Dusk had begun to fade when Leon and Rigo stepped into the Araezel Cave.
Cold, damp air wrapped around them the moment they crossed the dark entrance. The sound of their footsteps crunching against the sandy ground mixed with the slow dripping of water falling from the stalactites above. Torchlight flickered along the rough stone walls, casting eerie shadows that danced like silent watchers observing their every move.
Ahead of him, Rigo moved with absolute focus.
Every step she took was careful yet firm.
Her face remained expressionless—like a passing shadow devoid of emotion.
Leon followed behind her. His small frame carried a tense stiffness. Though he knew this terrain well from memories of his past life, this time felt different.
There was a tension inside him he could not ignore.
The deeper they went, the clearer the sounds became.
Rough laughter.
Clinking cups.
Drunken conversation laced with curses.
The bandits were enjoying their night, believing themselves safe within the depths of their hidden lair far from the reach of imperial law.
Rigo glanced toward Leon and gestured with her hand for him to slow down.
Leon nodded silently, holding his breath as he prepared the knife hidden at his waist.
They approached the main chamber of the cave.
It was a large cavern illuminated by several torches embedded in the walls. In the center, a group of bandits—twenty, maybe thirty men—sat around a small campfire, drinking and laughing without the slightest awareness of the danger creeping toward them.
Rigo signaled Leon again.
Leon tightened his grip on his knife.
They were only two against dozens.
Even with the experience of his past life, Leon knew his small body was still a limitation.
Rigo, however, looked completely unbothered.
Her gaze was cold.
To her, the bandits were nothing more than stones on a road that needed to be removed.
Then she moved.
With blinding speed, Rigo leapt from the shadows.
Her sword flashed through the air, briefly reflecting the firelight before slicing through the throat of the nearest bandit.
Blood sprayed across the ground.
The first scream shattered the peaceful laughter that had filled the cavern moments earlier.
Chaos erupted instantly.
Some bandits staggered backward in shock.
Others scrambled for their weapons—rusted swords, axes, and crude knives.
Leon moved as well.
Despite his smaller frame, he slipped into the fray with agility, relying on the instincts and experience he had carried over from his former life.
Two bandits charged toward him with raised axes.
Leon spun sideways, narrowly avoiding the first strike.
He slid beneath the second swing and drove his knife deep into one man’s stomach.
The bandit collapsed with a groan as blood poured from the wound.
Leon inhaled sharply.
His body trembled slightly, but his mind remained controlled.
The techniques he had mastered as Rigo were still etched deeply into his instincts.
Rigo, meanwhile, moved like a storm.
Every motion carried brutal precision.
A bandit tried to ambush her from the side.
Her blade flashed.
The man’s arm was severed halfway through.
His scream echoed through the cavern as blood pooled across the stone floor.
Seeing her terrifying strength, many of the bandits hesitated.
But desperation soon turned them reckless.
A large bandit—likely a minor leader among them—shouted loudly.
“Form up! Kill them! There are only two!”
The remaining bandits began circling Leon and Rigo, forming a tightening ring.
Their faces showed both hatred and fear.
They knew who their enemies were.
Assassins of the legendary Gelar Clan.
Their hands trembled around their weapons despite their attempts to appear brave.
Rigo only smirked faintly.
Then she attacked again.
She rushed the most hesitant bandit in the circle, plunging her sword into his stomach before ripping it free in one swift motion.
The man collapsed immediately.
Leon continued weaving between the attackers.
His small size worked to his advantage.
He slipped between their legs, forcing them to struggle to keep track of him.
One bandit swung his blade wildly.
Leon spun aside and stabbed the man’s thigh before retreating quickly.
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The injured bandit screamed and collapsed.
Three more rushed toward Leon simultaneously.
He jumped backward to avoid the first strike, the blade missing his face by mere centimeters.
He ducked under the next attack.
Sliding to the left side of one opponent, he kicked the man’s knee sharply.
The bandit dropped to one knee.
Leon immediately drove his knife into the man’s back.
He knew he lacked strength.
So every strike had to be lethal.
Through the chaos, Leon caught sight of Rigo again.
She was advancing steadily, cutting down anyone who dared approach her.
Her movements were flawless.
Emotionless.
A perfectly trained killing machine.
Leon felt a strange mixture of admiration and sorrow.
Once…
He had been exactly like her.
Rigo stared coldly at the remaining bandits.
“You are all already dead,” she said flatly.
Several bandits stepped backward in fear.
But their leader forced them forward again.
“Don’t panic! We can take them!”
Rigo gave them no time to respond.
She rushed the leader.
Their weapons collided with a sharp metallic clang.
Sparks burst from the impact.
Leon watched the terrifying calm in Rigo’s movements.
Every step.
Every strike.
All calculated.
All deadly.
The battle raged on until the chamber became soaked with blood.
Bandits began to lose their courage.
Some attempted to flee deeper into the cave.
But Rigo cut down anyone who tried to escape.
The fight finally slowed.
Bodies littered the cavern floor.
Blood pooled across the stone.
Leon and Rigo stood among the fallen bandits, their breathing steady despite the brutal battle.
The remaining survivors trembled.
Then—
Heavy footsteps echoed from a dark tunnel deeper within the cave.
Two figures emerged.
And their presence changed the entire atmosphere of the cavern.
The frightened bandits suddenly found hope again.
They whispered their leaders’ names.
Thorne…
Lyra…
Thorne was a massive man, gripping a huge battle axe that looked impossibly heavy.
His long tangled hair and scar-covered face made him resemble a figure from some dark legend.
His sharp eyes burned with hatred as he stared at Rigo and Leon.
Beside him stood Lyra.
Slim.
Graceful.
Dangerous.
Her sharp eyes gleamed under the torchlight.
Two long knives rested in her hands.
A thin smile curved across her lips.
“So…” Thorne said in a deep rasping voice.
“These are the famous killers of the Gelar Clan.”
“You came here to die, it seems.”
Rigo showed no reaction.
“Bandits like you no longer deserve to live.”
Without warning, Thorne swung his axe toward her.
The attack was brutally fast.
Rigo dodged instantly, stepping aside and slashing at his arm.
Thorne blocked the strike with an iron gauntlet.
His grin widened.
Elsewhere, Lyra lunged toward Leon.
She moved like a shadow.
Her blades flashed with deadly precision.
Leon barely avoided the strike.
He rolled aside and quickly regained his footing, raising his knife.
Lyra smirked.
“You’re surprisingly quick for a child.”
Leon said nothing.
He focused only on her movements.
He studied her attack patterns carefully.
When Lyra thrust toward his heart—
Leon stepped aside.
Using her momentum, he drove his knife straight into her abdomen.
Lyra froze.
Her eyes widened in shock.
Blood trickled from her lips.
“Damn brat…” she hissed.
Then she collapsed.
Thorne roared in fury at the sight.
He attacked Rigo with everything he had left.
But rage made his movements predictable.
Rigo waited.
Then struck.
With one clean motion, her blade sliced across Thorne’s neck.
His head separated from his body.
The corpse crashed onto the stone floor.
Silence filled the cave.
Only the smell of blood remained.
The surviving bandits fled in terror.
Leon looked down at Lyra’s lifeless body.
Then he turned toward Rigo.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
The battle was over.
Rigo wiped the blood from her blade.
Then she glanced at Leon.
“You’re quite agile for a child,” she said flatly.
A rare compliment.
Leon simply nodded.
Inside, however, he felt relief.
They had survived the fight.
And this time…
History had not repeated itself.
