Confidence was visible all over Navia. On her face, a reassuring smile, knowing what she should do as the fight will go on. No shaking or hesitation in her movement and stance. Her eyes full of resolve, she intended to survive.
The assassin snorted with annoyance, seeing as Navia fully understood how his power worked, he could no longer rely on the same tricks. His chance of killing her now was low, but it was his job, and he was committed to it.
“I am an assassin… Not a fighter. Quick battles are my specialty, but this one is dragging for too long already. I lost my advantage, and I’m still far away from finishing my job… Unfortunately, none of my abilities are suited for combat, but I have to go on.” The assassin put one of his hands forward as if he had already thrown a punch with it, and the other was close to his chest, knees slightly bent and ready for any quick moves.
Both of them dashed forward. Navia kept her strategy of one shield and one dagger and stayed on the defense. The duel seemed similar at first, but the assassin picked up the pace, quick attacks that were focused on inflicting many small wounds. His knife never got past the shield, but the other side was less defended, making Navia’s arm a bloody mess with a dozen cuts.
“Seems you have forgotten about my power…” Navia whispered between attacks the man barely heard that but quickly understood his bad decision as the whole blood from her arm traveled toward the shield, her dagger becoming one with it, a shield big enough to cover her whole upper body.
“I just need to get past your shield!” A knife was about to penetrate Navia’s side and injure her liver, but she stood there as if that wasn’t a problem. The shield was slowly turning into something else before the assassin could even notice what it was changing into. His hand with a knife fell down with a sudden surge of pain.
A hole appeared in his wrist, and as he stood there, he looked at Navia for answers. “I could kill you with a single drop of water.” Navia answered with the same words he once told her. Looking up at the ceiling, he saw a stain of blood on it, a small drop falling down.
He was so focused on her and distracted by her words that he didn’t notice it. Previously, when Navia threw a blood knife at him, she sent a smaller one into the ceiling and turned it into a liquid form, creating a defensive measure against the assassin.
The shield finally changed its shape into a shovel, which she used to hit the man and push him away. The assassin barely dodged it as he was sent rolling through the bloody sand. Since they were in a monochromatic world, the sand didn’t move and felt as if he rolled on a rough stone road. Ignoring the pain, he stood back up and dashed toward Navia, who was already jumping at the broken bars. Using the same strategy, she grabbed the hardened blood she had previously left, and with it, she had a first grappling stone; she turned the shovel into another one.
The assassin threw three knives at the climbing Navia, as she was an easy target. His own power proved to be his biggest mistake as the knives passed through Navia since she left the colorless realm.
Navia didn’t know if the man continued his pursuit since she couldn’t see or hear him as he stayed in his Monochrome Mirror dimension. Her goal was in front of her, and she wasn’t about to stop.
Walking out of the hole into the stands she took the sight in, something new and even if it was just sits made of raw stone and planks placed on them she was glad to see them.
Hearing the sound of striking the stone, Navia looked down into the pit and saw knives stuck in the wall, but the assassin was nowhere to be seen. “He is climbing… The knives he threw… They weren’t only thrown to attack me!” As Navia realised that she began running toward the nearest tunnel she saw. As she entered one of them, she could hear the footsteps of the man running after her. He was no longer using his power. “The gate must have slowed him down…”
Almost running at full speed, Navia heard the footsteps getting closer to her. Without the usage of the gate, the assassin was much faster, as if it were holding him back. “Alright. Catch me if you can.” She turned the bits of blood into five-pointed spikes. “The tunnel was dark, and if he is only focused on running after me, he will step on one of them.” That was what Navia had hoped for, but the man didn’t falter; he was keeping the same pace.
“Did he avoid them? No matter. I have to keep running.” The tunnel was getting narrower and had more and more intersections as he got further. A smell of salty water was lingering in the air, she was near the exit. She could smell her freedom. It was so close she could already feel the sun gently warming her skin with its invisible hands. She knew she was near the exit when she saw a light coming through a small gap. Turning all her blood into a shield, she dashed forward with it in front and busted the door open.
The doors opened, and right in front of them was a stained glass window showing the first human created by Hanis on a warm summer day. Still in motion, she wasn’t able to stop and crashed through the stained glass of the church, falling down onto the street. For the first time in a long time, she felt warm water touch her body as it was raining outside. The street she was falling on seemed busy as many people walked through it, and some carriages passed by.
“Act fast. I can’t die from this fall!” Navia turned the shield into a long stick, and with it, she struck the wall of the church to push herself away from it. Her back hit the building on the other side of the street. The plaster fell off the wall and fell down alongside Navia. Her fall was slowed down by a balcony, which she tried to grab to not fall down, but the force pulling her down was much greater, dislocating her shoulder, and she let go of the balcony. Her nails from the right hand were ripped off along a bits of her skin. Before she could even begin to scream, she hit the brick street with her head first.
A woman began to scream as she noticed Navia, a bloody mess with her skull open, missing nails, and most likely many broken bones. The cuts left by the assassin continued to bleed as Navia was no longer controlling her power of Blood Manipulation. A crowd quickly gathered around her, unsure of what to do since she was in a state many would sign as dead or soon to be dead.
The assassin stood by the broken stained glass window on top of the church, watching the scene down below. Not scared of being seen by the people, but no one seemed to look that way. The scene down there was much more than a simple broken glass.
“No one is even trying to help her… She must be dead. I’ll have to check once the crowd disperses.” The man was about to leave, but he stopped as he saw two men taking Navia away on a stretcher. Both of them were wearing black robes. “They are already disposing of the body? How laughable those people are. Before any doctor could do anything, the morgue attendants were first at the scene. It probably isn’t the first body they are taking in today.” The assassin whispered in amusement as he left the crime scene.
As the assassin went back to the tunnels of the pit he licked the knife with Navia’s blood on it. “I’ll track you later to make sure you’re dead.” Once he tasted her blood, he could see a mist in the air that would direct him toward Navia’s body.
As he took a step into the shadows of the dark tunnel, he heard an echo of his step resounding all around him. Coming back and away. He was no longer standing in the tunnel. A water was dripping from somewhere and echoed even louder than his own footsteps. The water began dripping even faster and faster, turning into a stream and in the end drowning the man under the water.
“Drowned Adrien… Were you able to hunt down Vetra’s pawn?” A deep and strong voice echoed under the water. His voice was even denser than the water in the depths of the ocean.
“Oh Great Samonus… God Of Oceans. While the woman tried to escape, she fell to her death. In case she survived, I tasted her blood and will find the body to make sure she is dead. If not, I’ll finish my job.” Adrien opened his mouth and spoke normally, even though the water was filling his lungs; he didn’t seem bothered by it. He spoke with his eyes closed as he didn’t know in which direction God was, and where he should direct his gaze, as he was under the water in complete darkness.
“That’s good to hear… Simon will take care of the other one. You can dispose of the owner of the pit. He is of no use to us any longer.” The God commanded, and the water slowly made way for the air. Once Adrien opened his eyes, he was standing in the tunnel of the pit with wet clothes.
“Such is the promise of a god… That’s why you need to be their pawn to survive. Cooperation is not an option.” Adrien took out a knife and turned left at the first intersection, heading toward Strada’s palace.