A person walked towards us and stopped at 2 meters away from me. It was a woman who glared silently at me. 

That brown skin of hers was very similar to the skin tone of the dark elves. It was natural dark skin like Ripine, Aura and Sora, unlike tanned skin like Mireille and Brita. As she had normal ears, I assumed she was just born with brown skin. She had black hair, let loose over her nape and pretty violet eyes. 

She was as tall as Mireille, at about 173cm height. 

Moving on to her breasts, they’re fairly big and seem to be pushing up her leather armour nicely.

Her ass was a good size and judging her overall toned body, I could tell she had quite a bit of muscle. So she must be pretty tight down there…

"Hoi... Were you the one who killed our men?"

Three new men emerged from darkness with different uniform than the Empire's guys.

"That's Goldonia.." Demia whispered to us.

The three Goldonian directed their hostility towards the 3 men and dark skinned beauty from empire.

"Why are empire dogs killing us Goldonian here? Why are you even here?"

"We are just spying on what Goldonian is doing " The dark skinned chick had cute voice.

The Goldonian wearing helmet that covered their eyes attacked the empire guys. The girl moved swiftly in between them. Her thrust went through the steel helmet, along with the forehead beneath it. The body shook violently, and then collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut. The metal armour clanged loudly in the tunnel. Another man collapsed. I didn't see clearly what she did. The last man glared at the girl before him. However, it was clear that he was just putting on a brave front. He had lost the will to fight after seeing the girl casually killed two of his fellows.

The athletic looking girl who had murdered his colleagues flicked her bloodstained stilettos. The ichor scattered in all directions, and the blades recovered their cold shine.

“Fufufufu.. and then there was one, mister."

The girl revealed her canines with a predatory grin.

“Why, why are you doing this?”

He knew it was a stupid question, but the man had no idea why this was happening to him.

These men were cream of the crop even among southern Goldonian soldiers. They survived several times in the past Treia invasion.

This might have been the result of some sort of empire scheme, but the empire had never worked like this before. Neither had he seen this skillful girl before.

“Ah, why I did this? Well now, I just wanted you, mister”

The man could not understand what the girl was talking about. He blinked several times, and then asked:

“What, what do you mean?”

"Goldonian is scheming things and our emperor instructed us to keep an eye on you for him. But things become boring, so I decided to hunt."

The two empire's men beside her were shaking their head, as if being disgusted with her.

"Then how about this? I like killing people, I love it, I’m absolutely crazy about it. Ah, and I like torture too,” the girl added with a giggle.

After hearing this nonsensical reply, the man’s face hardened and he said, “You’re insane! Why!?”

“Why…?”

The girl’s voice changed. The joking, teasing tone from just now was gone.

“Hmmm… I wonder why? Perhaps it was because my job involved killing lots of people?"

It seemed as though there was only a playful girl before him. But in the blink of an eye, a smile bloomed on the girl’s face.

The girl released her stilettos, which were pulled down by gravity and sank into the ground. Judging by their abnormal sharpness, they must have been made of something other than simple steel.

“This is a steel. More precisely, its steel alloyed over diamond. Pretty good stuff.”

The fact that she bore such exotic weaponry was a sign of the girl’s prowess. In other words, he had no chance of victory.

As she uttered those bone-chilling words, she drew another pair of stilettos from under her leather armour.

“These should be good… sorry if I miss.”

It was adorable, the way she stuck her tongue out at him. However, her filthy, blackened heart was visible for all to see.

The man turned his back to her and ran. Although he heard an exaggerated gasp of surprise from the girl, he still ran with every ounce of strength in him. He was proud of his sense of direction, and he used it to the full as he ran through the lightless dark.

However, there was a clattering noise from behind him, followed by the girls carefree voice.

"Too slow"

Searing pain filled his shoulder. A dreadful smile bloomed on the girl’s face.The man fell with his face down.

A dreadful smile bloomed on the young woman’s face as she stormed back to us. Her strides were wild and forceful, her brows were furrowed, and her mouth was twisted. Her pretty features were distorted into something which could only have been described with the word “wicked.”

"Sorry.”

There was not even the slightest hint of remorse on the girl’s face as she apologized.

“Still. it’s their fault for dying so soon, couldn’t they hold on a little longer?”

“It’s all because you’ve been fooling around so much.” 

"Yes,yes,yes. I’m sorry, it won’t happen again, please forgive me." She said nonchalantly. It seemed the man was her superior. 

Another man clicked his tongue.

“As if I could believe that. In any case, stop going after people.”

Her flighty response made her superior furrow his brows. Still, there was no point going on about it, so he decided not to continue lecturing her. He tried to express his displeasure with the wrinkles of his frown, but as expected, she ignored it.

“Buuut, I’m so bored... speaking of which, what are you guys, anyway?”

She turned her gaze at us.

"They were Treia." The man who flee the fight just now, answered her.

She looked at the three girls from top to their crotches and licked her lip.

"Don't do anything rash, our mission is to spy. And our target is our enemy, Goldonia.If you move carelessly, you might find yourself in too deep to dig yourself out."

