Assassins in the Dark
The outskirts of Jerusalem, shrouded in darkness, were being carefully traversed by a group of people. They had finally reached their target and began their final preparations. “Is this the place?” “Yes, no doubt about it.” “Good. Then let’s move.”
The building they had arrived at was a rather grand annex. Completely concealing their identities with black masks, they slipped inside as quietly as possible. Given that the annex was, in truth, little more than a luxurious prison, a considerable number of guards still patrolled its halls. Several among them were high-ranking demons whose strength was not to be underestimated. A direct confrontation would be reckless.
After narrowly avoiding detection several times by melting into the shadows, the intruders finally reached their ultimate destination. They drew out the bottles they had brought with them. And then—
BOOM!!!!
“What… what was that?” “Something exploded. Could it be enemies?”
The sudden explosion sent the guards inside the annex rushing toward the source of the noise. “Damn it! It’s the warehouse! There’s a fire over there!” “Did someone store something wrong? Why would a perfectly fine warehouse suddenly—” “This isn’t the time to argue! Put out the fire first!”
The unexpected blaze drew away a large portion of the guards. From the darkness, the intruders watched with satisfaction—this was the perfect opening they had been waiting for. “All right, let’s go. We can’t leave any evidence, so finish it quickly. No need to drag it out.” “Yes!” “Understood.”
Following their leader’s command, the black-clad assassins moved swiftly. Unlike their earlier cautious approach, they now cut down every demon in their path without hesitation. “Kuhk!” “Ghk!” “Wh-what are these people?” “E-enemies! Enemies have infiltrated the annex—aaagh!”
Having slaughtered the remaining guards, the assassins reached their target. Before them stood the corpses of the demons who had tried to protect the door, along with the magically sealed entrance itself—impervious to ordinary physical attacks. The leader stepped forward. Then—
BOOM!!!
The door exploded with a deafening roar. In the next moment, the assassins laid eyes on their objective: Octavia, daughter of Pope Julius of the Elf Theocracy.
“!! Wh-who are you people?”
Octavia rose to her feet, startled. But contrary to the assassins’ expectations, two other women were present in the room with her. One was a Dark Elf—an existence the elves despised above all else. The other was a small demon girl with silver-white hair who looked quite young. The bloodstained assassins noted that their targets wore only light casual clothes and carried no weapons. They decided the two were irrelevant and focused on the urgent task at hand.
“End it.” “Yes.”
At their leader’s order, the assassins advanced toward Octavia, weapons raised. At that moment, the Dark Elf and the young demon girl stepped in front of her to block their path. “What do you think you’re doing?” “Are these the friends that brat made? Don’t do anything foolish. Move aside.”
Despite the warning, the two women stood firm. The assassin leader issued a cold command. “We don’t have time to hesitate. Kill all three of them right now.” “Y-yes! Understood!”
The assassins gripped their weapons. Yet the women remained completely still, merely watching the approaching killers in silence. Then—
“Kuh-heoook!!!” “!!” “Wh-what was that?”
A sudden scream erupted from behind. The assassins turned in shock to see one of their comrades impaled through the heart by a black shadow, blood pouring from the wound. “Kuh… heo…” “What… is that?” “A… shadow?”
The young demon girl spoke in a cold voice. “My, my… uninvited guests showing up this late without even announcing themselves. You’re surprisingly popular, Octavia.” “Huh? Ah… well…”
Even in this situation, the girl maintained her composure. The assassins began to feel that something had gone terribly wrong. Then she continued, “Well then, shall we leave one or two alive for interrogation and execute the rest?”
With those words, the girl’s shadow began to ripple. At the same time, the assassins noticed the shadows beneath their feet writhing violently. “Kgh!” “Kuh-heok!” “Wh-what is this?! What the hell—kuh-heoook!!!”
Screaming in agony, the assassins were impaled by their own shadows. More than half of them were reduced to lifeless corpses, staining the room with blood. The assassin leader clicked his tongue. “Tch… I didn’t expect such a troublesome opponent to be waiting here.” “Oh?”
The leader spoke in a frigid tone while effortlessly deflecting the demon girl’s shadow with holy power. Gripping his sword, he glared at her. “You’re quite skilled, but such petty tricks won’t work on me. It’s a waste of talent, but I’ll kill you here and now for daring to interfere with our work, you little brat.”
The word “brat” made the young demon girl’s expression twist with fury. She stepped forward slowly and addressed the Dark Elf behind her. “Protect Octavia. I’ll deal with this one myself.” “U-understood.”
Releasing an overwhelming killing intent, the silver-haired demon girl drew a dagger from her robes. The assassin leader—Antonius, one of the Elf Theocracy’s strongest Holy Knights—felt an instinctive chill as he sensed the abnormal presence before him. ‘She’s clearly strong… but she’s still just a child. I don’t have time. I’ll finish this in one blow!’
The assassins who had dared to infiltrate the Demon Kingdom’s capital, Jerusalem, were clearly targeting Octavia. Elisa quickly grasped the situation. ‘Nine times out of ten, these are elves—ones who absolutely loathe associating with us demons.’
Their goal was likely to assassinate Octavia, thereby destroying the treaty between the Demon Kingdom and the elves for their own gain. Yet one question lingered in Elisa’s mind. ‘But why go this far? No matter how much they hate us, attacking us now would be a terrible decision on multiple fronts.’
The Elf Theocracy was barely holding off the Empire’s offensive. In such circumstances, allying with the Demon Kingdom—even at great cost—would have been the rational choice. Moreover, the Demon Kingdom had already completed its analysis of the black flames that had once threatened the elves. Provoking the demons at this critical juncture would only bring greater disaster. It was a reckless plan driven by pride alone, one that carried far too many risks.
‘In the worst case, they must know the World Tree could be destroyed by our hands… It’s almost as if someone deliberately wanted things to turn out this way…’
Having considered everything she could, Elisa reached a conclusion: for now, she would crush the opponent before her and see what information came out. ‘Anyone capable of neutralizing my shadows is at least above average. And with that level of holy power… this won’t be an easy fight.’
Judging her opponent to be roughly on par with herself—perhaps even holding a slight advantage due to the holy power’s compatibility—Elisa gathered her mana and began wrapping the surroundings in black shadows. ‘In a way, this is convenient. I’ve been wanting to test my new technique. I might as well go all out.’