Death Ascension - Chapter 97

“Whoa!! She just defeated two junior knights in a row!”

“Strong! That woman is too strong!”

Cheers of admiration suddenly poured from the stands as Nora triumphantly stood at the center of the arena.

“THIS IS INSANE! Brother! Didn’t you say that only the Almagi was special?!” Cail could not help but ask his elder brother as he gripped the royal box railing with gleaming eyes.

The woman that their youngest sibling so desperately tried to keep now piqued his interest. Her first victory was nothing much since her opponent was known to be a dimwit thus, it wasn’t so surprising to see him lose in such an unsightly manner.

But the second one was a promising spearman whom Cail personally knew.

As a spearman himself, Cail acknowledged the strength of Nora’s second opponent.

To think that he bet a hundred gold on Nora’s defeat the moment he knew who her second opponent was, was a huge miscalculation.

The second prince, Cail Hensworth, valued strength more than any other. It doesn’t matter to him whether one was a commoner or noble, woman or man, young or old, he coveted them as long as they possess undeniable strength.

‘Ah… I want her. I wonder if Deon would let me have her? Well, even if he doesn’t, just a few bruises should do the trick.’

“Then, we shall proceed to the last match for today!” the referee reigned in his surprise as he called for Nora’s third opponent.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

“Amazing! You sure are strong, aren’t you? Dame Black Knight?”

Nora’s dark eyes suddenly twitched when she heard her opponent’s praise.

The knight held out his hand, his angular face plastered with a friendly smile, “It’s an honor to spar with the renowned Black Knight.”

‘Again… as I thought, he knows me.’

Black Knight—this was Nora’s alias as a hired assassin. Due to the nature of her previous profession, Nora used to wear an ill-fitting full black armor that hid her gender whenever she met with her prospective employers. Aside from keeping her identity a secret, the black armor also served to make her slender body look like a man’s. Because in the current society, no one would commission a woman to do such a risky job. And so, added to her black hair and eyes—the only parts visible beneath her helmet, her clients named her such an ominous title.

Nora reluctantly took his outstretched hand for a brief handshake, but her eyes bore into his friendly smile, trying to detect any hint of malice, “How do you know me?”

“You don’t need to be so guarded, dame.” He amicably whispered before gripping her hand and pulling her to him, “After all, we are the same, no? my employer wanted to hire you to get rid of the third prince, so he told me to investigate the Black Knight. Just to see whether you’re as capable as your reputation…”

He paused, letting his gaze roam the dame’s visage, “Hair as black as ink and eyes as dark as night– those features are not so common in this kingdom. And your movements… there’s no doubt that you are the Black Knight. Though I must say… I didn’t expect a ruthless assassin to be such a gorgeous lady…”

Nora stiffened at the unexpected revelations but the knight, seemingly unconcerned, continued.

“Because you suddenly disappeared, I was tasked to carry out the mission in your place. The old geezers are scrambling to kill the stupid prince before his influence grew. Anyway, you must have been hired by someone else. Haaah… Seriously, their faction needs to communicate more. They’re all moving without informing others.” the knight clicked his tongue then he looked at Nora with his brown eyes curved into crescents and his thin lips in a cruel smirk, “That’s why… I’ll let you win today. So, don’t mess up, okay?”

The dame trembled in barely restrained anger, ‘What? Kill my liege?! How dare they?!’

“Ah! Also, I won’t snitch on you so go easy on me, ‘Dame’” the despicable knight jested, clearly convinced of his own misunderstanding, as he pulled out a broad sword from his scabbard.

‘I have to kill him!’ the dame’s soul was dyed with thick murderous intent. It wasn’t just because her opponent knew of her dirty past, but also because her master’s life was in danger. In her mind, the knight in front of her was an enemy that needed to be slain.

Fortunately, Nora managed to keep her rationality.

‘I can’t recklessly kill him in front of so many people…’ Nora contemplated, ‘As my direct superior, the prince would have to take responsibility for my actions.’

Nora shook her head, brows deeply furrowed, ‘No. I can’t let that happen!’

‘An accident… I have to stage an accident!’

Finally, the dame decided.

She faced her opponent with grim determination. Her sword grasped tightly in her hand, Nora ran toward her enemy like an arrow! Her agility was so astounding that she left dust clouds in her wake.

She circled the knight who stood rooted to his spot, but the knight merely followed her movements with his eyes, as if without any intention to attack.

But Nora didn’t care.

Whether he yields or fights back, she would kill him without mercy.

“SIR ADAAAM!!! PLEASE TEACH THAT BITCH A LESSON!”

“YOU HAVE TO WIN, SIR ADAM! OUR PRIDE IS AT STAKE!”

The spectating knights continued to shout encouragements at Nora’s opponent. Their pride of losing two of their comrades against Nora sent them to the edges of their seats. Their egos simply did not allow them to acknowledge that a woman of lowly origins was a better fighter than them.

“Aahh… these idiots! Who cares about their stupid pride?” Sir Adam muttered, ‘Whatever, I have to lose here to pass on that assassination plot to the Black Knight.’

Just then, Nora attacked!

She sliced.

And sliced.

And sliced some more, aggressively slashing at her opponent!

The knight parried her attacks with a confused expression, but Nora spared not a single opportunity. Her black sword sought for every weak point, raining her adversary with a hurricane of slashes!

“Why are you doing this? I said I’ll let you win!” the knight growled through gritted teeth as he defended but Nora never answered.

The fight went on and her movements began to flow like a river.

To the spectators, Nora looked more like a Black Swan rather than a Black Knight. One graceful attack after another, Nora twirled and pirouetted like a ballerina dancing to a dirge**.

Her black sword flashed beautifully under the sunlight, mesmerizing the viewers like a magnificent piece of art.

Sir Adam roared over the onslaught, “Damn it! I GIVE UP–!!”

‘No. you don’t!’ Before the referee could end the spar, Nora strongly swiped her foot underneath Adam while she slapped his broadsword away.

The knight’s eyes widened as he felt his body tilt, his large frame working against him.

As they say, the larger you are, the harder you fall.

With the ground slick with three matches worth of sweat and blood, ‘accidentally’ slipping on the concrete floor was entirely possible.

‘Wha–?’ his inquisitive stare found Nora’s face and Adam belatedly realized his mistake. He shivered from the lack of emotion in the dame’s dark eyes and a single thought pervaded his mind—Murderer.

Then, Nora threw away her sword some distance to his left.

Clang! Clang!

Foreboding gripped the knight’s heart as his brown eyes watched the black sword bounce in slow motion.

‘Ah! No!! I have to get up! I have to—’

A sickening crunch rang in the air!

Cough!

Adam, whose throat was pierced by the bouncing sword, opened his mouth, fearfully eyeing Nora, but only thick, warm blood came out.

Cough! Cough!

He tried to spit out the words. He wanted to tell everyone who Nora really was—A killing machine. A monster.

“OH, MY GODDESS! SIR!!” Nora’s cry jolted everyone out of their daze and the referee ran toward Adam.

The dame knelt beside him, trying to nurse his head—or so it looked from the sidelines. In truth, Nora flashed Adam her cruelest smile as she sweetly whispered to his ear, “Now, you can’t snitch on me.”

–Chapter end–

**Dirge- a somber song or lament expressing mourning or grief, such as would be appropriate for performance at a funeral (Wikipedia)