"Prepare for battle," he said seriously, summoning an ice sword. Strax had already given the sword he had kept to Samira, and she did the same. "I''m always ready," she said as her sword burst into mes.


    "And you''ll have to exin why you were using my ability," shemented seriously and felt somethinging towards her face, but promptly stopped it.


    *Swoosh!*


    The arrow that came towards Samira''s face was quickly cut by her perfectly and with a subtle and carefree movement.


    "That wasn''t cool," she said, pointing the sword at the archer, "Didn''t they teach you manners?!" Samira said, hearing from a taller man among them, who seemed to be the leader of this group, "Just hand over Strax Vorah!" The pseudo-leader shouted, "We have no interest in you, Samira ze! We just want the newbie!" The shout came from the hooded man in the background.


    "Tsk, they already know about me," she muttered angrily, after all, as Malik had said, the zes and the Vorahs were troublesome. If they knew about her at this point, they would probablye after her. Strax, smiling, raised his hand.


    "A quick question, who do you think you are to demand something from me?" He said, widening his mischievous smile, which provoked the group that aimed their bows at him even faster. "Hey, quiet down, don''t make things worse," she whispered to him, already knowing that this fight could be intense.


    *Trot-toc* *Trot-toc* *Trot-toc*


    The sound of horse hooves came from behind Samira and Strax, who saw Jason arriving holding a cloak in one hand; his body had several bloodstains. "I''m sorry, I just dealt with some assassins, but it seems I''ve found our pursuers," he said, holding a ck and gold badge. "They call themselves the Shadow League.


    From the information I have, they''re led by the Assassin Queen, that stupid woman who never showed her face, at least that''s what they say." He exined, showing the badge engraved with a crow''s skeleton and three wings of ck wood. Strax saw it quickly, but returned to observe the enemies who seemed to have be really annoyed with what Jason referred to their Mistress.


    "Tsk, well, it looks like we have no choice," Strax said and looked at the men who raised their bows and pointed them at him, as well as a mage who had a magic circle already conjured, pointed by the tip of his staff directly in their direction. It didn''t seem to be anything important because even Strax could see that the magic circle had only one circle, showing that it wasn''t really strong.


    If it were, the circle would be much moreplex.


    "Samira, use everything you have," he said seriously. "As if I would hold back after they tried to hit me," she replied, firmly holding the sword that was enchanted with her me. "Jason, are you okay?" Strax questioned and he nodded. "Then let''s settle this quickly," he confirmed. The leader of the assassins squad didn''t just stand by.


    In fact, he stealthily descended and was already almost in front of Strax.


    "Ice Field," Strax said, and the entire ground began to freeze. "Terrain advantage," he said smiling, after all, the entire ground was wet and quickly the man felt it and jumped high,ing out of invisibility. "You...," he muttered, understanding that he was no longer just a target but... a great challenge, since his information about Strax waspletely wrong.


    Strax didn''t let the man in front of him get away as he wanted, and quickly advanced towards the leader of the assassins. His ice sword was raised, and his eyes fixed on the imminent target. Every move could count, so he began to focus to avoid any misstep.


    His mind entered a maximum production state. It worked at an elerated pace, evaluating everything that could be done and everything that couldn''t, like arge machine analyzing every point of the user. "I have to keep the pressure on. He''s an assassin. If he has space to go invisible or use poison, I could be in serious trouble," he thought, as his swords shed with force. Fortunately...


    "The ice didn''t break," he thought. In fact, it was the first time Strax had tested these things. He wanted to do tests with ice maniption, and a sword was his main goal now. He wanted a sword that could appear at any moment and that was rigid enough to confront small impasses like this.


    The man watched Strax''s advances and attacks. Despite having information about him, they proved to bepletely wrong... this man... was much stronger than he should be. He was initially startled, but he realized that the ability he used on the ground was nothing special, just freezing the damp nts on the ground. After thoroughly analyzing Strax, he saw a pattern of attack.


    "You''re skilled, after all, you''re a Vorah," he acknowledged Strax''s strength aloud... "But it''s a pity you don''t know how to hold a sword properly." He said, delivering a blow that made the ice sword break part of the hilt. "Urgth!" Strax roared in pain as he felt the impact shatter and fling ice chips onto his forearm.


    "This is going to be tough," he muttered as he tried to create another sword, but this time... even stronger.


    While he prepared to fight the Assassin again, Samira and Jason fought the rest of the group with great ease... "They tried to kill him again..." She thought, awakening a feeling she had never felt before. She... was enraged to kill all those who dared to harm her husband. She focused her thoughts on destroying that group.


    "You will die, one by one." She said with a macabre smile, as her fierce and hot aura began to affect the area, thawing the ground.


    "Damn... This woman got crazier because of you, Young Master." Jason thought as he advanced towards the group, dodging several arrows.


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    A precise and wless advance, cutting, breaking, and dodging arrows in the fastest and most efficient way possible. "What nonsense, and they call themselves assassins." Jason appeared in front of one, plunging his ck iron sword into his head. He wanted to say something, but when he looked to the side... There were five charred skeletons...


    "I warned that everyone would die for trying to touch him!" He heard the female scream beside him. Then, another skeleton flew charred and hit a tree, destroying it. This time, this skeleton still had... pieces of flesh stuck to its bones, but they werepletely burnt. Jason just saw that and couldn''t help but repeat. "Young master...


    what have you done..." But soon his thoughts were taken from him with an assassin trying to ambush him from behind. It was clear that he had already sensed him a long time ago. "Tsk, you guys are idiots." The sound of the dagger being blocked came, and Jason turned around, giving a spinning sh and decapitating the assassin.


    Jason heard a sound and turned back, seeing Strax kicking the stomach of the leader of the assassins.


    The blow was so powerful that the sound reverberated through the area, making the leader of the assassins stagger back, leaving a trail on the ground marked by the force of the impact, half staggering, trying to recover, but he didn''t stop showing a clear expression of pain. The strength he felt... "Fire and Ice," the Assassinmented, "You''re full of surprises."


    Strax looked at that, what was the assassin referring to? "Using fire to propel and ice to fortify, it seems I''m quite creative." He said to the wind, looking at the semi-frozen state of his leg, which quickly melted with the heat of his fire... "You''re not weak as they say out there," the assassin spoke, as he put his hand on his belly, which was visibly frozen.


    "Well, you can''t trust what they say, can you?" Strax mocked, smiling. Although difficult, Strax had no problems with this fight. "Out of nowhere? Strax, don''t be naive... We''ve been watching you for years." He said. Strax looked at him andmented, "The Assassin Queen is interested in me?" He smiled.


    "I have no reason to answer anything to a Vorah," he spoke, and again... he turned invisible. "You know, sometimes I think it''s destiny, but why don''t you introduce me to her? I''m heading to the Duchy." Strax said aloud, while he focused and controlled his breathing. He needed to find out where the man was.


    Strax stayed quiet. For a moment, he thought he might lose his concentration, but his mind entered a state of focus so surprising that with just one wrong move...


    Crack!


    One of the nts, just a few steps away from him, shattered like ss shards, causing his de to automatically aim for the head of his target. The strong wind of his strike stopped just inches from the assassin''s throat.


    "Youe to me without information, with a squad of recruits to intimidate me. I hope the person who put the bounty on me and your Mistress are strong enough to bear the consequences of defying an order from Xenovia Vorah." Strax bluffed, slicing a part of the man''s neck, while ayer of ice formed, trapping his body as he tried to move.


    "X-Xenovia?!" He stammered upon hearing what Strax said...