“What the hell?”
By the time the assassins reacted, Ainola had already fled far away with Winona.
But carrying someone on her back, her speed wasn’t that fast.
Plus, the remote location of the suburban loft meant that even running toward the city would take considerable time.
And the assassins behind wouldn’t let her go. They were like hyenas smelling blood, tirelessly chasing after her.
“Don’t let her escape! After her!”
“She’s carrying an injured person—she can’t run far!”
The four assassins spread out in a net formation, trying to cut off and capture Ainola.
But even burdened with a passenger, Ainola was as slippery as an eel, never giving them a chance to surround her.
“Ugh…”
Just as Ainola was outsmarting the assassins, the jostling along the way finally woke Winona up.
The assassin opened her eyes in confusion, looking around in bewilderment, then spoke in a weak voice.
“I’m… alive?”
“Yeah,” Ainola nodded. “I saved you again.”
“Thanks…”
Winona snapped out of her daze, remembering what had happened, and her expression turned bitter.
Back then, she had been fighting the four assassins, but never expected the girl she’d been protecting to stab her three times in the back.
If she hadn’t reacted in time to shield her vitals with magic, Winona figured she’d be dead by now.
“No need to thank me. We’re not out of the woods yet.”
Hearing Ainola’s words, Winona saw two assassins still pursuing them from behind, and two more closing in from other directions.
Seeing this, Winona tried to force herself upright, saying, “I… can still fight.”
“Don’t even think about fighting. In your state, you wouldn’t last a single round, let alone three.”
Ainola sighed, then dodged another arrow, clicking her tongue.
“But just running forever isn’t a solution either.”
Because she was carrying someone, the distance between her and the assassins was shrinking.
At this rate, Ainola estimated she wouldn’t even reach Wording City before they caught up.
So she started thinking fast.
Soon, she came up with a good idea.
“Winona, do you still have your axe?”
“It’s in that loft.”
“OK. You haven’t messed with the stuff inside the axe, right?”
“No.”
Long ago, Ainola had enchanted Winona’s Great Axe with Flame Magic.
Enchantment sounded impressive, but it wasn’t a very advanced spell.
She had simply stuffed a few Explosion Flame Arrays into the axe.
Those arrays weren’t just for flame enchantment—they could also… explode.
Why else would it be called “Explosion Flame”?
Explosion was a beautiful art.
“Then it’s easy.”
Since escape wasn’t guaranteed, it was better to just blow them up.
Winona was an assassin who preferred a giant axe, while Ainola was an assassin who loved art.
They had a certain compatibility, which was why they’d gotten along well for the past five months.
“You’re planning to detonate the axe?”
“Yeah. With all those arrays inside, if it blows, the blast will be huge.”
Ainola finished with a grin, then made a sharp turn and rushed straight at the assassins.
“Looking for death!”
When Xuantieshashou saw Ainola charging at him, he couldn’t help but smirk.
He pulled out his longsword, ready to spar with her, only to realize she had no intention of attacking.
Instead, she used the moment the assassins were taken off guard to leap over their heads and out of the encirclement.
“What?!”
Having been made a fool of, Xuantieshashou completely lost his composure.
Furious, he snarled, “You bastard! Don’t run! When I catch you…”
“Haha~ You’re still too green to catch me.”
After taunting them, Ainola sprinted back toward the loft.
Seeing her heading for the loft, Xuantieshashou thought he was seeing things, but after confirming it, he felt a surge of glee.
If she planned to hide inside, all he had to do was seal the entrance and catch her like a turtle in a jar.
As for not going into the loft and running into the outskirts instead?
That would be even more foolish.
Beyond lay endless grasslands.
No matter where she ran, she’d eventually tire herself out.
And he could just leisurely follow behind.
Xuantieshashou’s plan was perfect.
So when he saw Ainola slip into the loft, he waved his hand and ordered the others.
“Seal the doors and windows with magic. Don’t give her a chance to escape.”
“Yes!”
The four assassins sealed every door and window, blocking Ainola’s escape route—and also cutting off their own.
Detonating all the arrays in an enclosed space… Ainola didn’t even want to imagine the force.
But before all the doors and windows were sealed, she had already slipped back outside.
“Someone building their own coffin? How amusing.”
Amid her mocking laughter, Ainola pressed the detonation button.
Inside the house, the giant axe emitted a blinding white light, and then…
BOOM!!
In an instant, the entire loft burst like a popped balloon.
The ceiling was blasted nearly a hundred meters into the air.
Witnessing the spectacle, Ainola even clapped in delight.
“It took off.”
“You’re still as crazy as ever…”
The Contact stared at the wreckage with lingering fear.
If she and Ainola had been two seconds slower, they might not have made it out.
“And didn’t you say you specialized in poison and potion-making?”
“Explosives are medicine too.”
Ainola laughed cheerfully, leaving Winona speechless.
After the blast’s flames died down, Ainola looked at the ruins.
Then she noticed something strange.
Among the debris, there was a weird, black, unidentified substance.
And at the center of the explosion, where that substance had spread, was exactly where Qiaozhi had been lying.
What’s more, Ainola spotted a nearly burnt arm, bubbling with black water.
It didn’t look like blood.
She had no idea what it was.
Not daring to touch it, she kept her distance and asked the all-knowing Spark, “What the hell is this black water?”
Spark analyzed the black water’s form, then noticed it was rapidly gathering, consuming the remains of the assassins.
A rotting smell began to fill the air.