Chapter 66: Assassination [4]

The difference between their ranks was not something she could simply ignore.

Even with the mysterious golden flame strengthening her, she was still far weaker than Nox in terms of raw mana capacity and physical attributes.

If they fought head-on, she would almost certainly lose.

But Sofia didn’t retreat.

She tightened her grip on her twin sabers.

The golden flames danced along their edges.

Nox’s expression finally turned serious.

Nox suddenly disappeared.

Sofia’s pupils contracted.

Fast!

Before she could fully react, a fist slammed toward her face.

She crossed both sabers in front of herself.

CLANG!

The impact sent her sliding backward.

Her boots scraped against the pavement, leaving two long marks behind her.

Pain shot through her wrists.

Nox appeared in front of her, grinning.

"Found you!"

His knee came rushing toward her stomach.

Sofia twisted sideways, barely avoiding the strike.

Then she retaliated with a slash aimed at his neck.

SHING!

Nox leaned backward.

The golden blade passed within inches of his throat, burning a thin line across his skin.

His smile vanished.

A bead of blood trickled down his neck.

For a moment, he stared at it in disbelief.

Then his expression twisted with anger.

"You little bitch!"

He unleashed a barrage of punches.

Sofia retreated, parrying what she could with her sabers while dodging the rest.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Each impact sent vibrations through her arms.

She couldn’t afford to block his attacks directly for long.

His physical strength was simply too great.

So she focused on redirecting his momentum, stepping aside whenever possible and counterattacking whenever his movements left an opening.

Unfortunately, Nox was no ordinary opponent.

He quickly adapted to her movements, changing the rhythm of his attacks and deliberately leaving openings to lure her into counterattacking.

Sofia recognized the trap just in time.

She abandoned her strike and retreated.

A fist swept past her cheek.

The wind alone was enough to make her skin sting.

Nox clicked his tongue.

"You’re surprisingly annoying."

Sofia gave him a cold look.

"Thank you."

"THAT WASN’T A COMPLIMENT!"

"Then learn to give better ones."

Nox’s expression darkened.

He had never encountered someone so irritating.

First, she killed his subordinates.

Then she injured him.

And now she was mocking him while fighting for her life.

He would make her regret it.

Nox’s mana surged.

This time, he didn’t bother trying to overwhelm her with a series of attacks.

Instead, he raised his right fist and concentrated his mana into it.

The air around his knuckles distorted.

Sofia’s instincts screamed.

I can’t block that!

She immediately moved to evade.

But Nox had anticipated her reaction.

His fist changed direction midway through the strike, following her movement with frightening precision.

BANG!

...But before he could hit, he was shot by bullet and the one who shot of him was non other then Lorenzo at back of his head.

"Ugh... What?!"

Sofia looked past Nox and found Lorenzo standing limply with crooked grin on his face.

Lorenzo looked at Nox who was one of knees, But he didn’t die.

Clearly as one rises in the ranks, they become thick skinned as well. And the bullets used were only normal bullets.

’I need better gun, mana bullet or maybe weapon art of gun if it’s exist.’

Lorenzo went to the Nox and kicked him with all his might, Nox knees gave up and he went limp on ground and Lorenzo sat on him.

"Fool... you should have killed me as soon you had chance."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lorenzo started raining punches on the head of the Nox where the bullet was half pierced.

"Die! Die! DIE!!"

Lorenzo kept punching until the bullet went through the head of the leader and he died.

But he didn’t stop at punching.

He took his axe and started carve ’X’ shape scar on his other side perfectly even cheeks.

He then looked at the corpse beneath him, admiring his handiwork.

Perfect.

Now, the man’s face was symmetrical.

Lorenzo tilted his head slightly, inspecting the two X-shaped scars on either side of the dead man’s cheeks.

"Hmm. Much better."

He nodded in satisfaction.

Then he suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, right."

He turned toward Sofia, who was standing a few meters away with her twin sabers still drawn.

"Sofy, what do you think? Doesn’t he look much better now?"

Sofia stared at him.

Then she looked at the corpse.

Then back at Lorenzo.

Her expression was blank.

’What the actual fuck?’

She had just witnessed a man being beaten to death, and Lorenzo’s primary concern was whether his victim’s facial scars were symmetrical.

Sofia glanced at the gun lying near Lorenzo’s hand.

He had shot Nox in the back of the head while she was fighting him.

If Lorenzo hadn’t intervened, she might have been seriously injured—or worse.

She hated admitting it, but he had saved her.

Again.

The thought irritated her.

"Lorenzo."

He looked up.

"What?"

"Why did you interfere?"

He blinked.

"...What kind of question is that?"

"I was fighting him."

"And?"

"I could have handled it."

Lorenzo stared at her for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"Hahaha! Of course you could!"

"You—!"

Before she could finish, Lorenzo suddenly raised his hand.

"Wait."

His expression changed.

The amusement vanished from his face, replaced by the cold, calculating gaze of someone accustomed to dealing with danger.

Lorenzo glanced at Enzo, who was still fighting the bulky A-rank Master.

Despite his injuries, Enzo had managed to force his opponent several steps backward. However, the battle remained unresolved, and neither combatant appeared willing to retreat.

"Enzo!" Lorenzo shouted. "Enough playing around! Capture that bastard alive!"

Enzo’s eyes briefly shifted toward Lorenzo.

"Understood!"

The bulky man scowled.

"Capture me? You think you can—"

Enzo vanished.

The man’s eyes widened.

A sword struck the back of his knee.

CRACK!

Before he could fall, Enzo delivered a second strike to his wrist, forcing him to release his oversized sword.

Then Enzo drove his elbow into the man’s jaw.

BAM!

The bulky Master collapsed onto the pavement.

Enzo placed his sword against the man’s throat.

"Move, and I’ll remove your head."

The man froze.

A few seconds later, Enzo withdrew his blade and bound the prisoner’s hands with a restraint designed to suppress mana.

Only then did he turn toward Lorenzo.

"Young Master, are you injured?"

Lorenzo glanced at his blood-soaked clothes.

"What do you think?"

Enzo’s expression tightened.

"My apologies. I should have anticipated that the explosion was a diversion."

"Don’t worry about it. They planned this carefully."

Lorenzo waved his hand dismissively, although the movement made him wince.

"The explosion was meant to incapacitate us. The real objective was to separate you from me and overwhelm me before you could intervene."

His eyes narrowed.

"And they brought an A-rank Master, a D-rank Awakener, and several E+ rank fighters just to kill an E- rank brat."

He looked down at Nox’s corpse.

"I must have really pissed someone off."

Sofia gave him a strange look.

’You have killed people, tortured a terrorist leader, threatened an academy cadet with a gun, and you’re the son of one of the most powerful men in the world.’

’Who exactly did you expect to make friends with?’