*** Nakuma ***

  I walk down the alleyway towards my target with steady steps. I know I take this branch out easily. My main problem will be Yuki. Two out of her five csses aren't that good for bat, just eai. Sure, improved footwork and sound trol be used, and the start of her mission will be a breeze, but the ending is the real problem. She has to get in close yet has no sure way to do that without her illusion magic. I just close space or send a dagger through a portal. She has to buff them with sound and hope they don't have a defense against it. She said she could do it, but she's never done well in open fights.

  But, she's been out here fhty-some years; she's proven she take care of herself.

  I speed up a bit; it wouldn't hurt to finish fast and ruo che her. I just py it off as wanting to check if her pants got ripped off or something. I mean, I would be happy if I got to see that as well, both for the view and for her being alive.

  The walk is b. It's the same dull city the entire way. Few people are out and about now; the majority of people who are ht now are in the red light or eai district. Most shops have been closed, and workers and owners have gone home for the night. The housis out a bit of light from dles and magic bulbs. Silhouettes are painted on the drapes.

  I just force open the door to the shop. I've been in here enough to have memorized the mediocre ons they keep in stock thrown about like they don't care to sell a sihing. This small shop doesn't have anything worth stealing, so I keep heading to the back. The two guards are always in the back, b themselves to death, watg the door.

  I help them along, sending out a dagger for each as I move past the back curtain. Two guards down, six assassins, one handler, and the branch head left. Moving right on along, I pull operap door and hop down. Two more assassins cover the door. A few daggers ter, I've only got four assassi.

  Not breaking stride, I push past the final door to find everyone else I o kill in the room. The handler cowers behind her ter as the rest position themselves, thinking they actually have a ce against me.

  " you all save me the trouble and slit your throats?" Casually moving to the middle of the room preparing the same trick I did st time. None seem any strohan the girls I killed before. The leader is another warrior of some kind. To thin to be a knight or something, but definitely not a mage. Maybe a sedary affinity, but I doubt it. The assassi are all mages besides one, a true warrior. Ripped muscle lifting an oversized sword. Hardly an assassin.

  Did they hire some help? I'm sorry, Yuki. I'm likely going to o help you out here.

  "Slit your own throat. We've got you five to one. So slit your throat now or spill your reason for attag us."

  "I already told you all the purpose of my visits. You all o pay attention." I pull them all in and ssh out my daggers, catg the warriors off guard. Not death blows, but they'll make this fight a lot easier.

  Just as quickly, I expand the distance, giving me plenty of room to work with. The same old traps and dagger tricks oiful mages earhree kills. I didn't feel like keeping track of the handler, so I put her down with two mages, leaving me a mage and the two weakened warriors ihan a minute of fighting.

  I stop my dagger assault o mage, w my pn for the previous two warriors. They've drawn their ons, put o bit of armor, and started through the maze. Like always, it's slress. The leader is either hiding her sed affinity deeply or really is just a strange warrior build. I pn to not find out, but first, I o finish off the st pesky mage who is currently w some ritual magi the back.

  Yuki gave me a few bomb traps I feel are a perfect thing to send her way right now. Sending two, followed by a dagger, is more than enough to kill the weak mage, leavih the warriors.

  "Big one! Are you hired help?"

  They ignore my question, tinuing the slow work through the maze. The true warrior is likely here to fend off space magic; she's hiding something from me. Is it a teammate ability or one she uses on herself? I've got a few more traps I send their way first.

  I send a dagger each followed up by the trap. Both t on their armor to take the dagger. Defensive skills stop the bst from hitting them. If the skill was solo, they would've given her a mage for support. So it should be a team thing.

  Do they o be close to each other for it to work? Some type of sing thing or a rge dispel? They both put on full pte after my first attack. The hired help even took time to down a healing potion. I trap the rogue in a space distortion and bring her in close. I sh out with a knife, going for a knee joint, but send her away just as I attack. The distortion was broken, and an axe was swinging for my head.

  So, one ace was found. How many does she have? Was that a skill or entment? Felt more like a skill.

