Nox bent backward as the void creature's claws blurred past her nose with an eerie silence. If not for her centuries spent honing her reaction time while fighting monsters in rifts, she would have lost her head.
She rolled backward to get back on her feet and away from the monster. Her spatial ring flashed, and an artifact she had used many times in the past appeared in her hand: A Dimension Locker. It was a highly sought-after artifact by most cultivators, especially assassins like herself.
This should cut the connection to whoever is controlling this monster. Nox threw the black marble on the floor and watched as a wave of power pulsed out, sealing the area from any outside influence and stopping any escape talismans from being used. This also served as a way to stop whoever got the other earring from leaving.
The void creature looked curiously at the black marble near Nox's feet and then seemed to deem it a threat as it tried to kill her and destroy the artifact.
How the fuck is it still moving? Is the marble defective, or is it able to act on its own?
"Lucius, kill this fucking thing," Nox shouted as she kicked the marble far out of the creature's reach and rolled to the side. She then sunk into the shadow cast by the table to avoid another swipe that left deep gashes in the stone.
There was no way she wanted to face the creature in combat, as Void Qi was incredibly dangerous because it could ignore life-saving artifacts and cleave straight through a cultivator's flesh with ease.
As the familiar, comforting darkness embraced her and she faded into the background away from those claws, she could spend a moment trying to get the very potent poison spreading throughout her body under control and analyze the situation.
This wasn't the first time Nox had been poisoned. Usually, she could quickly burn a poison with her soul fire before it got a chance to spread, but Hammond had launched his attack before she had gotten a chance to suppress it fully, and it was far stronger than she had expected.
Summoning a few body cleansing pills of her own, as she didn't trust the ones Roselyn had provided, she ate a handful and then focused back on the situation in the room as her body was flooded with a soothing feeling.
Hammond was dead—sliced into five pieces by the void creature's claws. His bloody remains dyed half the room in red where the void creature was now recovering from its missed attack on her and was changing its focus to Lucius, who was charging up an attack.
Now, what should I do... I could escape alone and leave Lucius here to face off against that creature and the other people in the room. That way, I can keep the loot to myself. But I can't go until I get a hold of that second earring. There's no way to tell if the artifact can work with only one. So that begs the question, who could have taken it?
Her eyes darted between the members of the Ashfallen Trading Company, who were only now making a move. Hammond's sudden attack on Roselyn had clearly dumbfounded Elder Margret and Diana, but now, after recovering from the blinding attack and seeing a fight occurring, Elder Margret was surrounding her fists in crimson flames, and Diana had a dense mist blasting out of her and filling the room.
Those two were far too stunned by Hammond to reach the second earring before me. So it must have been someone else...
Nox's gaze drifted to the Silverspire man who had already jumped over the table and was conjuring a spear of silver to impale through the preoccupied Lucius.
"Radiant blast!" Lucius shouted as he raised his glowing hands.
A beam of white light exploded from his palms and hit the void creature square in its chest, carving a burning hole straight through the void flesh and melting through the stone wall behind the monster.
The creature staggered to the side, but before Lucius could finish it off, he had to turn and face Sebastian.
Nox briefly debated lending a helping hand, but Lucius was a tough bastard to kill, so she remained in the shadows with her senses spread far and wide, trying to locate the missing earrings.
"Prism Shield!" Lucius said as he raised one hand, and multiple shields of celestial light materialized between Sebastian and himself.
Nox had always found Lucius's arrogant habit of shouting out his technique names odd, but he claimed it helped him empower them. The conjured shields of light shattered like glass as Sebastian's liquid spear of silver penetrated them with ease.
As the final one shattered and the silver tip was inches from Lucius's face, he ducked down low and planted a glowing fist into Sebastian's side, sending the Silverspire man flying backward and crumpling against the far wall.
It seemed a victory for Lucius, but Nox noticed that the liquid spear had curved downward at the last second and impaled him through his armor.
Lucius cursed as he clutched the gaping wound on his left shoulder. "Healing glow," He said as a warm glow pulsed around the wound, and Nox watched it quickly close.
A moment passed, and the large meeting room had filled with a swirling dense mist that annoyingly interfered with Nox's spiritual sense. Strange phantoms manifested within the mist, and they began to laugh as they encircled Lucius.
"What a cheap trick. All illusions perish before my light," Lucius laughed as his armor began to glow brightly, and a wave of light flashed out, eliminating the phantoms and illuminating the dense mist, which revealed a strange shadow dashing through the fog directly at Lucius.
Who is that? Nox wondered as the silhouette didn't match anyone she had seen in the room. It was large and inhuman. Perhaps another void monster?
