A Hand Blade!
It wasn't a conventional hand chop, where five fingers are held together and the edge of the pinky strikes. This was a true blade attached to the hand.
A wavy blade was mounted from the pinky's edge to the wrist, coated black and treated with paint. If not for the slight sound it made cutting through the air, this hand blade would have been completely silent.
This sound gave Shinji the chance to react.
Sensing danger, Shinji quickly ducked and then swung his blade upwards in a reverse grip at the assailant—no, it wasn't necessarily a person. Though his peripheral vision caught a humanoid shape, Shinji didn't sense typical human traits like body heat, heartbeat, or breath.
"Is it a doll?"
As his blade was blocked, Shinji made his judgment. The Divine GunBlade, while not the sharpest, couldn't be easily caught by human hands. The house's owner, Aozaki Touko, was renowned for her mastery in doll-making, earning a top rank in the Clock Tower.
He severed the flow of mana to his blade, causing the mana-formed blade to vanish. Using this opportunity, Shinji quickly retreated while assessing the doll before him.
Long hair, roughly 165 cm tall. Though hidden in shadows, the silhouette suggested a female form, and the amber eyes were a rare feature, unlike Touko's dolls.
As his vision blurred, the humanoid silhouette vanished in an eerie manner from Shinji's sight.
"Invisibility? Seems like Touko modeled this puppet's combat style after mine... Alright, let's see whose stealth is superior."
Shinji pulled his cloak, and his form began to disappear.
Typically, stealth isn't used face-to-face because once detected, its effectiveness diminishes greatly. But there are exceptions, like in special environments. Touko's bounded field created such an environment, with disorienting shadows that maximized visual interference, making stealth easier.
In front of the standalone house, maintaining a specific distance from other buildings, tranquility returned. However, this calm was superficial. Under the barely perceptible shadows, a fierce hidden battle raged on.
The light was distorted. Even with the silver moon overhead providing some illumination, no clear images emerged and even sounds struggled to escape this area. Watching from outside the bounded field, Arcueid could only faintly hear the increasing frequency of blades clashing.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
...
One minute.
Two minutes.
Three minutes.
...
Though the time wasn't long, it felt unbearably lengthy.
Hand blade, bow blade.
Fists, palms.
Nothing was clear, and the sounds were indistinct.
One side was a lifeless doll; the other was a stealthy wielder of divine weapons.
This was a battle in the darkness.
This was a clash in silence.
This was a true assassin's duel.
Such a battle couldn't last long... When one side was forced to break stealth, the battle's outcome would be decided, just as darkness can never last forever.
With an unusual explosive sound, a figure was knocked out of the air, stumbling and staggering.
A tattered gray cloak, steadily leaking spirit particles. The reconstructed blade of the Divine GunBlade was falling apart. His left arm somehow turned golden and bore a gaping wound covering most of his forearm, with golden blood streaming out.
Sweat from his forehead fell along with the blood. Undoubtedly, Shinji had lost this dark confrontation.
Given Shinji's current strength and physique, a few minutes of combat shouldn't have left him drenched in sweat, no matter how intense. But the mental strain was another matter—the pressure of having his senses shrouded, knowing there was an enemy but being unable to pinpoint them, was immense.
It felt like an ordinary person dancing on a knife's edge while blindfolded.
This experience gave Shinji his first taste of a true assassination.
Unlike him, who relied on Noble Phantasms and bore the title of an assassin in name only, the puppet was a genuine assassin, truly killing without a trace.
Drip!
Drip!
Drip!
Blood mixed with sweat dripped onto the ground. Shinji admitted his defeat wholeheartedly.
However, despite his admiration, he had some doubts about whether this doll was truly created by Touko.
It wasn't a question of Touko's abilities but rather a sense of antiquated mystery from the doll, a long history ingrained within it, intrinsic to the doll itself, not externally added. This property allowed it to break through the Golden Apple's protection and injure Shinji's left arm.
Of course, Touko might have used a plethora of ancient materials to craft this doll.
"What exactly are you?"
Naturally, there was no response, as that would reveal its nature. In a brief moment of exchanged blows, Shinji saw a spark of intellect in those amber eyes.
She was no ordinary puppet.
"Answer me! If you don't, I'll have to ask your creator directly."
Ignoring the bleeding wound, Shinji rushed towards the door of the small house.
Just as he was about to touch the doorknob, a sharp blade suddenly appeared, aiming straight for his back.
Yet, in this life-threatening moment, Shinji remained calm, even confident. With a flick of his right hand, the Divine GunBlade flew out, deflecting the blade targeting his back.
Simultaneously, Shinji sidestepped in the opposite direction of the blade's trajectory, turning and gently pressing his blackened palm against the assassin doll's abdomen.
The doll slipped, nearly falling, with a clear look of panic in its eyes.
Disregarding the enemy that was so close to being killed, the assassin doll hastily retreated.
But it was too late. After retreating only two steps, the doll's legs grew increasingly heavy. Looking down, it saw that everything below its knees had turned gray and white—petrification.
"Finally caught you, Miss Assassin. Now, can you tell me the answer?"
Withdrawing the Aegis of Athena from his hand, Shinji gave the doll a gentle smile.
"It's fine if you don't want to speak. The owner of this house will tell me the answer."
"No need, I'll tell you the answer."
A voice, both delicate like a young girl's and authoritative like a superior, sounded not from the assassin doll but from a further distance.
"I also have some questions for you. Please answer truthfully, if you don't want your companion to get hurt."