The gold-class assassin stood motionless at the entrance of the hidden tunnel, his hooded head slightly tilted as he stared back into the darkness.
"...Strange. I feel like I’m being watched."
The silver-class assassins around him imdiately beca tense. They all knew how sharp a gold-class assassin’s instincts were.
One of them whispered nervously,
"Sir, are you sure? We used the Eclipse Smoke Talisman and took the ergency escape route. Even if that envoy tried to chase us, he shouldn’t be able to track us this quickly..."
The gold-class assassin didn’t answer right away.
His gaze remained fixed on the dark passage behind them.
After a long mont, he spoke in that sa cold, youthful voice.
"Keep moving. Do not stop."
The group didn’t dare question him.
They imdiately accelerated, disappearing deeper into the forest like ghosts.
_
_
_
Deep within the dense forest outside the border fortress...
The group of Rain Pavilion assassins moved like shadows between the ancient trees, their cloaks blending seamlessly into the darkness.
The forest was deathly quiet, even the usual sounds of insects and night birds had vanished, a clear sign of how terrifying their movent techniques were.
The gold-class assassin at the back hadn’t said another word since his warning, but his steps were noticeably slower.
His head constantly turned to scan their rear and surroundings.
Seeing this, one of the silver-class assassins couldn’t hold back anymore.
"Sir... are you sure soone is following us? We’ve already used the Eclipse Smoke Talisman and taken three different escape routes. Even a Nascent Soul expert would have trouble tracking us through that smoke..."
The gold-class assassin didn’t reply.
His hooded head remained slightly turned backward, strange purple-tinted eyes glowing faintly beneath the hood.
Then, without warning—
Crunch...
A soft, almost inaudible sound ca from the very front of the group.
Everyone turned to look and saw that the leading silver-class assassin had suddenly stopped mid-step.
...His head was tilted at a grotesque angle as a thin, perfectly clean black line appeared across his neck.
For a brief mont, his expression remained normal,... as if he hadn’t even realized what had happened.
Then his body stood for another heartbeat before collapsing.
Thud.
The group of assassins froze in their tracks, eyes widening in shock at the sudden death of their companion.
"...What just—?!"
Crunch
Before anyone could react, another soft tearing sound echoed from the left.
A second assassin’s arm was suddenly severed at the shoulder without any visible attacker.
Spurt!!
Blood sprayed into the air as he opened his mouth to scream for help—
But a long, ink-black arm silently reached out from the shadows beside him, covering his mouth.
’What is thi—’
Crunch.
The scream died in his throat as his head was twisted violently with a sickening crack.
The group imdiately turned toward him, only to see their comrade’s head twisted at an unnatural angle, his eyes wide open in pure terror.
Seeing two of their comrades die so suddenly, the remaining assassins panicked.
They finally realized sothing was attacking them from the shadows.
"Enemy attack!"
"Defensive formation! Now!"
They tried to cluster together, weapons drawn, but the forest itself seed to have turned against them.
No matter how hard they looked, they saw nothing.
Suddenly, one of the assassins felt a cold breath on the back of his neck.
"Who—?!"
Slash!!
He spun around, swinging his dagger, only to cut through empty air.
But when he turned back, the comrade who had been standing right beside him was gone.
....Only a trail of blood leading into the bushes remained.
"W-Where is he?! Where the hell did he go?!"
Fear filled their voices as they realized they were facing a hidden enemy, and they knew full well how lethal such an opponent was... much less one capable of killing them without even showing itself.
"..."
But at that mont, the gold-class assassin suddenly moved.
Without warning, he threw a small black dagger with terrifying precision toward one of his own silver-class subordinates.
"Eh?!"
The silver-class assassin’s eyes widened in shock, thinking he was being betrayed.
But just as the dagger was about to pierce his throat—
Ting!
A sharp tallic sound rang out right beside his throat.
Sparks flew as the dagger collided with sothing invisible.
For a split second, a long, strange black arm flickered into view, only to vanish again after the dagger bounce off.
The silver-class assassin stumbled backward, cold sweat pouring down his face.
He had been so close to death without even realizing it.
"W-What the hell was that...?!"
The remaining assassins imdiately ford a tighter circle, back-to-back, weapons raised.
Their breathing was ragged, and fear was beginning to take root in their hearts.
They were elite assassins, trained to hunt others in the dark.
...But now, they were the ones being hunted.
And their hunter refused to show itself.
The gold-class assassin’s purple eyes narrowed dangerously under his hood.
"Sothing is here."
He murmured, his grip tightening on his thin black blade as he glanced around.
Even though he couldn’t sense or see this enemy hiding... his years of experience told him that the thing was still lurking nearby.
And at the sa ti, he couldn’t help but feel surprised inwardly.
There weren’t many capable of hiding from him in plain sight... especially not from him, known as the Purple Death, one of the deadliest assassins even among gold-class.
Truthfully, he had been sent here by the Rain Pavilion to ensure the losses wouldn’t be too great.
They had accepted the client’s request not only because of the generous pay, but also to test whether their group of silver-class assassins could manage to kill a Golden Core expert.
It was a win-win situation.
If they succeeded, not only would they receive a handso reward, but the Rain Pavilion’s na and reputation would soar.
That was why he hadn’t acted earlier to kill General Zhang Kuo when they used the smoke.
His real duty was to protect this group of assassins.
And yet... under his watch, three silver-class assassins had already been killed.
This made him feel both angry and cautious toward this strange opponent.
Suddenly,
WHOOSH!
Without hesitation, he spun around and struck at what appeared to be empty air beside him.
TING!
A sharp tallic clash rang out as sparks flew violently in the air.
For the first ti, sothing solid was struck.
But that brief contact was enough.
He activated his technique as strange purple flas burst from his blade, attempting to engulf the invisible monster.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
The flas traveled fast as a long, ink-black arm flickered into view.
It was unnaturally long and slender, with fingers ending in sharp claws that were currently blocking the gold-class assassin’s sword.
"What the hell is that..." Purple Death murmured, staring at the strange limb.
Behind the purple flas, he could make out a tall, hunched silhouette that seed to flicker between reality and invisibility.
And the most striking feature of all was that white skull mask...
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