“Ehhhhh....But...."

"Sekrit.... Listen to me. We have spent several years preparing war against Olga and Goldonia.  I don’t want your pointless antics to set our plans back."

I saw through the girl called Sekrit’s adorably puffed-up cheeks. Her expression was one of cruel malice. In that moment, she surged forward like a killing storm. Her sight was on Demia.

She closed the distance between them in an instant, and struck like lightning. The sharp blade in her hand gleamed lethally as it flashed toward Demia's throat.

I instinctively moved.

*****

The small blade Sekrit thrust forth was a piercing weapon known as a stiletto.

 

There was little variation in the ways one could attack with a piercing weapon, so they were not easy to use. However, Sekrit favoured such weapons, and she had trained her body ceaselessly, selected the best equipment, and learned the right martial arts, all in order to kill in a single blow.

 

This technique of hers, honed and refined through countless battles with humans and monsters, was on a level where no normal person could defend against it.

 

Sekrit was naturally gifted with physical abilities which exceeded those of normal human beings. On top of that, she had spent her life training and practicing her combat skills, so it was only natural that she should be able to fight at such a level.

"Demia, run." Scarlet shouted.

But Sekrit's attacked hit an armour. A man in full bodied armour took the hit. He tried to capture her but she made an acrobatic somersault and kick his chest. She even tried to stab Demia but again the man blocked with his back. She kicked again and he fell on top of the yellow haired girl.

*****

Wow. That dark skinned beauty was like moving in the air. I fell on top of Demia's soft body. 

"Hey, how long do you plan on lying on top of me? And stop putting your hand into my cloth .....ah!"

When I fell on top of her, my hand instinctively sneaked underneath opening in her cloth. I touched her nipple and fondle her breast.

She stopped she punched my face. I stood up and we had to face that dark skinned beauty again.

She slowly walked towards us. Every step she took was accompanied by the clattering of metal against metal. The thin leather armour had metal plates protecting her arms  and ribs.

"You had big boobs." I told her. She stopped.

“Uwaa..Pervert..Lewd..”

As she said that, the girl’s — Sekrit's — face twisted. She had a grin so wide it nearly reached her ears.

“…Girl, let’s fight each other over there.”

I immediately set out without waiting for Sekrit to respond. She was very confident that she would not reject the challenge, and the sound of her lazy footsteps behind him was ample proof of that.

As though on cue, we turned to look at each other.

“Could it be those people I killed in that here were your friends? Are you mad because I killed your friends?”

Sekrit continued in a mocking tone.

She was all smiles. I looked at her, and shook his head.

“…No, there’s no need to apologize.”

“Really? Well that’s a shame. It’s fun to piss off those people who get all emotional when their friends come up. Oi, why aren’t you getting mad? You’re no fun! Or could it be they weren’t your friends?”

“…Well, under the right circumstances, I might have done the same thing as you. So blaming you for it would be stupid.”

I slowly raised my large sword.

"I fell in love with you. Get defeated by me and become my woman."

Her eyes went wide before laughing uncontrollably.

"I really mean it. I fell in love with at first sight."

Her pretty violet eyes narrowed, and for the first time she had a look of annoyance on her face. 

“I don’t know what sort of ugly face is under that helmet of yours, but there’s no way that I, Sekrit would be your woman."

Shit. Did she know I was an ugly ghoul?

She went to her weapons after I failed miserably to woo her. She had two of the piercing weapons called stilettos at her waist, as well as a two swords, which were not short enough to be called short swords, and not long enough to become normal swords either. Right now, she drew two of those stilettos.

With my night vision, I noticed that the swords were covered in detritus that looked like blood and chunks of flesh. I tightened my grip on my broadsword in my hands as I stared down at Sekrit.

****

After half an hour, the other two men looked at me in disbelief.

“Haaah...I’m tired..”

Sekrit’s flighty words filtered into my ears.

We had been fighting for nearly 30 minutes, but my large sword had not once touched her.

“Speaking of which, that’s some amazing physical ability you’ve got there...you might even be proud of it... buuut...” 

Her expression turned into a predatory grin.

“Are you stupid? You’re just swinging your swords with raw strength and speed, wildly swiping around like a kid with a stick. You might be able swing large sword endlessly, but if you don’t know how to use them, you won't hit anything."

"Are you total novice in fighting?" She asked. Other three girls also looked at me in disbelief.

I thrusted forth the large sword in my hand in an intimidating manner. It was a feint as I slowly raised the sword in my hand in preparation for a powerful strike.

Sekrit’s weapons were a piercing or light type, and they could not execute heavy attacks like slashing weapons could. They were weapons that were optimized for charges. In addition, stilettos were slender and were certainly not strong enough to survive a clash with giant sword and even penetrate full bodied armour.

Because of that, I used my giant sword to keep her at bay, waiting for Sekrit to close in. However, she seemed to know what I was up to.

“Do you have any way to get your attack into my full bodied armour?”

