Chapter 160 : The Change & The Choice

During the night, in the Mansion that belonged to Iris May Welford…

The Mansion was given by the King of Luxion Kingdom, for her contribution to the Kingdom.

From purging the corrupted nobles, creating alliance with the Elf Kingdom and being recognized as their heroes, and finally...

Her recognition as the first young noble woman who became an aura swordsman who also gained 5th circle in such a young age.

Although she managed to reach the 6th circle not too long ago, it was an information that was kept a secret from other people.

Right now, in her mansion, there's only several people live in that place.

Her maid, Silvi who had stayed with her ever since she was a child.

Her personal guard, Harson who had been guarding her and followed her ever since he was appointed to her.

And several other servants that she brought here herself to be her personal servants that couldn't be influenced and controlled by others.

And when everyone was fast asleep that night...

Someone sneaked into the mansion and went past to any security within the mansion then walked into Iris' room.

An assassin shows up and stealthily approached her, who was sleeping soundly on the bed.

The guy wore full black clothes and a mask to hide his identity, after that he brought out a dagger in his hand.

Confidently, he struck his dagger towards her, stabbing the sheets that covered her entire body.

"This is for the Empire." He spoke haughtily after he finished his job.

Little did he know...

*STAB*

"Huh—???"

He suddenly coughed blood and felt something warm within his chest.

'W-what is happening...?'

And when he looked down, he found a blade piercing through his chest from his back.

"A-agh—y-you are...."

The assassin turned his head around to look at the culprit who had done this.

And the culprit was none other than his own target, whom he was sure he had already killed…

"Ara~ even your heart getting pierced, you still capable to talk~"

She is now standing behind him, wearing full gear from head to toe. She was wearing her general uniform with the color of the night sky which matched her hair.

But in the dark, her eyes were blood red.

"H-how—"

The guy couldn't move at all, despite being struck on his chest. His body had yet to fall down and remained standing instead, much like a statue.

The young lady was [Iris May Welford] and the one who's currently controlling it now was [Hanamachii Yomi].

"You ask how~ but surely you know the answer~"

The young lady spoke, her gentle yet seductive tone while she struck this man with her new rapier.

Then she snapped her fingers as the figure that was on the bed, slowly dissipated like a mist.

'A-an illusion magic?!'

The assassin just finally realized the illusion that she just put on him.

"To think the Empire would move this fast, this is troublesome." The young lady spoke then her lips curved widely.

"But thanks to you I am able to test [his] gift~"

The guy shuddered upon seeing her smile, "Ughhh...just kill me! For the Empire! I will not answer you anything!"

"Okay~" The young lady answered without hesitation.

"Huh?—"

*SWOOSH*

The blade of her rapier suddenly swung up, easily cutting through his head into half.

"I was planning to do that anyway~"

His body fell down to the floor, painting the room red with his blood splatters.

Yomi swiped her sword aside to clean the blade from the blood, "Haaaah~ I have no idea such beautiful sword like this exists"

She admired her own rapier that was gifted by a certain man she loved.

"And to think he could forge a [Legendary Grade] weapon in just 7 years…"

=======================================

[The Silver Moon Rapier, Tsukuyomi]

Grade: Legendary

Type: Rapier

STRENGTH: +150

INTELLIGENCE: +200

AGILITY: +100

Durability: 100%

A rapier that was forged using the crystal that has been bathed under the moonlight, which can cause the dark steel from Adamantite turned white as silver as if it had been purified. It had been given the name of a certain God of the Moon from another world. It will give the power that enhances both the power of light and darkness, which represents the moon itself.

Skill:

[Sacred Light]

Active Skill

Duration : 10 min.

Cooldown : 60 min.

A skill that allows its user to create a sacred light of the moon from the blade itself to cut through their enemies, it increased both Strength and Agility by +20% and additionally, it granted the user the [Purify] power. (Warning: The skill will be turned off when the user use [Shadow Night])

[Shadow Night]

Active Skill

Duration : 10 min.

Cooldown : 60 min.

A skill that allows its user to create a dark energy from the shadow of the night from the blade, applies [Blind] debuff to their enemies, while increasing both Vitality and Intelligence by +20% and additionally, it grants [Shadow] status on the user during the duration. (Warning: The skill will be turned off when the user use [Sacred Light])

[Purify]

Due to the moonlight energy coursing through the blade, it could neutralize any kind of negative status effect towards everything it touches and it adds extra damage against [Dark Element] type of being.

