[Support the agent in their espionage mission. Time remaining: 85 hours 32 minutes.] “What?” Langley screeched shrilly, her disbelief palpable. Parein looked similarly unconvinced, and he was staring at me as if I had said the most ludicrous thing possible. They had anticipated I would suggest something a little risky, but it seemed neither of them had expected me to declare an all-out charge. Their confusion was understandable. No matter how skilled we were, how could three individuals face over a hundred? Moreover, we hadn’t even infiltrated deep enough for a retreat to be dangerous. By all accounts, falling back for now was the logical course of action. However, I saw it differently. Nameless wouldn’t have been hired if there weren’t going to be any fights. Parein’s earlier words had reinforced that assumption. What they truly expected from me wasn’t my ability to gather intel, but my strength. Considering my lack of prior experience with covert operations as well, the description of the trial and the contents of the trial had felt off from the beginning. Besides, as long as we don’t leave any witnesses, can’t it be considered an assassination? Storming in and seizing information or assets by force could also be considered a form of intelligence work. Even in the James Band films, the protagonist usually solved problems by beating the crap out of people. A sharp whistle sliced through the air, unmistakably a call to arms. The forest stirred in response. Though I had already settled on a course of action, there wasn’t enough time to explain it fully. “Just continue the mission as planned. I’ll take care of the enemies.” Langley’s ears twitched as she scanned the surroundings. In a hushed but urgent voice, she objected, “This is suicide!” “Just stay behind me. Trust me.” Based on our enemies’ positions, we had already narrowed down our end destination’s general location. Wasting no time, I pivoted toward the guarded zone and launched forward, the ground cracking beneath my foot. “You’ve lost your mind,” Parein muttered from behind, but his complaint fell on deaf ears—it was too late to run now, after all. The two quickly followed in my wake. I didn’t move at full speed, mindful of Parein and Langley’s ability to keep up. Still, they needed to maintain my current pace if we wanted to succeed. For that to happen, I had to eliminate any enemy that stood in our way. Two of them are about one hundred ninety meters away, at one o’clock. The other pair is almost a hundred meters farther than that, though they are at my ten o’clock. Veering toward the nearest enemies, I kicked off the ground and surged forward. My figure looked like a blur as I sailed through the trees, closing the distance in a heartbeat. I emerged in front of the two guards, catching them off guard. They were dressed like ordinary villagers, yet the daggers in their hands were unmistakably high-quality and too uniform. Although I had moved slower than I would have with Flash Strike, they had been far enough away that they still would have perceived me before my arrival. However, just because they had sensed my presence didn’t mean they were prepared for my sudden arrival. Hmm, killing them seems unnecessary. I couldn’t know what circumstances had led them to come here, but unless I was thrust into an outright war like in past trials, meaningless slaughter was something I preferred to avoid. Switching my axe to my left hand, I drove my right fist straight into the rightmost enemy’s jaw. The sensation of bone fracturing reverberated up my arm. Maybe that was a bit much. Before the man's head had even finished snapping to the side, I brought my axe-wielding hand upward and struck the other guard on the chin. Having just tested my strength, I managed to calibrate the second hit for the perfect knockout. The impact felt clean and resonant, but not fatal. They would need rehab for a while, though. Both enemies collapsed wordlessly, their eyes rolling back as they crumpled to the ground—neither would be getting up anytime soon. I left their unconscious forms behind and pivoted left. The next two had been heading toward Langley and Parein, but my sudden burst of speed had diverted them toward me instead. My comrades didn’t miss the opportunity and were making a break for the objective. As I passed them, I called out, “Nice job, just keep moving!” They glanced at me as if I were some kind of monster. I ignored their stares and accelerated. Now that I had a better handle on my strength, I dispatched the next pair in a single exchange without breaking any bones. That had been almost too easy. Then again, this was only the perimeter. The deeper we went, the greater the opposition would become. Rejoining