Bypassing two tents, Aphra slowly poked around the edge, looking at the center of the camp. There she saw four women sitting around a bonfire, they were most probably the witches their intelligence had spoken off. Although the number wasn’t right again, from the beginning of this operation, the damned report hadn’t been accurate. Furthermore, for her it didn’t make a difference if she had to kill two or four witches, anyone who was suspected to be corrupted needed to be tortured. And in case the time was too short for torturing, they at least all had to be killed, even if they weren’t really corrupted, sacrifices were always necessary.
After she carefully observed her surrounding and decided upon a safe escape route, Aphra stood up from behind the tent, pretending as if nothing had happened as if she was just moving closer to the fire.
Just when she had reached the middle of the open space, Aphra felt a cold hard object press against her back.
“Don’t move,” a woman voice sounded. “Who are you?”
Chapter 231 Assassination (Part 2)
A chill spread over Faceless’ body. This… how was this possible?
She swallowed the saliva, then lowered her voice, “What kind of joke is this? I’m Vorte.”
It shouldn’t be possible that they are lucky enough to know each other, there are so many mercenaries within the camp. Don’t tell me, that she can remember every one of their names, how can that be??
She never expected to receive the sarcastic answer she got in response, “Is that so? I never knew men could also gather magic in their bodies. So, either you are a witch that had planned to infiltrate the camp, or you are an extremely unlikely wizard. No matter what the truth is, it is impossible that your name is “Vorte” as you have claimed. Within the soldiers of the First Army, there is definitely no one with such a different body type.”
Can this person… see the Devil’s power? Aphra’s heart finally sank to the depths; she now knew how she had been found out. There were more than four witches in the camp, and the woman behind her must be a witch as well. Moreover, she had an ability that was similar to the Eye of Truth. The Church’s scriptures about magic had records of such an ability which had several hundred of derivations and all of them were not in conflict with the witch’s ability.
Since I haven’t seen someone within my surroundings or getting close… does it mean that the other side’s prime ability is hide her body?
“Now, kneel down, and put your hands behind your back, maybe I can spare your life then,” the woman shouted with a clear voice, “Do as I say!”
The mercenaries in the surrounding were still occupied with fighting, so they didn’t notice the scene playing out at the central area, but that wasn’t the case for the four witches near the fire though. They became aware of the abnormal situation as they cast their eyes over and asked, “What’s the matter, Nightingale? Did something happen?”
This was her last chance, Aphra knew that her own strength was assassination and not related to an open battle, especially in the case where she wasn’t wearing a God’s Punishment Stones which would have suppressed most witches’ fantastic abilities.
In case the witch who can fly is able to run away it won’t do any harm. However, the witch who can cure the demonic plague definitely has to die here. Otherwise, she will pose a serious threat to the Church’s future plans.
Of course, there was also the possibility, that after killing the other side, she herself wouldn’t be able to escape. Thinking of this possibility, she couldn’t help herself from getting a tight feeling in her chest, but she soon calmed down again. Recalling that in order for the Church’s goal to unify the Four Kingdoms, no effort should be spared to resist the Devils from hell. And there were already many good soldiers who had sacrificed themselves for the greater good, and it would be a proud moment for her to join them.
Furthermore, she believed that Heather would not forget her, Heather would make sure that her name would also be recorded in the sacred scriptures.
“You mustn’t come over,” shouted the witch called Nightingale. “There is—”
At this split second, she suddenly raised her elbow to beat against her enemy’s arm, simultaneously bowing her head to avoid being stabbed with her weapon. “When you are talking, it is impossible to always pay attention. Thus there is the saying of ‘holding one’s breath in concentration’,” was what her drillmaster repeatedly taught her. “Instead, regardless whether you are attacking or are trying to escape, the optimum moment to act is when the other side starts talking.”
Within her sleeve she had concealed a mechanism that activated at the first moment of contact. Spraying a white alchemic powder to the rear, which on contact with water would release a lot of heat. In case the enemy got any of it inside their mouth or eyes, they would immediately lose their fighting strength. Even if they were lucky enough not to breathe any of the fine powder in, they would at least be flustered for a while.
Afterward, Aphra immediately pounced towards the four witches at the fire, the witch with golden hair quickly flew up, while the one witch who seemed to be the oldest disregarded her own safety and stepped in front of the other two. Drawing out her sharp dagger, Aphra immediately stabbed directly toward the first witch. Since they couldn’t escape anyway, and all three of them would die under her hand, it wasn’t necessary to differentiate them according to priority.
Just at the moment when her dagger pierced the other side’s body, Aphra saw an incredible scene.
A white shadow appeared in front of her at a place which was definitely still empty a second ago, with two blazing eyes glaring at her from under its hood.
Is… this Nightingale who stood behind me?
At the eruption of the fine powder she was at close range, so why doesn’t she seem to have been affected? Almost disbelieving her eyes, Faceless saw the other side lift her arm and a flame burst out from the silver weapon. And then her body was firmly pushed backward, resulting in her losing her balance, sending her backward to the ground, looking upwards. That’s not good; there are… still two important people I need to dispose of. Aphra wanted to stand up, wanted to draw her dagger and stab at the next witch, but right now, even raising her hand had already become tough, and her consciousness had already began to blur.
What a pity… was the last thought flashing through her mind.
…
After letting off the shot, Nightingale remained at the same place, watching the soldier who had been hit in the chest fall down. Then the body began to twist and shrink, slowly turning back into the appearance of an unknown woman.
This had been her first time killing another witch.
It was not until Lily anxiously called out to her that Nightingale came back to herself.
Suppressing the surging emotion within her heart, she put away the gun, ran back to Wendy’s side.
“Where is the injury?”
“It’s nothing, I just feel a little pain,” Wendy waved her hand, indicating that they should not panic, “She shouldn’t have been able to pierce through.”
“Does that mean the protective suit worked?”
“I suppose it has,” Undoing the bottoms on her chest, she saw the slender dagger hanging on the side of her clothes, the moment the jacket was opened, the knife fell out of the hole and landed on the ground, with no blood held on its tip. Of the protective clothing, only the outer layer had a small hole in it, while the soft inner layer still remained intact.