The Envoy of Darkness

Chapter 27 - Duchess Walker Part 2

Blood gushed out like water from a fountain. Sounds of gurgling were all the man managed as he grasped his neck in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding. His sabre fell and his lifeless body followed soon after.

With a bayonet like dagger in each hand, the woman responsible stood staring at the assassins, indifferent and without remorse. Her cold expression and the contours of her face combined with her lithe figure exuded great charm. Her long black hair and clear blue eyes only added to her beauty.

There was no mourning for the Crusader. To the hitmen, their comrade's death signified the strength of their newest opponent. A single glance was all it took. They knew they were outmatched against this picturesque beauty before them; their mission now doomed to failure.

Gaze shifting, the woman looked at Max, her indifference immediately replaced by a surge of indescribable warmth. While appearing to have taken a single step forward, she instantly covered a distance of tens of meters to arrive by Max's side, her eyes flickering with tears as she smiled and gently caressed his face.

A sudden sense of security gripped Max's heart, giving him a moment of clarity. His eyes widened in surprise as he was jolted awake. His mouth repeatedly opened and closed, unable to voice his words. That expression. That gentle smile. He could recognize it all too well. That face that belonged to his mother.

A day hadn't gone by when he didn't yearn to see her again.

Since the time of his birth, Max's mother had remained hospitalized, the continued tests and examinations failing to explain her deteriorating health. Eventually, complications during Max's birth were decided as the reasons behind her condition. The prevalent hypothesis was never confirmed, but the doctors continued to work in an attempt to ease her pain and postpone the inevitable

The constant smile on his mother's face and the false hope given by the sympathetic only brought Max greater grief on the seemingly unanticipated day. On that fateful night, for the first time, sorrow flooded that sickly pale face. The last of her breaths were spent concerned about Max's well being and reminiscing about her time with his father, her grief engraving itself in Max's heart. Lacking an outlet for his anger, the little child from back had directed the rage towards his father - blaming the missing man for the misfortune dealt to them.

'This can't be her.' He thought, trying to focus on the woman. Minute as they were, there were still differences between the woman before him and the one he knew as his mother. This dissimilitude helped barely keep his feelings in check.

Not missing out on this once in a lifetime opportunity, the leader silently began to recite another spell, the woman's distraction becoming the perfect opportunity. Meanwhile, bearing similar thoughts, the only hidden assassin jumped from a tree, knife in hand.

The woman didn't seem to care. Her attention on Max, she felt her fury grow as he continued to assess the extent of his injuries.

Panic set in as Max noticed the attempt to skewer them both, his attempt to warn his benefactor cut off, however, by a silent arrow. It quietly lodged itself in the man's head, leaving him dead and free-falling.

"Damn it! Where is the archer?!" The mage frowned, ready with a diversion spell. It was time to cut losses and withdraw.

Coldly watching the group, a woman stood at a distance, painting an odd picture. Adorned in a maid's outfit, she hid from plain sight, the bow in her arms stretched taut, ready to fire at a moment's notice. Apparent signs of a spell's activation triggered her movement. Arrows shot forth with speeds surpassing bullets. Cutting through the air, they went on to tear through their target.

Head separated from body as the mage felt his consciousness fade. An instant and painless death – the maid's version of mercy for the assassins.

Though now dead, the mage was still a Master. His spell actuated, its might released. The ground beneath Max and the woman crumbled and vanished. Sensing the changes, the woman frowned and hurriedly lifted Max. She seemed to teleport, covering tens of meters before gently placing Max against a tree trunk.