At the Southern End, a resplendent smile spread across Kashi's face as Lunette's song came to its end. Taking full advantage of the army which had faltered in their steps as a result of the mana imbued in the song, Kashi issued a low order, "Rise." Two sets of walls, roughly 60m apart shot up from the earth, impaling not a small number of the Order the process. The Chaos Order, which had split its troops into three in order to attack the drakul suddenly found themselves short nearly three thousand men in one swoop.

The soldiers outside the wall panicked and begun unleashing their strongest skills against the barricade. However, just like a bucket of water thrown against the earth, the wall rebuffed all attacks with nary a scratch on its frame.

Kashi shook his head, a condescending look in his eyes. Did these idiots think they could break these walls? Pfft... The real reason this town was considered an artifact was not the fancy interconnections, nor the walls hidden beneath the earth which could be controlled from the throne. In fact, in truth, the thin walls really were not as hard as they appeared.

No, what truly made this entire city an artifact was the fact that every inch of it was lined with invisible runes which were powered by the massive crystal at the heart of the city. Aside from miscellaneous tasks like opening and closing doors and verifying auras of Kings, the major function of the Crystal was to strengthen any section of the city as so desired by feeding mana from the crystal to runes which would harden that section beyond human comprehension for a set period of time, usually four to six hours.

The major downside was that such strengthening activities used up a lot of mana. Aygor designed the crystal in such a way that its mana absorption was quite slow (most likely to keep the balance) and when he was done, only left enough mana to handle miscellaneous tasks. The mana the coalition had used to strengthen the first set of raised walls was a large percentage of the accumulation of mana by the crystal over the past three weeks. Dozens of tired dwarfs then offered up their mana to replenish the crystal, but even with that, it still required two hours before it could charge enough to be reused.

From this, it could be imagined just how much mana the crystal consumed. When one considered all that mana went into strengthening a wall... hehe, trying to break down such a wall was truly a momentous waste of time. It was obvious Aygor wanted this to be used only for strategic, emergency, or war-time situations.

By the time Lunette's song reached its conclusion, Larsial was beside herself with rage. Eyes looking like they could spit fire at any moment, she roared, "Bards! What are you doing!? Get our men out of that spell!"

"Too late." Across the battlefield, Kashi issued a crafty smirk as he stabbed an arrow into an enemy's helmet. "Do it."

Beautiful, evoking piano keys rung through the battlegrounds as the Choir of Maggots began their second number. The lead Chaos vocalist suddenly found his throat seemed to have grown a steel blade. Two drummers blanched as a massive black wolf appeared on their respective drums, cold red eyes holding no room for mercy.

https://youtu.be/DgWLDfC4dYM

Kira slapped the head off the first drummer. The second, paralyzed by the splatter of blood on his face, surrendered his head to her massive jaws, bronze helmet meaningless to the set of perversely sharp teeth. The direwolf spat out the head as she descended upon the defenseless war bards like an irreversible force of nature. Close-by, Shadow seemed to flit in and out of existence, becoming visible only for the short time it took for his blade to sink into an enemy's skull.

Panic erupted among the warbards. Their profession demanded they lightly dressed in garments meant to boost charisma and mana as opposed to physical defense or attack. As a result, all it took was one well-placed back-stab to efficiently end their lives. Afflicted with fear, the bards abandoned their instruments as they sought to run as far away from the two demons as fast as possible.

At the very least, they preferred to be killed by the assassin instead of the demon hound. The white assassin granted a swift, painless death without the victim ever realizing he was there. The direwolf on the other hand was ten times more violent in her approach. She went as far as ripping off limb after limb, morsel after morsel, ensuring they suffered immensely before death.

Most of these soldiers did not fear death. However, no man wanted to perish under such pain and humiliation. The savageness of the direwolf served to crush the morale of even those with the strongest hearts. The bards could do nothing but stumble upon each other in a bid to get as far away as possible before it was too late.

Amid all the chaos, Shadow's dagger suddenly froze inches away from a bard's throat. The assassin swiftly switched to a back-handed grip as he spun around. Clang! Shadow's eyes narrowed at the daeben across from him whose drawn dagger clashed against his. Forced into a reactionary position the white-haired assassin could not prevent himself from being launched several feet backward.