the group, I sensed four more approaching from directly ahead. Langley likely noticed them too. I quickened my pace, moving ahead once more to clear the way. This pattern continued. Langley and Parein maintained their course while I systematically eliminated the ever-increasing opposition. At a certain point, something changed. The enemy’s formation shifted, and I assumed their repeated losses had forced them to reassess their strategy. We weren’t retreating, nor were we attempting to evade them—we were madly charging in a straight line toward our objective. About twenty imperial agents were now converging on our location. It would take some effort to eliminate all of them, but it was doable. I shouted over my shoulder as I surged forward, “Prepare for battle. Stay close to me!” Taking stock of my opponents’ auras, none of them struck me as particularly threatening. Perhaps the Ears of the Empire were still holding back their most powerful agents, or maybe this group had merely been sent to stall for time so that reinforcements could arrive. If I had to choose, I would wager on the latter. “There are supposed to be three! Where are the other two? Stay alert!” Among the eighteen individuals, one figure stood out—a man clad in well-fitted leather armor, wielding a sharp longsword. Regardless, he didn’t seem particularly strong. “Stop right there!” the apparent leader barked out. Of course, I ignored him and pushed forward at full speed. If I were the kind of person to stop just because someone told me to, I wouldn’t have charged in so boldly in the first place. Conversation would be meaningless at this point, anyway. Why would they respect someone who had charged directly into their defensive line? Moreover, if I displayed even the slightest bit of weakness, they would simply waste my time with interrogating questions—who we were, what we were doing here, and what organization we belonged to. Absolutely pointless. The other agents made the first move, synchronously lunging forward. Shit. It will be hard to avoid killing them if I use Soulbound. Thanks to Ryun, I couldn’t store it away in the mimic either. Maybe I should wrap my axe in shadows instead? Then again, Soulbound was too big for that to make much of a difference. Mulling over that trivial thought, I tossed it high into the air. I intended to take them all down before it landed. “You bastard!” the leather-clad agent roared, as if my action had provoked him. No one who shouted like that turned out to be strong. I smirked, and the man drew his longsword. I had thrown the axe with quite a bit of force, so it was still soaring skyward. Ryun probably wouldn’t be happy about it. Maybe I should have just set it down instead. Well, it was too late now. I would be more considerate next time. Taking a sharp breath, I shot forward like a bolt of lightning, fist outstretched. [Support the agent in their espionage mission. Time remaining: 85 hours 3 minutes.] The forest was littered with unconscious imperial agents, each one strewn about without a care. As I allowed my heightened senses to subside, the world around me seemed to return to its normal flow. Angelina was right. Now that I had stopped relying on Flash Strike, I was getting faster. I scolded myself internally, wondering why I hadn’t been doing this all along. My rate of improvement completely outpaced what I had believed possible. I caught my axe as it plummeted from the sky. It had been a close call, but I had managed to deal with all of them before Langley and Parein caught up. A chorus of low groans filled the air, scattering between the trees. I hadn’t killed any of them, but nobody would be getting up anytime soon. Each of them now sported a new broken bone—a deliberate act, unlike before. One of the agents, however, caught my attention. It was the man draped in high-quality leather armor, his cloak a cut above the rest. He had been a more competent fighter than he initially seemed. Not that it had helped him. Like the others, a well-placed punch to the jaw had been enough to silence him. Langley and Parein arrived just a beat later and could only gape in stunned disbelief. Their gazes swept across the fallen men before slowly shifting toward me, eyes filled with sheer shock. Even more than before, they were looking at me as if I were a monster. Langley, still catching her breath, finally asked, “Um, so were you holding back in the previous mission?” I shrugged. That hadn’t been me, so I didn’t feel like wasting time coming up with a story. Now that we had already been discovered by the empire’s agents, the longer we lingered, the harder it would be to break through. Not that it mattered much to me, but these two were a different story. Parein