Night finally arrived, and the operation to destroy the jammer commenced. I still had the forest map, and with my new glasses, I could see a HUD that showed my real-time position superimposed onto the Shadowstep map using my cartographer tool. With Narwhal's help, I rented a horse and sneaked out of the fort through the back door.

After activating my camouflage, I dismounted and walked into the forest. It was quiet, with a flicker of light in the distance. As I approached, I felt a sensation, like a flicker of film passing through me. I looked around at the strange feeling, then continued my advance, only to be blocked by a familiar face. My camouflage failed me as he sneered at me.

"Hey, we meet again, Reaper! And it's the same Reaper too!" I froze as he blocked my path. The realization then hit me.

"That thing was detection magic?"

"Smart girl. Hehehe. We have never let a spy pass by us in our whole life, you know. You really tarnished our reputation. Now, die!"

He charged toward me, his blade coated with some sort of magic. It was the cutting magic he used before when we first met. I couldn't block it with my dagger, as it would only break. After putting some weight into my agility skill, I dodged one slash and countered with five throwing arrows using my tentacle. He flew back, just like when we first met, but my tentacle chased him, and I managed to graze his hand.

"Damn, you have improved," he cursed as he brought out a potion from his pouch and drank it. I was stunned. "Well, poison was almost mandatory for rats like you. We have come prepared."

"Kill him. Kill Elderans!!" Whispers echoed from the depths of my heart. Despair, sadness, and anger surged.

"Damn, Eli. She didn't want to flee from this battle, even though the musketeers should not be her grandfather's killers," I whispered as I grasped my chest. The sudden surge of despair and anger choked me, and I faltered. After I jumped to gain some distance, I charged again. However, he drew another blade from his waist and swung wildly while dual-wielding.

It looked like a child's act, but because of the wind blade coating his two blades, it was a devastating attack. My instincts made me jump out and low while he slashed like a madman. I then forced Eli down in my heart and tried to escape. I could probably beat him if I really tried, but I didn't want to collapse here. Moreover, he had two more friends the last time I met him, right? With such reasoning, I forced my anger down, and Eli finally relented.

But as I escaped, the musketeer dashed faster than I ever thought. As my instincts screamed at me to duck down, a blade passed just above my head and slashed at the tree beside me. He then connected his strike to his leg, and it hit my stomach.

"Gah!" I groaned as I lay flat on the ground. I then glared at him, but he snorted.

"Your dark magic won't work on me again, bitch. I have no intention of bringing you back alive. Now DIE." He sneered at me as he gloated about his victory. Then he charged at me while swinging his sword down…

BANG!

"AARGH!!" I shot him in the face. The bullets hit him right in the eye, and he fell down while whimpering and groaning.

"I didn't want to let you live either," I murmured as I drew my dagger. But my beast instinct screamed at me to jump away, and I did. A colossal flame was aimed at my position just a second ago, so massive was the fire that it grazed the wind agent in the face even though he was not the target.

"ARGHH!!" The wind agent screamed again.

"Hey, you okay, bud?"

"Fuck you, asshole! You burned my face!" He cursed. He seemed lively for someone who got shot in the face. I will complain to Prince Ludwin later. He sold me a shitty gun!

"You were about to die back then. A little thank you would suffice. You're welcome, by the way."

"Come on. Couldn't you just arrive like 3 seconds later? I will deal with you later." I moaned. "He was worth 1000 gold."

"Sorry, missy dark mage. He was a coworker. I can't let you kill him. By the way, your bounty was worth 800 Ela. It was about 800 gold too. After tonight, I am sure our bounty would be on par with each other."

We looked at each other. The wind agent seemed unable to move as he was simply groaning on the ground. Can I defeat the fire mage alone? Nah, I can't get away with this. These agents would definitely hinder me with everything they got. They must have been tasked with guarding the jammer.

The fire agent was silent. Unlike the wind agent, he didn't move first. Maybe this is my chance? I threw my knife at him and then took the opportunity to reload my gun. The man blocked my knife with ease, and then twenty fireballs were made and flung around me. I dodged, and with the burning forest behind me, I counterattacked.

"Dark Spear!" I whispered as a four-meter black spear materialized in my hand. I poured more mana into it, and the spear enlarged further, getting thicker and radiated with black miasma. Then I threw it—not at the fire agent, but at the wind agent currently on the ground.

