
Evelia desperately twisted her body in the air so she wouldn’t crash directly into the wall.
She barely managed to land without serious injury.
But the black-armored man wasn’t done yet. Dragging the heavy sword, he came toward her again—
Thump.
Suddenly, a new sound made both of them stop and look.
It didn’t come from either of them. It came from a third person in the clocktower.
They immediately realized what that meant.
Evelia moved first. She dashed up the stairs toward the top of the tower, following the sound. The shadow followed closely behind her, not willing to fall behind.
When she saw a man with brown hair standing in the moonlight, she finally let out a breath of relief.
It seemed the man had tried to sneak away while the two of them were fighting. He had been climbing down the tower’s ladder. But he didn’t expect the sound of the iron ladder hitting the wall to give him away to these two killers.
“N-No—Don’t—! I’ll give you anything you want—”
He didn’t even finish the sentence.
Evelia threw a knife at the man by the side door. It hit him right between the eyes.
His body shook once, then fell limp. With nothing behind him for support, the man’s corpse fell straight down the tower.
Then came the horrible sound of a body hitting the ground and turning into a pile of broken flesh.
The black-armored figure was standing right behind Evelia. But after she killed the man with one strike, he didn’t come any closer.
Evelia turned and glanced at him, and suddenly understood. Their goal was the same the whole time. They had both come to kill that man.
Which meant... the entire fight they just had was completely pointless.
But in this line of work, no one ever talked. So they didn’t have a way to say ‘we’re on the same side.’
Evelia didn’t stay any longer. She had to get back quickly. She jumped down from the other side of the tower.
Now, only the sound of heavy footsteps in armor was left in the clocktower.
The black-armored man stood where the body had fallen, looking down. Another round of fireworks lit up the sky behind him. The colorful lights revealed the bloody mess below. Flesh and body parts scattered everywhere. It looked like it would be a nightmare to clean up.
Unlike his usual jobs where he could just leave after killing, this time, his orders included, ‘Clean up everything.’
So now, he had to hurry and clean up the broken body.
“Haaah...”
He shook his head in frustration. The fireworks were bright and beautiful behind him, but in this moment, all he felt was annoyed.
“So damn annoying.”