Shadow's gaze never left his opponent's rage-filled glare, even as he slammed into the bard he had tried to assassinate half a second earlier. In defiance of every law of physics ever made, even as they were airborne, the assassin's hands bent backward, reaching for the bard's shoulder.

Shadow pulled himself into a handstand, the top of his head parallel to the bard's. Even though he was now backing his assaulter, he did not seem to care. Using the bard's shoulder as a fulcrum, Shadow tucked in his legs, bending inwards as he dropped to the other side. Once he dropped to waist level, he kicked against the bard's back. The bard flew toward the assaulter, Shadow using the momentum to flip backward a few extra feet to give himself more space and time to assess the situation.

All this happened in the blink of an eye. By the time the daeben began to chase after the assassin she sent flying, the bard was already hurtling towards her. Enraged, Larsial's purple eyes turned blood red as she let out a shout. "[Burst!]"

Mana burst in waves around the daeben as runes etched all over her skin suddenly lit up with brilliant dark lights. Shadow's assassin skill [Discerning Eye], allowed him to examine the numerous skill buffs that also activated at that moment. There was [Fox's Promise] which rendered her blade strikes unblockable, [Assassin's Breath] which passively made her invisible should the foe lose sight of her, [Endless Strike] which removed the cooldown on a random skill whenever a critical hit landed, and [Critical Strike] which as its name implied, increased the chances of a critical strike by roughly 25% among many other passive skills.

Shadow's feet barely touched the ground before he swiftly shuffled to the right, barely dodging a dark, dense mass of energy that zipped past. Larsial burst through the bard who had been dissected in two by the earlier energy, blonde hair dyed red with fresh blood. She locked gaze with the assassin, death incarnate as she morphed across the distance, suddenly appearing next to him. With a sultry smile, she ordered as her blade thrust for his head, "Die."

"I refuse." Shadow bluntly replied. Gaze cold, he lightly slapped the flat of his left dagger against hers in an outward swing. Hmph, although her strikes now had the attribute of unblockable, there was nothing preventing him from simply deflecting them. Swift retaliation followed. Even as the sparks from the first collision blossomed, the right dagger flew out as a viper to its prey, its aim Larsial's exposed neck.

The daeben's right arm suddenly bloomed with dark energy as she unleashed [Repeater Strike]. Her aura coalesced into three extra arms which struck at the white-haired assassin within milliseconds of each other.

In response, Shadow's right blade danced. [Flashing Blades] accelerated the speed of his strikes. He successfully parried two but was forced a step back as the third drew a deep cut up his arm. Ignoring the sharp pain, he struck against the last blade. His aim was slightly off, turning it into a block instead of parry. Luckily, the skill's extra effect came into play, canceling out [Fox's Promise]. Although he managed to block the strike, the power behind it was still quite considerable. Shadow's feet kicked up dust as he was knocked several feet backward.

Larsial, intent on taking advantage, crouched low and charged. She snorted as she slapped three kunai daggers out of her path. The disdain in her eyes, however, swiftly shifted to rage as she parried five more kunai. The opposing force slowed her down, and things only got worse as a hail of kunai and shurikens shot towards her from all angles, blocking any avenue for escape save backward.

Shadow advanced steadily, unleashing an entire arsenal of thrown weapons at the daeben. Eight shurikens bursting with his ki launched from between his fingers, four on each side. They flew outwards, then began curving in on the retreating daeben.

Larsial, having just parried over twenty strikes, narrowed her gaze at the shurikens. Spotting a vulnerability, she prepared to charge into the middle. Her decision quickly changed to a block as Shadow abruptly appeared before her, left dagger aimed at her chest. She successfully blocked the blow but was launched several steps backward, coincidentally into the flight path of three of the eight shurikens.

Twin blades lashed out, shattering two of the shurikens on contact. Larsial tilted her head to the side, narrowly dodging the last, although it left a mark on her face as a souvenir. The daeben paused, eyes narrow as blood trickled down the side of her cheek. Her tongue seductively snaked out and licked the blood, a smile on her face as she raised her daggers, "You will have to pay for that."