finally regained his composure and nodded. “Okay.” He turned to leave but hesitated, looking at me uncertainly. “Hold on. I’ve been meaning to ask. Are you sure we should let them live?” “Time is more valuable than gold right now. Don’t worry, they won’t be moving for a while.” I was about to press forward when Parein suddenly exclaimed sharply, his gaze fixed on one of the unconscious men. “Wait a second. This bastard is one of the Blades of the Empire!” The title was self-explanatory enough. If the Ears of the Empire were an intelligence unit, then the Blades of the Empire had to be a military force. Questioning his comment would be stupid. Both Parein and Langley turned to look at me, as if exchanging some silent agreement. Their gazes held a flicker of fear, something I found slightly annoying. Unconsciously, I furrowed my brow. Noticing the shift in my expression, Parein and Langley averted their eyes almost immediately. “They never mentioned the Blades were involved.” “Looks like they were more prepared than we thought.” Parein turned away slightly, his usual easy-going eyes now narrowed in contemplation. I could tell he was piecing together possible scenarios in his head. A moment later, he looked back at me. He was calculating something. “What was it like fighting the Blade?” “A little troublesome, but nothing difficult.” Parein considered something for a moment, then nodded slightly. I added, “Why? Think the Blades will be a real problem?” “Maybe, but for now, let’s keep going as planned. I don’t have a bad feeling yet.” Not that I would have changed my decision whether Parein agreed or not. Now that the Blades were involved, I figured it was best to give these two some time to process. As trained operatives, they would likely need to re-evaluate their strategies. Langley was next to share her thoughts, so Parein and I both turned to her. She was staring at me, a serious expression on her face. Langley studied the man standing before her. Nameless. A mercenary that Black Butterfly, the intelligence agency of the Berest Kingdom, commonly hired. She had heard he was frequently assigned to high-risk, high-difficulty missions. She had already known he was insanely capable, but she hadn’t expected this. She replayed the past few minutes in her mind. Nameless vanished in an instant, reappeared somewhere off to the right, and then eliminated the two presences within a breath. Then, like a phantom, he darted to the left in a blur of motion. Another two fell. Again and again, he moved like a beast and tore through the enemy ranks. When the larger group of enemies had first discovered her small group, and she had no choice but to charge forward, she braced herself for death. That was until she arrived to see eighteen fallen agents. When Nameless had launched himself into battle, alone, she had genuinely thought he had lost his mind. When it had ended and she had watched him calmly pluck his axe from the air, she barely stopped herself from cursing aloud. Moreover, the moment she spotted the insignia of the Blades of the Empire, she was even more stunned. The reality she knew and the limits she had believed in were shattering before her eyes. She felt almost dizzy, like she was trapped in a surreal dream. No, insane wasn’t even the right word. Then again, she wasn’t exactly human either. She laughed dryly. Why am I even thinking about that right now? Have I finally lost my mind? No, it was because of him. Nameless was distorting everything she had once thought to be true. Langley shook off her spiraling thoughts and focused. If the Blades were here, that meant a Sheath had to be as well. The three most powerful warriors who led the Blades had been granted the title of Sheath. She didn’t know which of the three was present, but given the nature of their mission, it had to be Redirun, the strongest among them. Langley turned back to Nameless. To any outsider, the mere thought of facing Redirun would sound delusional. Somehow, she didn’t think this man would lose to Redirun, though. Parein’s determined look showed that he shared her opinion. That was probably why he had agreed to keep moving forward. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn NovᴇlFire(.)nᴇt It was even more encouraging that Nameless had already decided to press on despite knowing a Sheath was here. His voice cut through her thoughts. “You’re awfully quiet.” “Apologies. I was just surprised to see the Blades here. Let’s go. I’m ready.” He seemed satisfied with that answer, and he smiled faintly as he nodded. “Good. Let’s move.” She had heard him repeat that phrase more than anything else. Yet, for some reason, hearing it now filled her with a strange sense of reassurance.