Murim Recurve

"Aah!" The force from the impact caused her wobbly self to fall. Re'Kha quickly craned strength in her arms as she propped herself up, turning around to notice the cause was her phone. It flickered with light and displayed the time.

Re'Kha looked back, noticing Chaya seated atop the wall as she panted. Her posture seemed like one that had just made a throw.

'She already killed all six of them?' Re'Kha was shocked, for when she was climbing the wall, they were still faring enough to not die by her hands soon. Besides, Chaya had been getting tired.

But to her shock, Re'Kha hadn't even managed to escape far before Chaya managed to kill all of them and even chased after her. Clutching the knife in her hands for self-defence, Re'Kha took in a deep breath, intending to pit her life in this fight.

Even though the death of her character wouldn't result in her death, in reality, she would still accumulate some damage. And, she didn't know how many units of damage she would receive this time, for it varied based on the difficulty of the Quest, the closeness of one's completion of the Quest, and the extent of the character's injury before death.

All of them varied how many units of damage she would receive in the end upon her character's death. So, Re'Kha had zero intentions to die.

Propping herself up, she regulated her breathing, controlling her character to enter a stance as she slowly familiarised herself with the injured body, intending to fight depending on that after setting her mind to it.

Chaya leaped and landed on the ground, making a couple of rolls before getting up. Even though she was panting, her eyes were dead serious.

The only source of light in the place was from her mobile. It was incredibly dull. And for some reason, it seemed the mobile didn't automatically switch off the screen after some time had passed.

The damage seemed to have corrupted its settings as it shone light from the screen without any change. Even the time displayed on it was a garble, flickering from time to time. Re'Kha bent and picked up the phone, carrying it using her left hand as she shone the light onto Chaya.

This way, she would be on the side of darkness while being able to see her foe better. This would give her some advantage. The moment Chaya began to walk towards her, Re'Kha shouted, "Why are you attacking me? I'm unrelated to you."

"Lies," Chaya's stoic voice resounded, brittle like a cube of ice dropped on the road, "Everyone living in this area is my enemy. Your death is a guarantee."

"Let's see you try, then." Re'Kha no longer had any intentions to pull her punches. She determined Chaya had lost her mind. And, judging by how she had acted, nothing Re'Kha said would affect.

After all, no sane person would pull out the intestines of a person and use it to tie his body on the branches of a tree. This was an act that went beyond sanity.

Re'Kha slowly stepped backward as Chaya approached her, intending to waste as much time as possible. Her goal was to last until midnight. After that, she would be safe.

After a moment of thought, Re'Kha shouted, "I had called you some time ago. Your daughter gave me your number. She was lost and I helped her reach home. I'm not related to anything that's happening here."

"Swetha…" Followed by a murmur from Chaya, she spoke in her icy tone, "That life isn't mine."

"The heck?" Re'Kha cursed as she shouted, "Some guy picked up your phone. Who was it?"

"You mean this?" Her voice changed, turning into a man's, the same that Re'Kha had heard through the phone.

"Dammit, you lunatic." Her suspicion was confirmed now as Re'Kha took a couple of steps back in a hurry. She was guaranteed that Chaya was a lunatic by now. Without any hesitation, she flashed the light behind her, noticing the stretch of flowery bushes span forth.

She jumped and winced in pain when a sharp branch hurt her legs. But without caring about it, Re'Kha took a couple more steps before turning around to see Chaya had closed in on her. They were only separated by four metres now.

Re'Kha had entered the stretch of bushes because it was tough to walk through them. It was tough for her, but it would prove to be even more difficult for Chaya who had been fighting all along and had been exhausted.

So, as they move around in these bushes, Chaya would swiftly be exhausted and could no longer move. That was what Re'Kha was gunning for.

"Come, what are you waiting for?" Re'Kha taunted, "I told you I have no relation with you. But if you wish to kill me, don't blame me for killing you in return."

"It doesn't matter," Chaya took a step into the bush, slightly wobbling from the effort as she stabilised herself, "Chaya will kill everyone."

Such third-person addressal of oneself did confuse her, but Re'Kha didn't distract herself with the thought, slowly but surely traversing through the bushes, one step at a time. Chaya seemed to be in a hurry as she closed in on her, but Re'Kha moved steadily, propping the knife in her hand before her, intending to swipe immediately when in range.

It was a tag between the two, both with the intention of killing the other party. With every step, Chaya's exhaustion became apparent. She suddenly stopped, taking in a deep breath as she pulled out a small shrub from near her feet and swung it towards Re'Kha.

The soil clutched by its roots flew towards her, slamming into Re'Kha, causing her to flinch as she defended herself.

Chaya used the chance to leap forward and lunge in on Re'Kha, flashing her knife that aimed at her knee.

Re'Kha swiftly pulled her leg back as she felt a sharp pain from the wounded region, grunting as she retaliated.