The icy air emanating from the ice magic swept through the ruined hall.
In the sky, the full moon shone brightly, surrounded by a sea of stars that illuminated the night over the slums.
Without wasting any time, the blonde girl launched dozens of frozen stakes toward Yumi.
At the same instant, her hands shaped new blades of ice, firing them in an relentless succession without giving the assassin the slightest room to breathe.
Yumi leaped with superhuman agility.
With a precise swing of her katana, she cut the stakes apart in midair and, following up with a counterattack, hurled dense streams of corrosive poison toward her opponent.
"Watch out!!" Arata shouted from the back.
Upon seeing the approaching toxic fluid, the girl raised a thick ice barrier.
The poison collided with the frozen wall, releasing a sharp hiss as it began melting it rapidly.
Taking advantage of the opening, Yumi propelled herself forward, slicing through the air at high speed as she prepared to deliver a fatal strike.
However, the crystal of the girl's secondary necklace suddenly glowed intensely.
Buck, in his small dragon form, emerged from the jewel.
Flying rapidly, he stretched out his front paws and conjured another ice barrier directly in front of the young woman, blocking the vampire's advance.
"What a pain... Do I really have to fight at night?" Buck complained, letting out a loud yawn and stretching his small wings.
"Hey, you there, purple-haired girl! You interrupted my beauty sleep! What's your name? Mine's Buck!"
"Look, I don't really like hurting ladies, but you seem like a pretty strong lady."
"Buck! You came out at night?! Doesn't that hurt you?" the blonde girl asked worriedly.
"Yeah, but I'll only be able to stay out here for about two minutes. That's enough to help you, Ma!" Buck explained, letting out another long yawn.
"Two minutes is also all I can handle right now. Ugh... I'm so sleepy."
Yumi took a step back, narrowing her black eyes with curiosity.
"A spirit...? I've always been curious to see what the insides of a creature like that look like."
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
"Maybe today I could finally satisfy that curiosity... but unfortunately, it won't be possible right now. We'll have to leave it for next time."
In the blink of an eye, Yumi moved faster than human perception could follow, instantly appearing beside Buck with her purple katana pointed straight at him.
But the little dragon was faster.
Buck puffed out his chest and unleashed a powerful blast of ice directly from his mouth.
The freezing breath struck the katana head-on and instantly spread across Yumi's arm, turning her limb into a solid block of ice.
"I may be a spirit, but I'm not just any spirit. I'm pretty unique," Buck boasted, crossing his small blue, scaly arms as a cold breeze escaped with every word he spoke.
"I'm also a dragon. A rare hybrid between a dragon and a spirit. I'm a Spirit Dragon, one of only three in existence!"
Taking advantage of the assassin being immobilized, the blonde girl materialized a massive hammer made of pure ice.
With a full-body spin, she delivered a brutal strike directly against Yumi's head.
The impact was so violent that it sent the assassin crashing face-first into the floor, breaking the wooden planks and shattering the vampire's face.
"Bye-bye!" Buck exclaimed, taking advantage of her fall.
The little dragon conjured dozens of sharp ice stakes on the ceiling and sent them plunging down toward the villain.
Each stake brutally pierced Yumi's body, tearing her apart repeatedly until what remained of her was reduced to a pile of red powder and blood.
"I... used all my strength on that attack, Ma..." Buck murmured, panting and visibly exhausted.
The girl approached her small companion and extended her hand, gently stroking the little dragon's head.
"You can rest now, Buck. Sleep well, okay?" she said with an incredibly tender smile.
"Just call me... if you need anything..." the spirit mumbled before returning inside the crystal to rest.
The blonde girl straightened herself and turned her stern gaze toward the place where Yumi's red dust remained.
To her horror, the bloody remains began to stir.
Under the effect of the full moon, the particles strangely came together, recreating the muscles, bones, tissues, black hair, and even the assassin's elegant clothes, bringing her back to life without a single scratch.
"Too bad... The Spirit Dragon went to sleep," Yumi remarked sarcastically, cracking her neck.
"And now, what are you going to do, girl?"
"I'll finish you with or without Buck!" the blonde girl shot back, assuming a fighting stance.
Yumi charged straight toward the young woman.
She moved so fast that the girl couldn't follow her with her eyes.
In a fraction of a second, the Ripper Assassin was already face-to-face with her, raising her purple katana to deliver a fatal strike against her head.
SPLASH!
A highly compressed sphere of water struck the side of Yumi's body with the force of a battering ram, sending her flying away before she could bring the blade down.
"Hey, girl! You need to be more careful! She almost killed you just now!" Felicia exclaimed, panting as she supported herself on her knees, barely able to remain standing due to magical exhaustion.
Yumi regained her balance in midair.
Using her heels, she pushed off one of the walls that remained intact and changed her trajectory in midair, rushing like an arrow toward the pink-haired girl.
"Nosy little brat, I'll tear you apart before I get to her!" Yumi hissed.
In the middle of the assassin's leap, a blur moved.
Arata charged forward with everything he had, gripping the solid piece of wood with both hands.
Catching Yumi completely distracted and focused on Felicia, he drove the object forward with all his strength, piercing the vampire's head from one side to the other.
"RUN! RUN, FELICIA!" Arata shouted, his voice trembling with desperation.
He gripped the piece of wood so tightly that his knuckles hurt, fighting against the paralyzing terror that threatened to overwhelm him.
"But..." Felicia stammered, frozen in shock as she watched the young man face the monster.
"Run!! Go, Felicia!" Old Man Bon reinforced the shout, deeply concerned for the girl's safety.
Without looking back, though her heart was breaking, Felicia turned around and dashed out of the ruined mansion, running through the dark alleys of the slums.
Inside, Arata's heart was beating wildly.
Fear suffocated him, and a cruel doubt crossed his mind:
"Was I really supposed to do this?"
With a sudden movement, Yumi's body regenerated around the piece of wood.
With a look of pure hatred, she delivered a violent kick directly into Arata's stomach.
The blow completely threw him off balance, causing him to lose his breath and drop the makeshift weapon onto the floor.
With a quick spin, Yumi raised her purple katana, aiming directly at the boy's stomach to disembowel him.
However, the blonde girl acted in time.
She conjured an ice barrier in the blink of an eye, blocking the poisonous blade and protecting Arata.
Yumi turned to face the new threat, only to be met by a heavy ice gauntlet that the blonde girl had formed around her own fist.
The young woman delivered a direct and brutal punch to Yumi's face.
The impact slammed into the assassin's face, sending the vampire's body several meters backward.
Yumi wiped the blood dripping from her nose, revealing an insane, ecstatic smile.
"Excellent...! You're quite the formidable fighter, blonde girl. I can't wait to see what your insides look like!"
While the battle resumed inside the mansion, Felicia was already far away.
She ran through the dark alleys, her head lowered, trembling, with tears threatening to fall as she felt the weight of exhaustion and fear while moving farther and farther away from the battlefield.
End of Chapter 16...
To be continued in Chapter 17...