With my [Fire Storm] rapidly growing, it caught the assassin's attention as it headed right for them while carving a burning path through the forest, prompting them to grab their daggers as they spread out, creating a crescent shape.
Once me and my spell neared them, I didn't wait for them to make the first move and did so first; with a burst of speed, I dashed through the fiery tornado and emerged from the other side as I headed straight for the man in the middle. Of course, the other assassins, seeing this, all instantly collapsed into a circle surrounding me, preventing me from escaping, though who said I was going to do that in the first place?
I refrained from using [Blink] to get an easy first kill as I instead opened my mouth, using [Fire Breath] as I released a torrent of flames at the assassin in front of me, causing him to leap into the air, which caused me to faintly smirk as I followed after him, using [Air Step]. Slashing my swords, I launched multiple [Wind Blades] in his direction, forcing him to show impressive skill as he deflected each one that would've otherwise hit a virtual organ; as for the others, he ignored them as they left deep cuts across his body, though they were nothing but flesh wounds.
Clicking my tongue, I infused more mana into my swords, causing the raging wind that surrounded them to dance with lightning as I once again launched multiple blades of wind in his direction just as he landed on the ground; however, unlike before, they significantly faster thanks to the added lightning, though I didn't lightning to each wind blade, which messed up his rhythm as several attacks managed to get through to him.
Watching as my attacks sliced through his arm and leg, he collapsed onto the ground, essentially out of the fight since if nothing was done, he'd bleed to death.
As for the other assassins, they slashed their daggers at me, causing three small knives to be launched from their daggers toward me; seeing the incoming twelve little knives coming at me from all directions, I punched the air above me, using utilizing air step although I didn't take a 'step', causing me to be flung to the ground as I narrowly evaded the knives.
The moment I landed on the ground, three of the four assassins lunged toward me while the other stayed at a distance, continuously launching knives at me from his dagger. The knives were coated in the same poison as the dagger, so while dangerous, they were the least of my worries; it's just, like every fight I'm in, I don't want to reveal my Ichor if I can help it.
Raising my sword, I blocked the first assassin and swung my other one, looking to bisect him in half, though he leaped backward just in time for the other assassin to near me as he attempted to stab my stomach; however, using [Expand] on Trina, I used my lengthed hilt to stop his dagger and having just learned from my mistake, I didn't try to kill him but instead kicked his stomach, flinging him into the ground while I used Zartha to stop the third assassin, and this all occurred with me dodging the constant rain of knives.
'Tsk, they're strong and have solid teamwork; that's a terrible combination. Good thing I managed to get rid of one early; otherwise, this could've been far more annoying.' Thought Alexander with a slightly annoyed expression as he held Zartha facing upward, using the broad side of his sword to block the incoming knives.
Instead of outright using blink to kill one, I bid my time, hoping I could find the perfect opportunity to kill two of them at once, but as the seconds passed, with me primarily staying on the defensive, I was forced to give up my hopes; I've exchanged several blows with each assassin by now, and while I can't say I know their attack pattern, they never attack right beside each other, they always come at different angles and at the same time, which made it quite challenging to block everything.
Swiping my sword, forcing an assassin back lest he wished to lose his head, I used [Blink], appearing right beside a different assassin attacking from behind as I stabbed Zartha into his stomach before knicking him into a tree, leaving behind a blood train as he slid down its trunk.
With it turning into three vs one, I gained some much-needed room to maneuver as I began rushing the remaining two, which still attacked with deadly efficiency, though without the third assassin to help keep me at bay, I was swinging my swords like a mad man, blocking their every attack while leaving behind slashes on their body, which were all signs of theme narrowly managed to evade death.
'C'mon, you can only evade death so many times; she'll have you eventually.' Mused Alexander lightly as he deflected an assassin attacking from his side before kicking him into the other.
With the two tumbling across the ground, I raised Zartha into the air and infused her with a large amount of mana as a small, highly compressed flamming sphere floated just above the tip of the sword, launching the [Fire Blast] at the two, I turned to my right and dashed at the third assassin which had constantly been hiding in the back.
"Oh, I've got some words for you." Muttered Alexander softly as he speedily dashed toward the third assassin, using [Strength Augment] and [Speed Augment].
While speedily approaching the assassin, taking him slightly aback by my sudden burst of speed, a large, fiery explosion occurred behind us that caused the ground to tremble faintly; as the assassin stopped launching knives at me, he lunged towards me, which was a mistake on his part, since while they these assassins were strong, they had no semblance of knowledge on how to use mana.
Slashing my sword at the assassin, who was still outside my range, I launched [Void Slash] his way, and since they were incompetent when it came to mana, they would have no way of sensing my invisible attack that blended seamlessly with space.
Watching the assassin collapse into two, I swiftly turned around and dashed back to where the explosion took place, only to see two injured and scared assassins; they must've managed to escape from the center of the explosion, otherwise they would've been dead, as I had used a good amount of mana.
Taking advantage of their injured state, I swiftly neared one, who quickly regained his bearing and battled me, but his injuries prevented him from seeing from his left eye, which meant he didn't see Trina in time before it was already parallel to his neck.
Decapitating the fourth assassin, I quickly used blink, appearing beside the fifth assassin that had attacked me from the side, though he was too late to save his companion; using blink again, I appeared directly in front of the assassin and head-butted him before grabbing him by the neck as I lifted him into the air.
Grabbing the dagger out of his hand, I removed his mask, only to see a face without a mouth, which was a little unnerving.
"What the hell? You look human, but you're not." Muttered Alexander lightly as he gazed at the man before suddenly stabbing Zartha into his stomach.
Dropping the assassin to the ground, I approached the other assassins and removed their masks, only to see the same exact face for everyone, which was beyond just a bit unnerving.
"Weird. They're like robots, but they're all alive." Muttered Alexander with furrowed brows as he looked at the fifth assassin before shaking his head and walking away.
'They're homunculi.' Said Zartha coldly with folded arms and closed eyes, causing Alexander to raise an eyebrow.
"Humunculi? What are those?" Asked Alexander curiously as he cleansed his swords with fire while looking at Zartha, who never responded.
Seeing how she was still upset with me for leaving her alone, I shook my head and sighed as I absorbed them into my body while jogging back to Jasmine. When I arrived at our little camp, I was happy to find Jasmine hadn't moved and was still hiding.
"Jasmine, you can come out now; I killed the assassins." Said Alexander lightly with a yawn as he aimlessly observed the forest, seemingly looking for her.
"Everything is safe?" Asked Jasmine softly as she peeked her head from outside her cloak, causing Alexander to nod while she sighed in relief.
"Oh, thank goodness! I got worried when that explosion happened." Added Jasmine with a sigh of relief as he exited the bush while dropping her hood, revealing her smiling face, only for Alexander to suddenly grab her ear.
"The hell did I tell you to do?" "O-Ouch! I-It hurts!" Stated Alexander and Jasmine, respectively, as the former sternly eyed the latter, who was holding his arm with a teary-eyed expression.
"It hurts? Good, it's supposed to hurt. I told you never to reveal yourself, no matter what, because guess what, you won't be able to feel any pain for much longer because they'll kill you!" Declared Alexander sternly as he pulled Jasmine's ear while reprimanding her, prompting her to rapidly nod in pain.