The Legendary Phantom Thief
Time Attack Ended
The screech of clashing steel rang out—clang! Sparks exploded as the dual daggers that had been locked in a stalemate were yanked back. Cali, the Worst executive, retreated a step and stared at the woman standing before her, who held an identical pair of short blades.
Who the hell is this woman?
Just from that single exchange of blades, Cali could tell her opponent was on another level. At the very least, the woman stood a cut above her. And considering she still couldn’t fully gauge the stranger’s strength, she might need to revise that assessment even higher.
So where had someone this skilled suddenly come from?
The question brought back the words the woman had spoken moments ago.
“Wow, dual daggers? That’s pretty rare. Did you get inspired after seeing this lady Asili in action?”
She had called herself Asili. The name carried weight in both the underworld and the surface world. Narrowing her eyes, Cali asked with a hint of disbelief, “Are you really that Asili Martini?”
“Bingo! I’m the one and only Asili Martini. Didn’t I just say that?”
With a graceful flick of her wrists, Asili spun her twin daggers across the backs of her hands in an almost artistic display, confirming her identity with a playful smile. Cali swallowed the irritation rising in her throat and readjusted her grip on her weapons.
…This is bad.
It was an absolute worst-case scenario. She never imagined Asili would show up here, of all places. Why someone like her would be at this exact location was a mystery, but there was no point complaining about what had already happened.
It’s not impossible to win, but…
Cali had herself and the ten remaining assassins. If they coordinated properly, they might stand a chance even against Asili. But then her gaze shifted to the girl behind Asili—the one who had just steadied herself and raised her sword.
That little brat… from what I saw earlier, she’s stronger than her age suggests.
If Cali’s judgment was correct, killing that girl would require at least five of the assassins working together. That would leave only herself and the remaining five to handle Asili. Would that be enough?
…No. It’s hopeless.
In the span of a few seconds, Cali reached her conclusion. Fighting Asili here would end in total annihilation. So what was the best move available to her right now?
“Everyone scatter! Run from them however you can!!”
“““Understood!!!”””
The moment the order left her lips, every assassin pulled smoke bombs from their pockets and detonated them. Ten canisters burst at once, swallowing the entire area in thick white smoke. Cali and her assassins immediately silenced their footsteps and began retreating at full speed.
Unfortunately, there was one crucial detail they had overlooked.
“…It’s all perfectly visible to me, you know.”
“Kh—?!”
They had no idea that smoke bombs were useless against the girl who could read the flow of mana within bodies.
Shhhk—!
The girl’s sword shot forward in an instant, aimed straight at Cali’s shoulder. Acting on pure instinct, Cali ducked beneath the strike and shouted, no longer bothering to hide her footsteps.
“What the—how?!”
“My eyes are just a little special, that’s all.”
The girl’s answer sounded like a casual joke from Cali’s perspective. She immediately distanced herself again. Soon after, multiple screams began to echo through the smoke-filled air, each one cutting off abruptly.
“Gaaahhh!!”
“My—my leg…!”
“Where are you?! Kugh—!!”
The assassins were being slaughtered one-sidedly. The sounds made it clear the girl’s claim about seeing everything wasn’t a bluff. Cali clicked her tongue and gathered her mana. The smoke bombs meant to blind their enemies had only blinded themselves—a self-imposed restriction.
“Damn it…!”
Cali coated her dual daggers with aura blades and swung them wildly in every direction. Whoooosh—! The resulting gust of wind rapidly dispersed the smoke. When it finally cleared, Asili still stood exactly where she had been. The girl gripped her blood-stained sword with a faintly trembling hand. And scattered across the ground were the assassins, twitching and groaning.
“Whew… I thought it earlier, but you really are a genius, huh? I figured only Master could pull off something like that…”
“Um… thank you for helping, but… who are you?”
“Huh? I just told you. I’m Asili Martini.”
“…And who is that?”
“What? Are you serious? You don’t know the legendary phantom thief Asili?”
Thinking they had already won, the two casually chatted back and forth. Watching them, Cali ground her teeth together. Crack. Yet even as they stood there exchanging banter right in front of her, there was nothing she could do about it. The bitter taste of defeat—something she hadn’t felt in a long time—made her bite her lip and let out a frustrated groan.
“Ugh…”
If not for Asili, everything would have gone according to plan. The grand scheme that had proceeded without a single hitch for the past several years was now twisted because of her. The thought made Cali’s fists clench on their own. She needed to survive this, no matter what. Part of her wanted to turn and flee right then, but she knew better.
