Before any of the other fights began, before the battle between restless and living truly started, it was a confrontation between livings that occurred.
As Alielil was observing the bone-lotus, her refined senses alerted her of something, she didn't know what it was, how dangerous it could be- She didn't even truly know where this sensation was coming from as it was purely the elite's instinct how acted, summoning her soul weapon, a simple, yet elegant jian, which blocked a thrust that had come from behind, aimed right at the blonde's nape.
Sparks flew through the air as the attacker rushed right past as though having been planning to be denied an easy kill, which, in reality, meant that the aggressor had been fully prepared for this eventuality and wasn't bothered by the failure.
Alielil's cold blue eyes soon landed on the person in question, which was not a restless, but a most plain looking girl, blood flew from a shallow cut on the blonde's face, the two of them exchanged a few words, and it was enough for both to get a good grasp of the other's character.
"May I demand why you are in cahoots with the restless?" calmly asked the soul manifestator, holding her sword casually at her side, the point barely a few centimeters above the ground, she didn't even bother to scrub the blood that had flown off and just stared directly forward with her wide open eyes.
"Nah, and it's like it matters, does it?" Maliah just shrugged, right now, in this realm, the impression that her appearance was ever-changing was absent, so she just appeared like how she actually looked to Alielil, which was an appearance that was so normal and basic that it totally went into the territory of uncanniness, like every human woman had been put together to get the perfect average, something that could be recognised yet shouldn't be found anywhere.
The Death Dealer spun the blade she held around, which was another jian, although this one wasn't a regular weapon, she had borrowed it for an indefinite amount of time from a warrior that was currently writhing in pain somewhere down below with all four of his limbs tied into a knot together, a piece of modern art the assassin felt very proud of and would definitely like to show off later.
But it wasn't like Alielil looked much more normal, with her literally unblinking gaze and perfectly symmetrical face, she too appeared very much uncanny, they both basically evoked the same feeling upon onlookers, it was just that one was as cold as ice, whilst the other was visibly manic and itching to hang someone with their own guts.
"I suppose that you are right in that sense… I am Alielil, right hand of Lady Alistel, may I ask for your own name?" Maliah frowned, feeling like the blondie before her wasn't the funny sort at all, way too composed and polite with someone who had just tried murdering her.
The Fin-Limier cleared her throat, and subtly lowered herself, shoulders slouching like a panther preparing to pounce on an unsuspecting prey.
"As odd as it is, I guess I can be cordial and present myself since you'll be undead soon enough…" the assassin still thought it was a strange feeling to think that those that she killed would be up and running soon after, and somehow become her allies then, that remained weird no matter how long she hung around Loimos, she would probably get it once she died herself, perhaps.
"...I am Maliah, The Death Dealer, I used to be a pretty big deal back in the day… But all those who feared me are dead now, so I lost all my notoriety- I guess the Fin-Limier in general did, they act more as a secret group on Loimos's behalf now… I should go see if Holli is still invisible or not, how old would she be now? Does it even count when you are dead?" she rambled to herself, beginning to step toward Alielil, who just looked at her without a change in expression.
Naturally, the elite had no idea what half of what Maliah had just spouted meant.
Instead, she used that time to look the assassin up and down, dressed in regular robes that had probably been stolen from a corpse, wielding a bound weapon that did not belong to her and possessing a suspiciously low amount of soul energy, there was no cutting it, The Death Dealer was anomalous in Alielil's eyes, others might think that someone with so little soul energy was obviously a frail weakling, but she had just seen for herself how dreadfully fast Maliah had gone and how stealthy she was to have snuck so close before being noticed.
Had she been just a bit more discreet, the elite's head might have been rolling on the floor without having ever realised what was happening.
'Loimos… Holli… And Maliah? Those don't sound like names given to children here, or even like those of restless…' bringing her jian up to her face, one edge facing the assassin, the other facing herself, perfectly situated on the center of her face, splitting it into two perfect halves.
"Mirror" faced with mounting evidences that she was dealing with something abnormal, Alielil didn't beat around the bush and immediately activated the first step of her sword, nothing seemed to change visibly, the blade merely turning into a perfectly reflective surface, causing rays of blue sunlight to bounce off its surface, but Maliah's guts told her that this had nothing to do with the ability this had unlocked.
Alielil stepped forward and whispered something softly, barely audible but well within the ear shot of The Death Dealer.
"Siften Steppe" with a sudden acceleration, the blonde was slashing toward Maliah's thigh, the assassin, rising up one foot and stomping down on the blade, but only left cracks upon the wooden roof as the elite accelerated again, and appeared behind her opponent, thrusting at Maliah's spinal column.
Twisting herself around like a piece of rag being drained of the water it had absorbed, and parried the attack from a most uncomfortable angle before spinning around into a kick directed at Alielil's chin, which was swiftly evaded by simply ducking underneath it and stepping away.
What had just happened was simple.
'Blondie said the words to make it seem like she was not one of those who had achieved great mastery of it, to try and take me off guard for a swift victory' Maliah chuckled to herself, that was a nice strategy.
"If I may ask, who is this Loimos you mentioned?" not fazed that her trick had not worked out, Alielil questioned the assassin again, feeling name in particular was more important that the rest, there was something slimy and off about it, just the way it sounded did not feel right.
Maliah nearly responded seriously for a moment, but then thought about what she could say that would definitely cause someone to lose her marbles if she heard that it had happened, considered that all would be turned undead in this realm, it wasn't impossible that it could somehow end up being known what she would say right now.
So might as well try to say something funny.
'One… I am not sorry, your reaction should be worthwhile'
Now, she just needed to kill Alielil and hoped that she said something about it, then the prank might just work out and cause the sun-walking vampiress to have a small panic attack.