The sun dipped towards the horizon, painting the sky in fiery hues. Rebecca, bow in hand, moved through the forest, her eyes scanning the undergrowth for any sign of monsters. *I hope that Hunter didn't lie to me…* she thought. *If my plans are going to work, I'm going to need to have a talk with him. He's a hunter, right? Even if we got off on the wrong foot, you can always buy people like him with money.* A smile played on her lips. *Huh, he took all the spoils for himself when we killed the Shadow Walker that time. He's as greedy as I am.*

  The wind stirred, rustling the leaves and gently swaying the long silver hair that flowed down her back. She turned left, deciding to change course. *I've gone too deep into the forest,* she mused. *But all I've managed to kill is one Brolin, two slimes, and one Hexhorn. Where are all these damn monsters.*

  Then, a figure emerged from the trees. The person had long black hair tied in a ponytail, wore a black robe, and carried a large, brown dagger. *Another hunter?* Rebecca wondered. But as the figure turned, her eyes widened.

  It was a man with striking blue eyes and a prominent scar that ran from his forehead, splitting between his eyes and ending at the left corner of his lip. A cloud-shaped marking, rendered in ink darker than his robe, was prominently displayed on his chest.

  The man saw Rebecca and thought, *Oh, it's an archer. Pretty rare to see one this deep in the forest.* He took a few steps toward her. "Hey," he called out, "do you have any idea where I can find a Shadow Walker?"

  Rebecca's face hardened, fear and anger warring in her eyes. She took a step back, her bow rising swiftly. An arrow loosed from the string, flying towards the man's face.

  His eyes widened. He reacted instantly, his dagger flashing upwards to deflect the arrow. "What the hell are you doing?!" he yelled. "Why did you attack me?"

  Rebecca notched three more arrows, their tips glowing red-hot as they ignited. She loosed them in rapid succession.

  The man gritted his teeth, rolling to avoid the onslaught. One arrow exploded on impact with the ground, sending up a burst of flame. He deflected another with his dagger, the arrow exploding against the blade and splintering against a nearby tree. The third arrow missed entirely, embedding itself in a tree trunk behind him.

  Slowly rising, he said, "You must have a death wish, little girl." He activated his skill: Pace

  Rebecca loosed another arrow. The man saw it coming and raised his dagger, but as the arrow neared, its tip exploded, releasing a cloud of blinding mist.

  The man quickly covered his eyes, then snatched his hand away, looking around frantically. "Why are you doing this?" he demanded. "Who the hell are you?"

  An arrow, launched from the mist to his left, appeared seemingly out of nowhere. He caught it, but the tip exploded into a shower of ice, instantly freezing his arm. He threw the remnants of the arrow away, flexing his arm until the ice shattered.

  More arrows, their tips glowing red, rained down from the left. He knew they were explosive. He dodged, weaving through the deadly barrage, moving right, then left, then dropping to the ground, sliding to avoid the arrows passing overhead. He caught a glimpse of a shadow in the mist. *There she is,* he thought.

  He threw his dagger. A yelp escaped Rebecca's lips as the blade grazed her shoulder. She continued her assault, loosing more explosive arrows. The man rolled, narrowly avoiding the fiery blasts.

  Then, Rebecca fired a whistling arrow. The man flipped to the side, dodging the projectile, but as it hit the ground, the tip exploded, releasing a small gust of wind followed by a piercing sonic boom. The man clapped his hands over his ears, the sound excruciatingly painful.

  Rebecca burst from the mist, her dagger a silver flash aimed at the man's throat. He recoiled, his hands leaving his ears. He saw her face clearly and recognized her. He grabbed her neck. His eyes widened. His gaze fell to the knife scar beneath her collarbone.

  Rebecca tried to use her dagger to stab his arm, but he reacted instantly, tightening his grip on her neck and throwing her to the right with surprising strength. She yelped as she tumbled to the forest floor, the mist beginning to dissipate.

  The man's serious, confused expression twisted into a sadistic grin. "It's you," he breathed, his voice laced with disbelief. "I can't believe it. How long has it been? Four or five years? Tenet Sharp's daughter, am I right?"

  Rebecca, pushing herself up, spat, "Keep my father's name out of your filthy mouth, you disgusting pervert!"

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  He grinned, slowly approaching her. "Oh, you're still mad about that? I thought we said it wasn't personal."

  Rebecca snatched up her bow, loosing an arrow. The man rolled to the left, activating his Pace skill once more. He sprinted towards his discarded dagger, picking it up just as an arrow whizzed past his nose, missing by a hair's breadth.

  The man looked at Rebecca, a cruel smirk twisting his lips. "Who would have thought you'd inherited your father's skills?" he sneered. "They're more impressive than *his* were, to be honest. Though, still pathetic," he added, breaking into a run.

  Rebecca, finally on her feet, loosed four arrows – two tipped with fire, two with frost. The arrows whistled through the air, each a blur of motion against the darkening sky. He deflected them with contemptuous ease, the fire arrows exploding with small, contained bursts of flame against the nearby trees, the frost arrows embedding themselves, instantly freezing the wood where they struck. Small shards of ice flew off, glittering briefly in the fading light.

  "But when you're at close range," the man jeered, his voice dripping with malice, "your fancy skills become useless!" He drew back his fist, his knuckles white, and punched Rebecca squarely in the chest. The impact sent her sprawling, a spray of blood misting her lips as she hit the ground.

  He let out a harsh, humorless chuckle. "This is bringing back memories, isn't it? Now that I think about it, I didn't get the chance to do what I really wanted to do that time. The night we killed your parents…" His words were a deliberate, cruel stab.

