During the fight, Helena had fallen onto her knees in front of that woman. It was now clear that relying only on Helena could be dangerous. We would have to face that woman together—I understood this immediately. Without any delay, I pulled out my gun and aimed at the woman.
At the same time, Vyuk was also completely ready. In the same moment, both of us pointed our guns toward the masked woman. There was only one resolve in our eyes—to stop her before those poisonous purple particles spread completely.
As soon as we took aim, the woman's gaze fell on us. For the first time, a faint trace of surprise appeared on her face. Perhaps she had never expected that such a counterattack could come from our side. She had believed that her poison would leave us helpless, but we were ready to fight.
"Now!" I gave the signal, and Vyuk and I fired our guns at the same time.
The bullets rushed toward her chest at lightning speed. But she was no amateur. Before the bullets could hit her, she pulled something out from her shadow that left me stunned.
Just like Vyuk, she brought out thick, black rod-like tentacles from her shadow—like the trunk of an ancient tree. Those mysterious tentacles formed a shield in front of her and stopped our bullets in mid-air. The bullets struck those wood-like tentacles and became completely ineffective.
Seeing that scene, I was frozen. My mind stopped working—what was this? Could this woman also use shadow tentacles like Vyuk, or was it some other terrifying ability of hers? Seeing an enemy use a technique similar to Vyuk's was the biggest shock for us.
I was still lost in these thoughts when two people suddenly came running from behind. They were wearing leather armor and holding swords in their hands. From their uniforms and posture, it seemed they were probably lower-rank soldiers of the Royal Knights who were patrolling the harbor.
After seeing the situation, the two soldiers suddenly stopped and tried to understand what was happening. They looked at Historia, who was closest to them, and asked in a stern voice, "What exactly is happening here? What is all this chaos?"
Historia thought they had come to help us, so without wasting any time she quickly told them everything that had happened so far and about the masked woman. But the moment the soldiers and Historia started talking, something struck my mind—I had made a huge mistake.
Because of the small noise and distraction created by the soldiers' arrival and conversation, my attention had shifted away from that mysterious woman. Suddenly I realized that the air was now completely clear—those dangerous purple poisonous particles had disappeared from the air. Even the silence had grown deeper.
"Damn it!" I turned at lightning speed toward the place where the woman had been standing. I intended not to let her escape from my sight, but…
She had completely disappeared.
Neither the wall of tentacles was there anymore, nor the masked hunter woman. She had taken full advantage of that small opportunity created by the soldiers' arrival and vanished right before our eyes.
As soon as she disappeared, a heavy silence spread across the entire harbor. That silence, which only moments ago had been filled with explosions and the smell of poison, now spread around us like a burden. We couldn't understand what had just happened or what our next move should be.
The air was now completely clear. Those deadly purple particles that had been floating like messengers of death were nowhere to be seen. The suffocating pressure that had been gripping our lungs had vanished, but in its place came an unwanted calm.
My eyes fell on Helena.
Only a moment ago she had been facing death, but now she was on her knees. The golden glow of her axe had faded. Exhaustion and the effect of that poisonous air had forced her to bend down. She was breathing heavily, her face soaked in sweat, and the hunter-like smile in her eyes had disappeared.
Just then, there was a movement on the ground of the harbor. The workers who had until now been lifeless puppets under that woman's control suddenly began staggering. The white emptiness in their eyes slowly started fading. It was clear that their consciousness was returning. They looked confused and stared at each other as if they didn't even remember how they had come here.
Our target had disappeared, but she had left behind countless questions—and a defeat we had never expected.
Meanwhile, those two Royal Knight soldiers had now understood the situation and went near Vyuk to talk to him. From their behavior it seemed they already knew Vyuk.
What they were discussing did not matter to me at that moment. My entire attention was on Helena.
All of us had been inside that poisonous fog, but we were at some distance, so the poison had not affected us too deeply. But Helena… she had been at the very center of it. She had been fighting so close to the masked woman that with every breath she had inhaled those deadly particles.
Just a short while ago Helena had been swinging her axe like a roaring storm, but now she was collapsing toward the ground like a falling wall. Her face had turned pale and her hands were trembling badly. I could hear the heavy sound of her breathing even from a distance.
She was not just tired—it felt as if some invisible illness was hollowing her from the inside. In a single moment she had changed from a powerful warrior into a helpless sick person.
I ran toward her.
"Helena!" There was an unfamiliar fear in my voice. I feared that the masked woman might have left us with a wound in the form of Helena that would never heal. The silence of the harbor was now frightening me even more.
Vyuk was still busy talking with the soldiers, but my eyes were fixed on Helena. I had to do something quickly, otherwise her next breath might become her last.
When I anxiously asked how she was, Helena replied even in her weak condition, "Don't worry, I'm fine. This poison is not powerful enough to defeat me."
Her words gave me great relief.
Soon Vyuk and the soldiers also came near us. One of the soldiers explained that the poison was not deadly. Instead, it was meant to paralyze people or bring them under control. That was why the workers had fallen under her control so easily, and even a warrior like Helena had been brought to her knees within moments.
Vyuk explained that the woman did not want to kill us, but rather make us helpless so she could escape safely with the kidnapped people. If she had used deadly poison, it would have taken more time—and the people she needed might have died as well.
By now Helena had regained enough strength to stand up. Angrily she gripped her axe again tightly, as if it was eager to drink that woman's blood.
At that moment I thought about how powerful Helena's axe truly was—it had given her enough strength to fight a Sequence-3 Paragon even though she herself was only Sequence-1.
My thoughts broke when Vyuk suddenly asked Helena where she had obtained such an axe. He also questioned its real powers and its Hallowed class.
Helena looked surprised and replied, "What class? This is a special type of Hallowed… and I'm not going to tell you anything about it."
I was surprised. Did Helena not even know about the classifications of Hallowed weapons? Just a few days ago she had been talking about advancing to Sequence-2. Then in her arrogant tone she added, "And even if I tell you, what benefit will I get from it?"
Vyuk became slightly irritated but controlled himself and said respectfully, "Forgive me, Helena, but I am part of the Church and you are an illegal Paragon. I have every right to question you, otherwise the situation could become bad for you."
Hearing this made me nervous. I feared Helena's stubbornness might drag us into trouble. I said to her, "Helena, you should tell Vyuk everything. That would be better."
Helena became tense and started thinking whether she should reveal the secret. She was arrogant, but also wise enough to make the right decision.
Meanwhile, when the soldiers heard that we were not authorized Paragons, they were shocked. But Vyuk smiled and lied that we belonged to noble families. Hearing that, the soldiers burst into laughter. That was when we realized they were not Royal Knights at all, but ordinary soldiers of the Gupt Empire.
Vyuk said, "Enough jokes. We have to catch her."
He picked up the same crumpled paper and started Paper Divination again. He attempted to track the woman's Uniqueness present in the air.
The paper tube began bending strangely, as if some heavy pressure was acting on it. Suddenly it bent toward one direction.
All of our eyes turned that way.
About fifty meters away there was an old warehouse at the harbor. I had just begun wondering if the woman was inside when suddenly the massive door of the warehouse started shaking violently—as if someone inside was trying to break it open and come out.