[Shadow]

Behind the moon itself lies the dark shadow, the user will be [Immune] to any [Physical Attack] which passes through the shadow itself. This state can be canceled if it matches with [Light Element].

[God of the Moon]

Passive Skill

The creator gives the image of a certain god from another world. The God of Moon that blessed the user with increased damage of [Light Element] and [Dark Element] by 20%. As the name suggested, during the night, the user gained power of the moon which increased +50% overall status.

=======================================

'[Tsukuyomi], the God of Moon in our world...to think he would named it based on my name~'

Yomi couldn't help but smile and feel excited over her new weapon, but she had to wait.

"I'm still surprised they would move this fast." Yomi spoke.

'It is expected, since our enemies are those from [Empire].' Iris began to comment.

"[The Human Empire, Axel]...the Empire that was built for their creed...by human, only human, and for human." Yomi spoke.

'Human supremacy, but behind that..they only care for themselves and treat their people like laborers.'

'A textbook definition of dictatorship.' Iris explained.

"Yes, but because of that, they are more advanced than our Kingdom."

"If our Kingdom was built for the peace of humanity, then the Empire was built for the war of humanity." Yomi explained.

'True, but don't let your guard down.' Iris spoke.

"I know." Yomi spoke and raised her hand towards the corpse, and black magic circle appeared above it.

"[Whisper of the Dead]."

=======================================

[Whisper of the Dead]

Active Skill

MP Cost: 100

Cooldown: 60 sec.

With the power of death, the user can bind their enemy's soul and reveal all truths. (Can only be used when the enemy reached 0 HP) (Cannot be used against [Undead] or [Non-living] monsters)

=======================================

A soul then emerged from the corpse after she casted the spell.

*"Aaaaaaa..."*

"Now then~ tell me where your friends are~"

******

At the same time...

Within the mansion, there were several assassins that were sent to carry out a mission by the Empire.

And that was to kill [Iris May Welford] and the people who were close to her.

But there's something that they don't know.

"W-what is this place..."

An assassin spoke out after realizing that they lacked information about the mansion they were currently at.

At the mansion's backyard, there was someone who guarded this area.

The beautiful garden was covered by the blood of these assassins who came into this place.

Their bodies are scattered on the ground and a man wearing an armor and blue cape stood there alone with his sword coated with blue aura.

This man was given a title by his master who was known as the [Sword Saint].

[The Blue Giant, Harson].

"H-how can...a single man wiped all of us with just one sword..."

The assassin who was kept alive, couldn't do much as he watched his fellow assassins be massacred by this man.

"To think you would dare bring such weaklings to my master's mansion…it's clear to me that you have a death wish." Harson spoke coldly as he swung his sword to clean up the blood from the blade.

But the assassin stood his ground, "M-my comrades are already at the mansion...for the Empire...this sacrifice will not be in vain as long as your master is dead."

Harson looked at the assassin who boasted his beliefs and determination, yet looked visibly anxious.

Harson sighed at the pathetic sight of this assassin.

"W-why aren't you running?! Don't you have a master to prote—?!" The assassin was suddenly cut off by a sword that pierced through his throat.

"A-ack—..."

"On top of lacking information, you're all talk and no bite." He glared, "Before I send you off...i suppose i could tell you this much."

Harson leaned a bit closer and spoke, "My master is much stronger than me."

The assassin widened his eyes the moment he heard that.

"And her maid...is also stronger than me."

Afterwards, the assassin died from blood loss.

Harson then pulled his sword out and swung it again to clean off the blood.

"Haah…what tiring night, but if it's for my master, this much is nothing." Harson sighed while looking at the mansion.

******

Just like what he said, the fact that the maid was stronger than him was something he knew for many years already.

The assassins that barged into the mansion were now in the lobby.

But unlike at the Garden, these assassins couldn't move from their spot no matter how much they struggled.

No—rather being not able to move.

Their body were froze on their spots.

"W-who...the hell are you..." The female assassin spoke as her eyes gazed towards the person before them.

She had short silver hair and was wearing a maid outfit. There were two swords in her hands and something was lingering around her.

She was the granddaughter of the two legendary heroes, [The Witch] and [The Sword Saint].

[The Ice Princess, Silvi] was her title in the past.

Her icy silver aura caused the floor, the walls, the ceiling and her guest–the assassins to freeze due to this mysterious phenomenon.

