Blood was dripping down her back, pooling in her boots, and her ribs felt like they were on fire.
But as she turned her head toward the dark corners of the chamber, Thalia's golden eyes were burning with a predatory glint.
There was only one assassin on the ground in sight. And he clearly looked hesitant to approach her, even in her battered state.
In the end, however, the boy mustered some courage and blitzed in, too fast for any normal B-ranker to comfortably track.
So Thalia didn't.
She predicted where the attack would come from instead, and used the short sword she had pulled from her own back to parry his thrust.
—CLACK!
Sparks showered between them, illuminating the boy's featureless red mask for a split second. But because he was so unreasonably quick, his stance was very overcommitted.
No doubt it would've served him well against any other opponent, but not against Thalia.
