Endo lunges at Cleus with the two blades spinning on his palm. Cleus calmly dodges the attack and then jumps back to create some distance. He lands next to Cyte, from his peripheral he glances at Cyte.
“Make sure to not damage the sword.”
Cyte smiles as she answers.
“Make sure you pay him back what you owe.”
Cleus gets a slight grin on his face as he summons a sword made of blood from his palm.
“I’ll even put something on it.”
Cyte jumps towards Thelia and attacks her with the scythe. Thelia is able to parry the attacks but isn’t able to counter them. She is taken aback by how strong Cyte is and wonders if she has always been this strong.
Cyte keeps attacking relentlessly, varying her attacks from the left, right, up, and down. All Thelia can do is parry each move. Cyte can tell that Thelia isn’t planning on countering or attacking which means Thelia is overwhelmed. This is her chance to apply even more pressure, so Cyte increases the speed of her attacks.
Thelia is indeed starting to be unable to respond to all the attacks. Some of Cyte’s attacks are leaking through her defense. She can’t understand how this is possible. She was taught the secret techniques of her clan. There is no way that a banished traitor of her clan should be able to be stronger than her. In a fit of rage, Thelia releases a huge attack that affects the area around her, forcing Cyte to back off. The strain of having to defend against the attacks and the big move drained some of Thelia’s stamina. Panting she looks at Cyte.
“How can you be this strong?”
Cyte looks at her with a blank stare.
“Nah, how can you be this weak? Has our family fallen so far they just let anyone become the crown?”
This comment infuriates Thelia.
“You’re scum. You don’t deserve to mention the family. You betrayed us when you left with that fallen prince.”
“Fallen? The reason you’re here is to kill him so that he can’t reclaim what is rightfully his. I would tell you to tell that to the fake king sitting on a stolen throne, but I’ll be taking tongue as a trophy.”
“You think just because you got a little stronger, you stand a chance?”
Thelia places both her hands on the hilt of her sword. Her eyes start to glow red and then the sword starts glowing a deep red as well. Cyte recognizes what is going on and takes a defensive stance as she whispers to herself.
“They taught her how to release it …”
The sword’s glow keeps intensifying and then the energy it has been exuding get sucked back into the sword. An explosion of energy comes from Thelia and the sword. Cyte dissolves her scythe then turns the blood into two daggers and holds one in each hand. A cloud of dust springs forth after the explosion from Thelia. Cyte knows what to expect so she readies herself.
The area around Cyte is covered in smoke. She has slowed down her breathing and pushed her concentration to the extreme. Out of nowhere, a blade swings at her neck, she narrowly dodges it and gets cut in the neck. From within the smoke, she can hear Thelia’s voice.
“Impressive, but I won’t miss again.”
Thelia remains hidden in the smoke and attacks Cyte from her blind angles. Cyte is able to dodge the attacks but gets cut more and more as time passes. Until finally she is unable to dodge an attack on her leg and gets a cut deep enough to make her kneel. When her knee hits the ground, Thelia takes it as her win and starts laughing.
“Did you really think a rat like you could best the real crown?”
Thelia steps out of the smoke to reveal herself to Cyte. She confidently walks towards Cyte with two daggers as well.
“You might know that the crown’s true purpose is to protect the king and assassinate his enemies from his shadow, but knowing it and being taught the skills is a different thing. When I bring back your head, our family can finally raise theirs with pride.”
Cyte places her hand on her wound. She recites a few mathematical phrases and her hands start lighting up as does the wound. Thelia keeps walking towards her and readies the dagger in her right hand to kill Cyte. When Thelia is right in front of Cyte she raises her arm to plunge it into Cyte’s neck. Cyte however doesn’t give her this chance, Cyte stands up and grabs Thelia’s hands, and the two are now face to face. This sudden movement surprised Thelia and the look in Cyte’s eyes scares her.
“Thelia, the first rule of an assassin is “stay in the shadows”.”
Cyte flexes her muscles, strengthens her grip, and twists her hands which breaks both of Thelia’s wrists. Thelia screams in pain and having just inflicted pain, Cyte loosens her grip which allows Thelia to jump back.
“The second rule is don’t make a sound.”
Cyte disappears from Thelia’s sight. Thelia franticly looks around but can’t see Cyte. She can’t hear her footsteps either. Then from behind her two big slashes separate Thelia’s arms from her body. Thelia screams in pain. Cyte stands back in front of Thelia looking down on her.
“The second rule Thelia!”
Thelia can’t stop screaming, she looks at Cyte with blood in her mouth and tears in her eyes.
“DAMN YOU!”
“THELIA, NO!”
Endo who was confident that Thelia could beat Cyte can’t believe it and tries to rush towards Thelia to save her. But his path is blocked by Cleus who is holding his sword up to stop Endo from going towards Thelia.
“Not your fight.”
“OUT OF MY WAY!”
Endo attacks Cleus with the two spinning blades. Cleus defends himself and keeps Endo in place. Cyte doesn’t look back because she knows she can trust Cleus to have her back.
“Thelia, what is the third rule of an assassin?”
Thelia doesn’t answer, her tears and screams won’t allow her. Cyte dissolves her daggers and then Cyte kneels down and grabs the two daggers that were created from the Crown’s Blood Sword. The moment the two are in close proximity they turn back into a sword. Cyte takes a moment and sees her own reflection in the sword. Cyte then looks back down at Thelia who is looking at her with unbridled rage. Without any hesitation, Cyte swings the Crown’s Blood Sword and sends Thelia’s head flying.
“Only the dead are allowed to fail.”
Chapter 53 Fin
