...…

Cling! Clang! Clang!

Inside the dense forest not far from the battlefield, Black Talon and Angela were currently having an intense contest on who was the better assassin.

Black Talon might be in a better advantage since he had a higher Martial-Arts attainment compared to Angela. But the latter managed to close the gap with her insane speed. Moreover, her special breathing technique also gave her a big boost on her battle prowess.

Her breathing was totally in sync with the words that she was muttering. At the same time, it was also in rhythm with her bouncing movements.

All of these things combined, the technique was called the 'Dance with Soul'. It was a special technique that came from an assassin tribe that originated from the time right after the Ancient Era.

It was one of the tribes that had the longest history. And since they were an assassin tribe that came from the early civilization, a lot of Clans and Families were afraid of them. But from some unknown reason the entire tribe suddenly disappeared without leaving any trace behind.

This news shocked the whole world when it was revealed in the public. But at the same time, they also became relieved. After all, a lot of people were afraid of them.

But a few years after their disappearance, another news shocked the whole world once again. The entire tribe was found once again! Though, based on the report in this news, the whole tribe was completely wiped. All of the members of the tribe were found dead at some unknown island.

This news struck a deep fear at everyone after hearing about it. If such a powerful tribe was wiped out, then whoever did such feat would surely be much scarier than the whole tribe itself.

Due to that, the history of the tribe became a legend for the others – aside from a single thing. And it was the special technique called the 'Dance with Soul'. This technique was a special assassination technique that struck fear to anyone who heard it.

According to the records, this technique was a method to combine a person's mind and body alongside their souls. And if someone used it, they were going to have a huge boost on their speed, strength and battle awareness. Due to that, the user would gain a battle capability that was on par with someone who had a Martial-Art attainment which was much higher than the wielder attained.

With such a powerful technique, a lot of greedy people would surely want to get it. And due to that, a huge 'war' between different groups of people was started just to get this technique. There were even some large organizations alongside with a lot of powerful and renowned individuals joined this contest.

In the end, the trophy ended up in the hands of the 'Hermit'. And when the others learned about that, a lot of people started rejecting the idea of stealing it from him.

After all, this guy was not a simple expert: he was an old monster who was a part of the Elder Council which was a special organization that was full of peak experts like himself. Only a fool would dare to provoke them. Or maybe the other Organizations with enough power to contend against such monsters.

...

Currently, this technique was being experienced by Black Talon first hand.

"D*mn it! I know that his skill is quite remarkable, but I didn't know that it is this troublesome," cursed Black Talon to himself while exchanging a few more attacks with Angela.

BOOM!

And while he was in the middle of his thoughts, he suddenly heard a huge explosion that came from the other side of the battlefield.

Swoosh!

The trees around them even ran wild along with the gusting wind which was created due to the shockwave of that explosion.

A moment later, Black Talon's eyes suddenly turned wide when he noticed that he couldn't feel Silver Claw's aura any longer. "He died?"

Due to that, Black Talon's face suddenly turned solemn as he fully understood that things were going south for them. And at this point of time, he now only had two choices to choose from – one of them was to retreat as soon as possible before Angela's backup could even arrive here.

But it was much easier to say than done. After all, Angela currently had a much faster speed than him, so running away from her was pretty much impossible. What's more, turning your back in front of an assassin was practically the same as asking for your own death.

So, he now had a single choice in front of him. And that was to defeat Angela for as fast as he could.

"Hu~," thinking about that, Black Talon decided to end this battle with one last bout.

Boom!

And right after taking a deep breath, a powerful pressure suddenly came from his body as he summoned an even stronger Evil Natural Force from his body.

Seeing that, Angela also used all of her reserves to match her opponent's current powers; she also knew that his exchange was going to be the final one which was going to decide the result of this battle.

Boom!

There seemed to be a silent explosion in the distance between the two as their respective aura's were released from their bodies.

They stared at each other for a moment before simultaneously kicking the ground beneath them, launching themselves forward.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

During the charge, Black Talon enfolded his daggers with his Natural Force while crossing his arms in front of him. And while he was sprinting forward, a pair of black light was left behind him which created an illusion of twin serpents dancing in the air.

'Great Shadow Arts: Twin Serpent Slash'

At the same time, Angela also covered her twin daggers with her Internal Qi. And because of that, her daggers suddenly shone with a green light that alongside with some shades of black color mixed in it.

Alongside her actions, she also crossed her arms but she lowered her daggers on each side of her waist while waiting for her opponent to get near her.

'Death Assassination: Final Strike'

And when they reached the ideal distance to attack, both of them simultaneously swung their respective daggers at each other.

Shing! Shing!

After that, they brush past each before stopping a few distances away. Both of them stood still for a moment before Black Talon started smirking. "Heh! Such a fancy way to throw a quick strike. Is that also one of the applications of the 'Dance with Soul'?"

Hearing that, Angela nodded her head slightly before putting her daggers back on their respective sheaths. "Yeah."

Cough!

Some blood suddenly dropped down from Black Talon's mouth before laughing bitterly. "I guess this is the end of line for me."

When those words left his mouth, his body was suddenly split into two, separating his torso from the lower part of his body. At the same time, a small black sphere was revealed at the space between the separated parts of his body. And after a second, a bunch of cracks appeared on the surface of that sphere before shattering completely.

Once Black Talon's evil core was destroyed, the separated remains of his body were suddenly set ablaze with a green color flame before turning them into dust.

Angela didn't dare to let her guard down yet and started scanning her surroundings, to make sure that there was no other enemy hiding in the dark.

"Hu~!" And when she made sure that everything was fine, she finally found time to feel relieved. After taking a deep breath to relax her tensed muscles, she spread her arms widely before falling on the ground.

Lying in there, she stared at the sky before muttering to herself. "Tsk! This is the most intense fight that I ever have since I set foot in the Martial-Art circle."

"I always wonder why Master hastening my training compared to my senior disciples, but I guess I finally understand why. Those guys who possess evil powers are pretty strong."

She rested for a few more moments to recover from fatigue before standing up once again. After that, she turned her head at the place where Black Talon's body turned into dust and saw a pair of daggers.

She thought for a moment before deciding to walk towards them to pick them from the ground. She tossed them in the air before inspecting their other properties. And after a few moments of inspection, she muttered to herself. "As expected of an agent from a powerful organization, their items are really good in quality."

After playing with them for a little more, she decided to take the daggers with her as a reserve weapon. "Looks like this pair is going to be a good spare for my 'Cold Steel'. Let's take them for now. And if I take them to Third Senior Brother, I am pretty sure that they are going to be an even more amazing pair weapon."

She then scanned the surrounding for another time to see if there was something she missed. And when she made sure that there was nothing to take in there, she immediately turned around and started walking back in the battlefield. "Alright, time to wrap up this mission."

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