Free Web NovelThe shockwave from the explosion sent the snow on both sides of the alley flying into the air.
Rubble, wood chips, and shattered window glass tumbled in the air current for a moment before gravity dragged them back to the ground, clattering around Pavela.
Pavela knelt on one knee, suddenly finding it a bit funny.
This alley was certainly lively today.
First, the Fire of Freedom came to catch the Security Bureau's informant, then she came to catch the Fire of Freedom's people, and now someone else was here to catch her.
Who was next?
The Imperial Emperor himself?
A metallic, rusty taste welled up in her mouth.
Pavela turned her head and spat out a mouthful of blood.
The dark red blood fell onto the snow, spreading into a small, startling patch of color before being quickly covered by newly fallen snowflakes.
--【Warning】--
--【Residual Path of the Tower energy concentration in host's body: Dangerous】--
--【Right arm periosteum healing: 41%】--
--【Spinal nerve damage repair progress: 23%】--
--【Please, I beg of you, stop using the power of The Way Back.】--
Pavela was stunned for a moment.
She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve and stood up, leaning against the wall.
Then she recalled the system's prompt again.
"Please, I beg of you"?
--【You heard right!】--
--【I said "Please, I beg of you".】--
--【The current physical state can no longer support any form of calling upon the power of The Way Back.】--
--【Use it a few more times, and your spinal nerves will truly snap. Once they're broken, they can't be reconnected!】--
--【Do you want to spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair?!】--
The corner of Pavela's mouth twitched.
She had known this system for nearly a month.
From the first day it spoke, except for a very few moments, this thing had always sent her information unilaterally in a cold, mechanical, business-like tone.
Things like "The host is advised to take deep breaths to stabilize emotions."
Things like "Detected an increase in mental pollution progress; immediate withdrawal from the combat environment is advised."
Things like "Morning status report: The host's sleep quality is extremely poor; it is recommended to adjust the daily routine."
It always had that emotionless appearance.
For a while, she even thought this thing was just a soulless monitoring program.
"You've finally stopped pretending altogether?"
--【Pretend my ass.】--
Pavela was almost choked by those three words.
She opened her mouth, then closed it again.
Then she couldn't help but let out a laugh.
After laughing, she coughed twice, and the rusty taste welled up in her mouth again.
"Fine," she said, "I'd have found you a bit more personable if you'd spoken like this sooner—"
Before she could finish, her body was already moving.
Because the air had changed.
It was as if the density of the air itself suddenly increased for an instant, then returned to normal the next.
Instinct on the battlefield was faster than thought.
She lunged to the left, rolling into the shadows at the base of the wall on one side of the alley.
Another arrow passed through the spot where she had just been standing.
No sound of breaking the air, no vibration of a bowstring.
Only an eerie blue trail of light traced a straight line through the snowflakes.
Wayfarer.
The light attached to the arrow was not something any conventional weapon could produce.
Eerie blue; she didn't recognize which The Way Back that color corresponded to.
But that didn't matter.
What mattered was—the opponent intended to kill her.
The arrow nailed into the brick wall at the end of the alley.
The moment the arrowhead sank into the masonry, the eerie blue light suddenly expanded—
Pavela buried her face in the crook of her arm.
Explosion.
A pure release of power.
The brick wall began to crumble outward from the point where the arrow hit, fragments of brick flying like shrapnel, and an entire wall was torn to shreds in less than a second.
The shockwave, carrying rubble and snow spray, swept over Pavela's head, blowing her short silver hair backward.
It had been the same just now.
Back then, she had just finished interrogating Igor, and after prying the words 'the sleeper' from his mouth, this group had arrived.
Without any intention of saying hello, they opened with an arrow.
Eerie blue.
Explosive.
For that arrow, Pavela had used the power of the Path of the Tower, forcibly deflecting it with her dagger.
The arrow flew past Pavela's right ear, taking a few silver hairs with it, and nailed into the building's outer wall again.
Then came the crimson explosion.
Broken bricks were still hitting her back, hurting like hell.
But even worse, the backlash of the power was starting to take effect.
...
Pavela brushed the dust off herself.
Her eyes were fixed on the direction the arrow had come from.
The other end of the alley.
On the roof.
A figure stood on the snow-covered ridge, holding a longbow.
An eerie blue light was condensing on the bowstring.
Pavela's gaze swept toward Igor, who was still lying on the ground.
The shockwave of the explosion had blasted him out of his existential crisis over betraying the organization; the vacancy in his eyes was swept away by survival instinct, and he was struggling to stand up, but his arms were useless, like a beetle flipped on its back.
Pavela bent down, grabbed him by the back of his collar, hoisted him up from the ground, and then unceremoniously shoved him toward the center of the alley.
Toward the archer's line of fire.
Igor's pupils constricted.
Another arrow was fired.
Pavela stared intently at its trajectory the moment the arrow left the string.
The arrow—
Went straight for Igor's chest.
Without the slightest deflection.
Without any hesitation.
At the last moment, Pavela yanked Igor back.
The arrow passed three inches from his chest, nailed into the wall behind him, and there was another explosion.
Not people from the Fire of Freedom.
If the organization had come to support him, it would be impossible to do it this way—not even caring about their own person.
Then it wasn't for Igor.
It was for her.
Pavela let go of Igor's collar.
Then she raised her foot and kicked him into a recessed doorway on the side of the alley.
Igor hit the door panel, let out a muffled groan, and slid down to sit on the ground.
"Useless thing."
Pavela said without looking back, then turned and ran.
Igor opened his mouth.
But Pavela had already disappeared around the corner of the alley.
The opponent completely ignored him as well.
Several figures swept over the eaves above his head from different directions, all chasing after Pavela. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
He leaned against the door panel, his arms hanging limply at his sides, ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) snowflakes falling on his face.
Should he go find a diviner to check his luck lately?
