Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1188 - 300: The Last 1 Centimeter

Chapter 1188: Chapter 300: The Last 1 Centimeter

Actually, from the beginning of the battle, every girl in the team had paid great attention to the protection of Vivian and Freya. It was clear that in this outnumbered fight, these two were the focus of the team. Only by fully unleashing their powers could they hope for a slim chance of victory. Otherwise, despite a momentarily advantageous position against the numerous enemies, the ultimate outcome could only be defeat. The other three could not let the mages encounter any accidents, not even a minor injury. Thus, Catherine and Lina had always focused considerable attention on the two, including in their choice of tactics, which was essentially to create the best possible combat space for them.

In comparison, Vivian was the main focus. Everyone had seen Vivian’s trump cards, and all agreed that once she revealed her hand, as long as there were no demigods among the opponents, no matter how strong the enemy was, their side would not lose for a long duration. Therefore, as the core of their hearts, Vivian was constantly under the protection of the other four. It could be said that from the start up till now, the mage girl was the safest and most comfortable among them all. Everyone even felt confident that as long as the four of them were not taken down, it was impossible for anyone to threaten Vivian’s safety, even if someone breached their defenses, as the girls would protect her with their bodies.

However, at this moment, no one could protect Vivian, not even the mage girl herself.

The enemy’s appearance was too bizarre, bypassing everyone’s line of sight and energy perception, silently emerging from behind the mage girl. When the shadow appeared, it was precisely when Vivian stood up to inform everyone that she was ready. The three awake girls all focused on Vivian, making it seem impossible under such circumstances for anyone to attack her by surprise. Yet even three pairs of eyes failed to discern the process in which the shadow appeared behind Vivian, what the three girls saw was only an extremely bizarre scene.

The lecture hall was quite dim, illuminated only by a few crystal energy lamps embedded in the ceiling and walls, casting long shadows behind each person that swayed back and forth—a normal occurrence, as everyone has a shadow and Vivian was no exception. As Vivian suddenly stood up, the darkest shadow behind her swayed as well. This was also normal and nothing surprising. However, then a bizarre scene occurred; the edge of the mage girl’s shadow suddenly became distorted as if interfered with, and suddenly split into two—one still imprinted on the ground as a normal shadow, while the other stood up with the girl, changing from an immaterial form to a solid one, and even materialized two daggers in its hand.

If Pannis were still here, he would have reacted the moment the shadow started to act strangely, moving close to Vivian’s side because his deep understanding of other professions allowed him to recognize instantly that this was a sign of the highly advanced and mysterious skill, Shadow Assassination. Once the skill was activated, an assassin could move from a lurking dark corner directly into the shadow formed by the target, then appear from within the shadow to deliver a lethal blow. Yet, this skill was mastered by so few that the girls, who had only heard of it, had never actually seen it, and thus when Vivian’s shadow started to twist, they involuntarily froze, stunned and unable to make the right judgment immediately, thereby losing the sole chance to save Vivian.

The shadowy figure that suddenly appeared behind her, the same two daggers, the same angle, the same lethal strike, possibly even at the same time, the dark painted blades, like venomous fangs of a snake, emitted a lethal and eerie glow, silently striking at its target. The girls were unable to rescue her in time, not even able to scream. Their pupils dilated, helplessly watching as the blades moved closer and closer to Vivian’s heart and the back of her neck. Vivian was also unable to save herself, unaware of what was happening, only realizing from her companions’ expressions that there was danger behind her. Instinctively, she tried to reinforce her already deployed Magic Shield, but even the brief moment needed to translate thought into action was too short, and this less than a second of time robbed the mage girl of her last chance to save herself.

The daggers were cold and sharp, piercing through Vivian’s Magic Shield as effortlessly as tearing through a thin veil, unfettered as they proceeded forward, closing in on Vivian’s body. Although they hadn’t yet touched, the girl could feel the icy chill emanating from the blades in that instant, like a summer night’s breeze, hot with a touch of deadly coldness.