Nox didn't have a good line of sight on the shadow as she lurked in the darkness under the table, and the mist interfered with her senses. But Lucius seemed to identify it as a threat as he summoned a blade of light to his hand and raised it to meet the rapidly approaching shadow.
The swirling fog parted, and something Nox could only describe as a demoness shot out and lashed at Lucius in a crazed frenzy with claws of shadow.
Lucius tried to shrug off the onslaught with his sword, but the demoness used her giant raven wings thrice her size like extra limbs to pummel him from either side.
What in the nine realms? That demonic woman isn't even in the Star Core Realm but can push Lucius back; who is on the cusp of forming his Nascent Soul? What kind of species is she?
"Nox, you bitch, where did you sneak off to," Lucius shouted, "Help me!"
"Stop being a drama queen," Nox snorted from the shadows, her voice echoing through the room.
Lucius chuckled and vanished in a flash of light, leaving the enraged demoness clawing at empty air. He reappeared behind her and pounded her into the ground with an empowered fist.
"Fucking demon whore," Lucius stamped down on the demoness's back, crushing the bones in her wings and causing her to scream in pain while coughing up black blood.
"Get off her!" A fireball of crimson flames parted the swirling mist and harmlessly dissipated on a quickly conjured light shield.
"Who?" Lucius cursed as he turned to look through the parted mist and laid eyes on a very concerned-looking Elder Margret, standing beside Roselyn, who was busy downing what appeared to be healing pills while clutching her ripped-up and bloody ears.
Wait a second, where's Diana? Nox squinted at the demon under Lucius's boot. Is that Diana? Why does she have wings and fangs now?
Something was terribly odd about this Ashfallen Trading Company. Not only were they acquainted with one of the most influential families in the wilderness and able to make pills that could permanently improve a person's spirit root, but they also had control over void monsters. And if that wasn't enough, now one of their members was a shapeshifting demon?
Lucius stopped stamping on Diana, leaving her half-dead, and strode toward Elder Margret with a smirk.
"I say we kill them all," Lucius said as he summoned a second sword of light, "No survivors mean no problems."
With the weird void creature out of action, that was a plan Nox could agree with. Everyone else left from the Ashfallen Trading Company had no way to pose a significant threat, and with them all dead, she could take her time finding the other earring.
I also don't want that Silverspire servant to report me to his family.
"You kill the Silverspire servant and Redclaw Elder. Leave Stella to me," Nox's world blurred as she used Shadow Step to instantly emerge from Roselyn's shadow.
Nox blinked in confusion as Stella reacted instantly to her emerging from her shadow—her usually crazed pink eyes that made people uncomfortable to be looked at were now tranquil and focused as if seeing through her every move.
Nobody has ever reacted to my Shadow Step before losing their head. What the fuck is going on?! Nox cursed as she committed to her attack and tried to decapitate Stella with a dagger coated in shadow flames but almost doubted reality when Stella managed to create a portal around her hand and redirect it to grip Nox's wrist—stopping her attack in its tracks and throwing off her balance.
Nox was too baffled to even understand what had happened to react to her wrist being gripped. Even Hammond couldn't create a portal that fast and stop my attack. Is she using some type of thought acceleration or a runic artifact to increase her casting speed?
"Someone very important gifted me those earrings," Stella declared as she tightened her grip, and then, with all her might, she hurled Nox to the ground with surprising strength, "Give it back!"
Nox rolled to the side, got back onto her feet in a single motion, and faced Stella. The girls hair was floating high above her head as space distorted and crackled around her.
"You dare hurt my friends and steal from me!" Stella cried as she summoned a sword to her hand and charged with unfathomable speed as if space had been compressed.
You may have seen through my Shadow Step, but how will your skill with the sword compare? Nox wondered as she effortlessly met Stella's sword with her dagger despite her speed.
Her technique is sloppy and lacks strength. Nox grinned as she deflected Stella's blade. Deciding a dagger would put her at a disadvantage in a duel, she replaced it with a sword and went on the offensive.
Stella seemed unfazed, and the two engaged in a flurry of attacks that filled the already chaotic room with clangs. Nox dipped in and out of the room's shadows and tried to Shadow Step a few more times, but Stella always managed to deflect anything she tried.
As time passed, Nox grew increasingly concerned about her young opponent. How is this possible? Is she some prodigy or sword god? Stella matched her speed and attacks perfectly as if she were fighting a mirror version of herself.
Copying my attack pattern, are you? Then how about you face my shadows. I doubt you can perfectly copy ten versions of me! Nox leaped back and mentally reached out to all the shadows lurking in the room. There weren't many due to Lucius's stupid glowing armor, but there were still some.
