The silence stretched on. Each passing moment put some small pressure on me. It was only a matter of time until CDF or other Wardens came. I had an escape route planned with Miss Thariya—and a few of my own—but those would be closed off if this took too long.

  Bombastic Bowman’s eyes drifted to the civilians slowly backing away. “Is it a duel you want?”

  “…” I raised my sword, pointing it straight to him. I could see through his attempts… though I’d give him a few more seconds before making my move. I didn’t want to fight him while his mind was too divided.

  Bowman’s grip tightened enough that his knuckles turned white. “Then it’s a duel you’ll get-“

  He vanished from the stage. I flicked backward and preemptively tossed an Ebonshroud dagger behind me into the mouth of an alley. It whistled through space, slamming into the wall right next to his head. The sheer impact of the knife caused it to quiver in the wall.

  A lock of hair slowly drifted to the ground. Bombastic Bowman’s attention broke, eyes tracking the fallen lock. I dropped my hand, and another Ebonshroud dagger flowed into existence. An expression I couldn’t quite read crossed his face.

  He sunk backward into a shadow, form blending into his surroundings. His stealth Skill activated, though I could still see him from my peripherals. He pulled back his bow and fired a shot off from a new angle.

  The great issue with bows in one on one combat was just how choreographed they were. He didn’t have a stealth or numbers advantage, allowing me to keep most of my attention on him. It was easy to run the calculation on his bow and know the arrow’s path. Crossbows were slightly better in that regard since they could be shot at anytime.

  Clang!

  I swatted the arrow out of the air. It dropped and clattered to the stage, the first of what felt like would be many. He reached into his quiver and set another to his string-

  He vanished again. Once more, I tossed a dagger directly behind me. This time, it missed entirely. A whistling alerted me to an arrow just before it could impact. I reflexively swatted at it with my sword, shattering yet another of the Warden’s attacks.

  So he could learn afterall. That might make things a bit more interesting. I looked up, finding him in an open window across the street. He already had another arrow knocked on his bowstring. “Lightning Arrow!”

  An ether clad arrow launched at me, sparking with electricity. Ether likewise surged through my sword, running down its length to reinforce Ebonshroud’s durability. At the same time, I used Brace. The skill traveled through my body and prepared it for impact. At the cost of some speed, I was much more resistant.

  The ether arrow slammed into my sword with far more force than I was expecting. Electricity sparked off wildly, though it failed to channel down the length of my blade. My sword itself cracked down the middle. The microfractures mended almost instantly.

  I stuck out my hand to summon Thorn’s- ah, wait. No. I was Nyx now. I couldn’t be doing that. Or Ether Strings, for that matter. I really needed to go get a mobility Skill after this. Not having anything to close the gap against a high mobility opponent sucked.

  I tossed another whistling dagger at him, causing the man to teleport away from the height advantage. With his habit of teleporting behind broken, it became much trickier to find him. Especially considering he had stealth skills to bolster his advantages.

  My win conditions were clear here. I had it on good authority from Miss Thariya that his teleportation had a hefty price of ether. If I could get him to teleport a few more times, he’d be too out of juice to keep up the distance between us. Then I could close in and let the beating really begin.

  But of course, his win condition was just to stall for time. If he played it smart, it wouldn’t be an issue. He was intent on taking me down though. Although he could teleport and go stealthy, he still shot an arrow every time he moved. It was all too easy to keep track of him.

  “Damnit!” A frustrated shout erupted from him. He now stood just inside of the toy store, staring me down while I swatted another arrow out of the air.

  I simply lifted my sword and approached at a causal pace. He would just teleport before I could get close so there was no point sprinting-

  “Bombastic Breaker Arrow!” He fired another arrow at me. This time, the entire thing glowed with ether, giving me a slightly dangerous feeling. It might even break my sword.

