The sparring between Fien and Evan came to its logical end and Evan as the winner received his reward from Marcel. But while one battle had been over, a second one was in the offing.

A multitude of men in black robes were gathering around Zak's estate, with definite intentions.

Strangely enough, the culprit of their appearance was Evan.

The day he had taken the dark green root from the trader, he had not only fought the bandits. Then two men dressed in the same black clothes had wanted to kill Evan. In the end, however, he had killed both of them.

They were members of a bandit organization called the "Black Thorn". Unlike ordinary bandits, their skills were on a completely different level, as well as their equipment and organization.

Two weeks before Fien's fight with Evan, the "Black Thorn" had found out Evan's whereabouts. They waited until Zak wasn`t at the estate.

Their main target was not Evan, not even the root he had stolen from under their noses. They had gathered enough information and Zak's wealth had turned their heads. The "Black Thorn" didn't know exactly what Zak had, but they were sure that he was fabulously rich.

Naturally, they were well aware of how powerful Zak was and would never dare to break into the manor when he was inside. But when they saw Evan and Zak leaving home, they immediately began to act.

Moreover, night was the best time to attack.

...

"Commander, we're ready."

The man with the long black hair nodded slightly and said quietly: "All right, let's go with the plan. Kill everyone in our path, if the servants don't interfere, there's no point in wasting time on them. If we don't get there in time, we won't get away alive for sure."

Liam was the one who had come up with this treasure-stealing plan. Each of his subordinates respected his power and obeyed him without question.

There was a very strict hierarchy in the "Black Thorn", and the most important thing was that your position did not depend only on your strength.

Liam was very strong, of course, but it was also necessary to be cold-blooded and reasonable. Without these qualities, it was impossible to run an operation of this kind.

After Liam's words, their plan was in motion.

Their tactics were quite simple, but effective. Maximum speed, stealth, and ruthlessness were the three basic criteria by which they operated.

In all the time, they had figured out where the servants' quarters were located. So Liam's plan was to go in from the west side of the manor, just beyond the training ground where Evan had recently trained.

They bypassed the guards easily, the servants were sleeping in another wing of the mansion, and the training ground was empty. Everything went according to Liam's plan without a hitch.

Liam's group was approaching the entrance to the warehouse where they were going to start their operation.

Step. Step. Step.

Suddenly they saw two maids, walking toward the door of the grocery store with small crates in their hands.

Liam gave his subordinates a sign and a second later darts of sleeping pills were thrust into the necks of the girls.

The two men quickly approached them, caught the crates of some groceries in the air, and quietly placed them on the floor. Liam didn't know if there was anyone strong left at home. He wasn't going to risk his and his men's lives.

The man in black robes was about to open the door and burst into the warehouse, but suddenly they heard a quiet voice behind them.

"What kind of black rats are these? Are you tired of living?" It was Margaret. She was standing next to the tall oak tree that grew between the manor house itself and the training ground.

Margaret stared at them coldly, there was not an ounce of fear in her eyes.

"Damn, kill her, quickly." Hurriedly Liam muttered and two men in black robes instantly attacked Margaret.

They thought she was an ordinary maid just strolling around the mansion, but they were deeply mistaken. And that mistake cost many of them their lives.

Margaret easily dodged their lunge and attacked her first opponent herself. She moved as fast as a storm. In an instant, she hit the man hard in the solar plexus then, turned to the second one.

She dodged the knife flying in her direction and kicked the second thug in the stomach so that he flew back several feet.

Everyone was stunned by the skills of a seemingly simple maid.

Whoosh.

Suddenly Liam appeared in front of Margaret. He decided to act on his own, for he was far stronger than all his subordinates.

His speed was incredible and Margaret just didn't have time to understand anything.

Whoosh.

In one easy motion, Liam twisted Margaret's neck one hundred and eighty degrees and that was the end of their fight.

"What's up, you dummies? Let's get to work. We don't have much time."

To Liam and everyone else, Margaret was just a surprisingly strong maid, nothing more. Their boss had straightened out the problem, hence their operation continued at its planned pace.

"Boss...!" One of Liam's subordinates was pointing a finger behind his commanding officer's back, and there was indescribable fear in his eyes.

Liam immediately turned around and he saw an eerie picture.

Crack.

With a loud crack, Margaret grabbed her head with her hands and turned it back around like nothing had happened.

"I guess I was too confident." Margaret said slowly. However, there was a completely different girl standing in front of them. Margaret's emerald eyes changed to scarlet, and the moment she opened her mouth, two sharp fangs appeared out of nowhere.

Margaret wasn`t an ordinary maid, such a person couldn`t have caught Zak's attention. She was a real vampire, one that could not be killed simply by snapping her neck.

Liam and the others were shocked, but they quickly came to their senses and attacked Margaret.

Whoosh.

But, their attempts to kill her looked so pathetic. Within seconds, she had killed several people by stabbing them through their hearts and necks.

Margaret wasn't interested in the little bastards, she attacked Liam because she`d already realized he was the only one who could be dangerous. It might have seemed that Liam didn't stand a chance, as Margaret seemed like a veritable demon, ready to kill all living things. However, Liam was far from weak.

Realizing she was a serious opponent, Liam drew his sword from its sheath and began to defend himself.

Margaret was aiming at vital points, but Liam blocked each of her blows with ease. His skills were at a very high level, and his sword was no ordinary sword.

Margaret's blows were not just fast, but also very strong. A simple weapon would have been crushed and destroyed in a few blows, but Liam's dark blue sword didn't have a scratch on it.

His sword was made of a special super-strong alloy, making it highly durable and deadly.

Bam. Bam. Bam.

A blow to the stomach, to the legs, to the head, to the neck, to the shoulder - all these were easily blocked. Liam expected Margaret to eventually begin to tire. But after a few minutes of fierce fighting, he realized that wasn't going to happen. historical

So he decided to attack her himself.

Whoosh.

Liam barely dodged Margaret's lunge, then gripped his sword tightly and attacked her.

The girl expected something like that, but Liam's speed was incredible. The moment Margaret was about to dodge the razor-sharp sword, it was already too late.

Bam.

Liam plunged the sword straight into Margaret's heart then sharply twisted it, turning her heart into bloody shreds. A fountain of blood gushed from Margaret's mouth.