Their legs were stuck on the floor by a thick layer of ice. Their weapons and arms began to freeze as well without being touched by her.

Then the maid gazed upon her, "I am just a maid of my beloved master, Iris May Welford."

"Remember that." Her eyes narrowed slightly as she answered the female assassin who couldn't hear her anymore because her entire body was frozen by the ice.

*SWOOSH*

Silvi swung her blade and their bodies shattered in pieces.

The assassins couldn't even put up a fight against her.

Silvi sighed and sheathed her blade, then turned her head around towards the direction of her master...

"Ojou-sama, do be careful."

*******

The numbers of the assassins had dwindled down because of Silvi and Harson.

Only a few of them are left to try their best to assassinate Iris.

But with those numbers, it was clear that these assassins were on a different level than the rest of them.

They were the [Elite Assassins] that had killed thousands of people with their skills.

Right now, these Elite Assassins are currently facing their target in the empty Training Room.

The elite assassins had only four people now, but they were more powerful and dangerous than the one who came before them.

The assassins wore masks that represent emotion.

One of them was a short guy with a sad mask, while holding sickles on both hands.

Then a girl with medium height figure was wearing a smiling mask, while holding a bow and bag of arrows hanging on her waist.

After that, a man with medium height build was wearing an emotionless mask. He's holding a sword and daggers strapped on his waist.

And finally, their leader, a big man wearing an anger mask. His whole body was covered in a cloak, it's hard to know what kind of combatant he was because his weapons were hidden.

"To think you would try to face us alone...child." The assassin with an anger mask spoke.

Yomi lured them here, confident to fight against them alone.

"Indeed~ it would be a hassle to try to search you all one by one~ so I lured you all here~" Yomi said, her eyes currently a blue sky color.

"Such a crazy kid, I like her~" The assassin with a smiling mask spoke.

"[Smile], she is our target, don't forget that." The assassin with an emotionless mask called her name.

"Yes yes~ don't be too harsh on me, [Emo]~" Smile called his name back.

"You two, focus on the mission." The assassin with a sad mask spoke.

"Don't lecture us, [Cry]." Smile called the short assassin's name.

They ended up just talking to themselves somehow, and Yomi was observing them.

But then...

"Quiet." With one word coming from the assassin with an anger mask, the three of them shut their mouths.

"Hahahaha~" Yomi burst out laughing, which successfully refocused all of their attention back to her.

"What a bunch of interesting assassins, you must have been quite close with each other." Yomi said with a big smile.

But the atmosphere around her suddenly changed, "So, did the Empire give you a heavy sum? My dear guest...or should I call you, [The Four Clover]?~"

The elite assassins didn't respond to her even after she revealed their group name.

Yomi continued by slowly pointing them out one by one, "[Smile], [Emo], and [Cry]~ all represent the emotion of your masks."

"Then for you...is it [Anger]?~" Yomi pointed at the assassin with an anger mask.

"Hmm...no, I am [Wrath]." The assassin revealed.

"Wrath?" Yomi repeated and her lips curved widely.

"I see~ I see~"

"Is there something wrong with that name?" Wrath spoke upon seeing her reaction.

"No no~ it's just... your name reminds me of someone I know~" Yomi spoke.

"Someone you know? A dead person?" Wrath provoked.

*SWOOSH*

Yomi suddenly reappeared right at the center of their group.

"....?!"

Which caught them by surprise. Yomi's expression suddenly darkened and stopped smiling.

"You sure talk too much for an assassin..." Her tone was cold as ice, putting her bloodlust on blast which caused them to fear her.

Yomi unsheathed her silver rapier and twirled her body, then struck them with her blade in a perfect circle.

*TING*

The assassins responded to her attack by blocking it with their weapons.

'So heavy...!?' and yet...

Their bodies got pushed back, forcing them to scatter from their group.

At that moment, they were shocked by her sudden movement.

'I can't see her movement….me.?' Wrath thought in disbelief.

"Hmm~ so that's your weapon? An assassin using their fist to kill someone…that's new." Yomi mentioned the weapon Wrath was holding.

He was wearing a gauntlet, with no other weapons, unlike the others.

"Killing someone without alerting anyone about their existence is what it means to be an assassin" Wrath replied to her comment.

*CLAP*

Yomi clapped her hands, "I see~ so any weapon can do, even with your own body."

"Very interesting, I learned quite a lot today~" Yomi nodded excitedly as if they weren't subjected to her bloodlust earlier.

