Shadow was gasping for breath as he took a dagger out of his stomach. The dagger had pierced deeply inside, but luckily it didn't damage any vital organs.
"Fuck, just a second of negligence and this happens." Shadow curses as he throws the dagger far away from his position. The sound of the dagger and a stone pillar colliding echoes throughout the dark hall as he vigilantly looks around him. He was fairly certain that there were not a lot of assassins left inside the hall as he had already killed over 40 of them.
His shadow servants were of great help but ultimately they were destroyed some time ago. Clutching his daggers firmly he moves through the darkness covering the hall. His footsteps were much lighter and silent compared to the beginning of the trial. He had learned from Wolf previously how to move as an assassin and it was only here that he was able to improve upon it. A life and death situation was truly the best way to improve.
Another thing that Shadow was vigilant from was a stronger type of assassin. Compared to the others these wielded two daggers, just like him. Their footsteps were almost soundless and they were able to show up behind you before you knew it. It was one of them that plunged one of his daggers into Shadow's stomach. They were physically stronger as well, and more skilled. Overall they were simply an upgraded version of the normal assassins.
The only way to differentiate between the two was by a small, crimson line on their robes. The color was barely distinguishable in this darkness however so it was almost impossible to know if you were fighting against normal assassins or them.
Shadow moves around the area where the dagger hit the pillar. He was trying to lure the rest of the assassins this way as he was losing blood relatively fast and didn't want to stay here any longer. The more time passes the more dangerous his situation becomes.
Shadow was using his power to blend in the darkness as he moved. It would be incredibly hard for anyone to spot him, but the assassins were different, it was clear that the trial made it harder for him as they were able to sense him without difficulties every time. He swiftly dashed from pillar to pillar while being vigilant.
He was observing his surroundings but he could not look everywhere. That was evident when an assassin suddenly came down from a pillar. Before Shadow could respond a dagger was already thrust at his shoulder. It was too late to block or completely dodge the blow so Shadow simply grits his teeth while moving slightly and trying to anticipate where the dagger would pierce. He was successful and the dagger hit his clavicle which prevented it from piercing deep and doing more damage.
Shadow immediately responds with a counterattack as he swiftly stabs the attacker's arm with one of his daggers. The dagger pierces through the pronator teres, the strong acidic poison works swiftly and manages to damage the assassin's ulna and radius bones as well. The assassin doesn't even flinch at the pain as he simply thrusts with his other dagger.
Shadow's eyes constrict as the opponent was an elite. He draws his dagger out of the arm and swiftly dodges to the side. It was unfortunate that the place he had dodged to was close to another assassin that lunged at him from behind. The assassin's dagger was coming straight towards the back of Shadow's neck, but Shadow was able to respond swiftly as alarm bells were ringing inside of his head. He jumps to the side and the dagger stabs inside his shoulder muscle, scrapping against the scapula.
Shadow grunts in pain as he looks at his attackers. There weren't only two of them. He was able to see 4 more assassins coming from behind the pillars as they slowly walked towards him. Of the 4 new assassins, two held daggers in each arm, a sign that they were elites.
"I definitely didn't expect that so many of you were still alive." Shadow curses at his bad luck as it seemed that all of the surviving assassins had decided to band together and attack him in the end. If he was in his best form he would probably be able to defeat them without much trouble, but now, his mana was already quite low and he was riddled with various injuries, taking on 6 opponents was an incredibly difficult task.
"Well, there's no point in complaining, come, let's finish this you cunts." Shadow smiles savagely as he spins his daggers in his hands. Before the assassins could respond he used the little amount of mana he had to stop the 4 from moving. He already managed to wound an elite, he was his first target.
He uses his shadow body and arrives next to the assassin almost immediately. Without wasting any time he plunges his dagger through the assassin's throat before taking it out. Blood spurts out and showers Shadow in it. He turns his head as his now reddish hair stick to his forehead. Before he could do anything two daggers pierce through his stomach. The elite was dead but, there was another one hiding next to him. It seems that they already figured out that he would be Shadow's first target and already made preparations for such a situation.
