The dark environment was meaningless to Elia.
She could clearly see the twitching of everyone’s muscles and the frequency of every breath.
“Someone’s here!” a mercenary screamed, pointing in a direction, but it was only the sound of wind that Elia had intentionally created.
The mercenary drew his bow and fired. The arrow pierced the air but missed, thudding deep into a tree trunk.
She had already used **[Quick Step]** to flash into the shadows 5 meters away.
‘A smart choice, but too late.’
Elia launched an attack from the side.
Her body slid along the ground. Before a mercenary could react, her dagger had already pierced his calf. The man didn’t even have time to scream before she drove a knee into his abdomen, sending him crashing hard into a nearby tent.
‘Two more.’
Elia didn’t back down; instead, she actively lunged forward.
The scar-faced man’s voice began to tremble, but his swordsmanship was decent. He attempted a horizontal slash to block Elia’s path of retreat. The man’s strength was indeed great, but before her **[Weakness Insight]**, he was full of openings. He was too slow.
She didn’t take the hit head-on. Instead, she moved close the moment he swung his sword, delivering a mid-air elbow strike that slammed hard into his temple.
*Thud!*
The scar-faced man slumped to the ground.
‘One left.’
Seeing things take a turn for the worse, the archer turned and tried to flee into the forest.
‘Thinking of escaping?’
A cold voice rang out in front of him. Elia had somehow already blocked his path.
The man instinctively raised his weapon, but his trembling arms betrayed his fear.
“Die!” he roared as he charged, his sword thrusting straight toward Elia’s chest.
It was quite fast; an ordinary person might not have been able to dodge it.
But Elia simply leaned to the side as the blade grazed the edge of her clothes. Her fist then slammed firmly into the mercenary’s ribs.
*Crack!*
The crisp sound of breaking bones rang out.
The man collapsed to the ground screaming, letting out a subhuman wail.
Elia raised her foot and stepped on his face. The world instantly became quiet.
Using a tent rope she found, she tied the five men together in a line and threw them under a tree.
**[Combat Result]**
**[Evaluation: Perfect Victory]**
**[Defeated “Street Thugs (Level 4) x 5”]**
**[Total XP Gained: 50]**
[Assassin XP +30]
[Stealth XP +10]
[Quick Step XP +5]
[Basic Combat XP +5]
**[Under a non-lethal state, the XP gain rate is adjusted to 50%]**
Elia looked indifferently at the “trash” groaning on the ground. She walked over to the scar-faced man and leaned down to look into his fear-filled eyes.
“Begging for mercy?” Her voice was flat, sounding hardly human.
The scar-faced man couldn’t make a sound. He could only look at her piteously, hoping for a sliver of mercy.
But seeing Elia’s indifferent eyes, he knew very well that such a thing as mercy did not exist in this woman.
Elia stood up and patted her hands as if dusting them off, then turned toward the darkness at the edge of the camp.
“Come out, Mr. Baal, and everyone else.”
A long sigh came from the shadows.
“Well, I didn’t expect someone to beat us to it,” a familiar, lazy voice rang out. Baal stepped out of the darkness, followed by two or three other adventurers who were also covered in dust.
He wiped his forehead with his sleeve. “How did you know I was watching the whole time?”
Elia tilted her head and glanced at him.
“No, you only arrived a short while ago,” she said calmly.
Baal froze for a moment before bursting into laughter.
“You can even tell that? Miss Maid, you truly are surprising.” He took a few steps closer and looked at the mercenaries who had been dealt with so cleanly. “But… how do you plan to get them back?”
Elia glanced at the rope in her hand. “Drag them back like dead dogs.”
“And how did you find this place?”
“I smelled it.”
Behind Baal, a woman wearing a Diviner’s robe poked her head out and said crossly, “It’s all because someone insisted on stopping at a tavern for a drink on the way, wasting time!”
Baalrubbed his nose awkwardly and turned to Elia. “So… do you need help?”
His tone seemed casual, but his eyes were seriously sizing her up.
“If you ever need anything in the future, as long as it’s within my capabilities, feel free to find me.”
“Fine,” Elia agreed simply.
“Ahem… since we’re already here, why don’t we help you take them back to the city? We’ll split half the bounty, how about it?”
For her, dragging five bleeding grown men over 10 miles of mountain paths was indeed a hassle, and the smell of blood might attract monsters.
“Deal.”
Baal clapped his hands readily and gestured for his companions to get to work.
At that moment, the Diviner behind him leaned close to his ear and whispered, “Captain, I just did a quick divination… The results show that if you fight her, there’s a high probability you’ll lose.”
“Huh?” Baal touched his chin thoughtfully, a hint of excitement surfacing in his eyes. “Really? Then I definitely have to try.”
Having said that, he drew his longsword and walked toward Elia.
“Hey, Miss Maid!”
Elia stopped her movements and slowly turned around.
“Our unreliable Diviner says you’re stronger than me,” Baal said, pointing at himself with his thumb, his smile full of provocation. “I don’t quite believe it and want to try for myself. How about a match?”
Elia looked at the battle intent burning in his eyes and remained silent for a few seconds.
It wouldn’t be a bad thing to use this opportunity to gauge the strength of the formal adventurers in this world.
“Come,” she said calmly.
The moonlit camp became a temporary arena.
The two stood 10 paces apart.
Baal leaned forward slightly, his longsword emitting a faint hum in his hand.
Elia stood straight with her hands hanging naturally at her sides, looking completely defenseless.
However, her gaze was rapidly scanning every detail of her opponent.
Baal didn’t waste any words and suddenly lunged forward. The longsword cut through the air, carrying a sharp blade qi.
Elia simply leaned to the side to avoid it.
The edge of the blade grazed her clothes, and the sound of fabric being torn by the airflow was audible.
Baal’s attack didn’t pause. With a flick of his wrist, a continuous stream of slashes followed, each sword strike faster than the last. The wind from his sword blocked off her space to dodge.
**[Whirlwind Slash]** — the basic skill of the Storm Style.
‘Large-scale suppression, restricting movement, but with a 0.5-second pause between each transformation.’
Elia analyzed calmly in her mind.
She didn’t counterattack, only continuing to dodge.
Twice.
Five times.
Ten times.
Sweat began to bead on Baal’s forehead. He could feel that every strike was like cutting through thin air. The opponent’s dodging was terrifyingly precise.
‘This person… how can she know my swordsmanship so well!’
He let out a low roar as a faint green aura surfaced on his body. His speed and strength instantly increased.
**[Chant of the Wind]** — a Rank 1 strengthening skill of the Storm Style, increasing Agility and Strength by 20% for a short time.
His sword became faster and more ruthless.
But Elia’s rhythm remained unchanged.
Just as Baal tried to continue his suppression, Elia suddenly leaped backward, her entire being vanishing into the shadow of a large tree.
Baal followed right behind her.
“Hmph, thinking of escaping? Take this!”
The sword fell.
But it struck nothing but air.
The air seemed to freeze.
It wasn’t just a miss — Elia’s figure had seemingly vanished completely within the shadows.
No presence, no sound, even the flow of air seemed to have vanished along with her.