  I flicked back, letting the arrow glide past my face-

  “No!” Bombastic stretched out his hand as if to stop the arrow. It was too late though. Once fired, shots couldn’t be taken back.

  I glanced back, following the projectile’s trajectory. It wasn’t stopping, continuing to fly well past me to the other side of the street. A teenager stood there, watching the spectacle from the ‘safety’ of a glass storefront. She had her Glass out, recording the entire fight.

  The world seemed to slow for a moment. Her expression pulled into one of shock, and then fear. It was already too late though. The arrow shattered the glass and-

  Boom!

  “Argh!” Bowman teleported just before it could hit. He protectively curled around the girl and took the explosive ether arrow on his back. A shockwave exploded out from the impact, sending him flying into the clothing store. Every window right around the shopfront shattered.

  Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

  The explosive arrow Skill was a little more powerful than I thought. It definitely could’ve broken my sword, at least. Had it evolved from last time? It was just Bombastic Arrow back then, if I remember right.

  Nothing inside the store moved. Well, nothing except the girl who was sprawled out on her back in a daze. She bled profusely from several wounds across her torso and head, though she probably would’ve been blown to pieces if the Bombastic Breaker Arrow hit her dead on.

  [Nighteye watches with rapt attention. Did he die?]

  Surely not, yep? He was a Disruptive Rank Warden, so he could probably take a few blows. I approached the storefront, stepping through the shattered window.

  The girl trembled, trying to back away from me. Her palms pressed down into shattered glass, cutting herself even further-

  I stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, letting a thin stream of Ebonshroud flow out of my hand and into her. Her fear grew with each passing moment the tar-like substance spread across her body-

  “G-get a-away from h-her!” A heavily injured Bombastic Bowman appeared at the back of the store. His bow was completely shattered, leaving him weaponless. And yet, he still approached with a shattered leg, gritting through the pain.

  “…!” I looked up at him for a moment and then stepped back from the civilian. Ebonshroud continued down her body, covering her injuries in a makeshift bandage. I flicked my hand, motioning for her to leave.

  The trembling girl shot to her feet and limped out of the store, leaving just us. Bombastic dropped his shattered bow and pulled out an arrow, holding it toward me like a knife. He looked like he might drop at any moment though.

  ”Still. Standing?” I twirled my sword in my hand.

  ”As l-long as y-you threaten innocents, I-I’ll s-stand again. E-even if I fall in the end.” This was no longer just an act he put on. A warrior’s resolve filled his eyes and he steeled himself for one final stand.

  That fire in his eyes… oh, how I missed it. There weren’t enough people in Bastion with something to stand for like this. Ebonshroud flowed down my hand, forming a second longsword. I tossed it to his feet, letting the weapon clatter against the ground. A warrior needed a weapon to stand with.

  The man eyed me for a moment and then picked up the sword with a shaking grip. A siren approaching acted as the bell to start our fight. He lunged toward me in a simple stab. I lifted my own sword to parry-

  He vanished, appearing to my side at an off angle. A tendril of Ebonshroud shot out, slamming into his blade to knock the surprise stab to the side. I followed it up with a simple horizontal slash.

  Clang!

  He caught my sword on his hilt and moved for a riposte. I grabbed his wrist before he could finish the movement, locking us together. Brace secured my footing even with only one foot, allowing me to kick his knee and throw off his block without worrying about him overpowering me.

  “Heugh!” The Warden, already injured, flopped to the ground.

  I stepped back, allowing him to breath and stand back up. Just like he said, he stood again. Without hesitation, as soon as his body was physically capable of the movement, he forced himself to stand. Did this count as a reaction? Standing till his last breath to defeat an opponent wasn’t something just anyone could do.

  “Why waste. Stealth Archer?” I asked the man.

  He took a ragged breath and raised the longsword to me once more. “A single arrow can save thousands from the shadows.”

  ”…” He wasn’t wrong. Many blades could slay the same beast though.

