'What kind of a sick joke is this?' Thought Selene, the boss of this group of thieves.
The scene before her eyes could only be described as the unstoppable rampage of an absolute predator. This woman, who they had thought to be nothing more than an easy target mere seconds before, was massacring her people right before her eyes as if they were cabbages.
The first one who died was Bobby. That woman, who had been standing in front of the carriage a second ago, suddenly appeared right in front of him and punched him once in the abdomen. How did that slim frame of hers manage to dish out so much power?
By the time Selene heard the gruesome sound of Bobby's bones shattering and his internal organs being crushed, the man was already flying through the air; he landed with a thud sound, he was dead, and his soulless eyes staring right into Selene's eyes.
"Huh?"
Her other subordinates were as shocked as she was. They all froze in their previously frenzied dash towards what they had thought to be easy prey.
"Oh my, and I thought I had pulled my punch.. Guess that was still too much?"
'That was her pulling her punch?! You gotta be kidding.' Almost shouted Selene, but she managed to hold back. Her subordinates were by no means weak. In fact, they were stronger than the average adventurer. All of them were at least Rank 5, and if they worked together correctly, she was sure they could fight Rank 8.
Therefore, someone who could talk about pulling their punches while dealing with her subordinates would have to be Rank 8 or, worse, Rank 9. They have chosen the wrong target this time.
"What's the matter? Didn't everyone look like they were having so much fun just now? You guys wanted to play with me. Umm... Softwater gang, was it?" Sakura said provokingly, with a smile so bewitchingly beautiful that even Selene almost fell for her. Not only was she ultimately looking down on them, but she had also even gone to the extent of purposefully messing up the gang's name.
"Y-You bitch! Guys, how much longer do you plan on standing around like idiots! Forget about capturing her; kill her instead! I want her dead."
Finally, she couldn't take it anymore; Selene snapped her dumbfounded subordinates back to their senses and commanded them to attack. Normally, it was the wrong call.
However, in the whole gang, Selene was known for her short temper; she had never backed down when someone picked a fight with her, so Sakuya's provocation worked perfectly fine.
Selene should have recognized the difference in strength based on what had happened to the first man and ordered everyone to scatter and run away. If so, perhaps Sakuya might have let them leave with their lives. Perhaps they could have regrouped with the others who were hidden on standby close behind. However, it was too late by the time Selene came to her senses.
"Oh...I guess..." murmured Sakuya after shooting a quick look behind her.
Misinterpreting that as an opening, Darn and Paul resumed their sprint towards her. Both of them were equipped with daggers. These two, who were acknowledged for their high Agility stats,
pulled off the perfect surprise attack with flawless teamwork.
"Oh?"
When Sakuya noticed Darn and Paul's approach, their daggers were already mere inches away from her neck and heart.
'Got her!
Surely the two-man had thought the same thing.
It didn't take long for them to change their minds.
Thwack!
Paul thought it strange that he couldn't feel any feedback from his dominant hand. Normally, this would be the moment when the heavenly feeling of slicing through flesh flooded his brain make him feel exhilarated. This time, however, he wasn't feeling anything.
In fact, he couldn't even feel the handle of the poisoned dagger that he was so proud to wield.
"Hey, this is a pretty well-maintained dagger that you're using. Well, I mean, for a bandit, that is. Judging from your eyes, you love the feeling of slicing through flesh, don't you?"
Inadvertently looking up at the source of that voice, Paul found the woman that he had thought he'd killed nonchalantly holding his dagger up and evaluating it.
'Why is she still alive? Her throat should be sliced open, and my knife should be buried in her heart!'
It was only then that the figure of his partner, Darn, arm snapped and head twisted around at an impossible angle, came into Paul's view. He suddenly understood that, in all likelihood, he was in the same state.
'What the hell...just happened...?'
With no one to answer his unvoiced question, Paul's consciousness sank into eternal darkness. Like Darn, he died.
Both Paul and Darn had been killed within seconds.
'But how?' Even Selene could not comprehend what had just happened, even when it happened right before her eyes. One moment she was convinced that they'd struck the woman
down, but the next, they were the ones lying on the ground, arms, and necks wholly crushed. Did that mean she had attacked each of them twice within a split second?
Held in the woman's hands were Darn's and Paul's daggers. Perhaps she had
not even considered their approach to be an attempt on her life.
'When did she snatch the daggers? When did she break her two subordinates' arms, and when did she snap their necks? Selene was ashamed to admit that she had not caught a single second of what had happened. How strong, how fast someone can be for her who boasted to the strongest of the bunches, who had never failed in any mission since that man joined them to fail to see what happened? Doesn't this mean this woman was stronger than that man?
The mere thought that this was right sent a shiver down Selene's spine; if this woman was this strong, then how about to other two? Are they strong as this woman? There is no way, right?
Selene was lost in thought, so she hadn't seen when her next subordinate moved.