Much like the mist phantoms that had perished to Lucius's light, shadowy beings emerged from under the crushed table and the room's nooks and crannies. They all bore the same bulky silhouette as Nox as they encircled Stella.
The blonde girl seemed unimpressed by Nox's backup as she just stared at her with a calm expression, as if everything was within her control. Her silver spatial ring then flashed, and a dagger with a black wooden handle appeared in her empty hand. She then opened her palm, and the dagger floated up beside her.
Tsk, this is why I hate spatial cultivators—always with the darn telekinesis and hyperperception. Not to mention, the higher-level ones like Hammond can teleport away at any time... assuming they don't get clawed to death by a void creature.
Stella tapped the dagger with her finger, and its blade ignited with purple soul fire. She then closed her tranquil eyes, and Nox saw the dagger's tip rotate in the air to face the incoming shadows like a homing arrow.
Shit. Everyone attack her now! Quickly! Nox mentally ordered, and the shadows obeyed by rushing toward Stella. Nox also used the opportunity to vanish into the background and look for an opening. She just needed to spot a moment of weakness brought on by her many shadows to strike Stella with Shadow Step.
Stella clicked her fingers, and the floating dagger whizzed around her, slicing reality in its wake and obliterating the shadows from existence in one fell swoop.
Huh? What happened to my shadows? How can a Star Core cultivator wield such power? Nox's eyes widened at the aftermath. Those shadow versions of herself had taken a considerable portion of her Qi and were supposed to be an unrelenting mob that would distract Stella. So, to delete them from existence as a mere first-stage Star Core cultivator made no sense.
Nox narrowed her eyes and followed the flow of the Qi in the room. It was chaotic and all over the place, with so many Star Core cultivators fighting in one room and trying to suppress each other with their own gravity, but something stood out as odd to Nox.
How is there suddenly ten times more spatial Qi than all the other affinities combined? There's no way Stella could produce that much spatial Qi unless she's going supernova, so who is the culprit? Is there another spatial affinity cultivator lurking nearby?
Nox's eyes flickered through the room to locate the source. Naturally, the first place she checked was the corner where she had kicked the Dimension Locker, which was supposed to restrict outside interference. To her surprise, she saw the demoness had crawled over and held the shattered marble in her hand.
Diana let out a groan of pain as her hand collapsed to the ground, and she passed out.
A sudden presence that matched Nox's own blanketed the whole room, and a giant portal manifested over Diana. From within the distorted rift emerged an enormous black wooden arm that picked up Diana's broken body and carefully took it away.
What kind of monster have I angered? Nox could tell the new presence was furious as the spatial Qi filling the room, especially around the rifts, was chaotic.
Upon the rift snapping closed, a new one of similar size manifested over Lucius. The glowing Merchant was busy fighting the Silverspire servant, who had coated his entire body in a suit of liquid silver armor and was wielding a mace while protecting a badly beaten Elder Margret, who was missing an arm and covered in burns.
"Lucius, look out!" Nox shouted as she saw a giant ashen-furred spider crawl out of the newly formed portal. Lucius heeded her warning, looked up, and was greeted by the spirit beast opening its maw. Thousands of tiny ashen spiders poured upon him like a tidal wave.
Lucius waved his sword around to no avail as the living wave of ashen spiders was deadset on devouring his flesh.
"Nox, help me!" Lucius cried out as he shot out random beams of light that melted through stone while trying to throw off the spiders latching onto his arms.
Shit, what should I do? That spider looks like some guardian beast that might even be in the Nascent Soul realm. What the fuck is going on, and who is behind the Ashfallen Trading Company to command such a powerful guardian beast? Should I flee? But then I'll have to forfeit the other earring. Actually, can I even flee? If a powerful spatial cultivator is on their side, my only chance of winning is teaming up with Lucius and standing our ground until they run out of Qi and can't chase after us.
"Your opponent is me," Stella said calmly as she turned on her heel and looked directly at Nox through the darkness with closed eyes and the aflame dagger's tip pointing straight at her, "I will kill you myself for what you've done here today."
I can see Stella’s sword shaking and sweat accumulating on her forehead. She is nearing her limit. If I kill her quickly, I can rush over and help Lucius, and then we can get out of here.
"Very well, Roselyn, or should I call you Stella?" Nox said as she emerged from the shadows with a smile and cracked her neck as her Star Core blazed with power. Before, she had been holding back in fear of wasting her cultivation, but now it was time to go all out. She refused to die here today to the mysterious Ashfallen Trading Company.
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