  Shit is Yuki in trouble. Her sound magic is going to be even worse against whatever they brought to ter me. Anyone brought in to ter space magic is going to ugh at her sound magic. I o speed this up ao her.

  I start telep myself around the room, not giving much thought to where exactly I end up. There is o be strategic; that just lets the assassins guess where I will show up . Daggers ready, I wait for the moment I end up close enough to one of them to strike.

  The merary is first. She seemed prepared for me to show up. She must have some affinity or skill for predig either the future or space magic.

  I only get a hit on her armor before I'm plopped away to a new er of the room, and the cycle starts again. Taking cheap shots at the two, hoping for a lucky hit.

  It takes a few dozen shots before I pierce skin, the left wrist of the merary. It wasn't deep, but it used up the st of the potion the warrior took earlier.

  I see the frustration. I've kept my minefield and rge space up on top of my many stant telep. I hid my bust size so they don't know the amount of mana I'm pying with. A much rger amount than they have themselves.

  My hit es much faster this time; just three more tries before the rogue is bleeding from her left leg, right behind the knee. A perfect strike stopped her from moving. On top of the previous hit makes her my target to kill now.I start to pn my teleports a ready t her to a pce to finish her off. Right as I start my st teleport, I see the merary fling a ko where I'm going a moment too te. I teleport through and duck. The knife finds my right shoulder, going in up to the hilt. Needing to make it worth the cost, I do a frenzy of sshes, keeping the girl on the defeill I find a ssh across her neck.

  Anger es flying at me. I kick the pue up into the knife, which deflects off her armor. My foot receives the most damage in the exge, but it puts her in a perfect pce to lose her head. I get a sli the fused woman, redug us to just one girl left.

  I keep the knife in my shoulder. It hurts like a bitch, but I've got to start my telep again. I 't pn too mu advance, or she'll see it. Stopping to drink a potion will just get me hurt again.

  With only oarget, she has a lot easier time defending my assault, but I still manage a few hits to her armor. Not that it ts for much. I try putting her in a distorted spad find she just breaks it immediately. I start moving her around in the ed space. Both of us moved around the room at a crazy speed. It limits the number of times I'm close to her, but she defends less of the sshes I send her way.

  "BREAK!" I hear pierto my brain as all my magic disappears. Even my tails and ears e out.

  "Oh, I'm getting toyed with, and you're hiding the best magie. Damn, I didn't ask enough for this job. e on bitch. You've got a mio live."

  With that she charges as I 't cast a single space spell. I even try my illusion spells and find nothing works. Desperate for a distra, I pop a balloon in her face. I get her to stumble a bit from the part trick, and I run. Pnning to py a little game of tag while her timer runs out.

  "Get back here, you bitch!" She screams as she gives chase.

  I sense mana behind me, so I dive to my left, careful to fall on the non-knifed shoulder, and a ssh of wind breaks the space I was just in. So, just spad illusion magic is broken right now. Or maybe my top two affinities? Either way, I'm now the one needing to dodge a barrage of skills ing my way.

  In my diving and rolling, the knife came out, letting my blood flow heavily out of my shoulder. It didn't e out ly. The extra cutting made my right arm fall limp at my side. A few of her strikes even hurt my perfect tails. She's lucky I o help Yuki, or I would have fun t the poor human.

  Ten seds left if her time is accurate. I've been trying small space magic every few steps, but I'm still not able to cast space magiother quick dive, and I try casting an illusion spell of her hitting the mark instead. The spell went through and tricked her into a follow-up strike on the imaginary enemy.

  Not wasting my ce, I strike out, jamming a ko the back of her knee, f her to fall over. I jam another into her other knee and push her down ft. My st knife went through her helmet and skull.

  With them all dead, I o heal, loot, and burn this shithole down quickly. After I get a healing potion in me, I've lost a little too much blood to do anything else first. I pick up her sword and strip the armor from the human. It isn't the best, but it's better than what is upstairs.

  I searched all the drawers but found not a si of paper. I search the leader's body and see she has nothing on her as well. I guess they were prepared to lose. I take out a firestone and light a bunch of fires on my way out. Putting on my disguise again, I run to my Lover. She better have all her body parts when I get there.