Once again Shadow's reply was, "I refuse," as he charged at her once again.

A flurry of attacks followed, both assassins exchanging blow for blow, parry for parry. Despite dancing back and forth, utilizing everything from skills, corpses, feet, to even sand, and the blossoming sparks that shone in the midday sun, neither assassin had managed to inflict serious damage on the other. Shadow seemed to possess an uncanny ability to read all attack paths, managing to just about alter the path of every strike that came his way. Larsial, on the other hand, seemed to have an endless supply of Ki. What's more, it seemed like none of her skills needed any cooldown period, as she could freely unleash them with ease.

If it were any other warrior, they would surely already have fallen. However, Shadow utilized as little mana as possible, his method of defense to redirect, borrowing Larsial's own energy to throw her off-course rather than block.

At one instance, Shadow's right arm suddenly lagged a second behind his thoughts. Larsial's kicked at the arm with her right, the heavy strike knocking the dagger out of his hand. She spun around and launched a roundabout kick to the face with her left. The strike should have missed as the assassin tilted back, beyond the boot's range. However, a blade shot out of its toe and sliced past the assassin's forehead.

Shadow took two steps back to recoup, but Larsial refused to grant him that time. She flung her self at him, a flurry of whips, blows, and kicks, which Shadow could only struggle to dodge or parry. Without his daggers as protection, he suffered minute but consistent strikes from her blade. Although he as of yet had not been struck in the vitals, at this rate, he would lose too much blood and get punished the 'weakened' trait.

Shadow came to a sudden halt. Cold eyes examined the onrushing blade. Rather than escape, he pushed forward, ramming his chest into the blade.

Larsial, although caught unprepared, would not let this opportunity pass. Unfortunately, because of how close she was to the assassin, she could not get any significant purchase on her left hand. So she raised it, aiming to sink the blade into the assassin's skull when a great sense of danger assaulted her.

Larsial forcefully seized her attack and attempted to pull the dagger in her right hand out of Shadow's chest. But Shadow's left hand clamped onto her wrist, refusing to let go. His right pulsed with dark Ki as it slammed onto the daeben chest. [Palm Strike] was a low-level skill with one of the highest ceilings in the game. This seemingly mundane palm skill could be upgraded into a skill that would still be relevant at much higher levels. It was unfortunate that it had a prerequisite that its user must first be disarmed in battle before it could be used.

Naturally, only a crazy person would bother with the skill since assassins relied on high damages from critical strikes. To upgrade [Palm Strike], one would have to fight consecutive battles unarmed. Which was beyond stupid since assassins had low damage output, and could only rely on hitting sweet critical strikes which were obviously much harder to get when striking with a palm.

Most Summoned and even Residents never bothered with this (except pugilists), but Shadow had witnessed Kashi's training methods. The daeben regularly used any skill he learned as often as possible. Many times, even outside of combat, he kept cycling through passive skills in a bid to level them up. The daeben would let himself get hit during battle to raise endurance, sometimes even going as far as to restrict himself from using certain skills in some situations just to improve one aspect of himself or another.

To the daeben, there was no such thing as a junk skill, only an underutilized one. It was as a result of that influence that the assassin devoted himself to mastery of every skill he picked up, regardless of difficulty or ranking.

In this instance, Larsial was forced to fully appreciate the fruits of the assassin's considerable labor. Her eyes went wide, pain shooting up her chest as her heart forcefully constricted, a bittersweetness shooting up her throat. Spots of red soaked Shadow's hair as Larsial was blasted away from him.

Unwilling to let her go, Shadow extended his arms forward. Grapplers attached to his gauntlet burst off and bit into the daeben's chest, securing themselves within. Shadow pulled back. The grapplers receded, dragging the stunned daeben along. Shadow's cold gaze held no emotion as he once more slammed his palm against Larsial's chest. This time, however, he took his time, ensuring as much of his Ki wrecked havoc in her systems as possible.

Larsial's panicked glare, shrouded with hatred, shifted to a sneer as she tore open a scroll fastened to her belt.

