Blood Red Sunset Part 3

"That light... Is that Liksi?"

"Her movements changed all of a sudden!"

But that's not the end of it all.

"60dB: Hip Hop."

At the end of her serene and calm voice, Lyrica broke into a dash straight towards the female assassin.

'S-She's fast! And that stance... Does she plan to charge at me and hit me head-on?'

If it was head-to-head combat, the female assassin would have tried to charge Lyrica as well.

"Liksi!"

Bwooh!

But that's not how assassins like her get rid of her target. Assassins like her strike their preys where they can't be seen. And it's done swiftly and precisely.

"Come!"

The female assassin took out a certain black ball from inside her dark coat.

"Huu...!"

She raised her arm along with the ball in her hand and was about to throw it right in front of her as Lyrica got closer and closer. But before she could do so...

Glance!

"Hm?"

The assassin saw Lyrica's charcoal eyes turn to her left, that's when the female assassin realized she wasn't the girl's target. However, she realized it a few seconds too late.

Stomp! Bwop!

With a swift turn to her left, Lyrica extended one of her legs forward. And from her fists to her leg, her barrier took form, taking a shape of an elongated shoe heel that stretches at about half a meter.

"Y-You bastard!"

The assassin whom Lyrica had her eyes on raised both his arms to protect himself.

"It's useless," Lyrica said nonchalantly as she let the momentum carry her toward him.

Bam!!

"Arrgh!!"

As if she's going through a soft futon, Lyrica's Iron Maiden made it clear for the assassin that raising his guard is futile, hammering her barrier onto his arms along with his face.

'W-What was that?!' He screamed in agony right as his back raked the surface. 'It's too heavy! It's almost as if a few hundred kilos of hollow blocks were thrown at me all at once!'

Without even getting a chance to strike at Lyrica, the assassin eventually lost consciousness. An opportunity to finish one of those who are chasing Lyrica down just presented itself in front of her.

"Sleep for good."

Lyrica's barrier returned to her fists, and as she was about to do the final blow...

"We won't let you!"

The three others appeared behind Lyrica, and one of them had blades sprung out of their gauntlet like an eagle's talons.

"Breaking."

"Haa!"

Swing!

The assassin tried to hack the head of Lyrica with his sharp blade, but it was all for naught as the girl swiftly disappeared from where the assassin could see her.

"Where–!"

Dugon!!

"Guaagh!!"

The assassin got shot up with a heavy uppercut from Lyrica, and shortly after that, Lyrica threw a straight punch with both hands towards his chest and sent him away. In the end, the assassin never saw Lyrica's face again as he helplessly fell unconscious like the others.

"Damn you!"

"Die!"

The remaining two assassins tried to attack all at once with their fists and knives.

"Don't you realize your emotions are hindering you both from actually hitting me?" She said rather casually as she dodged all of their attacks with Breaking. "A real assassin do not attack their target out of pure impulse, but kill them swiftly and without hesitation."

While continuously avoiding each of their strikes, Lyrica is also looking at the duration of Heavy Metal along with Hip Hop from the corner of her eyes. Heavy Metal only has a minute left until it disappears.

"My friend admires assassins because of how cool they are being portrayed in almost every anime she had watched, but looking at you now makes me think assassins portrayed in my world is a lie," Lyrica uttered in a mocking voice.

"You damn brat!"

One of the assassins jumped back a couple of times before throwing a flurry of knives at Lyrica. In response to that, Lyrica just stood to the trajectory of the knives and deactivated Iron Maiden.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Her barrier covering her whole body stopped the knives from hitting Lyrica and dealing damage to her.

Blink!

Right then, the female assassin teleported behind Lyrica with a menacing glow in her eyes.

"Haa!"

Blam!!

The female assassin swung her short sword onto Lyrica, despite knowing it'll do nothing but create an ear-piercing sound.

"Are you an idiot?" Said Lyrica as she gave the female assassin a blank gaze.

"It's my thanks for reminding us who we are!" She replied as she jumped backward. "You two, let's go!"

Seemingly understanding the female assassin's message, the two others jumped back before trying to take something out of their dark coat. The two each took out a black ball, similar to the one the female assassin was holding and was about to throw to the ground when she thought Lyrica was going after her. And then...

"Here you go!"

Bwoooosh!

The three remaining assassins threw the black balls in front of Lyrica, and then it all exploded simultaneously and created a mass of dark smoke, rendering the girl's eyes from seeing her surroundings.

"If I remember correctly, this is what Erika called a "smokescreen," it renders people from seeing their surroundings and their opponent's movements," Lyrica stated as her charcoal eyes follow the direction of the assassin's presence while they move around her in the darkness.

Right then, their presence also disappeared, which Lyrica already expected to happen. Lyrica finds their ability to conceal their presence quite threatening, but at least she finally knew such a thing is possible, as well as how she will counter it in the future.

"It doesn't matter if I can't see you..."

A couple of knives clad in mana was thrown at Lyrica, though it was useless like usual.

"It doesn't matter if I can't sense you either."

She couldn't see it, but she could hear the sound of blades grinding onto her barrier vigorously.

"So long as I have my Heavy Metal, you can't hope to even scratch me," Lyrica uttered as she lifted one of her legs. "But I don't have much time, so I'll end this now."

Crash!

Fwoosh!

"We are assassins, but..." The female assassin spoke as she appeared in front of Lyrica. "But we were once a group of knights as well!"

"Wha..." Lyrica's eyebrows furrowed before the sight of the female assassin's short sword emitting a strange red aura around it. 'That light, it's like Lakas and Fierock but in a weapon!'

Without wasting a moment, the female assassin leaped onto Lyrica.

"It won't work!" Lyrica mouthed as she braced herself on the impact.

With one of her forearms against the strange short sword, the two clashed once more. To Lyrica's relief, she could barely feel the impact of the short sword after striking her armor-covered forearm, albeit she still received little damage. But then...

Clingggg~!

"T-The short sword is–"

"Heh!"

Slowly but surely, the female assassin's short sword is starting to pierce through Lyrica's barrier.

"You've been making a stoic face until now, but it looks like you're finally starting to crumble, kid." She mocked Lyrica.

"D-Don't push your luck," Lyrica replied as she activated Iron Maiden, putting herself on an equal putting against the female assassin.

"Your Tibay becomes stronger depending on its shape, in fact, it seems like my short sword isn't doing anything much anymore. But..."

Thud!

Thud!

"I don't have to be the one to kill you."

Right as she said that, the two other assassins appeared out of nowhere, standing far from each side of Lyrica.

"Liksi!"

"Liksi!"

The two dashes forth.

'T-They got me!' Lyrica said to herself as a drop of sweat ran down her cheek.

"Now then, what are you going to do?"

Lyrica needed to protect herself from the two assassins coming at her, but if she try to retract her Iron Maiden, even if she could protect herself from the two others, the female assassin could just patiently pierce through her barrier or just wait until Heavy Metal finished playing.

[Heavy Metal will end in five seconds!]

'Great! Looks like time isn't on my side either!'

[5]

The assassins are getting closer by the second, if she doesn't do anything, she will be killed. Lyrica knew that.

[4]

However, even if she tried to retract Iron Maiden now, it will just disappear right at the moment where they can strike her and inflict fatal damage onto Lyrica.

[3]

'I don't have enough mana to use another 100dB: Heavy Metal. And even at that level, this bastard could pierce through it. Using Heavy Metal at a level any lower than 100dB is just giving myself a few seconds to live!'

[2]

'T-This is it!' Lyrica thought as the other assassins are only a couple of meters from her.

[1]

'I'll be killed!'

[0]