Death?

“Hohoho…”

He laughed.

That twisted grin was terrifying without any skin on his face.

The facial muscles were completely exposed.

Alex could even see his blood vessels…

“Monster…”

Alex tore off the shirt he was wearing and flung it aside.

He pulled a short dagger from the inner belt of his underclothes.

He swung it once, testing the feel.

Since he couldn’t escape anyway, he might as well ask the gods a question.

That was what he thought.

“I know what you’re thinking.

It’s useless.

As soon as we say our master’s name, the drug will kill us instantly!

Hahahaha!”

He said crazily.

“Oh?

You people?”

Alex slightly narrowed his lion-like green eyes, full of pressure.

So there were more of them…

As expected, not just one.

“Eh?!”

Only then did he realize that he had unconsciously referred to himself as we.

He leapt backward, springing into the air.

Then he landed steadily, crouching low.

Slowly, he pulled out a silver-glinting dagger from inside his leather boot.

“Heh, so you noticed…”

He said slowly.

Four more figures suddenly emerged around them.

They were dressed exactly the same.

Their black outfits were woven with dried grass, blending perfectly into the bushes in the darkness.

In the pitch-black environment, they were almost impossible to see.

Five people…

Their eyes carried the gaze only the dead should have.

Perhaps because they were expendable assassins.

Only now did Alex seriously sense them with his frenzy energy.

That was how he detected their presence.

That earlier retreat had been another trap.

Now he was standing right inside the bushes.

Surrounded on all sides.

“Heh.

If you’d just obediently followed our master’s orders and fallen asleep, wouldn’t that have been fine?

Now you’ll be killed directly.

Do you think that’s worth it?~”

One of them sneered, mocking Alex.

This is bad…

“Hmph.

Then die!”

A dense burst of golden light exploded around Alex.

He rapidly gathered the frenzy energy within his body, planning to finish this quickly.

He rushed straight toward one of the black-clad men.

His short dagger slashed downward, aiming at a short assassin.

“Hmph.”

That assassin wasn’t stupid.

He immediately raised the arm shield on his forearm to block, intending to counter with a slash.

But Alex didn’t strike downward.

He twisted the motion and stabbed downward instead.

Only then did the assassin realize something was wrong and tried to dodge.

But could he really evade Alex’s full-power strike?

Even with everything he had, he only barely avoided a fatal blow.

The dagger still plunged firmly into his abdomen.

The remaining four instantly rushed forward, surrounding Alex completely.

“RAAAH!

GET AWAY FROM ME!”

Golden frenzy energy burst violently from Alex’s body, expanding into a spherical shockwave.

The shockwave was brief, but it engulfed all five assassins.

It injured the three closest to him.

They were knocked to the ground, avoiding further damage.

The leading assassin, whose strength was closer to Alex’s, avoided being injured by the shock.

The three on the ground felt something strange in their noses.

They wiped at them instinctively.

Only then did they realize they were bleeding…

“As expected of a master-level warrior…”

The leader sneered.

They probably wouldn’t be able to complete their mission today.

Who would have thought Alex had been on guard all along?

If the poison mist had been lethal, at least the Duke and Charlotte would be dead.

Now it was a total loss.

All because that short one insisted on using a blade…

The short assassin who had been stabbed in the abdomen was now writhing on the ground in pain.

Then he had been caught in the shockwave.

Worst of all, he had been the closest to Alex.

Now his entire body felt unbearable.

He saw Alex locked in a close-quarters dagger fight with their leader.

Everything blurred into multiple afterimages.

It looked like their boss was losing.

He panicked.

He reached into the throwing-knife pouch at his waist.

Dazed, he pulled one out.

He couldn’t even tell whether it was a poisoned knife or not.

He just threw it toward one of the afterimages.

He heard a dull grunt.

Only then did he relax and pass out.

“Hiss—”

Alex sucked in a sharp breath.

He had vaguely sensed something flying toward him.

But his back was turned.

By the time he reacted, it was too late.

His final dodge only shifted the knife slightly off its intended path.

He was still hit.

“Ah!”

He rolled backward nimbly, creating distance, then crouched and yanked the throwing knife out.

“Despicable!”

The killing intent in his emerald-green eyes was impossible to hide.

He glared at that skinless face.

“Hmph.

You die here!”

The assassin didn’t waste words.

He bent low and charged straight at Alex.

He wanted the head of this master-level warrior!

So sleepy…

After cursing, Alex felt his strength draining away.

The poison was acting far too quickly.

It seemed today he really would die here.

Ridiculous.

