“Ass… assassin?” Su Ling stared with wide eyes, then turned her gaze toward Tii, “Tii, could it be that you are…”
Before Su Ling could finish her sentence, a sharp Gothic sword suddenly lunged with the wind and stabbed into Tii’s knee.
Immediately after, several longswords flying through the air also struck Tii’s body, piercing through her in an instant.
Blood spatters flew everywhere. Tii’s pupils dilated violently as blood overflowed from the corners of her mouth. She trembled as if she wanted to say something, but she could only collapse weakly to the ground, like a puppet with its strings cut.
“Tii—”
Su Ling’s heart skipped a beat, and she cried out in shock, about to rush toward the fallen red-haired girl.
At that moment, with a bang, a double-bladed longsword flew through the air and struck the ground in front of her. Su Ling looked up trembling, meeting Sista’s gaze, which was as bone-chillingly cold as an icy spring.
“Don’t move.”
Her slender fingers were still suspended in mid-air, her fingertips moving slightly as she pulled the silver blade out from the ground.
This was the first time Su Ling had seen the Blood Clan use their Ability. Sista’s blood-colored eyes glowed with a terrifying light, and the manipulated objects seemed to be endowed with life, swimming through the air according to Sista’s will.
Sista retracted the blades, gripping the hilt of a gold-plated rapier decorated with orange leaf patterns. She walked through the wind toward the heavily wounded Tii, looking down at her from above and using the sword’s tip to lift Tii’s chin.
Tii, slumped on the ground, had lost the brilliance in her eyes from previous days, leaving only faint breaths. Her body was pierced by several sharp blades, every strike hitting a vital point, as deep red blood gushed out.
“I have long heard of your name, the No. 1 Assassin of the Black Feather Organization—Tii—or rather, I should call you Phoenix.”
Sista looked down at the dying girl, her expression devoid of a single shred of pity.
“To think you lurked in the City for so many years and even successfully killed Nori. As expected of the disgusting Witch Tribe assassin group.”
Tii did not respond to her words, only trembling as her delicate hands slowly pulled out the swords stuck in her body. Her frame was already soaked red with blood, and the remaining spark of her life seemed about to vanish.
Is Tii going to die?
At some unknown point, hot tears had already covered Su Ling’s face. She looked at Tii blankly, unable to make a single sound.
She felt like everything before her was so surreal, like a dream. Tii was slowly dying—Su Ling could not accept the reality before her eyes, and she could almost not catch her breath.
However, things went differently than imagined.
As the longswords were dragged out of her body, the blood pouring from Tii solidified before long, turning into pitch-black mud, and her wounds were healing at an extremely fast speed.
“Rebirth through Fire, an immortal Ability just like a phoenix—as expected, the blood of Prince Dara flows within your body.”
Sista was not surprised by the scene before her, merely watching everything happen coldly.
“It is hard to imagine how many experiments the Witch Tribe performed on the Blood Clan and the Human Race just to create a monster like you.”
“Your… Your Highness Sista, Lord Tangmusen once told me that you are far more True Danger than Her Highness Moria. You are our greatest threat.”
Tii stood up unsteadily, forcing a faint smile.
At this time, the long robe on her body was still tattered and messy, but the skin beneath the fabric had completely healed, smooth as before, without a single trace of having suffered heavy injuries.
That was absolutely not a healing Ability possessed by a normal human—Su Ling remembered that when Tii saved her from the Fire Sea, she hadn’t left any wounds on her body either.
“But you didn’t expose me. Instead, you cooperated with me to divert the Guards to the other side because you have your own goals, don’t you?”
There was not a hint of flinching in her emerald eyes; instead, she calmly met Sista’s gaze. She was like a gambler holding her chips, ready at any moment to start a gamble at the cost of her life.
Under the gloomy sky, the two stood facing each other, their gazes meeting in mid-air like two weapons clashing, sparking fire.
One was a Blood Noble Princess of cold beauty, and the other was a Human Race assassin living on the edge of a blade. In this confrontation, battle seemed ready to break out at a moment’s notice. Su Ling stood between the two of them, her heart unable to stop pounding violently.
“I have no intention of making a deal with you.” Sista pushed the blade in her hand closer to Tii’s neck. Blood once again flowed down from the fair skin of her throat.
“Hand over Nori’s Heart. You killed her just for this, didn’t you?”
“That was something done out of necessity.” Tii tilted her head.
“It was Her Highness Nori who betrayed us first, so naturally we could not let her stay. Her Highness Nori held much of our Qing Bao in her hands. Once it flowed into the hands of the Blood Clan, we would lose many of our compatriots.”
“Revolting—give the thing to me.”
“Your Highness, this is not up to you.” Tii’s hand had at some point moved to her sword hilt, the corner of her eye watching Sista’s movements at all times.
“If you want to secretly absorb the heart behind Her Highness Moria’s back, you have to pay a certain price. You should be clear about this point.”
“Laughable. A mere low-quality product, don’t tell me you think you can win against me?”
A cold smile appeared on the corner of Sista’s mouth, and her arm traced an elegant arc in the air. Those long Gothic swords floated up again, forming a circle. Dozens of sword tips pointed at Tii, ready to strike.
“I just feel that we still have room for negotiation, Your Highness.” As if she didn’t see those weapons, Tii gripped one arm with her other hand, her gaze unwavering and her tone remaining calm.
“There is an even more peaceful way to solve this, isn’t there? Are you not willing to listen to me for a bit longer? I know what is most important to you…”
“I have no time to listen to your flowery words!” Sista shouted.
Whistle—
Just then, a crisp and loud whistle echoed from the other side of the City gate, followed by a series of rapid hoofbeats. Amidst the flying dust, two tall men dressed in black riding horses rushed forward, blocking the way in front of Tii.
Sista frowned, and with a movement of her fingers, the flying longswords were struck down by the two men, sparks flying in all directions. Only then did she realize that Tii had just been using a stalling tactic.
“Quick, Su Ling!”
No sooner said than done, taking advantage of the moment Sista was confronting the two men, Tii acted as if she were already prepared, agilely flipping herself onto the back of a horse, then galloping toward Su Ling.
“Come with me!” Tii reached out her hand toward Su Ling, “Just like we said, leave this place and go to a distant land together!”
Looking at that hand still stained with blood, Su Ling was somewhat at a loss.
“There are assassins! Catch them!”
At the same time, shouting voices came from the distance. The Guards who were originally stationed at the gate had already noticed the movement here—that long whistle had startled them. The Guards finally realized they had been deceived by the fake Royal Command and were rushing toward them with uncontrollable rage.
“Hurry, little Su Ling… I beg of you, come with me!”
Seeing the Guards approaching, Tii couldn’t help but urge urgently, her eyes full of pleading. Any longer and they would be caught by them…
There was no time for further thought. In the next second, Tii suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her up. In a momentary daze, Su Ling found herself already sitting on the horse’s back.
Tii gave a slight smile, pulling Su Ling’s small body into her embrace. She straightened her back, pulled the reins in her hand, and kicked the sides of the horse with her calves.
Immediately after, the brown horse raised its head with a loud neigh. Its entire body’s muscles tightened, and it lunged out of the gate like an arrow leaving a bow, leaving behind only the kicked-up sand and the sound of hoofbeats fading into the distance.
Inside the City gate, looking at the silhouettes of those two people leaving, Sista’s face suddenly turned dark. Her teeth were clenched tight, and both of her hands were trembling slightly.