Chapter 225 – The Duchess Assassin vs The Fire Assassin

  Chloe Evenhart:

  I ran with every ounce of strength I had left, my heart pounding in my chest with worry. I used my trol over the water element to dash across the surface without freezing it, creating whirlpools with each step. Ice spheres formed in my hands and were unched into the water, sinking and vanishing into the darkness as I prepared my move.

  The port!

  The ship had beeroyed he port of the underground city beh the grand city of Evenhart.

  I o reach the port! I have to lure him away from where Kinue is.

  "You're dead!" Quinn's voied behind me, seething with hatred. An explosion of water echoed, and I felt the shockwave as he surged forward, using the wind to propel himself like a force of the river itself.

  Fming arrows tore through the air, grazing close enough for their heat to sear my skin. I dodged eae, my movements fueled by instind desperation, but the relentless pressure of his attacks was undeniable. He was closing in fast.

  "Once I kill you, I'll go after Nathan Evenhart's mother!" he shouted.

  A bitter, sarcastic ugh escaped me. "You? Against my aunt? You wouldn't st two seds." Despite the adrenaline c through me, my mind worked overtime, searg for any weakness in his assault.

  "Wind Art: Great Tornado!"

  Quinn invoked, and a monstrous tornado began to form behihe surrounding water ulled into its growing force, creating a vortex that threateo e everything in its path.

  "White Explosion!" I shouted. The ice spheres I had unched earlier activated, triggering a of simultaneous explosions. Snow from the bsts was sucked into the tornado, overwhelming it and dissipating its for a blinding dispy that made the air shimmer with energy.

  Taking advantage of the distra, I increased my speed. Wind propelled my feet, carrying me like an arrow shot toward the port.

  Quinn was relentless, bining fire and wind in his attacks, turning the water around us into vapor and chaos. His spells erupted with dazzling fshes, casting flickering shadows across the damp tunnel walls.

  For a brief moment, our eyes locked. I saw urained fury and a burning thirst for vengean his gaze. This wasn’t just a battle of magid strength; it ersonal. And I khere was no room for mistakes.

  The faint light of the port came into view. My body screamed with exhaustion, but my resolve was stronger. I couldn’t fail. Not now.

  I jured a sword of ice, and our ons cshed in a fierce duel.

  "I think I'll bring your head as a gift for Nathan Evenhart!" he sneered, sshing at me with his knives.

  "Don’t you dare speak his name, you scum!" I screamed, nding a kick empowered by a burst of water, sending him flying backward.

  Without hesitation, I cast another spell. "Ice Art: Cemetery of Skeletons."

  A biting cold surged around us, rapidly freezing the water. From the frozen surface, figures began to emerge—water skeletons solidifying into crystalline is. Dozens rose arouheir edges gleaming like diamonds in the dim light.

  At my and, the skeletons advaoward Quinn, their movements unnervingly swift for their frozen forms. Taking advantage of the distra, I unched myself into the air, using one of the skeletons as a stepping stone. With a powerful leap, I gained altitude and prepared for my attack.

  Quinn, notig my movements, shouted, "Great Fire Breath!" A torrent of fmes erupted from his mouth, iing the skeletons and creating a suffog wave of heat.

  "Great Snow Breath!" I tered, releasing a freezing bst that collided with Quinn’s fire. The csh of our spells triggered a massive explosion of steam, shrouding the battlefield in a dense fog, obsg everything around us.

  "Sea Serpent!" I iaking advantage of the cover provided by the mist. A massive serpent made of water rose from the frozehs, slithering silently toward Quinn. Simultaneously, I ahe remaining skeletons to press their advance, relentless like an unstoppable tide.

  Quinn fought viciously, using fire spells to shatter the ice skeletons, but eae was a trap. Hidden within their icy ribcages were snow bombs, which detonated as they were destroyed, unleashing freezing bursts that shook the battlefield. Explosions of water and snow scattered shards of ice everywhere, making the terrain even more treacherous.

  Despite the chaos, Quinn endured. He raised a wind barrier, defleg attacks and dispersing parts of the icy mist that covered the area. Even so, I could see him faltering—his breaths heavier, his movements more deliberate. The water serpent seized the moment, ung swift strikes from different angles, f him to stay on the defensive.

  Using bursts of water from beh my feet, I propelled myself upward, breaking free from the mist. From above, I watched Quinn moving across the frozen surface, dodgiless attacks while juring fire and wind spells to elimihe ice skeletons still emerging. His skill was evident, but the mounting pressure was taking its toll.

  "Ice Ray!" I csped my hands together, fog my energy. A white beam shot from my fingers, freezing everything in its path as the air crackled with intense cold. Quinn dodged the attack, juring a wall of fire and wind that ralized part of the ray before it could reach him.

