Chapter 57: Evelyn Is In Danger [2]

[Detected: Host’s investment target has encountered grave danger.]

[Special investment event triggered.]

[Event: Hunter and Prey.]

[Current target: Evelyn Moore.]

[Identity of danger source: Unknown.]

[Notice: Target is attempting to use Shadow Assault Step to escape pursuit.]

[If the target independently escapes her pursuers, her profession growth will increase significantly.]

[If the host arrives before the target dies, an emergency investment can be made.]

Emergency investment? Victor’s eyes shifted. This was the first time this System function had appeared.

[Emergency Investment: When a target reaches a high risk turning point in their fate, the host may temporarily invest skills, equipment, potions, or other compatible resources.]

[If the investment directly prevents the target’s death, the return multiplier will receive an additional increase.]

So that was how it worked. Giving resources under normal circumstances was an investment, but when someone truly reached the boundary between life and death, the same principle still applied, except the return multiplier would be even higher.

Victor stepped onto the carriage. "Move at full speed."

The coachman was just about to snap the reins when Victor suddenly decided it would still be too slow. They were 4.3 kilometers away, and even a magic carriage would require several minutes to cover that distance. If Evelyn had truly been surrounded by four people, several minutes could mean the difference between life and death.

He looked at Cecilia. "Do you have any rapid movement skills?"

Cecilia paused slightly. "Over short distances."

"Long distances?"

"No."

Victor had already turned away. "Then take the carriage."

"What about you?"

"I’ll run."

"..."

Before Cecilia could react, mana erupted beneath Victor’s feet.

[Shadow Blink!]

Buzz!

His figure vanished and reappeared eight yards away, and the instant he landed, all eighty points of Agility were fully unleashed.

Boom!

The ground burst apart as his entire body transformed into a blur racing toward the academy’s northern side. Eight seconds later, Shadow Blink activated again, allowing him to cross another stretch of ground in an instant.

Shadow Blink consumed a tremendous amount of mana, but Victor now possessed 737 points of Mana. More importantly, after his recent battles in the arena, he had become far more proficient at connecting his skills, maintaining ordinary high speed movement between activations before using another Shadow Blink every eight seconds.

Just like that, the distance rapidly shrank.

[Distance from target: 3.8 kilometers.]

[3.4 kilometers.]

[2.9 kilometers.]

The rushing wind around his ears became a piercing howl, and students along the way could only glimpse a figure flashing past before it disappeared into the distance.

[Life status: Lightly injured.]

Dozens of seconds later...

[Moderately injured.]

Another notification appeared the following second.

[Detected: Evelyn Moore’s proficiency in Shadow Assault Step is increasing rapidly.]

[Beginner → Proficient.]

A life or death battle truly was the fastest teacher, but Victor would have preferred her progress to be slower, because if it continued like this, she might not survive long enough for that improvement to matter.

...

At the same time, inside the academy’s abandoned northern materials disposal area, Evelyn stood with her back pressed against a crumbling stone wall. Blood had already soaked her left shoulder, while the ordinary dagger that had once hung at her waist had snapped in half, leaving only Night Raven in her right hand.

Her breathing was faint, almost completely silent. Once Shadow Assault Step was fully activated, her footsteps, breathing, and the majority of her mana fluctuations were suppressed to the lowest possible level, yet the four people outside had not left.

"Evelyn Moore." The young man’s voice sounded again. "Eighteen years old. Dual blade assassin. Daughter of an intelligence officer serving the Alves family. Entered a training camp affiliated with the ducal estate at six. Met Victor Alves for the first time at twelve. Entered Starlight Royal Academy at sixteen."

Evelyn’s expression grew increasingly cold. Some of that information was not secret, but other details would only be recorded within the Alves family’s internal archives.

"Does it seem strange?" the man asked with a laugh. "You were never supposed to appear here."

Evelyn tightened her grip on Night Raven.

That again. Ever since this began, every word the man spoke seemed deliberately intended for her to hear.