Even while chatting so casually, Asili’s attention remained fixed on her like a blade pressed to her throat. And though not as sharp, the girl was also keeping a constant eye on her. If she tried to run now, she would end up crawling on the ground just like the fallen assassins.
That left her with only one option.
…Do I really have to use it?
Several years ago, the Demon Regeneration Factor had been injected exclusively into Worst’s executives. The earlier version had only granted about half the regenerative power of a true demon, but it had recently been perfected. And the leader of Worst, Chain, had given them one more substance along with it.
The Demon Berserk Factor.
It was a method the long-lived demons used when their undying flame of life began to flicker—burning their own lifespan as fuel to draw out explosive power. It was a secret technique only a handful of powerful demons had used during the Human-Demon War.
When Chain had administered the berserk factor, he had given them one clear warning.
“Use this only when your life is truly in danger while carrying out the grand scheme. Once you activate it, you will die in ten minutes.”
“Ah, so basically, if we’re gonna die anyway, we might as well go out with a bang, right, Boss?”
“Well… you could use it that way. But there is one way for you to survive even after using it.”
“Huh? We can survive? What is it?”
“Within ten minutes of using the berserk factor, consume the corpse of a powerful human. If it’s the body of someone strong enough to threaten your life, it should be able to replace the life force you’ve already burned.”
Chain’s explanation from back then flashed through Cali’s mind. Suppressing the nausea rising in her throat, she slowly began to awaken the second factor inside her body.
“Eating a human is disgusting no matter how you look at it, but…”
“Hm? What’s this? You still want to fight? You should be able to read the room by now. Wouldn’t it be smarter to just stay down?”
Asili said something, but the words didn’t register in Cali’s ears. Thump. Thump. Thump. A sensation like molten lava surged from her heart. Her entire body grew scorching hot, making her truly understand what it meant to burn one’s own life force.
When that burning sensation filled every corner of her being, Cali slowly rose to her feet.
“Ten minutes. I’ll settle this within that time.”
“…Sigh. You’ve done something dangerous, haven’t you?”
Power flooded through her. The strength drawn forth by mortgaging her life. Feeling the sheer magnitude of it, Cali became certain—she could now match Asili, or perhaps even surpass her.
Crack—! The ground caved in beneath her feet as she pushed off. In the next instant, her body blurred through the air, shooting toward Asili like a bullet.
Kwaaaaaang—!!!
“Damn it…! What the hell did you do to suddenly get this strong?!”
“I bet my life on it. From now on, you’d better be ready to die.”
True to her reputation as one of the continent’s top powerhouses, Asili reacted to Cali’s explosive speed and blocked the incoming dual daggers. Clang-clang-clang—!! Aura blades collided with aura blades, sending violent sparks flying. The moment their weapons separated after the power struggle, a barrage of strikes began—one so fierce the nearby girl couldn’t even follow it.
Kagagagagang—!!!!!
Unlike swords that focused on cutting and piercing vital points with each strike, the dual daggers specialized in digging into weak points and tearing them apart. The two pairs of blades moved at speeds beyond what a sword could match, exchanging hundreds of blows in an instant and filling the air with blooming flowers of aura flame.
The exchange created a wall of combat so intense that the girl, despite wanting to help, couldn’t find a single opening. And within that storm of blades, the one being pushed back was Asili as she blocked Cali’s onslaught.
“Ugh, seriously…! If I knew it was going to be this annoying, I never would’ve gotten involved…!”
As time passed, more and more wounds appeared across Asili’s body. She was blocking nearly every attack, but the enhanced quality of Cali’s aura blades—boosted by the berserk factor—still managed to slip through and leave cuts. Even so, Cali couldn’t help but feel impressed that Asili was managing to defend against everything despite the overwhelming pressure.
However, if the wounds kept accumulating like this, it was obvious who would win even though less than a minute had passed.
But then… why does she still look so relaxed?
Despite the growing number of injuries, Asili continued to speak with a casual tone. Cali felt a flicker of doubt. Could she really not feel the threat to her life? Couldn’t she see that she would soon be the one to die?
It was a perfectly reasonable question. And the answer came not from Asili, but from the powerful presence rapidly approaching from afar.
“Elia!!!”
A man was sprinting toward them with everything he had, desperately shouting his daughter’s name.