Chapter 40 --40
Black clothes, masked face, twin daggers spinning toward the fox knight’s throat with lethal precision. He barely got his armored forearm up in time—metal shrieked against steel in a sound that made Elara’s teeth ache. Then he drove his elbow into the assassin’s ribs. The crack of bone was sickeningly audible.
The assassin didn’t even pause. Just pivoted with fluid grace that shouldn’t have been possible and lunged straight for Elara.
She threw herself sideways, rolling across the floor. Not fast enough—fire traced across her upper arm as the blade caught her sleeve and the skin beneath. She kicked out on pure instinct, all her Taekwondo training snapping into place. Her foot connected solidly with the assassin’s knee.
It felt like kicking a steel pillar. The assassin barely stumbled before recovering, and Elara’s heart sank. *These aren’t normal fighters. They’re too fast. Way too fast.*
Glass exploded inward. Another black-clad figure dove through the window in a spray of glittering shards. A third materialized from the doorway so silently Elara hadn’t heard them approach at all.
Three of them. Three professional killers. One exhausted princess who could barely stand. One knight.
The odds were terrible.
Steel clashed against steel as the fox knight threw himself between Elara and two of the assassins, his sword moving in desperate arcs. The third assassin stalked toward her with terrifying focus, dagger raised, eyes cold and empty through the mask.
Elara’s breath came in ragged gasps. Her arm burned. There was blood on her sleeve—her blood.
Then—footsteps. Heavy boots thundering down the corridor outside.
"Your Highness!" Voices shouted, getting closer.
The assassins went utterly still for a heartbeat. Their eyes flicked toward the door—quick professional assessment. Mission compromised.