OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 199: An Expected Betrayal III

Chapter 199: An Expected Betrayal III

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Lyra remained hidden in the shadows, directly below her targets, waiting for her chance to present itself.

The six victims above her looked around the area, with one leading the cohort, appearing to be a Knight.

Two Brawlers stood behind him, surrounding their leader, who appeared to be a Spell Seaver.

Behind this Spell Weaver were two unarmed members, one woman who looked to be a Zenith Warden and the other a man with a sharp tongue.

"I told you he wasn't here! We're wasting our time!"

His words were addressed to their leader, a man who held the Zenith's hand.

'Jealousy?'

Lyra ominously chuckled, watching as the leader and the one whom she couldn't identify began to bicker.

'Maybe he's a reaper... But what would such a rare specialist be doing here?'

She theorized that, for a simple reason.

His build wasn't that of a Brawler, but an assassin instead, and most assassins used hidden weapons, the same as her.

But her thoughts halted as a bang and shout came through:

"KNIGHTS!"

Her victims immediately rushed to the sound, but she wasn't about to watch that happen.

Lyra's body left Zenith's shadow as she appeared right behind her, surprising the rest. "Don't!"

"No!"

Before they could react, however, Lyra's gauntlet blades found themselves in the woman's neck.

"FORS!"

Fors, the Zenith warden, lay lifeless on the ground, her name now an unheeded cry in the night.

"YOU MAD WOMAN-"

The leader's screams were snuffed out as Lyra immediately targeted him next.

With a single step, she reached him, and her blades went forth.

Lyra's calculated strike had been swift and deadly.

The Spell Weaver, the group's leader, fell to the ground in a pool of blood, choking on his incantations.

His followers remained in shock, their expressions changing from surprise to anger.

The Knight, standing beside the fallen leader, drew his sword with a furious roar, while the Brawlers readied themselves.

"Aegis of Radiance!"

Lyra, having taken her two targets, knew that the element of surprise had been lost and that she had to act quickly.

She darted away from the Knight's immediate reach, her body moving with the agility of a seasoned assassin.

Lyra repositioned herself, seeking the shadows, and watched as the remaining group members prepared to retaliate.

"Ethereal Charge!"

With cat-like reflexes, she leaped aside, narrowly avoiding the Knight's thrust. "Dragon's Roar!"

"Iron Fist."

The brawlers charged her, their massive fists raised to strike.

"Shadow Step."

The darkness was one of her biggest allies...

And Lyra liked to use them.

She moved in the shadows, evading their heavy blows of fire and wind with ease as she appeared behind one of them.

Lyra drew her second blade, her blades glinting as they traveled towards the man's neck.

Her weapon found its mark, incapacitating one of the Brawlers with a deep gash across the

arm.

"Damn you!"

The remaining Brawler lunged at Lyra with unbridled rage.

He swung his massive fist, causing waves of fire to spread all around, but Lyra's evasion was

quick.

She used his attack against his own as she guided his fist past her and into the Knight.

"Ugh!"

The man cried out as his shield received his mate's attack, pushing him away from the battle.

"Ethereal Chains."

Just as that chant registered in Lyra's mind, pulsating chains that seemingly came from the void itself appeared.

Lyra couldn't react in time and they locked around her limbs, keeping her in place.

"Death Mark."

Another incantation echoed, which caused Lyra's body to tremble for a moment.

And then a Brawler's fiery fist appeared in front of her, aiming at her head.

'I'll bounce.'

Lyra's body ignored the chains and melted into shadows, dodging the blow.

After a moment she appeared above ground, just behind the remaining Brawler.

Lyra didn't give him a chance to react before his head was cleanly lobbed off his shoulders. Just as she did that, however, a scythe appeared above her head, aiming to split her in two.

"Shadow Step."

Her body disappeared and reappeared before the man responsible for all her troubles.

The Reaper.

But the man was prepared.

"Soul Shroud."

Souls from his dead allies got sucked out and transformed into a vortex of death that covered

him like a veil.

It appeared weak at first, but then more souls gathered, four from Emir's direction and one

from Emma's and Jake's.

"Obscura Domine."

But all that glamor didn't matter to Lyra, as with a single chant, the Reaper remained stuck in place, his shadow bound by chains.

"GAAHHHH!"

The man tried to set himself free with all the Aether he possessed, but unfortunately for him, Lyra was of a higher rank, or at least, she had more control over Aether than him.

"AETHERIC BULWARK!"

Before Lyra could get to him, the Knight interfered, separating the Shadow Binder from her

victim with a massive shield.

'Nice try, but not with me...'

Yet that didn't stop her for long, as she simply melded back into the shadows and appeared beside the crying man.

Lyra then found her blades in his neck, shutting him up for good, causing the souls around

him to be set free, and return to the sky above.

Now, only the Knight remained a threat.

He had shown skill so far, but so had Lyra, dispatching them like pests.

Lyra moved forward, closing in on him, slow step after slow step.

But then, a sudden and unexpected twist called Emir intervened.

With a deafening rumble, a massive pillar of rocks came crashing down from above, landing

squarely between them.

'A bit late!'

Lyra instinctively leaped backward, narrowly avoiding the falling debris.

The impact sent a cloud of dust and rubble into the air, obscuring their vision.

Coughing and disoriented, the Knight struggled to regain his footing amid the chaos.

He could no longer see Lyra, and the element of surprise was now on her side...

Once again.

Lyra, hidden within the dusty veil, assessed the situation.

The fallen pillar had created an advantageous separation between her and the Knight.

She seized this opportunity to approach his shadow, walking from one rock's shadow to the

next.

The Knight, still disoriented and unable to locate his elusive opponent, raised his sword

cautiously, ready for an ambush.

He was prepared for Lyra's next move.

And as the dust began to settle, Lyra watched from down below, waiting for the right moment

to strike.

The Knight's breathing grew tense, and his grip on his sword tightened.

It was a tense standoff, at least from the Knight's perspective, as Lyra was simply biding her

time, using it as one of her weapons.

And she used it well, as the Knight waited and waited for an attack, yet it never came.

This caused him to grow tense, in turn, falter when the moment arrived.

And then came out Lyra, with a final, well-timed strike, she disarmed the Knight, sending his

sword clattering to the ground.

"NO!"

The Knight stood defenseless for a moment before another blade took his neck, sending his

head flying.

Letting out a sigh, Lyra looked at her minute's work for a moment.

'Hehe, we win the bet.'

She then turned around to face the only place where sounds of battle remained, rushing to

help out her companions.