"Kekeke! You''ll be paid handsomely." Was all the crazy man, Mordecai, stated in response before shouting, letting his unnaturally deep and monstrous voice travel across thend. "Vex ''The Hexde'', show your face! It''s time I kill you for what you did a century ago."


    Suddenly, a high-pitched feminine giggling rippled across us before a shadow leaped down from the sky.


    "Hehehe… The rat boy sure is confident when the odds are on his side." Vex said, but none could tell where she was exactly. However, in the next moment, shended between us and the trio of high-level enemies, then stabbed her de into the ground and whispered ominously; "[Dark Covenant: Curse of the Revenant]"


    Shadows surged out from her de that was etched into the earth in the form of a pitch-ck river that snaked across the ground and crept toward the enemy soldiers with an unsettling speed. The shadows writhed and twisted like extensions of Vex herself, each one seething with dark energy. They closed in on their chosen targets by slipping beneath their feet and merging with their shadows. For a brief moment, the soldiers'' own shadows rebelled, thrashing against Vex''s influence. However, they sumbed one by one with their forms distorting as they were overtaken.


    In each soldier''s shadow now stood a replica of Vex- with her kendo uniform, beautiful silver hair, and drawn de beingpletely unmistakable. This sight was incredibly creepy, to be honest. It was as if they just lost their shadows, no. Not lost but had it stolen.


    Vex stole their shadows and reced them with her own.


    When the shadows reached the three ''bosses'' they shed against theirs and despite her spell''s relentless assault, Vex''s shadows were overpowered. "Tch!" The woman scoffed with dissatisfaction. It looked like the triobated her spell, or simply were just too strong to get their shadows stolen since I didn''t see any of them do anything in particr that indicated that they were fighting back against her strange spell.


    Then, one of the soldiers who was very clearly terrified by the Veil Walker''s attack panicked and charged at Vex. She watched the man for a brief moment before equipping a sinister smirk on her lips and weing his advance with open arms. He swung his axe with clear intentions to decapitate her- but it passed through her neck as if she were nothing but mist.


    A real ghost.


    The soldier looked up in confusion, but in the next moment, hisrade beside him copsed with his head cleanly severed.


    "Twenty lives, huh. Your ss is so damn annoying, and you''ve even gotten better since west met. If I remember correctly you were limited to 6 lives back then." The thigh highs woman muttered annoyedly.


    "Thanks for the high praise, ra ''The Heartpiercer''. It''s good to see that you''re still so youthful despite your old age. You and master ck Fang should work together to start a skincare business. This ugly drug cartel thingy isn''t for ancient grannies." Vex''s mocking tone made me calm down a bit. If she had the time to joke around with the enemies, things couldn''t be that bad, right?"


    She wouldn''t be one of those crazy people who crack corny jokes even while bleeding to her death, right?


    Right?


    ra''s face contorted as a vein bulged on her forehead. "It''s good to see that your sense of humor is still as crude as ever. Also, dearest Vex, you''re no longer a youngdy either. 203 was it? You could be a woman who''s birthed 10 generations of offspring already."


    "We''re on a mission, ra. Stop your useless chatting." The man with the giant de stated sharply.


    "Draven ''The Titande'', huh. First time meeting you, I think? Or did I just forget about you already? Sorry, you''re kinda like a background character." Vex''s words this time weren''t reciprocated at all, as Draven didn''t even react to her snarky remarks. Seeing it she continued. "Mordecai and his two trusted subordinates. To think the Phantom League''s drug department''s three bosses woulde out to greet feeble little me."


    … Oh dear. That means that Mordecai is equal to ck Fang while Draven and ra are akin to Veil Walkers. We''re in horribly deep shit. Based on their conversation Vex isn''t even as experienced as ra, and Mordecai surely should have the upper hand against her by himself.


    Mordecai chuckled, which with his voice was an extremely unsettling sound. "Unlike yourzy master who isn''t even capable of nning the most basic things by herself, I like to strategize a bit. Why should I send only one of my subordinates to fight you when I cane myself and bring extra help as well? Sorry, but you''re not the main character of a novel where I''m the dumb viin who keeps sending stronger and stronger grunts your way so that you can keep leveling up before killing me. You''ll die here, and I will be enjoying some alone time with your corpse afterward."


    Yikes.


    "What a gentleman you are. I bet you can''t keep thedies off yourp, they must be desperately begging for your attention." Vex''s cute giggling escaped her lips.


    "I''ve heard enough." Draven stated and dashed at Vex. However, before he could reach her he was stopped in ce.


    "ck Fang can''t n you said… Hehehe! Maybe even an age-old entity like her can change her ways!" Vex''s smugugh reverberated through the battlefield.


    A neer stopped Draven''s chargepletely. The man was like a tank barreling towards Vex, but now he was standing still while simply eyeing the woman in front of him.


    And what a woman she was.


    She had long, dark hair that ended in a ponytail, with a few strands falling loosely around her face. Her features were extremely striking. She wore elegant earrings with intricate designs that dangled beside her face. She had a ck top that revealed a detailed tattoo covering her back and arms that extended down to her lower back. Due to her choice of wearing a crop top, her alluring belly that was adorned by a chiseled six-pack and her lower back werepletely bare. I didn''t know who she was, but she didn''t strike me as a woman dressed forbat.


    (Picture)


    "I''ll be taking this one. Master ck Fang said I need to practice more against swordsmen if I want to have a chance at beating you." Her silky smooth voice decreed. She wasn''t at all straining despite having just stopped Draven. The man likely wasn''t giving it his all right off the bat, but it was still an overwhelmingly impressive feat on her part.