"Baudin, Xiaolong, Danrisha…"
Lucille slowed his steps, muttering under his breath.
The three figures blocking the alley's exit turned to face him. Escape was no longer an option. More importantly, this alley was the only direct route to the next main street. Bypassing it would cost him at least half an hour—time he didn't have.
"Why did it have to be them…" Lucille felt a headache coming on. As a seasoned player, he knew these three all too well, which was exactly why he wanted to avoid them.
They were the game's earliest antagonists. Though they possessed only ordinary human strength, they were more than a match for a player who hadn't yet embarked on the path of transcendence. In the game, once players gained power, they could easily turn the tables in a classic "thirty years east, thirty years west" reversal.
But now, Lucille could only try to outwit them.
He approached the trio slowly, his mind racing for a plan.
"Danrisha," he called out when he was a few steps away, seizing the initiative. "Go report to your superiors. The mission has failed."
"Superiors?" Danrisha, who had been advancing toward Lucille, froze. His expression flickered several times before he signaled his companions to stop. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't play dumb. I know you're the Shadow Cult's informant," Lucille said, feigning exhaustion. "The mission failed. The target was rescued by a green-haired girl. I'm badly injured, and the others have gone after her. Hurry up and report this to your superiors. Trust me, you can't afford the consequences of delaying critical information."
Danrisha's face remained a mix of suspicion and uncertainty. He clearly hadn't expected to encounter an ally in this place, but only someone from the cult's higher ranks would know his identity.
He was already half-convinced.
"Fine, I'll go," Danrisha said with a nod, stepping back cautiously. "But… you promised me—"
"I know you've been after a Duty Crystal," Lucille interrupted, waving his hand dismissively as if the trio were beneath his notice. "Relax. Once this is over, the cult will give you… a lead on it."
He strode past them confidently.
"Alright! You better keep your word!" Danrisha's doubts finally melted away. He turned and bolted in the opposite direction.
Lucille watched coldly as the other two followed Danrisha, disappearing from sight. He let out a long breath of relief.
Using the Duty Crystal itself as bait would've been too suspicious. Thankfully, he'd caught himself and offered only a "lead" on it, which sounded far more plausible.
Without wasting another moment, Lucille hurried forward. This time, no surprises interrupted him. He successfully rented a carriage, though it cost him every coin he had.
In the game, he'd driven carriages before, but in this world, he found himself inexplicably more adept at it—a welcome surprise. He urged the horses to a gallop, racing through the streets. The assassination incident was even more severe than he'd anticipated. Alarm bells echoed through the city, and the guards seemed to have been drawn to the opposite end of town.
The moment he secured the carriage, his avatar shifted course, heading toward his real body.
Ten minutes later, Lucille and the green-haired girl rendezvoused. The Little Princess was carefully placed inside the carriage. This was Lucille's first time seeing her in person.
Despite her plain disguise, the Little Princess's ethereal aura and graceful figure were undeniable. Her pearl-like skin shimmered faintly, and her delicate hair brushed against her refined features. Long lashes trembled slightly as she lay unconscious, like a figure from a breathtaking painting.
The only dissonance in this masterpiece was the small dagger embedded in her chest.
Lucille pulled the dagger out. No gush of blood followed. Instead, a faint white light enveloped the wound, healing it at a visible pace.
Outside the magic-sealing zone, the magical artifact the Little Princess carried was enough to keep her alive.
But the battle was far from over.
After settling the princess, Lucille's avatar turned and left, heading straight for the three assassins.
The assassins could only track the curse on the Little Princess, never expecting her to circle back and ambush them. This was her chance.
Night Stride.
Her figure dissolved into the air, silently awaiting the assassins' arrival. Soon, faint, hurried footsteps reached her ears. Guided by instinct, she struck with her dagger. A muffled grunt followed, and droplets of blood splattered onto the ground.
Someone was injured.
"Who's there?!"
"They couldn't have caught up this fast!"
"It's her! She's come back to ambush us!"
"Hold her off! I'll go after the target!"
After a brief exchange, two assassins stayed behind to search for the green-haired girl, while the one with the sinister voice pursued the curse's trail.
Three against one had become two against one.
The green-haired girl deliberately revealed herself. Intercepting three assassins with stealth skills wasn't easy, so she'd intentionally let one slip away.
One assassin's chest was stained red, yet a sly grin spread across his face. His dagger danced in his hand, and a faint purple glow emanated from a dark gem embedded in the back of his hand.
"Little girl, you didn't think my injury would make us easy prey, did you?" he sneered. "I'll admit, you're a genius. The aura you exude is already on par with mine. A talent like you at such a young age… I almost hate to kill you."
"But you're in my way!"
The assassin transformed into a shadow, closing in on the girl with blinding speed. His dagger vanished into an unexpected angle, only to reappear from another—plunging into her heart.
A curse automatically activated, seeping into her body.
Even if she survived, the curse would let him track her anywhere.
But it seemed he wouldn't need it.
"Game over," the assassin said with a twisted grin, yanking out the dagger. Blood sprayed, drenching him, but he reveled in it, his smile growing more deranged.
Yet his grin quickly faded.
The blood splattered on him came alive, coiling around him like a living thing before he could react. It wrapped tightly around his body, turning his face purple. In his final moments, his eyes widened in horror as he saw another gem—a blood-red one—embedded in the back of the girl's hand.
"Blood Knight… Tier Six or Seven? No… impossible… impossible!"
"How could… someone like you… exist in this world?!"
The green-haired girl smirked.
You think a native like you could fathom how fast I maxed out a class in the game?
As the blood-red gem fused further into her body, her dark night suit transformed into rugged, crimson armor. She turned her head toward the remaining assassin, a faint smile curling her lips.
He was already fleeing into the night, terrified out of his wits.
Blood Knight—the natural counter to Shadow Assassins.
If he hadn't run, he'd already be dead.
With a bored expression, she pulled out a white gem and pressed it firmly into the back of her hand.