"T-this is really bad boss...I don't think we can win this fight..." Cry felt his body tremble in fear just from her presence.

"Don't cower Cry...we must win even though it might cost us a limb or two." Wrath encouraged.

"Yes, Cry...do you remember? We are a team." Emo suddenly spoke out as well.

"Yeah~ with four of us, we are invincible!~" Smile spoke out to lighten up the mood.

"Y-you guys..." Cry felt the heartwarming words from his comrade and about to burst into tears.

But the warm atmosphere around them was suddenly broken by the young lady before them.

"Wow~ what a heartwarming friendship! You make me look like a bad villainess~" Yomi giggled.

"In that case, I shall respect those wishes. So do not [interfere] you guys~" As soon as she said that, Wrath could see the shadow underneath her moved for a moment.

'Did it just...move?'

"Now then~ show me...what you got—"

Before Yomi could finish her words...

*SWOOSH*

Cry and Emo jumped at her with full speed and swung their weapons at the same time to surround her completely.

*TING*

But before their blades could reach her throat…

The tip of their blades was stopped by a small hexagonal shaped barrier for each of their weapons.

"....?!"

Meanwhile, Yomi didn't move an inch from her spot.

"Is that all?~"

She was acting so cocky and it irritated them.

"Kuh—?!"

Emo grabbed three daggers on his waist and threw them on her head since she was fully occupied by their current attacks.

*SWOOSH*

Yomi reacted to the daggers and lifted her rapier...

*TING*

Then swiped them sway with just a single swing, without looking.

".....?!"

*SWOOSH*

Then an arrow was shot by Smile which flew straight towards the back of Yomi's head.

*THUD*

But she grabbed the arrow with her bare hand without looking back at all.

"....?!" Smile was surprised that she caught her arrow. 'Does she have eyes on the back of her head?!'

*CRACK*

Yomi simply smiled and broke the arrow with her hand.

*SHATTERS*

Cry shattered one of the barriers that was used to block their attack with his two sickles that were clad with his blue aura.

"Don't underestimate me!"

He shouted then spun his body around, and swung his sickles in full swing.

*TSKKKK*

But another hexagonal barrier appeared and blocked his strike.

"Huh—?!"

*SWOOSH*

But in a swift moment, Yomi turned around so quickly that she appeared right on Cry's face.

"Wha—?!" It shook him for a moment, and that was when Yomi took him by surprise by grabbing his head and…

*BAM*

Threw him face first to the ground, "Stay~"

"Ack—!?"

"Cry!" And when Emo was about to swing his sword.

*BAM*

Yomi proceeded to spin her body around and swing her right leg, kicking him right on the abdomen.

"Ughh—?!"

It sent him a few distances away from her.

"Heh~"

Yomi single handedly countered their attacks without breaking a sweat.

After their attacks failed, it gave a moment for Wrath to approach her which made it look as if he appeared out of nowhere in front of her.

Then he launched his fist towards her, where she was vulnerable.

"Die."

With his full strength, he swung his fist that was clad in red aura.

"[Destruction Fist]."

*BAM*

A direct hit.

The other three assassins knew that this one hit punch was much stronger than they had ever seen before.

However...

"....?!"

Yomi remained unharmed after getting hit by that strong punch.They could see his fist was still on her abdomen, but her body didn't budge an inch. Even without her barrier.

"Wow~ that was amazing~" She praised, which surprised them and sent chills down their spine.

'N-no...way...' Wrath, who was considered to be the strongest in their team, knew that this young lady in front of him wasn't a normal human.

'She....is a monster.' Wrath and the rest of them pulled themselves back, even Cry who was stuck on the ground a moment ago.

They couldn't even graze her, nor even hurt her at this point.

"Hm…I guess that's all for you guys." Yomi spoke as she suddenly appeared right in front of Wrath.

'....?!'

"I shall give you a small gift for your hardwork~" Yomi poked his chest.

The moment her index finger touched him…

'[Dark Pulse]~' A small dark orb was created

*BAM*

And hit Wrath in zero point distance.

"Ughhh—?!"

It sent him flying and crashing against the wall behind him.

Wrath couldn't even react to her attack as his body fell to the ground.

"Wrath!!!"

The rest of the assassins didn't hesitate to run at their leader even after failing their attacks against her.

But when they're about to move…

*"Do not move."*

They were stopped by something that appeared out of nowhere and aimed their weapons at them.

