Type-Moon, What Do You Mean You summoned Tiamat?! Chapter 19: Have You Met Her?

Under the night sky of Snowfield City, a dark afterimage streaked rapidly across the towering iron jungle of skyscrapers. The howling wind, carrying the unique chill of the desert night, violently whipped the girl's black robe, accentuating her elegant yet powerfully toned curves.

"Hey, where do you think you're running to, beautiful assassin lady?!"

A sickly yet oddly cheerful voice clung to the man from behind like a persistent infection.

He was a young man with a deathly pale face; his silver hair stood out starkly against the night. He followed No Na Assasin with movents that defied the laws of physics, staying glued to her back.

"Are you hunting for the illusory god? Or praying to the past leaders who abandoned you? Don't waste your energy. Even if you pull off eighteen miracles, no one's coming to save a naless fake!"

The soul-piercing sarcasm made No Na Assasin grind her teeth under her veil until they nearly shattered.

There was nowhere left to run… No matter where she fled, this monster would catch her. She was the top assassination candidate and possessed the highest-level aura concealnt, yet her identity had been completely exposed before this man.

Of course it had.

Jester Karture was her master. She had ford an absolute contract with him.

Not long ago, No Na Assasin had been summoned to the human world. Right in front of her, Jester had slaughtered every magus who had been assisting him. After that, the Dead Apostle began provoking her like a ghost—opening his chest, begging her to co out and kill him.

For a true assassin, taking a life is simply fulfilling one's duty as an assassin. It must never stem from personal hatred. The mont No Na Assasin swung her blade out of desire and loathing, her already fractured faith would collapse completely, dragging her toward ruin. That was the supre fruit Jester craved most.

"Why… Why have you clung to like a venomous snake since the very beginning of this world?!"

At the edge of the rooftop, No Na Assasin suddenly stopped. She spun around; killing intent blazed in her eyes beneath the hood.

If she could not escape, she would crush him utterly.

Mana erupted through her body like molten lava. Her right arm thrust into the night sky—not a single strike, but the perfect reproduction of every lethal technique the successive Hassans had ever wielded.

[Zabaniya]!

Her arm twisted like a demon's claw from the abyss, ignoring spatial distance as it extended in an impossible arc and pierced straight through Jester's chest, crushing his still-beating heart.

In the next instant her figure split into countless dark afterimages. Razor-sharp short blades tore Jester's body into dozens of chunks of at and blood.

It was a combination that could kill any magus a thousand tis over.

"Hey… finally lost your patience?"

The half-head that had fallen to the ground grinned with sickly ecstasy. With a grotesque squelching sound, Jester's pulverized body regenerated in the blink of an eye. He rose slowly, like a dancer elegantly bowing amid a rain of blood.

"Of course it's fun," his cheerful voice echoed in the despairing girl's ears. "Through endless entanglent and suffering I will dye your pure faith with my own color. The mont you slaughter , you will surrender to your desires and fall completely into my possession… Is there any art in this world more beautiful than watching you writhe in agony until you descend into madness, my assassin?"

"Tch…" No Na Assasin gripped her blood-stained dagger tightly, her body trembling.

"Trying to run?" Jester spread his arms wide, a twisted, insane smile on his face. "Useless! As long as I am your master, as long as I stand here, you can never escape —!"

Clang!

A sudden, heavy impact shattered Jester's arrogant declaration. The sound bypassed the eardrums and exploded directly in the soul.

In the dead silence of the night, countless white doves perched around the building took flight in panic, wings beating desperately as if fleeing a battlefield about to beco a wasteland of death.

"…Haa?"

Jester froze. His mad grin shattered like a mask; the unfinished taunt died in his throat.

Why… why did he suddenly feel a chill that reached his very soul?

He felt utter absurdity—disbelief. He was a Dead Apostle, a monster who had transcended human lifespan and gained an almost eternal body! Yet at this mont that undying flesh sensed a long-forgotten crisis called destruction.

It was as if the very concept of death had already pressed a blade to his neck.

Ahead, No Na Assasin—who had been desperately trying to trigger another miracle—stood completely frozen, as though all strength had left her. Her eyes were vacant. She was staring fixedly at Jester's back, her gaze a mixture of extre terror and reverence.

Jester also felt the source of the power that had frozen the surrounding air. Every hair on his body stood on end. Neck stiff, he slowly turned his head.

He did not know when it had appeared, but a mountain-like, overwhelmingly oppressive giant black figure now stood silently behind him.

No mana fluctuation. No aura leakage whatsoever.

The old man wore heavy, ancient jet-black armor and gripped an abnormally wide beheading sword in both hands. Beneath a pale skull mask, two eerie blue flas flickered in the night wind.

He stood there as if the entire rooftop had instantly transford into a solemn underworld.

"Are you… an assassin?" Jester asked instinctively, voice trembling as he fought the primal urge to flee.

The old man completely ignored him. The question was no more than the whimper of a defeated dog.

Pale-blue flas flickered faintly. A deep, cold yet solemn gaze passed right beside Jester and settled quietly on the swaying girl before him.

…