The eldest son of the Duke of Bordeaux, assassinated in his own home.

His father and younger brother would die here too.

The third son had already died in place of him at the hands of the Demon King.

Who would avenge the Leonardo family now?

His life replayed before his eyes like a lantern carousel.

Many regrets surfaced.

The death of a puppy.

His mother’s death.

They flashed through his mind.

Finally, he seemed to see his third brother’s face.

As if mocking him…

“Goodbye, Kallianna.

Run…”

That was his last thought.

Then he collapsed…

No…

I can’t fall here…

He suddenly forced himself awake.

He hurled the throwing knife in his hand toward the blurred assassin.

“Clang—crash…”

A magic crystal lamp shattered when struck by the knife.

“Hmph.

A master-level warrior, defeated like this.”

He mocked himself.

The mission was complete…

“Get up.

Gather them.

Kill them all!”

A-Lian had finished drawing the Night-Blooming Sky Flower.

She sat there idly, looking toward the manor’s main building in the distance.

That was where the Duke’s family lived.

She had lived there too, long ago…

So nostalgic.

The drawing was finished.

Very beautiful.

She sat on the bench, staring at the corridor in the distance.

Because the bushes there had suddenly shaken violently earlier, she kept watching that area.

“Hm?

The lights… went out?”

She murmured to herself.

Something was wrong…

This feeling was bad.

She thought silently.

The feeling was familiar.

Like a premonition.

She touched the old coin at her neck, uneasily.

The coin with the photograph inside was fixed to a black choker with a silver chain.

It now looked like a pendant…

Unease crept in.

She set down the drawing board, holding her sketchbook and charcoal, and walked toward the corridor.

The closer she got, the stronger the unease became.

Until it felt almost physical, pressing down on her head.

She had to quicken her pace.

Four men in black…

And one black-clad figure lying on the ground.

Her brother and her father were collapsed there…

“Crack…”

The charcoal pencil fell.

It snapped in two as it hit the ground.

The sound wasn’t loud, but in the silent night, it was more than enough to draw attention…

The four assassins turned at once, staring toward the sound.

Four pairs of eyes scanned A-Lian like beams.

A-Lian…

Trembled.

They saw her clearly.

A little girl in a white dress.

Very cute.

Her delicate face looked like a finely carved doll.

Because she was still a child, she wore no makeup at all.

At her feet lay a broken charcoal pencil.

It was her…

Very cute.

But they were killers.

Assassins.

There was no room for mercy.

“AAAAAAAAAH!”

A-Lian screamed.

She staggered back several steps, then turned and ran.

This feeling…

It was terrifying.

“Mm…”

She forced back her overactive tears.

Run.

Call for help.

Those were the only two solutions she could think of.

Alex was the strongest combatant in this estate…

Even he had…

She didn’t dare think further.

She couldn’t.

If it were before…

“Tap tap tap.”

Her round-toed leather shoes echoed crisply through the corridor.

Anyone could hear her.

She vaulted over the railing, planning to cut through the bushes to get help as fast as possible.

The guards.

They should… they should be able to help.

She tried to reassure herself.

Holding back the sting in her eyes, she crawled and ran into the garden…

“Bring her back.”

The skinless assassin ordered one of his subordinates.

“Yes.”

The subordinate replied.

Failing to defeat a master was understandable.

But if they couldn’t even catch a child, where would his dignity go?

Though he had no face to speak of…

A-Lian’s speed, to him, was like a three-year-old’s movement.

He picked up a stone from the ground and aimed at A-Lian in the distance…

“Whoosh—thud!”

The stone struck her solidly.

Her body was hit hard.

She tumbled to the ground, rolling as dirt smeared her dress.

He rushed forward and grabbed her silver hair, yanking her up.

“Ow!

It hurts, it hurts!”

The tearing pain on her scalp forced her upright.

She hated this helpless feeling.

“Ahhh!

You little bastard!”

The assassin shouted.

A-Lian bit down hard on the wrist grabbing her hair.

He cried out in pain and loosened his grip.

Seizing the chance, A-Lian ran again toward the garden.

She ran with all her strength.

She could still hear groans behind her.

She was terrified…

“Whoosh—”

Something cut through the air.

“Slash—”

This time, it wasn’t the sound of a blunt impact.

It was the sound of something sharp piercing flesh…

That was what she thought.

After that, she couldn’t think anymore.

“Thud…”

A-Lian fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

Refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit.

He thought.

He had thrown the knife at her cervical spine.

If his guess was right, her neck was now broken.

Instant death.

A-Lian was dead.

She was really dead…