“Who knows..”

Sekrit had a smug, self-assured look on her face as she responded in her usual self-assured tone. All of this pointed to the fact that she had something up her sleeve.

Sekrit slowly changed her posture, lowering herself into what seemed like a runner’s crouch. However, her body was still upright, so she looked very strange. It might have appeared comical, but this was definitely not the sort of stance one could take lightly.

And then — Sekrit moved. Before my vigilant eyes, she shot out like a fully compressed spring.

She sprinted right at me.

 The girls looked very shocked. No wonder.

It was a charge that even I, with my inflated physical abilities, could hardly believe was possible.

Like a hurricane that devoured everything in its path, Sekrit closed the distance between them in an instant. She slid under the sword I was holding out, her physical dexterity allowing her to maintain her full speed as she moved.

I was shaken by Sekrit’s serpentine movements — forcefully swung my heavy sword. The powerful stroke ripped through the air as it surged toward Sekrit, promising unimaginable devastation if I connected.

And in that brief instant, I saw the face-splitting grin on her face get even wider.

The unbelievable sight took me aback. She disappeared but reappeared slightly above her preceding position. She step on my sword, as if deflecting it. 

As though throwing herself into a lover’s embrace, she rushed toward my unguarded chest. In that moment, half of my field of view was taken up by the grinning Sekrit.

I retreated, but my opponent was faster. This attack, which combined a full-tilt charge, all her strength, and skillful use of momentum, could be described as "meteoric."

There was a flash of light, and then the screeching of metal clashing with metal rang through the underground.

Sekrit ducked the wild upward swing of my sword and then sprang clear.

Although I did not feel pain, I felt that something sharp had pierced my left shoulder, near the place where I had heard the sound of scraping.

I glanced to the shoulder from where the impact had come, but there was only a slight dent in the armour. Although the armour was not thick, it was still made of steel. The armor’s hardness increased with its creator’s level, so the fact that there was a dent in the armour was testament to the destructive power of Sekrit’s strikes.

“Ah well. If that’s the case, next time...hmm, maybe I should hit somewhere with thinner armour, although I wanted to wear your down bit by bit, then sloooowly torment you once you couldn’t move.. what a shame, what a shame.”

I realised that she had not been wildly attacking my shoulders, but aiming to disable my arms in order to render me incapable of attacking. For the first time, I felt something like respect toward Sekrit the warrior.

All I could do was simply swinging my sword and deal damage to the enemy. Of course, if I could hit at all, the enemy would assuredly be slain. However, against a skilled opponent, I had to carefully consider the flow of the battle.

This has been good training for me…

"I’m coming.”

Just as I was admiring Sekrit, she took that strange stance she had assumed from just now. In response, I raised my sword to meet the attack. This time, however, I did not thrust forth my sword.

She snorted at my stance and sprinted. She was so fast that even I and my incredible dynamic vision could barely follow her. If she had not rushed straight at me, I might have lost track of her movements.

In the face of Sekrit’s full-tilt charge, like an ominous arrow headed straight at me, I swung my sword, launching an attack of my own to intercept her.

The swing was deflected by the same way as before, but I had already predicted this. I had lost my balance in the previous exchange because I had put all his strength into the blow, so this time, I did not use as much force.

I absorbed the radiating impact — as though I had struck a wall — with the strength of my arm, and then I swung my sword. This time, I was fully confident that my foe could not block another full power hit.

She effortlessly dodged my counterattack and approached me from the front.

Before I could dodge, her stiletto stabbed at me. It was aimed at one of my eyes, through the narrow vision slit of my helmet.

I forcefully jerked my head to the side, and while I managed to evade the stiletto thrust from my eyes, the sound of metal shrieking against metal echoed through my helmet. Before I could breathe a sigh of relief that I had avoided the worst of it, I  glimpsed Sekrit readying her stiletto for another attack out of the corner of my eye.

“Cheh!”

Even after factoring in the differences in our physical abilities, Sekrit straight-line thrust was faster than the circular swing of my sword. This time, the stiletto struck home, hitting me dead on.

A surprised voice and a panicked voice hit the air at the same time.

I pressed my sword against my helmet and jumped far back, but there was no follow-up attack.

She glanced at my unsightly retreat, then looked curiously at the tip of her stiletto.

Her attacked that slip into my helmet grazed deeply my face. Blood was dripping from below my helmet.

***

The man before her did not have much in the way of combat skills, but he possessed great physical abilities. His endurance was godlike and his brute strength was probably stronger than most men. He only lacked agility, speed and the worst thing was he was a total beginner in fighting.

Deck, her superior grabbed her shoulder and said,

"Stop it, you could kill him but if the fight drags longer, who knows other Treian might come."

"Aaaa!" She yelled.

After calmed down, she looked at Adine,

"Come to empire next time, I shall make sure to expose that ugly face under that helmet and cut it."

After the Garland empire spies were gone, the girls sat down and sighed. Adine felt relieved because if the fight didn't stop halfway, she would definitely found a way into his armour and kill him.