  The sirens were getting closer and closer now. It was about time I finished this. I rolled my sword, casually twirling the black blade around my wrist. Out of respect for a fellow warrior, I’d end it quickly.

  I darted forward in a testing stab. He swatted the sword aside, though in doing so gave me access to his side. I feinted an attack toward the exposed side, making his posture break even more when he desperately tried to block the attack. His inexperience with melee combat showed clearly.

  His sword whistled to my side, though I caught it with my blade. I shifted, stepped forward, and slammed my pommel into his head all in the same motion. He stumbled back, blood leaking from his nose, though he was surprisingly still standing even with his accumulated injuries.

  I shoulder-slammed him, taking the guy off guard. Before he could even hope to recover, my sword shifted into a baton and I slammed it into his head once more. He went in tiredly limp, collapsing to the ground of the clothing store. I eyed him for a moment and then wrapped a shirt around his head to stop some of the bleeding.

  [Nighteye yawns. Is it over?]

  Oh? Was that not entertaining, your majesty? I allowed both swords to sink back into my skin and stepped out of the store, leaving chaos in my wake. The escape hova should be just through the alley.

  [Nighteye shrugs. Stealth archers are always boring. They just sit back and spew arrows.]

  Hmm… that sounded faintly familiar? I guess it was true… there was no denying how effective it was though. Especially against inexperienced fighters. With the OS supercharging his capabilities, he could become a real menace.

  It’s just too bad though. Bombastic Bowman seemed better off as a swordsman in the short exchange of blows. He had some instinct for the blade from the few clashes he had with me. Add in his teleportation, and he could become extremely dangerous as a swordsman rather than using a bow.

  The sirens grew louder and louder. I casually walked through an alley, exiting out to find Miss Thariya’s escape hova waiting for me. I entered it, and then we were off just before the CDF arrived.

  Miss Thariya didn’t say anything for several minutes, carefully scrubbing though camera feeds on her Glass. She nodded her head several times, constantly drinking her boba tea. She went through three of them before speaking up. “How’d it go?”

  ”…?” I motioned to the Glass. I thought it was… okay? Not my best showing. Not his best showing. Only the client’s opinion really mattered here.

  She smiled. It wasn’t that corporate smile either, it was a genuine one that made her eyes crinkle sharply. “I loved it. Here, check this out.”

  She handed me her glass and hit play on a video. I didn’t know how they did it, but they got a closeup on Bombastic Bowman’s sacrificial teleport and his final stand. The teleport had heart pounding music playing over the top of it, and for a moment it seemed like he really died taking that blow.

  Epic music played out while he pushed himself to his feet. It skipped to him holding the sword, and the stutter was edited out of his voice. “I’ll stand again. Even if I fall in the end.”

  “That’s what my employers were looking for.” She smirked and took the Glass back. A shard appeared in her hand, which she casually passed over to me. “Ten thousand Nytes, as agreed upon.”

  ”…” I accepted the shard and stuffed it into my pocket. There was another six thousand off my debt.

  Thariya played back a closeup of a dagger forming in my hand. “So? Ever thought about going professional? You’d make for a terrifying Anarch with this ability of yours.”

  Professional Anarchy… I already had a job as Moon though. If anything, my activities as Nyx were just a hobby. “No.”

  “Bummer. I was thinking we could call you Nyx, the Concussion Queen.” She played back the spot of me slamming a baton into his head. “I heard three of the four guards you took out at the museum ended up with severe concussions.”

  “…” Oops. It’s a good thing Bastion’s medicine was particularly advanced. And whatever medicine couldn’t heal, the Cathedral Guild’s healers could.

  “It’s been a pleasure working with you… would you be open to further contracts?” Miss Thariya got the calculating look in her eye once more. “High payouts, of course.”

  ”Go through. Pursius.”

  Her golden eyes shifted to the side, and she smiled her corporate smile once more. ”Of course. Then back to Tlacauli?”