"Damn it! Fight me fair and square!" the fire mage blocked it with fire spewing out from his hands. As the spear was deflected and went into a random tree, he was already breathless. I suppose it cost him more mana than I thought. I grinned. My level 8 dark magic finally triumphed for once. He could not escape if he wanted to protect his wind agent friend. So, this is just a contest of mana, and in a magic duel, even Alicia couldn't beat me.

I cast more dark lances this time, less concentrated and more about quantity. He blocked them with his sword and a fireball of his own, but some still hit him regardless. Dark magic didn't burn or explode; it simply corroded his body or sapped his strength. Moreover, because of his magic defense as a mage, it would take some time before he was down.

"Damn!" he then threw a fireball into the air, and it exploded spectacularly like fireworks. I am not an idiot. I ran back to Althemer despite Eli protesting in my heart. The agent didn't move and only cursed. Footsteps of Elderan's soldiers echoed in the distance. Some men in uniforms began appearing one after another. Using my camouflage, I snaked past them and went back to my horse. Then, I returned to my mansion. I failed, but I will try it again tomorrow. I needed that jammer to be destroyed.

"Damn it! Fuck! It hurts!" The wind agent cursed as his eye and half of his face were ruined. The fire agent walked beside him as soldiers brought him on a rescue litter. Then, after he was brought to a medical bed, a healing mage started to operate on him and pulled out the bullet in his eye. The medic was only level 5 in light magic, so while he could save the agent's life, he could not save his left eye.

The ice agent, who was patrolling on the other side of the forest, came in and brought some fruit five hours later. The fire agent was sleeping beside him. After a while, the wind agent woke up, and the ice agent joked around him to cheer up the mood.

"Yo. I heard you got owned by that dark mage girl."

"Fuck it. Beryl," he cursed. Then he looked toward the fire agent. "What happened? Agathe?"

"Agathe is sleeping right now. Sorry. But you were so far away, and with the jammer, I didn't know you were in trouble."

"I am awake. Good! You are still alive. Sorry about your eyes and face. The eye was not my fault, though." He joked around as he rose from his sleeping position beside the bed, but his eyes spoke differently.

"Damn bitch."

"Agathe, Samuel lost?"

"Yup, when I heard the commotion in the forest on my patrol, he was lying on the ground and was about to be stabbed by her. I cast fireballs into her without care. He was this close to getting his heart stabbed." Agathe was motioning his fingers to describe how close was Samuel to the dagger of the dark mage girl.

"Ugh. Our reputation is going to take a hit again." Beryl, the ice agent, groaned. "Samuel, was she that strong?"

"I got surprised by her gun! That's all."

"It is not good to lie, Samuel," the calm and cool fire agent narrated. "Yes, Beryl. She is very strong despite her very youthful face. At least, she has much greater mana than me. I went into a magic duel with her, and she beat me."

"Huh, you lost? To a dark mage? Dark magic was the second weakest element, right? Does that mean she beat you after she beat Samuel? A level 8 wind mage? Then, after that, she beat you? A level 6 fire mage? She must be at least level 7 or maybe level 8. wow, how did those reapers recruit her? Let alone level 8, I barely met 5 people level 7 in my whole life."

"She had much greater mana and control than me, at the very least. Moreover, she fled immediately when I signaled a firework in the sky. She is going to live long, and she grew so fast. If she sided with Althemer, we might lose this war," the fire agent commented.

"She must have come for the jammer! I am going to get her next time. Let's go," Samuel, the wind agent, groaned as he lifted himself from the bed. The burns on half of his body were severe, and with only one eye, his steps were shaking.

"Oi. You are still injured," the ice agent said. "Chill out."

"No. She might try again. I have to catch her now, or our team's reputation will drop. You guys have sisters, nephews, and nieces to feed, right? I am a wind mage. Finding the spy is my job. My only job! You guys will not be able to find her in the dark."

"Well. It is true that we will need his magic to find her," the red agent said. "But don't do anything else, okay. We care about you. You are wounded and need time to heal. Even the best doctors have limits on healing."

"Yes. I understand. I will leave it to you to engage her." The wind agent relented.

"Alright. We will set your detection trap in the afternoon. I will bring out the wheelchairs," Beryl, the ice agent, said.

"I don't need a wheelchair! Thanks for the fruit, and wake me up at 3!" he ordered his teammates with irritation. His head was spinning, and he felt his worth decreased with this loss. He didn't want them to abandon him; that's why he had to do his job. He had to find her at all cost.