The assassin’s pupils contracted. A blind woman had exposed him.

Not only that, she had located him while he was using a concealment technique specially designed to evade human eyes and detection.

"No way..." He let out as he watched Viora get closer to him. But she didn’t say anything in return.

"Don’t want to say anything?" His grip tightened around the dagger. "Alright then."

Suddenly, his body shot forward like an arrow. The thing was, he wasn’t heading for Viora but for me.

"Damn it!"

I threw myself backward, knocking over my chair as the assassin’s dagger flashed through the space where my throat had been a fraction of a second earlier.

The blade sliced through the air, and a cold chill crawled across my skin. That attack wasn’t a warning; it was meant to kill me in one go.

It was good that I had evaded it, but the assassin didn’t stop after missing. His body twisted midair, and he launched a second strike immediately.

This time it was fast, way too fast. My eyes couldn’t see anything other than his body as the dagger descended toward my chest.

Swish!

I moved my arms in front of my face and chest, but I knew that I couldn’t endure this attack or defend myself against it.

But the blade never reached me.

I slowly opened my tightly closed eyes to see what had happened.

The blade was right in front of my face. However, there was a pale hand gripping the blade, where from blood was dripping down and falling onto my face.

"Viora!"

I subconsciously shouted her name as I saw her bleeding.

But even with all the bleeding and the assassin in front of us, her expression remained completely calm.

"Don’t touch him."

She let out, and the assassin immediately abandoned his weapon. Without hesitation, he released the handle and jumped backward.

But he wasn’t retreating. He was only preparing for his next attack. He raised his hand, and three hidden knives appeared between his fingers.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

The blades shot toward Viora from different angles. One targeted her neck, one her heart, and the third one her leg.

By his movements, he seemed like a professional who is used to kill with the least possible movements. He was a veteran killer. Every attack had a purpose.

Yet Viora didn’t dodge. Instead, she tilted her head slightly, and the first knife passed beside her cheek as it grazed it, leaving a trail of blood.

But as for the other two, she blocked one of them with her hand, and left the third one alone as it stabbed into her thigh.

"Viora!"

I shouted from behind her and got in front of her as fast as I could. But she just grabbed my hand and moved me behind her again.

"What are you doing, Viora? You are bleeding!"

Even though she moved in front of me, I still grabbed her bleeding hand and tried to stop the blood, but she just snatched her hand away and spoke in a low tone.

"Stay. Behind. Me."

As soon as she said that, she threw the dagger that had been in her hand toward the assassin, who was already preparing for his next attack.

His eyes widened slightly as he couldn’t even notice the blade thrown at him.

"What...?"

The assassin’s voice escaped before he could stop himself. For the first time, genuine fear entered his eyes.

Because the blade didn’t only get past him; it also struck his ear and sliced it off completely.

"ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!"

Meanwhile, several notifications continued appearing before me.

Ding!

[Beast-Like Combat State has been activated in response to Viora’s rage and anger!]

"How. Dare. You." Viora took a step forward without pulling out the knife from her leg. "Try. To. Hurt. Him."

The assassin didn’t speak in return. He only covered the place where his ear had been a moment ago.

Then, his body suddenly vanished, and alongside him, his breathing and even the killing intent that had filled the balcony moments ago faded into nothingness.

It was as if he had ceased to exist.

"W-Where did he go?"

I instinctively moved closer to Viora. Meanwhile, she remained motionless.

The knife embedded in her thigh was still there. Blood slowly trickled down her leg and dripped onto the floor of the balcony.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

At the same time, red liquid also continued flowing from the hand that had caught the assassin’s dagger earlier.

Thin crimson lines ran down her pale fingers before falling from her fingertips. Yet she didn’t seem to notice. Or maybe she didn’t care.

The wounds that had made me panic moments ago didn’t even receive a glance from her. Instead, her attention remained fixed on the empty air ahead.

"Found you."

Saying that, she began taking a few steps forward, one after another.

Her movement was slow and deliberate, as if she was walking toward someone standing in front of her.

But the balcony remained empty, at least to me.

"Viora..."

I called out to her, but she ignored me as she stopped right in front of a wall, and her hand shot forward.

GRAB!

Her fingers closed around nothing. For a brief second, absolutely nothing happened.

CRACK!

Suddenly, a pained grunt echoed through the balcony. Then a human arm appeared, followed by a shoulder.

Soon, the assassin’s entire body was forcibly revealed as Viora’s hand remained wrapped around his throat.

"W-What?!"

The assassin’s eyes were wide as his feet dangled several centimeters above the ground.

"No..."

The word escaped his lips as the fingers around his neck slowly tightened. He immediately tried to stab her arm with another hidden blade.

THUNK!

The knife sank into her forearm, however she didn’t even blink.

But it surely made the assassin panic.

Now, I couldn’t tell if it was the assassin who was dangerous or Viora.

"No... no..."

His breathing became erratic and he tried to pull away, yet the fingers around his neck only tightened.

"You. Can’t. Hurt. Him."

CRACK!

The sound of his neck breaking echoed across the balcony.

His eyes lost focus instantly, and his body went limp.