Having received the confirmation from the system that the girl in front of him was not one of the targets that he had to eliminate, Allen let out a quiet sigh of relief.
However, he still could not let his guard down.
He felt a constant, intense stare on him, coming from the girl in front of him.
Even though her tone with him was relaxed she had still been observing his every single movement, her red eyes tracking him like a hawk.
He watched as her eyes narrowed slightly, a flicker of calculation in them.
She was analyzing him and trying to make sense of the situation.
He could practically see the gears turning in her head. This strange guy had just ended the life of two fairly skilled individuals in an instant, with a weapon she had never seen before.
That was bound to raise questions.
Killing someone instantly was only possible by the experienced mages who had decades of training behind them and they were not the kind of people you'd find randomly wandering around in a forest like this.
Well, due to the location where she was right now it wasn't totally impossible for one to be here though.
But she had dismissed that thought after noticing how young Allen looked, something that was not akin to most, if not all great mages.
Therefore, after counting out all the possibilities, it was only natural for her to be at least a little wary of him.
His timing was a bit too unusual to be just a coincidence.
There was a lingering doubt in her mind that he was part of the people who were sent to kill her. Maybe he had killed his own men as part of a plan to get her guard down.
Allen could tell she was weighing the possibilities and trying to fit him into a box she understood.
Time was running out. She couldn't possibly stay here all day. She had to come to a decision and make it quick.
He saw her grip tighten on the hilt of her sword as her knuckles turned pale. Her posture transformed as her body shifted into an offensive position.
It was clear she had come to a decision.
Here we go, Allen thought.
With an explosive burst of speed, she kicked off the ground and launched herself toward him.
Allen was more of less expecting her to do something like this. After all, he probably would've done the same thing if he was in her shoes. Most people would.
Let's hope this works out, or I'm dead, he thought to himself and unfastened the vest he was wearing and wrapped it around his right arm.
The girl's sword reached him in an instant and all he saw was a silver blur aimed at his chest.
It was about to make a bloody mess out of him when he raised his right hand with the military vest on it and used it as a shield to block her attack.
A bit of relief washed over him when he realized that he had successfully stopped the blade from cutting him, but it wasn't long-lasting.
The transfer of kinetic energy that came from stopping a direct attack like that sent stinging vibrations all the way down to his bones.
[HP down to 70%!]
A notification popped up in front of his eyes as he clenched his teeth, trying to absorb the jarring pain.
He then looked at the girl, a surprised expression flashing across her face as her eyes widened due to sheer disbelief.
After all, he had not only killed two people instantly but he had also just now stopped her sword with what looked like a piece of cloth.
It wasn't unusual to say that she was starting to lose her rationale a little.
Allen wasted no time. Taking advantage of her astonishment, he pulled his right hand back and proceeded to connect a hard punch right to the side of her face.
He had put all his strength behind it and combined with the fact that he'd caught her a bit off guard, it was enough to send her tumbling backward a few steps.
"I told you already, I'm not here to kill you," Allen said to her, while at the same time taking a few steps backward and getting into a defensive posture to defend against any other incoming attacks from her.
It took the girl a few seconds before she was able to catch her balance and stand firmly back on her feet.
Looking in Allen's direction, the bewilderment in her eyes had increased.
"What reason do I have to believe you? Especially after you're saying that right after punching me in the face," she asked, her voice sharp.
"Isn't the fact that I haven't already killed you enough? And as for the punch, well you are the one who attacked me first," he replied.
"Do you take me for an idiot? Of course that's not enough! You could be acting that way just to deceive me!" she reasoned.
"Like hell I have the time or interest for that!" Allen said in an exasperated voice. "Look, I'm saying it again. I don't know what the fuck is the deal with you, but I'm not here to kill you or whatever.
"So just get lost and let me mind my business. I'm not really fond of fighting naked women anyway," he said.
Allen was right. While the situation they were witnessing was indeed quite tense, it didn't change the fact that the girl had been completely naked all this time.
Reacting to Allen's remark, a disappointingly exaggerated expression washed over her face.
"That's ridiculous. I have no time nor intent to care about my clothing when my life is on the line," she replied.
"Yeah, sure, whatever," Allen said, brushing her off and more or less ignoring her response. "As I said, I'm not here to kill you, so I—"
He suddenly stopped mid-sentence. He raised his hand which held the pistol and closed his left eye.
Then without waiting for a single second, he fired a shot.
BANG!
The bullet tore through the air with intense velocity, searing toward the girl and missing her head by the distance of barely an inch.
However, Allen let out a relaxed sigh. The bullet had not missed, it's just that she was not the target.
The girl, startled by the loud sound of the pistol and the slap of air she felt as the bullet went past her, turned behind her after realizing she had not been hit anywhere.
There, at the distance of about a hundred meters in the pond she had been bathing in just moments ago, was the limp body of a man dressed in similar clothing as the previous two.
The water of the pond had turned into a shade of crimson from his blood as his body floated effortlessly in it, his face drowning in the water.