When I pulled the daggers from the dimensional ring, they appeared in my hands, with a black handle and a silver blade. Because I was so focused, the sound of the tavern was muffled. It was too late to flee quietly; if he knew we were coming, this was a trap. I recalled all of Novem's classes.

Although my training was not completed, it was sufficient. Vibrating energy flowed from my sternum to the daggers, which took on a faint silver glow after receiving my magic. I lowered both daggers as the wind swirled around me, my hands firmly gripping the handle. I directed two wind blades towards Belora's table, which was a few meters in front of me. The resulting simple wind shook my hair, and both formations whistled due to air resistance. Although not enough to kill him, it would undoubtedly leave him seriously injured.

The almost imperceptible blades cut everything in their path on their way to Belora, including tables, chairs, and even... a passing waitress.

The fresh blood of an innocent young girl splattered, staining the wooden floor. The girl collapsed on opposite sides, her legs following shortly after a blade severed her arm and torso. Her shocked expression made me grimace; my first kill. Still, I didn't feel the supposed guilt and regret that many claim to feel when killing someone, I was just disgusted.

People began to flee in terror, but more than half of them remained, curious about the scene. Big mistake.

Her upper half rolled to the side, and her gaze remained fixed on me. Her eyes seemed to be asking only one question: "Why?" The girl died with one last blink. I chose to ignore it. I had to. Regret and self-reproach are for the living, and I needed to get out of here if I wanted to live.

Even so, the blades' path was not stopped, but they were intercepted before they hit Belora. I had no idea what it was, but some external force, like an invisible barrier, stopped them, making a satisfying sound of metal clashing against metal.

As if that wasn't enough, the ground began to fill with a dark miasma, similar to a mist at dawn, but more sinister. 'Shadow servants?' If that were the case, there were far too many of them. I was concerned that if the enemy had shadow servants as reinforcements, we would be in serious trouble. The wooden floor had turned into a black puddle, with some hands barely emerging from the shadows, looking for something to cling to as they stepped out, like undead emerging from the ground.

Belora took something out of his coat in the distance, a kind of black crystal. That same crystal started to beat, like a sinister and evil heart, bringing the sign of doom with it. I didn't know what it could be, but it wasn't Good.

I shifted my gaze to the shadow servant next to my sister. "Novem!" I yelled, hoping she'd catch him.

However, before I could even place an order, she vanished, leaving only my sister and Alea in the distance. 'Will she be leaving?' I pondered this with trepidation.

But before I could react, a shadow appeared next to me. I felt a tug and my vision blurred. I heard a collision nearby, which left an annoying resonant ringing in my ear, and the sensation of liquid dripping from my ear cavity alarmed me. The characteristic warmth of blood. I was just hoping it didn't deafen me. I turned my head and braced myself for the worst, but Novem's face was right next to mine.

Novem's brow furrowed deeply, her right arm stretched out and struck something seemingly invisible with her fist, and her left hand extended to cover my face, seemingly protecting me. This gave me shivers. Her single expansive slingshot caused me so much damage, and it was muffled. I could only imagine what one of her powerful blows would do to me.

I wobbled on my feet, attempting to regain my balance. "Novem?" I was able to articulate.

"Ha~ I knew you'd be trouble." An unknown voice.

A man appeared in my vision gradually, as if he had always been there. As he watched my eyes widen slightly in surprise, his carefree smile widened. He was directly behind me, and despite his nonchalant smile, his green eyes were filled with annoyance. Novem had just come to my rescue.

Novem opened her fist without hesitation. Her palm briefly lit up before exploding with a powerful blast. Novem fired a volley of whitish-blue fire at him. The heat was so intense that I had to close my eyes for fear of them melting. When the noise finally stopped, I opened my eyes to find that half of the tavern had been burned down, along with a large number of civilians. Their charred bodies, along with the remaining tables that hadn't been reduced to ashes, resembled black statues and stood gloomily in their places. With a gust of air passing through the area, all that remained of presumably innocent people collapsed. They all had the same expression on their barely distinguishable faces: surprise.

Novem's expression as she murdered so many people as collateral damage was the same as well; pure, cold indifference. But I wasn't criticizing her, and I wasn't feeling anything either.