Shadow hastily retreated back as several wind blades burst out, ripping the very air itself to shreds. Still, despite his quick retreat, he could not escape several of the wind blades from cutting into him. His right arm hung limply by his side, having suffered the worst of the counterattack. The steel wires that connected both grapplers to his gauntlets had also been shredded by the wind blades.

Larsial smiled at the assassin opposite, tongue seductively lapping at the blood that leaked down her lips. "Haven't met someone who could push me this far in a long time. You should be proud of yourself." She winced, stumbling as the pain in her chest flared up. "What's your name?"

"..." Shadow's cold gaze never changed. He only raised his left dagger before him in reply.

"Cold type I see," Larsial murmured. "Well, can't say I don't like that too." Fishing out another scroll from her pockets, she lamented, "Unfortunately, you hurt me too much, so I can't play anymore." She tore the scroll, Shadow's gaze turning vigilant as a wild burst of mana escaped. "I am called Larsial D'Arul." A gloating smile spread on her face as three manticores burst out of a Summoner's Gate. The eight feet tall beast possessed the body of a lion, face of a man, and tail of a scorpion. It was rumored there were some breeds with wings, but in this particular breed, a pair of scorpion-like pincer grew out from its front shoulders. "Remember that for your reincarnation."

The gloating smile widened when the white-haired assassin, seemingly realizing retreat was not an option, chose instead to charge toward the manticores, dagger firmly held in a backhand grip. Shadow's cold gaze remained fixated on the daeben opposite, completely ignoring the advancing beasts.

Larsial's eyes sparkled with excitement as the lead manticore pounced on the puny assassin. "Die!"

"I refuse." For the third time that day, Shadow declined the offer, gaze still plastered on the daeben even as the manticore's paw came crashing down on him. With his current injuries, it was obvious that a single hit from that massive paw would end his life. Yet his cold nonchalance as he kept his steady advance seemed to belie that reality.

It was just as a hair follicle on the manticore's paw was about to touch the assassin...

BOOM!

The earth cracked as the manticore suddenly slammed face first against the earth. Before it could protest, its captor stomped its paw against the manticore's face. Then proceeded to casually tear out its throat with a single bite.

Kira, whose height had grown to match the manticores, glared at the remaining beasts. Blood dripping down her teeth did nothing to diminish the majesty in her gaze. The arrogance, pride and disdain apparent in her countenance seemed to declare her the Queen of all beasts. It was as if where she stood, no one else was permitted to raise their heads.

The manticores shuddered, auras heavily suppressed by the divinity emanating from the direwolf. Still, as they watched their brother slowly bleed out beneath the wolf's feet, their rage finally overtook their fear.

Shadow ran ahead of Kira as the manticores charged. He slid beneath the feet of the first, then kicked off the earth. He sailed over the second, who only spared him a parting glance, even as he landed on its back. Quick feet nimbly dodged rapid strikes from the manticore's tail, the assassin's gaze strangely cool despite the precarious situation. Shadow's body erupted with a dark glow as his left foot landed on the beast's rump. Before beast or man could react, Shadow suddenly shot across the distance in the blink of an eye as [Marked Death] activated. [Marked Death], a skill which required [Mark of Doom], activated when a foe had been marked with the Ki of an assassin. [Mark of Doom] by itself had a low success rate, but when applied directly via a body part (hand, leg, etc), its success rate largely shot up.

[Mark of Doom] had two functions. The first was to severely weaken the enemy over a long period of time. It essentially served as a drain pipe for the enemy's HP and Stamina. Its second purpose was to act as a tracking device, such that no matter where a target ran or hid, the assassin would always be privy to his/her location.

[Marked Death] worked in conjunction with [Mark of Doom], instantly transporting an assassin to any marked target within a certain range. To the untrained eye, it bore a striking resemblance to teleportation, but in reality, it was accelerated movement, so fast the regular human eye could only recognize it as instantaneous teleportation.

Larsial's gaze burst with shock, barely able to place both daggers in front of her as a mass of black slammed into her with the force of a minotaur. Her feet dug into the earth, sparks exploding as both weapons fought for supremacy over the other. Larsial's brows furrowed, sweat dripping from trembling arms as she struggled to stave off Shadow's considerable momentum.

