A murderous atmosphere hung over the street.
"Cough, cough..."
A weak female voice broke into a brief coughing fit.
A female elf with emerald-green hair leaned against the wall, her dark green clothes clinging tightly to her body.
The white robe she had worn over them was stained with broad swathes of crimson.
She clutched her precious staff to her chest with her right hand, while her left hand weakly covered the right side of her waist.
Blood trickled steadily between her fingers, following the curve of her body to pool on the ground. The pool continued to spread outward from her.
"Ah—Lady Riveria!!"
Not far away, Lefiya screamed when she saw Riveria in such a gravely wounded state.
Riveria watched Lefiya run toward her, weakly parting her lips to murmur,
"B-be... careful, Lef...iya."
Lefiya hurried toward the gravely wounded Riveria, her face full of worry. She didn't notice the four figures standing on the opposite rooftop, silhouetted against the moon.
Watching Lefiya rush toward Riveria, one of them raised the enormous battle axe in his hands and hurled it at the running girl with all his might.
Lefiya heard the sudden whistle of something cutting through the air. Leaning forward as she ran, she turned toward the sound.
"Huh?"
Staring at the battle axe hurtling toward her, Lefiya let out a blank little cry.
Still running, she watched the huge axe's blade draw near enough to almost touch her face. Her eyes widened, and her expression grew more and more terrified.
"Whoosh—"
"Bang!"
A strange double-headed sword came spinning through the air and knocked the battle axe away.
The two weapons flew off in opposite directions after colliding.
The double-headed sword spun some distance before sticking into the street.
The broad-bladed battle axe flipped several times before crashing into the ground not far from Lefiya, kicking up a cloud of dust and shards of stone.
Only then did Lefiya react. Her body kept moving, but her running steps tangled and came to a halt.
Her legs seemed to trip over each other, and she pitched forward, sprawling on the ground.
Lefiya braced herself with both hands and looked back at the four figures standing on the rooftop.
The sound of bricks and tiles shattering rose and fell across the rooftops around them. Along with the crisp crashes came the rapid patter of footsteps.
Lefiya saw all four figures on the opposite roof turn their heads toward the same direction. Before she could look that way herself—
Just then, the footsteps across the rooftops abruptly stopped. Following the sound, Lefiya saw three women leap down from the roof beside her.
The golden hair of the woman in front shimmered in the moonlight. Her goddess-like beauty and petite figure soaring through the air drew Lefiya's gaze completely. For a moment, she even forgot that she was in danger.
When the three women landed, their faces, hidden by the night, became clear in the moonlight.
"Miss Ais, Miss Tione, and Miss Tiona!!"
Lefiya cried out in delight when she recognized their faces.
"Shing—"
Tiona pulled the double-headed sword from the ground and rested it on her shoulder. It was her personal weapon, the Great Twin Blades, Ullrga.
The three women stood in front of Lefiya with their backs to her. They heard her delighted cry.
Without turning around, Ais said to Lefiya, "Go check on Riveria."
"Ah, yes!"
At her words, Lefiya immediately scrambled to her feet and ran to Riveria.
Seeing Riveria's pale face and the blood covering the ground, she frantically searched through her waist pouch.
She took out the Elixir she always carried, uncorked it, and poured a little over Riveria's wound.
The bleeding stopped, and the wound slowly began to heal. Delicate, pink skin showed through the tear in her clothes.
After Riveria's visible wound had healed, Lefiya carefully helped her sit up and put the rest of the Elixir in her hand, watching as she drank it.
Lefiya looked at Riveria's improved complexion and let out a relieved breath, easing the fear and tension in her heart.
She glanced back at the people facing off ahead, then turned to Riveria, now out of danger, and asked in a low voice,
"Lady Riveria, who are they?"
Riveria set the medicine bottle beside her. Hearing Lefiya's question, she slowly began to answer,
"They're..."
"The Four Flame Gold Warriors—the Gulliver Brothers."
Ais coldly identified the four figures on the rooftop before her.
A breeze swept through the street, shifting the clouds overhead.
When moonlight streamed through a gap in the clouds and fell across the rooftop, the four figures came into clear view.
They all wore full-face metal helmets, with only a narrow slit left open at the eyes for observation.
Shoulder guards and breastplates covered their upper bodies, and metal knight's boots covered their feet. Beneath their armor, they all wore white uniforms.
Different-colored cloths hung from the bottom edge of each breastplate, front and back.
The four stood in a row. From left to right, the colors were blue, green, red, and yellow.
The figure wearing green carried no weapon. The others held a spear, a greatsword, and a heavy hammer.
Though short in stature, they exuded a powerful sense of oppression.
The Four Flame Gold Warriors—the Gulliver Brothers—were four brothers of the Pallum race.
All four were Level 5 adventurers, first-tier adventurers in the Freya Familia, and each wielded a different weapon.
They were nimble and usually operated together as a group of four.
Their teamwork far surpassed that of ordinary parties.
With their seamless coordination and continuous attacks, they could fight on par with a Level 6 adventurer. They were also among the Freya Familia's strongest fighters.
The four leaped down together, landing beside the battle axe embedded in the street.
The unarmed Pallum stepped out from the group.
With green cloth hanging from his armor, he reached down and lifted the battle axe out of the crater with one hand, holding it upright in front of him before returning to the group.
"What the hell are you trying to do? You've caused such a huge commotion!"
Standing behind Ais, Tiona glared at the four, her expression hostile.
"You attacked one of our executives who came to reason with you and left her in this state. Are you trying to start an all-out war?"
Beside her, Tione followed up on her sister's words, questioning the four Pallums before them.
At the words "all-out war," Ais, standing in front of the two sisters, furrowed her brow. Her expression rarely changed, but now she stared at them with cold, stern eyes.
"Enough talk. If you get in the way of our search, you're our enemy."
"You're no different. Don't interfere."
"Otherwise..."
"We'll kill every last one of you, then turn your headquarters upside down."
The four spoke in turn from left to right: the eldest, Alfrigg; the second, Dvalinn; the third, Berling; and the youngest, Grer.
Their words were curt and vicious, their voices brimming with fanaticism.
"Hah—who knows what you're even talking about? If you think you can do it, then try!!"
Hearing the brothers threaten them, Tiona's fierce gaze filled with murderous intent. She brought Ullrga down from her shoulder and held it across her chest, lowering her body into a fighting stance.
It was a restless, late-night hour, and the atmosphere between the two sides grew ever more frigid.
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