However, the person who was supposed to take their place was only a few meters away from the destruction. He sighed as he shook the dust from his shoulders, which I assumed were charred remains of wood or people. "You're really something."

Belora leapt from his seat, knocking over the table, which had been shattered into three pieces by my previously sent wind attack. His face was a mixture of relief and anger, with his brows furrowed and his eyes twitching nervously, sweat pouring from his brows. "That was close!" he exclaimed to no one in front of him, at least that's what I thought.

Again, as if the invisibility cloak had been removed, a man became visible to all of us. His broad shoulders only enhanced his already attractive appearance. I assumed he was the one who had deflected my two wind blades, and by the way his solemn expression didn't change, I knew my attack had been insignificant to someone like him.

Observing the two prepare to assault. I couldn't stop wondering who these people were.

[Character info:

Name: Grey

Age: 26

Titles: Invisible assassin, the vigilante

Strength: purity level 5

Bloodline: Invisibility

Love: 0%]

[Character info:

Name: Steve

Age: 26

Tiles: Invisible assassin, the watchnan

Strength: purity level 5

Bloodline: Invisibility

Love: 0%]

The black-haired man moved his eyes slowly across the tavern floor as he stretched his dual swords forward. "It appears that some people snuck in."

"Yes, they mutilated themselves to protect their young masters. Are they really worth that much?" With a slight chuckle, the other stated that he looked at Charlotte and me as if sizing us up. He finally shook his head. "They just look like a couple of brats to me."

Novem next to me raised her head slightly, still on the lookout for potential attacks. "Dimensional block." She eventually said, her voice irritated.

I followed her line of sight. Instead of the glowing blue sky beyond the roof that was collapsing due to Novem's attack, there was a black barrier that covered everything, like a filter that obscured the world. The moonlight was barely visible, as if it had been filtered. My heart was pounding. Everything seemed to be going wrong. Novem and Alea were the only things that made me feel better. But something the guy said piqued my interest, so I took a look around.

I was quickly drawn into a terrible landscape, with decapitated heads, arms, and entire torsos smeared with blood on the floor. These were not the tavern patrons or Belora's henchmen. This was obvious because they were all women dressed in black robes, clearly from the shadow servant squad. When did they arrive? I looked at Novem, puzzled, and realized right away what was going on. She'd sent her own squadron to keep an eye on us from afar. As a result, they were unable to materialize in time and became trapped between the dimensional blockade and the shadow dimension, mutilating the poor women who were unable to escape in time. But, proving that their reputation as elite servants was no joke, some survived, and instead of being terrified by their colleagues' gruesome deaths, they immediately positioned themselves.

One of them approached Novem with a sharp look that could kill a person, playing with the bowstring and pulling an arrow from her quiver. She came to a protective halt next to me. "What are your orders, Chief Novem?" She inquired, pointing directly at the white-haired man, who only smiled back.

"Traditional cover formation simply fills in the gaps." Novem stated. The women all nodded at the same time. But before they could act, Novem became solemn, drew her daggers from her ring, and coated them in a dark miasma. The moon's muffled light reflected off Novem, who had removed her disguise, making her look stunning in her black leather armor. Over her shoulder, she kept an eye on her remaining squadron. "And with your life, protect the young masters."

"Understood!" they all exclaimed in unison, like soldiers ready to die for their country. Even I was surprised by this. It's unusual to see people so dedicated to others, but it was as if they only lived to serve us.

Two shadow servants and Alea covered my little sister, and the bow girl together with Novem were protecting me.

The bow girl waited for the signal to strike, her arrowhead dripping a greenish liquid from the tip. Her grip on the bow was so firm that she appeared to be a statue, save for her black eyes, which moved from time to time like those of a hawk, searching for an enemy.

There was no movement because both sides were watching each other. Belora had some minions who survived the burning inferno of Novem, and those two men who were surely powerful, while Novem had his squad reduced. Both were waiting for the signal to strike.

I tensed my muscle up, waiting for the right moment to assist Novem. While I was far from the most powerful person in this room, I could do something.

"Don't do anything to the young lady or the young master." Belora said, and hell broke loose with his words.