"You should still be at the Third Training Ground today, practicing some low level movement skill that doesn’t suit you. You were supposed to obtain your first rare grade dagger seven months from now, and then..." His voice moved closer. "Next spring... you would die in a street battle in the eastern district."

Evelyn’s pupils abruptly contracted.

The wall to her left exploded the next instant.

Boom!

A gray longsword slashed horizontally toward her, but Evelyn did not stop to think.

Shadow Assault Step!

Her body abruptly dropped, almost sliding across the ground as the blade swept over her head and severed a large section of her black hair.

Before she could regain her footing, a second person appeared directly in front of her and blocked her path, while a third appeared on the right. The fourth remained in the distance, watching her with a smile.

Evelyn finally understood.

They did not want to kill her immediately. They were playing with her, or rather, they were observing her.

"Who are you people?"

"People who were never supposed to have anything to do with you," the young man replied. "Unfortunately... Victor pushed your growth too quickly. So quickly that many people who were never supposed to notice you... have begun to see you."

Evelyn’s gaze darkened. "Then you should go after him."

"Oh, we will." The man’s smile widened. "But before that... we need to correct the things that have strayed... and return them to their proper course."

The moment he finished speaking, three people charged simultaneously.

Evelyn tightened her grip on Night Raven. There was nowhere left to retreat, and at that moment, she suddenly remembered two nights ago, when Victor had stood inside the Third Training Ground and said in that infuriating tone of his,

"You’ve only reached the beginner stage."

At the time, she had thought his expectations were too high. Now, however, she realized he had been right. She had only reached the beginner stage, and when the time truly came to kill someone, that was nowhere near enough.

Evelyn drew a deep breath, and the next instant, her feet made no sound as her entire body shot forward.

She was not escaping! She was charging directly toward the three of them!

[Shadow Assault Step!]

[Night Raven: Silent!]

Three attacks descended simultaneously, yet her body seemed to identify the only opening between them before it had even fully formed. She turned sideways, lowered her head, and took a single step.

Whoosh!

She passed directly through the intersecting attacks of all three opponents.

[Shadow Assault Step proficiency has increased significantly!]

[Proficient → Approaching Mastery!]

For the first time, the smile vanished from the young man’s face. "That fast?"

Evelyn had already arrived before him, Night Raven thrusting forward in a straight line toward his throat.

The man raised a hand.

Two fingers caught the blade.

The ease with which he stopped it was enough to make anyone despair.

"Unfortunately..." He looked at Evelyn calmly. "The difference in level is too great."

Evelyn’s pupils contracted as the man’s other hand moved toward her chest, gray mana gathering around his palm. At this distance, with Night Raven trapped between his fingers and the other three surrounding her, she could not evade the strike.

However, just before the palm landed...

Boom!

A ruined wall dozens of meters away was smashed apart by a terrifying force, sending stone fragments scattering in every direction as dust erupted into the air and a figure charged through the flying rubble.

Mid run, the figure suddenly vanished, causing the young man’s expression to truly change.

"What?"

Even before he could fully register what was happening, Victor appeared beside Evelyn, his left hand shooting out and seizing the man’s wrist.

[Mana Plunder!]

Boom!

Mana was violently extracted by force.

[Mana successfully plundered: 8 points.]

An abnormally small amount, but it was enough. The mana inside the man’s body instantly fell into disorder, causing his movements to stall for less than half a second.

Crimson Flame Fang had already left the sheath in Victor’s right hand.

A crimson sword line flashed through the air.

[Heaven Burning Sword Art.]

[Flame Line!]

Spurt!

Blood erupted as an arm spun high into the air, and only then did the man finally release a piercing, agonizing scream.

Victor didn’t even look at the severed limb. He merely pulled Evelyn behind him before raising his eyes toward the remaining three people.

"She’s one of mine." Victor’s deep, icy tone echoed through the area. "And you dared lay a hand on her?"

...

It’s A New Week Guys!! This Poor Author Call on your help once again!