A kunai-like blade whistled through the air, shooting out from the dark end of the passage.
Kael instinctively raised his sword to block, but the blade grazed his weapon and pierced his shoulder.
"Damn it! It's infected!" He yanked out the flying knife and snatched up an alchemical potion mixed with his own blood from the ground.
Before his severe wounds could heal, a pink blur charged at Kael with devastating speed.
Clang—
The blade-fist clashed with the cursed sword, and this time he didn't miss.
Their eyes met. Before him stood a Palum girl with fluffy pink short hair and fierce eyes. She grinned maliciously while rotating her blade-fist, and through the tremendous force transmitted through the blade, Kael realized.
"Level 2?!"
The power bonus from his near-death state, while not equal to Level 2, wasn't far behind. Since his opponent was a Palum, the fight was barely manageable.
However... Looking at the familiar face from his memories, he hesitated.
"You're... Thrail!"
"Oh, am I that famous now? But trying to get friendly won't work!" Lyra pressed against Kael's sword, using his moment of shock to retreat with momentum, then planted a kick squarely in his chest.
Thud—
Kael stumbled back two steps as four flying knives shot toward him.
Slash—
He protected his vital points, but blood splashed as he fell to the ground.
"Hey, are you alright?" After dealing with him, Lyra crouched in front of Hyena, reaching out to check his injuries.
The man had blood foaming at his mouth as he stared at her, his eyes filled with humiliation.
"Like hell I'd let these self-righteous bitches humiliate me even in death!"
With his final breath fading, Hyena fell still.
"You look somewhat familiar..." Lyra studied his face, but the dim lighting obscured his features.
On the other side, Kael struggled to his feet, yanking out the throwing knives from his body. They clattered as they hit the ground.
He hadn't expected his quest for survival would lead to a knife in the back.
At first, he felt bitter and betrayed. But watching Lyra's actions, Kael understood — wearing the Evilus uniform, he had been mistaken for a villain.
"You're still not dead?" Lyra looked up, watching him warily.
"You've got it wrong. I'm not—"
"Save your breath!" Before he could explain, Lyra's small figure darted in front of him again.
Her brilliant blade-fist spiraled through the air as Kael hastily raised his sword to counter.
"Too green, trash."
The blade-fist tore through his amateur defense, landing blow after blow. In the intense combat, Kael had no chance to speak, all his attention focused on the storm of blades.
A blood rose bloomed before Lyra.
Hm? After their brief exchange, she was shocked to discover his peculiarity.
"Hey, you! Are you immortal or something?"
Kael opened his mouth, but a swift kick silenced him.
"Ugh—"
Lyra used the momentum to retreat, followed by rumbling sounds from the ground.
"Let's see if you can survive this!"
Kael looked down to see several round explosives flashing red at his feet.
He shouted, "Shit, I have a Kaenseki on me!"
It was a terrifying item that could blast even a Level 3 to smithereens, crafted from the body tissue of the Flame Rock, a 44th Floor Monster.
"I don't want to experience being blown to pieces!"
Though [Working Like a Dog] was strong and hard to kill, it didn't guarantee immortality. If he were blown apart, there was no certainty he could recover...
Kael quickly pulled out the Kaenseki and threw it towards Lyra, then dove backward.
BOOM————
A massive explosion echoed through the alley.
Kael rolled through the smoke as ceiling rocks crashed down, blocking the line of sight.
"Cough cough—Some justice this is!"
Enduring the searing pain throughout his body, he staggered back along his route. In his current state, encountering other members of the Astraea Familia would mean certain death.
❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈
On the other side.
Fire powder dispersed in the air. A beauty in a Far East kimono with black hair, wielding a katana, approached quickly.
"Hey, are you okay, Lyra?"
"Sorry, Kaguya. I fell for it." Lyra leaned against the rock wall, her internal organs rattled, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.
Kael had thrown the Kaenseki with such force that it nearly blocked her retreat path entirely, forcing her to charge through her own special bombs. Though she avoided the worst of the damage thanks to her familiarity with her explosives, she was still seriously injured.
"I can't believe our strategist would slip up like this. Was the opponent strong?" Kaguya examined the battlefield.
It wasn't about strength — he was just strange. Hard to kill.
Lyra smiled bitterly, "I got tricked. That guy told me he had a Kaenseki, then threw it at me."
Kaguya was stunned, "Are you an idiot? Who announces their sneak attack?"
Lyra said helplessly, "It's my fault."
She felt something was off, but had blindly followed along. Looking back now, trusting the enemy's words was indeed foolish.
"That's not it."
At this moment, another voice came from behind them.
A red-haired beauty enveloped in flames, touching her chin, said, "There really is a Kaenseki here."
As she spoke, she tried to bend down to pick up what she had found to show her companions.
"I-Idiot—Alise! Your magic! Your magic!"
From the far back, an elf girl with flowing golden hair and a masked face, with long ears, lunged forward and tackled the reckless leader to the ground.
"What's wrong~Lion? If you want to get close to me, the strongest beauty in the city, wait until we're back at the Familia."
"You dummy Alise! That's a Kaenseki! How dare you try to touch it with your magic active! Are you trying to get us all killed?" The elf girl named Ryuu Lion shook her collar violently.
"Huh? Ahaha!" Alise realized and scratched the back of her head with a silly smile, "Sorry, I forgot."
Kaguya covered her face, "I can't with you."
Lyra's mouth gaped, "That thing was actually real?"
But why did he warn her? Could it be that Alise's ridiculous notion that "you have to shout your attack names during battle" was actually real?
"Hehe~~" Alise picked up the Kaenseki after dispelling her magic, raised her head and declared, "Let me tell you the truth of this case! There are two corpses at the scene. Combined with your testimony, Lyra, the suspect must have deliberately warned you and thrown the Kaenseki toward a safe location where it wouldn't detonate. That's why it was a dud."
Lyra was stunned, "So why would someone from the Evilus show such kindness?"
Alise pushed her non-existent glasses and pointed her finger as imaginary drum music played, "Hmph, there is only one truth! The real culprit is actually the one lying on the ground!"
"Huh? Why?"
Lyra couldn't believe her intelligence had been outdone by their fool of a leader, but out of respect for that person's intuition, she chose to listen to the reasoning.
At this moment, Kaguya crouched by the corpse and turned over Hyena's back to check the victim's identity. She looked up in shock.
"Alise is right."
"Hm?"
Kaguya pointed at the exposed back, "This person... seems to be Squad Leader 'Hyena' Sweet from the Alecto Familia."
Lyra's face turned pale as she pieced together the earlier situation...
"Did I... just cut down one of the good guys?"