Behind the assassin, Kira snorted as the manticores lunged at her. She bit down on the manticore below her feet. Blood dripped down her teeth as she raised her head once more, the beast's decapitated head lodged between her teeth. With a disdainful snort, she spat it out.

A loud boom akin to a thunderclap echoed out and the lead manticore suddenly flipped over. It slammed against the earth, a decapitated head rolling to a stop next to its disfigured face.

Kira's countenance oozed pride as the second manticore pounced for her. Her right paw whipped out. Blood gushed forth. A nearby Order soldier was crumpled by a missile. The direwolf took a step forward, a headless corpse dropping to the earth next to her feet. She placed her right paw on the face of the last surviving manticore.

The once savage beast was now akin to a house cat, its entire body shrunken on itself in a bit to make itself smaller. The manticore whimpered, pleading for mercy from what was clearly its superior.

Kira did not place the sniveling cat in her sights. She applied a little pressure on her right paw. Blurksh! Her paw hit the earth as the manticore's head reduced to mulch. Kira gazed at the fallen corpses, an almost primal instinct flooding her entire being. Her muscles bulged, fur standing straight as she reared back her head...

Shadow and Larsial blinked in shock as a massive howl boomed across the battlefield. It bore into their souls, setting their bloodstreams ablaze as a massive pressure akin to the descent of a god forced its massive presence on their hearts.

The strength in Shadow's arms abruptly doubled while the dark glow encompassing Larsial and the other soldiers instantly vanished. The daeben was immediately forced to a knee as she buckled under the assassin's superior weight. The blocking daggers were now above her head, and the only thing preventing them from being smashed to pieces was their superior make.

"A trump card is only a trump card for as long as it remains hidden."

"What?" Larsial frowned, barely catching the assassin's murmur.

"Nothing," Shadow replied with a shake of his head. "Just the ramblings of a madman." Runes running along the edge of his blade lit up with a dark light as he fed the last of his Ki into it. The blade hummed, its buzz akin to a bee as it begun vibrating in place. The blade's penetration stat rapidly shot up, bolstered by the vibrating force.

Larsial blanched as cracks webbed across both daggers. True panic reflected in her eyes as her mortality dawned upon her. With a loud cry, she managed to deflect the blade as her weapons shattered to pieces, the pieces tearing into her face. The daeben shrieked in hateful pain as Shadow's dagger dug into her shoulder, shattering her collarbone in the process.

Shadow's right hand which had hung limply this whole time, suddenly shot up, his palm straight, with a thin film of Ki forming a blade. It shot straight for the daeben's exposed heart.

Larsial, too weak to defend herself, could only watch her end with resignation.

"That is about enough."

Shadow forcefully canceled his arm's momentum. An action which caused his blood to flow in reverse and heavily damage the already impaired arm. The assassin cradled his now truly useless arm as he made a sharp retreat. Not a second too soon as an immolation of flames appeared before the injured daeben.

Ruse stood with his back to Larsial, red glare boring into the assassin opposite. "Heal yourself." He ordered over his shoulder before rising several feet in the air, flames somehow offering him the ability to levitate. "As for you..." Ruse muttered as he regarded the injured assassin with disdain. A massive sphere of flames over two meters in diameter formed ahead of him. With a wave of his hand, the ball of flames blasted towards the assassin who, having exhausted the last of his Ki (and in essence, Stamina), could do nothing but watch as the flames hurtled towards him.

Shadow, faced with this peril, still kept a measured gaze, the serenity in his gaze serving to spark further irritation in the Primate's eyes.

Just as the flames were inches from Shadow's hair, a loud bark rumbled, issuing a massive shockwave which blasted the flames into a collection of harmless embers. The edge of Shadow's lips raised ever so slightly, displaying the first emotion that day as a massive direwolf came to stand before him, its massive frame the surest sign of protection he would require.

Ruse's brow rose, a tinge of amusement in curled lips as he raised his arm. Three fireballs descended like meteors, all targeted at the assassin.

Kira barked three times. All three fireballs were reduced to mere embers.

Ruse only laughed as several fireballs simultaneously formed and shot towards them with barely any time lag between them.

