Chapter 199: An Expected Betrayal III
***
Lyra remained hidden in the shadows, directly below her targets, waiting for her chance to present itself.
The six victims above her looked around the area, with one leading the cohort, appearing to be a Knight.
Two Brawlers stood behind him, surrounding their leader, who appeared to be a Spell Seaver.
Behind this Spell Weaver were two unarmed members, one woman who looked to be a Zenith Warden and the other a man with a sharp tongue.
"I told you he wasn't here! We're wasting our time!"
His words were addressed to their leader, a man who held the Zenith's hand.
'Jealousy?'
Lyra ominously chuckled, watching as the leader and the one whom she couldn't identify began to bicker.
'Maybe he's a reaper... But what would such a rare specialist be doing here?'
She theorized that, for a simple reason.
His build wasn't that of a Brawler, but an assassin instead, and most assassins used hidden weapons, the same as her.
But her thoughts halted as a bang and shout came through:Nôv(el)B\\jnn
"KNIGHTS!"
Her victims immediately rushed to the sound, but she wasn't about to watch that happen.
Lyra's body left Zenith's shadow as she appeared right behind her, surprising the rest. "Don't!"
"No!"
Before they could react, however, Lyra's gauntlet blades found themselves in the woman's neck.
"FORS!"
Fors, the Zenith warden, lay lifeless on the ground, her name now an unheeded cry in the night.
"YOU MAD WOMAN-"
The leader's screams were snuffed out as Lyra immediately targeted him next.
With a single step, she reached him, and her blades went forth.
Lyra's calculated strike had been swift and deadly.
The Spell Weaver, the group's leader, fell to the ground in a pool of blood, choking on his incantations.
His followers remained in shock, their expressions changing from surprise to anger.
The Knight, standing beside the fallen leader, drew his sword with a furious roar, while the Brawlers readied themselves.
"Aegis of Radiance!"
Lyra, having taken her two targets, knew that the element of surprise had been lost and that she had to act quickly.
She darted away from the Knight's immediate reach, her body moving with the agility of a seasoned assassin.
Lyra repositioned herself, seeking the shadows, and watched as the remaining group members prepared to retaliate.
"Ethereal Charge!"
With cat-like reflexes, she leaped aside, narrowly avoiding the Knight's thrust. "Dragon's Roar!"
"Iron Fist."
The brawlers charged her, their massive fists raised to strike.
"Shadow Step."
The darkness was one of her biggest allies...
Yet that didn't stop her for long, as she simply melded back into the shadows and appeared beside the crying man.
Lyra then found her blades in his neck, shutting him up for good, causing the souls around
him to be set free, and return to the sky above.
Now, only the Knight remained a threat.
He had shown skill so far, but so had Lyra, dispatching them like pests.
Lyra moved forward, closing in on him, slow step after slow step.
But then, a sudden and unexpected twist called Emir intervened.
With a deafening rumble, a massive pillar of rocks came crashing down from above, landing
squarely between them.
'A bit late!'
Lyra instinctively leaped backward, narrowly avoiding the falling debris.
The impact sent a cloud of dust and rubble into the air, obscuring their vision.
Coughing and disoriented, the Knight struggled to regain his footing amid the chaos.
He could no longer see Lyra, and the element of surprise was now on her side...
Once again.
Lyra, hidden within the dusty veil, assessed the situation.
The fallen pillar had created an advantageous separation between her and the Knight.
She seized this opportunity to approach his shadow, walking from one rock's shadow to the
next.
The Knight, still disoriented and unable to locate his elusive opponent, raised his sword
cautiously, ready for an ambush.
He was prepared for Lyra's next move.
And as the dust began to settle, Lyra watched from down below, waiting for the right moment
to strike.
The Knight's breathing grew tense, and his grip on his sword tightened.
It was a tense standoff, at least from the Knight's perspective, as Lyra was simply biding her
time, using it as one of her weapons.
And she used it well, as the Knight waited and waited for an attack, yet it never came.
This caused him to grow tense, in turn, falter when the moment arrived.
And then came out Lyra, with a final, well-timed strike, she disarmed the Knight, sending his
sword clattering to the ground.
"NO!"
The Knight stood defenseless for a moment before another blade took his neck, sending his
head flying.
Letting out a sigh, Lyra looked at her minute's work for a moment.
'Hehe, we win the bet.'
She then turned around to face the only place where sounds of battle remained, rushing to
help out her companions.