"Fuck, cough, you bastard." Shadow coughs out blood as he looks at the assassin in front of him. With fury, he swipes his daggers across the assassin's neck and beheads him. The assassin's arms lose power and leave the daggers embedded in Shadow. He turns around as an assassin was coming at him. It was over, he had no more strength to move as his injuries were far too serious.
"Just 5 left, fuck, I have to do something." Shadow's eyes were bloodshot as he looked at the approaching assassin. He lifts his arm as he points at the assassin but it was useless, he had no more strength left and no more mana to spend.
"Just a little bit, just a little bit of mana and I can finish them off," Shadow mumbles as he looks at the assassin with hate in his eyes. Suddenly his mark starts shining as he feels power course through his body again. The assassin suddenly stops as multiple shadow spikes sprung up from underneath him, piercing his body multiple times and killing him.
The other four assassins were still bound by Shadow's bindings and couldn't move. He points at them as hundreds of spikes form around them. The spikes grow longer and larger as they resemble pointed tentacles at the end. With great force the hundreds of spikes pierce down on the assassins, turning their bodies into minced meat in seconds.
Shadow smiles before falling down, his injuries were still there and they were far too severe. Before he could hit the floor however a bright light shines and he was transported out of the hall.
Laura was using a sword in her hand as she blocked a hobgoblin's blow. Purple light shines on her other hand as she uses her hand as a spear and pierces through the hobgoblins stomach. With force, she takes her hand out before swiping across the hobgoblin's throat with the sword.
She was riddled with injuries, similar to the soldiers around her. They were at the end of the cave and hundreds of hobgoblins attacked them there. The sheer number of them was overwhelming and it was impossible for all of them to survive. Laura gave it her all to heal and provide support with her ability but it was simply too much for the poor girl. After a couple of minutes, the formation was broken and all hell broke loose. The soldiers fought savagely as they knew that they could die any moment now. Laura was clutching the sword that the captain had previously given to her. He knew that it would be a hard battle and couldn't guarantee her protection during the final battle. He and the soldiers had seen her fight with her ability and knew she could take care of herself, but without a weapon, it would be hard.
Laura had no training with a sword so she was quite bad when fighting enemies head-on. She used her ability to its fullest as the life force reserves she had were being lowered with every passing second. The captain was locked in a battle with the enemy leader nearby. She grits her teeth and makes her way towards him. The captain and the hobgoblin leader were both mini-boss tier combatants. If she could help him with taking it down then the battle would be much easier.
Laura arrives after 2 minutes. She now had more wounds as she had to fight her way through. Looking at the hobgoblin leader she points at him with his left hand and uses the skill hidden in the gloves. An invisible force travels from the gloves to the leader as the latter suddenly grabs his head in pain while falling down on his knees.
The captain was confused by the opponent's action but he doesn't stop. Slashing down he manages to cut off one of the hobgoblin's hands before his sword continues straight towards the neck. The hobgoblin manages to block the blow with great difficulty before retreating slightly. It was enough however as the hobgoblin was no longer a threat to the captain. Laura's attack was still having an effect as well as the hobgoblin was unable to fully focus on the fight. After a minute the captain was able to decapitate him before attacking the other hobgoblins, he also glanced at Laura's direction beforehand.
With the death of their leader, the hobgoblins were fighting with less vigor compared to before. After a couple of minutes, their numbers were already lower than the soldiers. As the soldiers slowly picked the rest apart the captain was standing next to Laura.
"Thanks for before, your actions were of great help." He looks gently at Laura while thanking her. The words were spoken from his heart as without her help he would have needed at least 5 more minutes before managing to defeat the enemy. It seemed like it wasn't a long period of time, but on a battlefield even 1 second was valuable.
Laura spent the next couple of minutes talking to the captain while healing him and the injured soldiers with the remaining mana she had. Before she could even finish healing all of them she was covered in bright light and transported out of the cave.
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