Chapter 69

Grace maintained her smirk as she looked intently into the glowing white eyes of the shadowy figure. "Oh? I can't see your thoughts," she remarked aloud, her tone tinged with amusement. The figure remained silent, its glowing white eyes fixed on Grace with an eerie intensity.

Realization dawned on Grace as she assessed the situation. "I see, you're a summon, aren't you?" she deduced, her smirk widening into a grin. "Hah, this will be a bit more boring than, but whatever, let's get on with it," she declared, her fists clenched in anticipation.

Without hesitation, Grace charged at the shadowy figure, her steps echoing through the hallway. The figure mirrored her movements, its armored footsteps resonating in response. As they closed the distance between them, the figure swung its right arm toward Grace's throat in a swift, calculated motion. Grace effortlessly evaded the attack with a deft weave, her smirk still firmly in place. In that moment, she noticed the figure conjuring a dagger made of shadows, its form materializing in the middle of the swing.

"Cool trick," she commented casually, acknowledging the entity's abilities. Undeterred, the figure launched another attack, this time aiming a punch at Grace's face with its left arm. Grace reacted swiftly, intercepting the attack by seizing the figure's fist in her hand. However, as their hands made contact, Grace felt a sharp prick on her palm, prompting her to instinctively withdraw her hand.

*What was that?* Grace questioned, her brows furrowing in curiosity as she backed away from the shadowy figure. Her gaze shifted to the figure's left hand, where she noticed spiked knuckles made of shadows had formed.

Grace let out a whistle as she looked into the shadowy figure's glowing eyes once more. "That could have been bad," she said before letting out a small exhale and shrugging her shoulders. "If it hit, of course," she added nonchalantly. The shadowy figure, now armed with a shadow dagger in its right hand and spiked shadow knuckles in its left, charged at Grace again, who remained unmoving as the shadowy figure closed the distance.

With a swift movement, the figure swung with both hands, aiming to strike Grace. However, right before it could make contact, Grace snapped with her left hand and disappeared from the shadowy figure's view. Suddenly, the figure was launched across the hallway from a powerful kick to its spine, delivered by Grace. It crashed to the ground with a heavy thud, rolling briefly before retreating back into the shadows.

Grace chuckled softly. "I figured you didn't notice," she remarked, her tone teasing as she clenched and unclenched her right hand. "I marked you back there," she continued, her gaze fixed on the shadowy figure as it cautiously poked its head out from the thick shadows, its glowing white eyes focused intently on Grace.

"Don't think hiding in the shadows will do anything anymore," she asserted confidently. With a snap of her fingers on her right hand, the shadowy figure materialized in front of her, caught off guard by Grace's sudden attack. Before it could react, Grace delivered a swift and powerful punch to its stomach, sending it hurtling across the hallway once again. But Grace wasn't finished.

In a blur of motion, she snapped her left hand's fingers and blinked behind the shadowy figure as it soared through the air. With impeccable timing, she unleashed a powerful roundhouse kick to its neck, sending it crashing into the wall with a resounding impact. The force of the blow caused the wall to crack upon collision.

Seemingly dazed by the attack, the shadowy figure attempted to retreat into the shadows once more, but Grace was relentless. Taking advantage of the momentary vulnerability, she lunged forward and plunged her left hand into the opposite wall, tearing out a large chunk of it. With swift precision, she swung the chunk of wall at the shadowy figure, staggering it as it collided with its back.

Before it could recover, Grace seized the opportunity, grabbing the shadowy figure by the head and slamming it into the wall with tremendous force. She repeated this brutal assault several times, each impact echoing through the hallway. Finally, with a forceful motion, Grace slammed the shadowy figure's head into the floor, leaving a dent in its wake. Gripping it firmly, she dragged it across the entire length of the hallway, the figure's face scraping against the unforgiving floor. With a final display of strength, Grace hurled the shadowy figure through the closed door at the end of the hallway, shattering it into pieces upon impact.

"Whew, that was a nice workout," Grace remarked, wiping off an imaginary sweat from her brow before peering into the room the shadowy figure had been guarding. To her dismay, there was nothing of significance inside—no ritual circle, no incense, nothing indicating the presence of the summoning ritual.

"Well, that's disappointing, but whatever. I should inform birdbrain about this," Grace muttered to herself as she reached for the communication device. However, before she could activate it, she felt something grip her leg. Looking down, she saw the shadowy figure still clinging to her, determined to fulfill its duty.

"You're still alive?" Grace said incredulously, a hint of amusement in her voice. With a casual flick of her wrist, she unleashed a beam of light from her palm, effortlessly obliterating the shadowy figure. She could have ended the fight at any moment, but she had chosen to prolong it for her own entertainment.

"Now, where were we?" Grace muttered, her attention back on the device. Pressing the button on the device, she spoke into it, "The summoning isn't taking place in the basement." Yet, to her surprise, there was no response. "Oi! Are you listening?" Grace exclaimed into the device, but still, there was no answer. *Did something happen?* she wondered, a hint of concern creeping into her thoughts.

Before she could dwell on it further, a voice pierced the silence from behind her. "Don't worry about your allies; worry about yourself." Startled, Grace spun around to face the source—a man with raven-black hair and pink eyes, clad in a unique style of armor, sporting a smirk on his lips. "Who?" Grace demanded, her guard instantly raised as she assessed the newcomer.

The man's chuckle echoed through the dimly lit hallway. "Not even a hint of fear, huh? Then again, why would you fear someone weaker than you?" he remarked, shaking his head in apparent amusement. Grace's expression remained steely as she demanded once more, "Who are you?" Her voice dripped with a dangerous edge, a clear warning to the intruder.

The man maintained his smirk, seemingly unfazed by Grace's intimidation. "Wow, you're so scary," he taunted with another chuckle. He then straightened himself and performed an exaggerated bow. "My name is Orian Lorenz, The Deadliest Man Alive. Nice to meet you."