Can You Get Away?

Midair.

A smug smile hung on Talia's face, her emerald-green eyes filled with mockery.

Even if Jino could crush solid cement with his bare hands and split apart poured concrete walls, so what?

Talia was immensely pleased with herself; her intelligence had allowed her to escape danger.

Jino watched the woman leap from the castle.

Several meters above the ground, Talia twisted through the air like a graceful gymnast before drifting down in a perfect landing.

Smack!

She spread her arms to steady herself, then looked up at the blond youth on the rooftop, who was watching her expressionlessly.

The young master of the Luthor Family. She would remember him.

"Heh."

Talia sneered, windblown strands of hair plastered to her face.

The woman raised her slender white fingers and gently smoothed back her long hair, then bent elegantly at the waist, as though saluting a judge—or like an actress giving a slight bow at the end of a performance.

"Goodbye, idiots."

Talia had no intention of lingering. More and more voices were rising around her; the people in this castle were waking up.

She gave Jino another deep look, as if trying to carve his features into her mind.

After saying that, she no longer hesitated. She turned and ran toward the dense forest. Inhaling and exhaling, Talia activated the League of Assassins' secret technique with every breath, constantly increasing her speed. She was fast enough to shame professional runners.

At the same time, Jino's door was violently slammed open. Lex rushed in with hurried steps, a rapier in his left hand and American Iaido in his right.

"Jino! What happened?"

Lex roared as he rushed toward Jino. The bald man's expression was grim, his eyes brimming with anger as he swept his gaze across the wrecked room.

Only when he saw Jino standing unharmed on the rooftop did Lex finally let out a long breath of relief.

The tension vanished from the bald man's face, and he resumed the calm, domineering demeanor of a CEO.

Holding the rapier, Lex walked to Jino's side. He turned to look at his younger brother's profile and sneered. "My foolish little brother, what happened?"

Jino stared quietly at the fading silhouette disappearing into the night.

Someone who could make the system announce points—she seemed to be a notable villain too?

Jino's gaze deepened. This was a perfect opportunity to harvest points, and fear would be his weapon for doing so.

Having settled on his next plan, Jino shook his head and answered, "A curious 'cat' snuck onto my balcony."

Yes, he would keep inflicting fear and despair to harvest points, drain every last bit of her value, then kick her aside—just as his father's private tutor had taught him when he was young: "Make the best use of everything."

"Heh."

Lex tossed away the rapier in his hand and looked down at the figure slipping into the distant forest, killing intent flashing through his eyes. He turned to Jino and said, "Tell me about the bounty you posted. I'll handle this."

She had actually tried to harm Jino. At that moment, Lex was already planning to use his Money Power to send this assassin to hell.

"No need." Jino refused coldly.

Under Lex's gaze, Jino slowly stepped onto the balcony railing and said in an unquestionable tone, "I'll handle this myself."

Whoosh!

The next second, the youth lightly leaped off the balcony.

Against the night sky, his tall figure fell straight toward the ground.

The howling, damp night wind was easily split apart by his body, tempered like steel.

Boom!

The figure crashed into the ground, kicking up a huge cloud of dust.

The vast earth seemed to let out a groan. As the night wind swept away the dust, two deep craters appeared in the once-level grass, as though what had fallen was not a person but a ferocious Type 88 Main Battle Tank.

Quite a few servants in the manor witnessed the scene firsthand, flashlights in hand.

Many of them immediately widened their eyes, looking as if they had seen Jesus.

"H-Heavens, the young master actually jumped down from the second floor of the castle."

"That crater! Oh God, I'd believe you if you said it was caused by a missile, but that was made by a person."

"Could he be Jesus?"

Ignoring the crowd's clamor, Jino knew his older brother would make sure these people kept everything they had seen tonight buried in their stomachs.

And now, all he needed to do was catch up to that woman and carry out his plan.

"Run?" Jino spat out a single word, his eyes full of ridicule. This would be an interesting hunt.

"But how far can you run?"

As soon as the words fell, Jino explosively pushed off with both legs.

Boom!

The already deep crater was blasted open again as if struck by artillery, becoming even larger.

But Jino vanished in an instant. All people could see was an incredibly fast afterimage disappearing from their sight; only the flowers and grass swaying continuously along its path proved that something strange had just swept past at a terrifying speed!

Within the dense forest.

Talia kept running, adjusting her breathing as she pondered the events of the night.

"What was so strange about that stone?"

Talia was puzzled, her agile figure constantly dodging the trees in her way.

"And since when did the Luthor Family have a monster like that?"

Just as Talia was lost in thought.

"Boom!"

Two deafening explosions sounded behind her.

"What happened?"

Talia frowned and instinctively turned to look behind her.

But in an instant, a human figure flashed through Talia's field of vision like a ghost.

"What was that!?"

Talia was shocked. She seemed to have just seen someone appear in her line of sight.

"No, that's impossible." Talia lightly bit her pearly teeth. "I must have imagined it."

Perhaps feeling that she was too tense, Talia adjusted her breathing rhythm.

Talia gently turned her long, swanlike white neck.

"Whoosh!"

Before Talia could turn around, a sharp rush of wind sounded beside her ear.

"Smack!"

A massive hand of steel suddenly seized the woman's slender neck, then flung her away as though tossing out garbage.

A terrifying force struck her. Talia could not even control her own body, and the immense strength sent her flying several meters through the air like a football.

"Bang!"

Her body slammed violently into an ancient towering tree, making its branches and leaves sway as several rain-soaked leaves drifted down.

Ravens resting in the tree were startled into letting out harsh cries. Flapping their wings, they swept across the night sky, adding several more shades of terror to the silent night.

"Cough, cough!"

Talia knelt on the cold, damp ground.

Her internal organs felt as though they had been thrown out of place, burning with pain. The woman's beautiful features twisted, her red lips turning even paler as blood seeped from the corner of her mouth.

That blow had injured her badly.

A lazy, teasing voice sounded from not far away. "What? You just finished bowing, and you ran off before the judges could score you? That doesn't make for a qualified performer."

Talia endured the pain of vomiting blood and laboriously raised her head. Her eyes were filled with venom and resentment as she looked ahead.

Under the bright moonlight, a blond youth leaned casually against a crooked tree. A mocking smile hung on his face, but his eyes were as cold as solid ice. "You've got some nerve."