Kira's gaze flashed with rage at the airborne enemy, but she could do nothing but stand her ground, using the shockwaves from her barks to block the attacks from the enemy.

"Is that all you can do!?" Ruse mocked, laughter reverberating across the battlefield as the fireballs increased in intensity, size, and speed.

Although frustrated, Kira could only match him bark for flame, unable to launch an attack for fear of exposing the weakened Shadow behind her to the flames which would most definitely end his life. Shadow too frowned, frustrated at his body which had finally been punished with the 'weakened' stat. His limbs refused to work, confining him to the ground until the cooldown time of five minutes wore off.

However, as the fireballs increased, it became apparent that Kira would not be able to hold out that long. Shadow winced, his lips just about able to request, "Leave me. I'll find a way."

Kira's strong back never wavered or trembled. She simply ignored the assassin as she continued her struggle against the falling flames, red eyes ablaze with a determined will. Eventually, the flames were too much too counter with her barks alone. Kira searched deep within herself and issued a desperate, loud howl, borne of her desire to protect, her desire to live like her mother once lived. A massive, dome-like barrier made entirely from propagated sound formed several feet ahead of the direwolf, its umbrella-like structure shielding them from the flames.

At this point, it was a matter of which ran out first, the Primate's mana or the direwolf's voice. Despite the seemingly obvious outcome, Kira persisted, stubbornly refusing to let her voice drop even a decibel lower.

Peering through the gaps in the bombardment, the Primate's laughing face suddenly overlapped with that of the daeben all those months back. Kira who suddenly found herself in a similar situation to that of her mother, felt a massive surge of conflicting emotions arise within her. Mother, was this what you faced? Was this what you felt? Was this why you did not mind losing your life? Mother, tell me, why do my feet not move? Why do I not abandon this man? Why do I feel compelled to strive for his life even at the cost of my own? Mother, can you hear me?

"Who gave you permission to lay a hand on my guild?"

BOOM!

Kira's eyes welled up as Ruse crashed to the earth three arrows buried deeply in his chest. Weakened from overexertion, her body rapidly shrunk to a form no larger than a dog's. She stumbled and would have fallen, were it not for the daeben who appeared by her side.

Kashi ruffled Kira's fur, a huge grin on his face as he praised, "You did good, Kira. You saved Shadow. Can't tell you how much I owe you."

"Hmph," Kira snorted, though even she could not hide the relief in her eyes. "You cannot begin to count how much you owe me. Why start now?"

"Well, that's true too," Kashi chuckled. He placed his forehead against hers, voice soft as he said, "You get some rest now. I'll finish up here."

"As usual, finishing up when everyone else has done the heavy lifting," Shadow joked as he weakly got to his feet. Although the weakened status had elapsed, he still suffered numerous injuries which had lasting effects till a healer took a look at him.

"That's the job of a boss, isn't it?" Kashi quipped back as he too got to his feet. "Take care of her," he requested as he turned to the crater which had recently formed from the Primate's descent.

A massive inferno exploded out as Ruse burst into the sky, his entire body an amalgamation of flames. The arrows buried in his chest burned to dust as the flaming Primate glared hatefully at the daeben below. "KASHI!"

The daeben's aura abruptly chilled, eyes akin to the colds of the netherworld. The frost-filled glare narrowed at the primate flying above. "I do not permit you to talk down to me. Get. Down. Here."

*******************************

A/N: Hi Guys, Sorry this chapter took a whole week to hash out. Last week was way too busy, and then I fell down with the worst case of headache and sniffles over the weekend (way too much dust in my country)

More than that, I was trying something this chapter. I try to give each character a different fighting style. You know, so, even if it's only silhouettes fighting, you will be able to have a close enough guess as to who is the on carrying out the action.

As fate would have it, I've never written an assassin character fighting before, so this was ridiculously tough considering both fighters are assassins. Eventually, I reverted to my previous best MMORPG, Guild Wars 2, and used the method assassins used to fight in there for these characters, focusing more on life-stealing critical hits as opposed to other classes which would whale on damage until the target collapses..

Gotta Run, I'm keeping someone waiting... How'd I do though?