  Rebecca's anger burned, a white-hot fury that warred with the searing pain in her chest. She pushed herself up, her hands scrabbling at the earth, but before she could fully rise, the man was on her again. His boot connected with her face, sending her tumbling back to the forest floor.

  "I wanted to have a little fun with your mother," he said, his voice low and predatory, "but the boss stopped me before I could." He licked his lips, the gesture both cruel and unnerving. "But who would have thought the daughter would grow up to be such a fine woman."

  He stood over her, his shadow stretching long and menacing in the fading light. Rebecca lay on the forest floor, her face turned upward, blood trickling from her nose, her gaze fixed on the fiery hues of the setting sun.

  The man placed a hand on his face, a slow smile spreading across his features. "Do you remember this, Rebecca?" he said, tracing the faint scar that ran from his forehead, between his eyes, and down towards his lip. "This is the scar you gave me. This was probably why you recognized me instantly, wasn't it? Honestly, I've carried this scar since back then, and I've always wondered when I'd meet you again. Every time I slept, this scar ached. For all these years, I've wanted to take revenge. But now that I see you, it seems I'll have to take something first. No man has ever laid a hand on you, have they?"

  Rebecca coughed, her breath ragged. "I'm going to kill you," she rasped, the words strained.

  "Oh, are you?" he said, kneeling over her, pinning her hands to the ground. "I never thought this day would come."

  Rebecca gritted her teeth, struggling against his hold. She spat in his face.

  He chuckled. "You're a dirty one, aren't you?"

  Suddenly, a bright white light shone in the distance, catching both their attention. The man looked towards it, momentarily distracted, unsure of what it was. Rebecca saw her chance. With a burst of unexpected strength, she pulled her hand free. Before he could react, she grabbed the dagger at her hip and plunged it into his side.

  He groaned, a sound of pure pain. Rebecca retracted her legs and unleashed a powerful kick to his abdomen, using all her remaining strength to send him sprawling backward.

  She quickly rose, grabbed an arrow, and in the direction the light came from. "That little bitch," the man snarled, pulling his dagger free from the wound and letting it fall to the forest floor. He pursued her with a burst of speed, catching up in seconds. He launched himself into a spinning kick, connecting with Rebecca's back. The impact knocked the wind from her lungs, sending her sprawling into a tree with a pained groan.

  Rebecca slowly pushed herself up. The man activated his Assassin's Dance skill, his movements becoming fluid and deadly. He approached her, dagger in hand. "I was planning on giving you a bit of pleasure before a painless death," he said, his voice laced with cruel amusement. "But it seems I'll have to do it the other way around. You'll beg me to kill you before you die."

  Rebecca aimed her bow, her last arrow nocked. He smiled. "Really?"

  Slowly, she drew back the string, aiming the arrow not at him, but at the reddish sky. He was confused. As the arrow left the bow, it exploded in the air, splitting into hundreds of smaller arrows that rained down from above. A smile touched Rebecca's lips, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. She had activated her Arrow Rain skill.

  The man's smile remained, but a hint of surprise flickered in his eyes. "Do you really think this is going to work?" he said. "Let me show you how a skilled assassin moves."

  The man leaped back, moving with surprising agility through the descending barrage of arrows. Some arrows struck the forest behind him, embedding themselves in the trees. His pupils glowed a faint blue as he danced through the attack, his dagger a blur of motion, deflecting and shattering each arrow with precise strikes.

  Rebecca's smile vanished, replaced by dawning horror. *He's an assassin type,* she thought, *he's so fast, he's dodging every single arrow. That's impossible. I have to get out of here.*

  She tried to run, but her injured chest and abdomen hampered her movements, turning her escape into a slow, painful jog. The man continued his deadly dance, deflecting arrows with effortless grace. Seeing her retreat, he called out, "You can't run away from me."

  The arrow rain finally ceased, the ground around them littered with broken shafts. He ran towards her. Rebecca stopped, pulling a second dagger from a hidden belt sheath.

  As he closed in, she swung the dagger with all her might. He sidestepped with ease. With a sudden, brutal movement, he used his foot to strike her ankle, shattering the bone. Rebecca screamed in agony as she fell to the ground.

  He grinned, watching her writhe in pain. "You know, it's kind of pleasing seeing you like this," he said. "This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't resisted, you know." He chuckled. "Funny thing is, I don't even remember your name very well. What was it again?"

  "Ah, right. Rebecca," the man said, his voice laced with cruel amusement. "You were always such a little fast girl, weren't you?"

  Rebecca clenched her teeth, fighting back a scream of pain. He was on her again, pinning her hands to the forest floor.

  "You know, I have a curse," he said, his voice low and chilling. "Something I really dislike about myself. It's a skill, but I always call it a curse. My saliva is poisonous. It's a skill I can't deactivate. So every maiden I've ever been with has died. I can never love a woman to my heart's content." He used his dagger to make a shallow cut on her shoulder. "My saliva's on that dagger, which means you're going to die a very slow, painful death, believe it or not. Now this is going to be fun."

  Rebecca tried to move, but a fresh wave of pain shot through her broken leg.

  "Shh, shh, shh," he said, "hold still."

  Suddenly, a blur of motion erupted from the trees. Before Rebecca or the man could react, a figure materialized beside the attacker. The air itself seemed to crackle with energy as a powerful leg, moving with impossible speed, connected with the man's jaw. The impact was brutal, a sound like a thunderclap echoing through the forest as the man's body was sent flying, crashing through undergrowth and finally splintering a large tree trunk with the force of the blow. Rebecca, stunned, looked up to see Tyler standing there, his expression grim but controlled. He met her gaze. "Are you alright?" he asked, his voice calm amidst the chaos.

  The man, groaning in pain, pushed himself up from beneath the fallen tree. He clutched his jaw, blood dripping from his lips. "Who the hell are you?" he snarled.