"Ara~ didn't I tell you not to interfere, Kaiser?" Yomi spoke towards the undead she had summoned and the rest of them.

[The Death Knight, Kaiser], who's currently taken Emo custody with his giant sword which was aimed towards his throat from behind..

[The Death Guardian, Harold], who had taken Smile custody by aiming his hammer from behind.

Then, [The Lich King, Grayson], who had taken Cry custody by using dark magic that chained his body with his own shadow.

They froze in place, totally unable to notice their presence.

'Since when...' Emo thought as he could feel the cold blade slowly grazing his neck.

"Do not move!!!" Wrath shouted, "Or you guys will die..." he couldn't even move his body and remained on the ground but he still tried to warn his teammates to stop their struggles.

Yomi slowly approached him.

"That was boring, I was expecting it to be a hard fight since you all came from the almighty [Empire]."

"But I guess this is the only level you could reach." Yomi spoke down towards Wrath.

"[Necromancy] and high-level combat techniques...the Empire's information network is so lacking..." Wrath coughed out blood, "...to think there's someone as powerful as you in this peaceful idiot [Kingdom]."

"You managed to fool both the Kingdom and the Empire....it is our loss." Wrath admitted defeatedly

"Indeed, it was hard to hide this power."

"And I know, this peaceful idiot kingdom isn't aware of your movement." Yomi replied to his remarks.

"But for 7 years...I didn't slack off with my training despite coughing out blood and exhausted myself to the point where I am about to die."

"I continue to train...just for this moment. Doing everything I could to prepare myself against people stronger than me."

"To be a monster...just like him." Yomi whispered as she leaned down towards Wrath.

Wrath could feel the pressure on each word she spoke, revealing her strength that effortlessly overwhelmed these elite assassins.

He couldn't say anything in return, because he knew that she was fighting against them fair and square without trickery.

"Do you have any final words?" Yomi spoke and lifted her rapier.

"Wrath!!" Emo cried out but he couldn't move at all with the sword on his neck.

"No!!!" Cry shouted out.

"Don't do this!!" Smile begged.

Wrath looked up to her deviantly, "Hmph...just go to hell."

Yomi smiled, "Then I will be waiting~"

She struck him down with her rapier, and the blood splattered everywhere, including her face.

When she turned around, the three assassins were glaring at her full of hatred.

And she simply showed them her sweetest smile in return.

"You monster..." Cry cursed.

But Yomi just shrugged it off, "Indeed, I like the sound of that~"

The moment she snapped her fingers was when all of them were killed by her undeads in cold blood.

Yomi sighed as she could see her rapier was drenched by their blood, then she wiped it off while her undeads lined all the corpses in front of her.

"Well I guess that's it then~" She stretched her arms and smiled.

Iris, who had been watching everything from her point of view, realized something.

'Yomi.' Iris called her out.

"Yes?" Yomi answered.

'Are you...okay?' Iris asked since this is probably her first kill after 7 years of training.

Yomi smiled weakly, "I'd lie if I said I was okay."

'I see…but why did you kill them?' Iris continued, 'You know you can make them as your comrade instead of killing them off.'

"Well, that could be an option, but if I let them live...who knows what would happen in the future."

'Future? Can you elaborate on it?' Iris asked.

"I mean each of them are different human beings, having different personalities."

"That would mean some of them can be loyal to me, I can tell they were good people who tried to cover for each other."

"But...what if someday one of them was caught and became hostage, then one of them acted differently and betrayed us." Yomi explained what went through her head at the time.

"You know such a relationship could cost us a lot of trouble, right?" Yomi spoke coldly.

Iris sighed, 'I know, you might be overthinking it now, but it can be a possibility in the future.'

"Exactly, I wouldn't risk such a cliché possibility." Yomi explained.

"Not only that, they came prepared to kill me, which also means...they were prepared to be killed by me."

In the past 7 years, the only one who changed was not only Rei, but also Yomi, who experienced a lot of stuff.

Unlike Rei, she was dragged here without her will.

That's why to survive in this world, to be able to be with the man she loved...

'I will do anything...to go back with him, no matter how dirty I become.'

Yomi raised her hand towards these dead corpses.

'I hope you resent the one who hired you, and if you do...'

'I shall help you with your revenge~'

Her body was clad in a dark magic aura, and it expanded to surround the corpses as well.

"[Raise Undead]."

To be continued...