Kingdom and Harem

Brita and Reina looked like they were just strolling but they were actually tailing a group of suspicious men. The four men were following the girl sneakily since the gathering. 

From the city centre to road between the shophouses, then to the gate, which was supposed to be guarded. 

Surprisingly the security wasn’t all that great. The gate separating the shopping district and the outskirt was desolate. Put it another way, that meant people could pass through anytime as opposed to the upper class residential district. 

The girls looked from the opened gate. Beyond here was path between trees. The men were sneaking behind trees as they follow the girl.

Three of the man looked like usual thugs, which could be commonly found at the backstreet. Lust was all over their face.

The last man, was walking several meters away from the thugs, obviously half-hearted about what happened. Contrary to the lax looking thugs, the man had well built body and was equipped with a sword. As he walked slowly, the distance between him and the three horny thugs was becoming further.

Reina had a hunch. She would stop the indifferent warrior while Brita chased after the sloppy thugs. That's the plan.

It was already dark by the time the warrior and Reina were halfway to the poor residential district. Bonfires were lit, their light reflecting on the trees.

Reina silently overtook the man while running behind trees and had been waiting for a while before he arrived. Six torches were lit around the area, not enough to light up the whole place. 

In the middle of the path stood a huge figure, wearing only the minimum protective gear. A sword, which was half of  Reina’s height stuck to his back.

He was clearly on a whole different level than the three horny thugs. To make things worse, he was ready for Reina.

The man didn’t notice her standing near him. Yet Reina desperately searched for the shadows to hide herself. From there, she crept closer and closer until she was within the five-meter range where he could see his face.

"Who the hell are you?"

He knew Reina was here.

"Where are you? Show yourself! "

He glared at his surroundings. His bored eyes turned fierce in an instant, completely wary of everything. Reina felt a chill go down her spine.

The man didn’t stop from eyeing his surroundings. While he noticed Reina’s presence with his Instinct, he didn’t know exactly where she was.

"No answer, huh? Then can you at least tell me what you’re after? If you don’t, I’ll have to cut you down."

He didn’t use the more direct term “kill”, which sent a chill down to Reina’s bones. She had never experienced a matter of life and death quite like this. She had to make herself believe that the man didn’t know her exact location or she wouldn’t even be able to move at all. 

Was there a point in attacking the man?

That question had been clawing at the corner of her mind ever since she stepped foot to interrupt him. 

But if she didn't stall him long enough, he would reach Brita and the girl. Brita could easily escape him, but the girl was different.

The answer was clear. She had to stall him as long as possible.

It’s strange.

The old her – the one back before meeting Adine – wouldn’t take a risk like this. She stayed away from violence as much as possible.

Reina gripped the pebbles from her pockets tightly. She was slightly the man, about 5 meters away and at an angle. A complete blindspot.

Mustering every ounce of her strength, she threw the pebble straight at the back of his head, which was exposed without any sort of protection. 

In the blink of an eye, his body rotated. With his sword, he smashed the pebble to pieces.

It was so shocking that she accidentally let out a shriek. 

"There you are!" His eyes were fixed towards her direction.

He brandished his sword slowly, exposing the jet-black blade, its width uniform from base to tip.

He caught a glimpse of an orange hair behind a tree. He brought the sword down with a flash, cutting the tree but the silhouette was gone when he reached there.

She had the ability to walk vertically on trees, thus she could jump from tree to tree with ease. 

He knew the general direction where the attack came from, but he didn’t know the exact location of his foe. As proof, the man was looking around restlessly, searching for her.

One of his talent even before meeting Adine was throwing and stealing. One of the advantages of throwing was she could attack her target while hiding.

"Are you attacking me, knowing I am Vincent, the head of government's fifth division?"

She stayed silent for minutes as she merely wanted to delay him.

When he approached the tree she was on, she held her breath until he walked to another tree. 

Quietly, she got down from the tree to the ground and tried desperately to stop her legs from shaking. 

She activated her 'Invisibility'.

For a moment, it looked like Lawrence felt something. But what it was, he had no idea. Perhaps he was busy thinking that maybe his opponent was already gone, because for a second, he let his guard down. Sharp pain ran through his neck.

In an instant, he was overwhelmed by the smell of blood. Vincent didn’t know it was his own blood at first.

Blood spewed out from his jugular. The neck. A defenseless part of the body with no muscles. But slicing the spot just right down one’s face was not something that could be done easily. That goes double for someone as strong as Vincent. And yet, his neck was slashed, no doubt, although he had no idea how.

With a grunt, he swung his sword. Its power was a lot weaker than the one earlier, but it was enough to cut a man in half. He didn't see anyone but he felt that he would cut something if he just swing the sword.

Reina quickly leapt back with enormous force. It was a jump that was decided by instinct even before the attack , allowing her to evade the tip of Vincent’s sword.

He probably didn’t expect to be attacked from the front. Reina cut his artery, then in the cover of the gushing blood, moved quickly behind him.

The slash hit a tree and she accidentally shrieked and cease her invisibility.

"There you are !"

Vincent charged straight at her.

He swung his sword downward. Reina frantically tried to escape. 

"Invisible? I never see such skill before." He muttered.

She took a coin from her pocket and threw it at him. 

A moment ⁠— a split-second ⁠— was all she needed. Having lost sight of Reina momentarily, the man couldn’t perceive her any longer, even though she was still standing on the same spot.

His face was growing pale, the blood still flowing from the cut on his neck. With that much blood loss, a normal human being would’ve fainted a while ago, or even died.

She stepped on fallen leaves and that made a sound. Vincent slashed upwards until it hit a tree branch. A branch had fallen.

She rolled to behind him but that made a sound. He made another swung towards that sound.

The gap between their skill was like sky and ground that she couldn't dodge it. 

She activated her 'Intangibility' and the swing passed through her. She drew a dagger and stabbed his rib. The injury was grave but his body was very strong that he could still made another swing.

She used her invisibility to pass through that and stabbed his throat. He hugged her but she didn't make it in time to activate 'Intangibility'. 

Reina's body was swallowed in an embrace, and she was now pressed against him.

She used all her strength to struggle free, but she was held immobile, as though by sturdy chains.

Vincent certainly was far stronger than her but he had three grave wound that should make him a lot weaker.

She could not get free.

Once she realized that the mighty arm which held her — in other words, his physical strength — was not the result of his armor’s enchantment, Reina froze. What she saw in her mind was a butterfly trapped in a spider’s web, with no way out.

Reina was still struggling for dear life, but even her full strength could not compare to the power in just a single arm of his. All she could do was squirm helplessly within his embrace, unable to move.

She felt herself being drawn nearer to the man, closer than even lovers were.

After that, she heard a strange creaking sound.

Reina understood what the Vincent was doing as a chill ran down her spine, as though she had been impaled by an icicle. 

She desperately flailed at him.

No matter how hard she struggled, she could not break free of the arm binding her. Even so, Reina kept squirming, betting everything for a slim chance at hope even as it became difficult to breathe and her vision began blacking out.

As she was about to give up, his strength was finally leaving and his hands lost power.

He collapsed and died.