  As I desded, I shouted, "Impulse!" Jets of water and wied beh me, propelli high speed toward the port. My nding was far from graceful—I tumbled across the ground, each roll jarring my already battered body. Pain radiated from my left side, but there was no time to wallow.

  I pushed myself to my feet, my gaze log onto the guards rushing toward me, armed by the anating from the ship.

  "You! Mage terrorist!" one of them shouted, sword drawn.

  "Shut up!" I snapped, steadying myself. "Who's in charge here?" My voice was sharp and anding.

  The guards exged fused gnces until I spoke the words that only those familiar with the code would uand:

  "The bck raven emerges at the fall of night from the silent fortress."

  Their eyes widened in reition.

  "The ducal authority code… She’s a trusted member of the duchess's royal guard!" one of the soldiers murmured, immediately stepping back.

  "I’m you to evacuate the area now! Get all civilians out of here immediately!" I barked, leaving no room for hesitation. Before they could respond, I snatched the sword from one of them. "This on will be more useful with me right now."

  Turning back to face Quinn, I saw him advang with unwavering fury, his eyes bzing with determination. He was relentless, his very presehiing the air around him with an oppressive iy.

  I gnced over my shoulder at the guards, who were momentarily frozen with uainty.

  "Go now!" I shouted again, my voice eg across the port. Finally, the soldiers began to move, anizing the evacuation of civilians while I braced myself for the csh.

  At least they have some sense—prioritizing the civilians, I thought, tightening my grip on the sword as I prepared for the iable frontation.

  Quinn was closing in now, his determinatioched into every movement. My body screamed for rest, but my mind khis wasn’t the end—not until he was stopped.

  I prepared the spell in my hand.

  "Swarm of Blue Eagles!" I shouted, and a massive orb of water split into dozens of ethereal blue eagles, h in the air and awaiting my and.

  I charged toward Quinermio end this battle ond for all.

  He didn’t hesitate. "Fire Ray!" he roared, sending a bzing beam of fire straight at me. I sidestepped, creating a cye in my hand that sliced through the fiery attack as I pushed forward. The cye dissipated his spell, giving me a clear path to close the distance.

  Quinn drew a massive sword from his ste bracelet, a smug grin spreading across his face. "This is a Cymore, known as the ‘Mage Syer!’" he decred with perverse delight, swinging the on toward me with deadly force.

  "I thought you’d stick to your sister’s toys," I taunted, dodging his strikes.

  The sword smmed into the ground with devastating impact, sending debris flying in every dire.

  He belongs to the Transmitter category, and possibly the Emitter category, or he’s an exceptionally advaransmitter capable of projeg mana outside his body.

  I focused on analyzing his fighting style. The bination of his cymore and wind manipution made him a formidable oppo. I dashed toward him, wielding my sword, and as he attempted to strike, I spun mid-air using wind magic, staying just out of reach. I fihe maneuver with a kick, but he blocked it with a barrier of wind.

  "You little pest!" he snarled, frustrated.

  I bsted a jet of water from beh my feet, propelling myself into the air, and immediately followed up with a burst of wind to unch myself directly at him."Ice Fist!" I invoked, summoning a massive fist of ice that collided with his cymore, throwing him off bance. Seizing the opening, I hurled my sword at him, propelling it with wind magic like a onball. The bde sshed across his flesh, but before he could recover, I reeled it bae using a of ice tethered to the hilt.

  Quinn wiped the blood from his neck, ughing. "You Evenharts... there’s nothing normal about your family. Now I see. You’re not just wealthy farmers. That expins why my sister lost."

  He kept ughing, but his eyes burned with insanity. "You’ve got impressive bat instincts for someone so young. A mere military student would’ve died fag me, especially with injuries like yours."

  He paced bad forth, me carefully, clearly waiting for the perfeent to strike.

  "This level of training... ign the pain wrag your body... Your arm is a mess, a your first thought wasn’t to flee when you reached the port. Who are you, really?"

  I took a deep breath, log eyes with him. "My family has broken my bones and y fingers... It’ll take more than this to make me afraid."

  There wasn’t a flicker of doubt in my voice.

  "ation..." he muttered, his gaze narrowing. "You’re one of them, aren’t you? A Shadow Child."

  "I am," I firmed.

  He ughed maniacally, pointing his sword at me. "That expins everything. A damn human on fed in darkness, infiltrating the nobility... That’s why my sister died. She would’ve beeer prepared if she’d known. Nikous Wolves gave me bad intel—he didn’t even know what you were."

  Nikous Wolves... Nathan was right about the tractor.

  "But none of that matters now," Quinn said, his voice brimming with fatal resolve. "I just o kill you, even if it costs me my life. I don’t care if I make it out alive. I’ll kill you, even if it means dying in the process!"

  With those words, he unleashed a barrage of fireballs, charging at me with reckless abandon.

  My response was unwavering. "Know this—I only firmed it because I have no iion of letting you leave here alive. We’re both fighting to the death!"