Chapter 193: The Destroyed Tavern!
Since the enemy had already been monitoring their 'Hostess Of Fertility' tavern, a place teeming with powerful individuals, they wouldn't dare attack recklessly, at least not directly assault the tavern.
At this moment, Ryuu was cursing herself for making such a judgment in her heart.
'They should only be targeting me... But I've dragged Anya and the others into this mess.'
It was a potion that had almost stripped Ryuu of her consciousness, and the tavern staff must all be unconscious now.
Worried that her enemy would take hostages, the elf girl decided to act immediately.
Quietly approaching the door and placing her hand on the handle, Ryuu sensed something.
'There's someone outside!'
She had detected a shadowy figure lurking in the darkness, already standing just outside the door in the hallway.
Ryuu held her breath and turned the handle.
Creak——!
With the sound of the door opening, Ryuu slammed it open and rushed into the hallway.
"…?"
The outside was silent, and there was no trace of any suspicious figure.
The only light source in the dimly lit wooden hallway was the faint starlight from the window.
It was eerily quiet.
'No one?'
Just as Ryuu was puzzled, a shadow descended from the ceiling.
A pair of green cat eyes flashed in the darkness, a sharp blade in their hand gleaming menacingly.
Releasing the wooden board she had been holding tightly with her left hand, the shadow kicked off the ceiling with both feet, launching a surprise attack from above.
Whoosh——!
Clang——!
Bang——!
However, the attacker had clearly underestimated Ryuu's strength.
Even under the influence of the Sleeping Incense, causing her condition to deteriorate, even while her condition was far from the best and facing a surprise attack from outside her line of sight.
Ryuu effortlessly parried the attacker's weapon and then swung back, kicking her away with a single kick.
"Ugh..."
Chloe, who had crashed into the distant wall, clutched her stomach while feeling the intense pain and weakness spreading throughout her body.
With a mixture of disbelief and understanding, she murmured,
"You really are Lv5."
"I vaguely felt something was wrong during my observations these past few days."
"So, I made some extra preparations just in case, and it seems they weren't wasted."
"But this also means that this assassination attempt is definitely going to fail..."
"The feeling of our clash just now... You are a Lv4, right?"
Ryuu looked at the cat-eared assassin.
"Just surrender. Even if I'm under the influence of sleeping incense, you won't be able to defeat me."
However, as soon as those words left her mouth, Ryuu suddenly felt a wave of weakness wash over her body as she tried to move.
"This is... I see... It's not just the sleeping incense, I've also been poisoned..."
Meanwhile, a chant echoed from the cat-eared assassin's mouth.
"Play around!"
The moment the chant ended, Chloe split into two.
Sleeping incense, poison, and illusion.
"'Black Cat'... "
After understanding the three characteristics of her opponent, Ryuu almost figured out the assassin's identity.
But...
"You underestimate the 'First Class' too much"
Ryuu flashed forward, directly confronting Chloe.
Even under the combined debuff of the sleeping potion and the poison, the elf girl still displayed a speed far exceeding that of a typical Lv4.
Her short sword slashed in two arcs, targeting both Chloes.
However, the cat-eared girl's actions were completely beyond Ryuu's expectations.
She ran...
That's right, without a single thought of engaging in combat, both Chloes turned into shadows and ran in opposite directions.
"What a joke, only a fool would desperately fight a Lv5 adventurer. I haven't lived long enough yet."
As Chloe prepared to retreat, she continued to curse at her client for the trouble they had caused.
The extra preparations she had made, almost emptying her savings, were not to increase the success rate of the assassination.
From the moment she vaguely sensed something was wrong, she had already made preparations for retreat in case of failure.
And the specially prepared poison had successfully given her a chance to survive while confronting Ryuu.
Ryuu never expected her opponent to simply choose to flee.
Just as Chloe was about to jump out of the window...
Boom——!
The entire building exploded!
"What?!"
"Nya?!"
The violent shockwave instantly swept through everything around them.
Even though they both reacted immediately, Ryuu and Chloe were still blown away by the impact.
Finally, they both rolled into the backyard of the tavern.
"... Was I blown outside?"
Ryuu climbed to her feet and looked to the side, only to be stunned by the scene before her.
A large portion of the tavern had been completely reduced to rubble.
"Oops, this is bad..."
She instantly imagined the rage of the giant dwarf, Mama Mia.
Ryuu, whose forehead was covered in cold sweat, quickly shook her head to get rid of those inappropriate concerns and then surveyed her surroundings.
"It doesn't look like magic... was it caused by bare hands?"
The enemy probably leaped from another building and used the terrifying gravity to accelerate their fists with full force.
"As expected, it won't be that easy... Well, I don't like sneak attacks anyway, so this is good."
Just as Ryuu was judging the new enemy's location, a human girl emerged from the dust.
"You're the 'Black Cat', aren't you? Looks like the mission has been repeated."
"Cough, wait... You just said that 'Gale' is Lv5!"
Chloe, who had also been blown away, climbed out of the rubble from the other side.
Although extremely annoyed that her escape plan was disrupted, she still warned Lunoire.
"She's under the influence of sleeping incense and poison, but even so, you can't defeat her alone."
"I just fought against her, she must have recently upgraded to Lv5."
"If we work together, we might have a chance."
Normally, a Lv5 adventurer cannot be defeated by two or three Lv4s working together, they could even be said to have no hope of victory at all.
But the current situation was different, a newly upgraded Lv5, under the combined debuff of sleeping incense and poison, while still possessing a huge advantage, their victory isn't 'absolute'.
A forty percent chance of victory... That was impossible.
But a twenty percent chance of success was still possible.
Furthermore, if they worked together, even if they couldn't win, at least one of them could escape.
And judging by Ryuu's current condition, she wouldn't be able to chase after them both.
Chloe, who was very confident in her escape abilities, immediately extended an invitation to Lunoire.
"How about it? Let's team up!"
"'Gale' is Lv5?!"
Hearing Chloe's explanation, Lunoire's face immediately darkened.
"Fine, let's work together!"
She agreed without hesitation.
Lunoire knew she was being used, but as Chloe said, facing a Lv5 opponent, there was no chance of winning without teaming up.
And she actually felt quite grateful to Chloe.
If it wasn't for the tricks she played, causing 'Gale' to weaken, Lunoire would be dead by now.
Ryuu's drowsy brain and the feeling of weakness in her body seriously hampered her combat effectiveness.
But honestly, the elf girl wasn't overly worried.
People who have never personally experienced upgrading to Lv5 wouldn't understand why this level is called the 'First Class'.
Just like how Ryuu didn't understand the plan of 'Black Cat' and 'Black Fist', her opponent also didn't understand 'Gale'.
Facing the situation of being sandwiched between two enemies, Ryuu tightened her grip on her short sword.
Their battle was about to break out!
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