The daggers were drawing nearer, less than a final centimeter from the mage girl’s body, the boundary line between life and death reduced to this last centimeter, at the brink of catastrophe, only to be cast back into the abyss, an undoubtedly ironic situation. Yet, such is the fate of adventurers. No matter how powerful one is, it is impossible to guarantee being the last one standing, because no one can predict what will happen in the next second. These words were spoken over four hundred years ago, after the first chairman of the Adventurer’s Guild witnessed his longtime companion being split into eleven pieces by a sudden spatial distortion at the ancient battlefield of the War of Gods, not long after the relocation of the guild’s headquarters to the City of Knowledge. Soon after, the old man resigned from his post as chairman and retired in the Holy City, spending his final eight years there. This newfound maxim applies to every professional, including Vivian, and, of course, the assassin behind her.

As soon as the assassin appeared, the girls desperately tried to rescue Vivian, including Lina who held two goblin crossbows, moving the crossbows to target behind Vivian, but realizing halfway that she was too late. In her tension, the priest girl inadvertently activated the crossbow, sending the arrow already mounted on the string toward the ceiling, vanishing in an instant. However, an unexpected explosion unexpectedly burst into the lecture hall. The explosion was rapid and intense, with shock waves that swept through the entire hall, a building theoretically impervious to damage due to Divine Power protection and unshakable even by a crystal energy cannon, groaned under the ravaging shock wave, continuously swaying. For a moment, the ceiling, floor, and walls were all violently shaking as if Doomsday had arrived.

The shaking wasn’t limited to the floor, but also affected everyone on it; every person, whether the young girls, the Undead Mage, and the ghouls, found themselves thrown to the ground by the tremors. Naturally, this included the assassin behind Vivian. With no preparation, as the dagger was merely a centimeter away, the sudden quaking threw off his aim. The dagger meant for Vivian’s neck sliced her shoulder blade instead, and the one aimed at her heart merely cut a gash below her ribs—a potentially deadly strike oddly turned into merely a flesh wound that didn’t require much attention. Startled, the assassin withdrew the daggers, intending to attack again, but this time, it was too late for him.

The first surprise attack by the assassin had caught them off guard; being unprepared for a second attempt would have been unforgivable. Of course, Catherine wouldn’t make such a mistake. So, even before the shaking had stopped, Catherine was already struggling to kneel on the ground, launching a rescue charge towards Vivian. As the quaking subsided, the knightly young girl swiftly appeared beside Vivian—the assassin, seeing his target change, plunged his daggers into Catherine’s left arm and shoulder instead. The knight’s muscles tensed fiercely, pinning the daggers inside her, as she swung her knight sword with all her might. The assassin didn’t hesitate, releasing the daggers and drifting backward like smoke, quickly clearing the barriers, flipping over two in the process, and retreating into the ranks of the Undead Mages, leaving behind only a regretful sigh. Once back with his group, the assassin, under the gaze of the young girls, bowed elegantly, touching his chest, then stepped back and once again vanished into the surrounding shadows.

"Who is he," Catherine asked as she grasped Vivian’s cold, damp hand, drawing a deep breath to steady her voice, "How could there be such a person among the Divine Servants? I thought only the City of Innocence housed such individuals."

"I don’t know him either." Vivian’s palms were sweaty as she held onto her sister’s hand and noticed the knight’s hand was just as wet from sweat. Looking down at their clasped hands, they were shaking involuntarily. Vivian forced a smile, "Sister, stop shaking your hand; I’m about to lose my balance."

"It’s your hand that’s shaking," Catherine replied, releasing Vivian’s hand. The two exchanged looks and a bitter smile, realizing that both of their hands were trembling uncontrollably.

"I was really scared," Vivian said, taking a deep breath with a tremble in her voice, "I didn’t see it coming at all, I was completely unprepared, truly unbecoming."

"Don’t be afraid, he won’t get another chance," said the knightly young girl, maintaining her composure stubbornly adorable, yet able to calm the other girls’ pounding hearts. Catherine cautiously surveyed the enemies scattered on the ground, struggling to rise, without hastily launching a counterattack, "What I really want to know now is who he actually is."

"Though I don’t recognize him, his actions and habits remind me of someone," Lina said, kneeling on the ground, appearing calm but actually too tense to stand, "City of Innocence, Elegance."

"Before you confirm the identity of your opponent, you might want to take a look at this, it floated down from above," Freya, keeping the best composure among the young girls, waved a piece of parchment, "Shot down by Lina, it seems the explosion was triggered by this. I must say, your archery skills are impressive, Lina."