Chapter 88 - The Assassin in the Darkness

  Nathan Evenhart:

  It was nighttime, and my task was the most plicated. I o kill the corrupt noble and find the members of the criminal anization hiding in that pce. They were wanted criminals, and the fact that they had allied with the nobility made things even more problematie nobles used criminals to do their dirty work, and due to their atus, their homes couldn't be invaded without authorization. We couldn’t simply announce our iion to visit a criminal’s home with the w.

  My family adhered to something called the "Era of Diplomacy," which meaen turned a blio certain crimes itted by the nobility, especially if the criminal olitioble. We couldn’t trol what happened inside a noble's home if they decided to travel to another duchy to buy a sve s, but the situation ged if they itted crimes against our people. There were certain things we wouldn’t tolerate, aed when necessary. Taking a in this way kept politiobles from going too far with their crimes.

  We had to respect the kingdom's ws; however, when the light of the w fails t justice, it’s the shadows of assassins that silehe evil.

  “Is someohere?” the man asked, rising from his bed.

  “Bartholomew Fitzroy,” I said.

  Bartholomew Fitzroy:

  "Bartholomew Fitzroy," a voice emerged from the darkness.

  Damn it! There’s someone in my room!

  I try to move my hand toward the knife I keep uhe pillow.

  "Who are you?" I ask into the darkness.

  "It’s time to pay for your sins," the voice replied, seeming to shift through the shadows, filling the air with a heavy presence.

  "You're not one of my subordinates! What are you doing here? Do you know who I am? Do you know the weight my name carries!?"

  Finally, I mao grab the knife and, with a swift motion, turn on the mp.

  The light floods the room, but darkness still lingers in one part, imperable.

  "I don’t care about itles, or ranks. I am something beyond that," the voice tinued, indifferent.

  I point the koward the darkness.

  "No oouches a noble! You’re screwed!"

  "Forced prostitution, drug traffig, traffig of protected animals, human traffig, kidnappings... murders... robberies... anized crime..." The voice listed the crimes, moving from side to side, still invisible in the shadows.

  Sweat begins to drip down my forehead.

  What’s hiding in the darkness? I feel like I’m being stared down by a beast.

  "Who are you? Show yourself!"

  "I am a judge, Mr. Fitzroy. I’m the one who shows up at the end of the day, at your door, to pass judgment. I am death, Mr. Fitzroy."

  I let out a nervous ugh.

  "You're insane! Guards! Guards!" I shout, hoping for help.

  Silence.

  "No one will e, Fitzroy... They’re dead. And those still alive won’t hear you. This room is sealed with a wind barrier. No sound escapes..." The voice echoed, still shrouded in darkness.

  "Fuck you!" I quickly get up, holding the kightly, and grab a light orb from a drawer, turning it on.

  "Every i life taken by your hands... every person forced into acts of depravity... they all screamed for help, they all cried out in the night. All of these people begged for justice, pleaded for someoo e. I came for them, Mr. Fitzroy... that’s what I am... that’s who I am..." the voice procimed.

  I walk toward the darkness, my hands trembling, but I keep the knife raised and the light orb as my only prote.

  When I finally step into the darkness, I’m taken by surprise.

  "Nothing! There’s no one here!" I look around the room, realizing that, in fact, there was never anyone inside.

  "What the fuck are you!?" I shout angrily.

  'BAM!' The window shatters, and something leaps at me.

  I’m thrown across the room and crash to the floor.

  “I am a God!”

  The moonlight reveals a figure as bck as night, striding toward me with firm steps. The light orb rolls across the floor, and the figure crushes it underfoot.

  “I’m here to ahe prayers of the oppressed.”

  "AHHH!" He grabs my neck, and I stare into those terrifying eyes. Even though he’s just a boy, I tremble with fear.

  "And I'm here to deliver your sentence: death."

  "AHHHHHHHHH!" An energy surges through my body, electrog me, and I’m thrown across the room by him.

  I y eyes, and the st thing I see is that figure in the darkness, judging my sins before ning me... Looking like a true...

  God...

  Nathan Evenhart:

  Staring at the fallen man, I regret not making him suffer more, but I couldn’t go overboard sihis would be covered up as a simple invasion and assassination. Sihis pce harbored criminals, it would be easy to disguise it as their betrayal.

  "That piece of trash ended up with a quick death..." I murmur as I turn to leave, heading toward the door.

  "Now I o hunt down the dangerous criminals hiding in this pce."

  As I pass through the door, I sense a presence behind me.

  I quickly turn, raising my hands, but there’s nothing there.

  "Strange..."

  Walking through the pce, I move toward the window and sniff the air. Using my wind power, I isote the sts and focus. I don’t have to tinue my work; on the floor lies a falleher.

  "A red feather," I pick it up and exami.

  Cyl followed me here... I ’t believe this.

  Looking outside, I see nothing.

  I hope she stays hidden and avoids being seen.

  Sighing, I return to my task. There were still criminals on the loose that I o find, and I couldn’t let them escape. Failing my test as an assassin was not an option.

  "You!" shouted a voice from the end of the hallway.

  "Seems like I didn’t have to walk far. That makes my job easier," I mutter, drawing my sword from its sheath.

  I observe the person’s stan front of me.

  "Isabelle... or should I say 'Lady of the Threads,' a notorious and wanted assassin mage," I say, raising my sword in a guard position.

  The woman smiles wickedly.

  "Hearing my title like that, ing from a young oes me. Hahaha," she says, lifting her hands.

  I remain silent, focused.

  "I presume Bartholomew is dead... what a pity. He was a good tractor, always letting me have fun with a few young girls," she licks her lips with perversion.

  I reinforce my sword with wind mana.

  "An assassin reizes another. Aren't you going to make your move?" she taunts.

  "Exactly. An assassin reizes another. I know there's an intricate web of invisible, razor-sharp threads in front of me. One wrong move, and I'm dead."

  Her smile widens even more.

  "What a b boy... NO FUN AT ALL!" she screams, flinging her arms. Threads explode toward me.

  I leap to the side in the corridor and terattack, sending a massive wind sphere. We jump at each other.

  Isabelle luo stab me with a dagger, but I dodge just in time. She maniputes her hands, and the threads twist in the air, hurling various objects toward me. I defend myself with my sword.

  She maniputes the threads using wind... she's a transmitter.

  She advarying to kick me. I ter with my sword, defleg the hidden bde in her shoe, aoward her with my sword. She quickly retreats.

  "NOW!" she screams, and the floor beh me explodes.

  I use the wind to unch myself upward, avoiding the trap. A hole forms in the floor, revealing another level below. A man jumps at me with a sword in hand. I use the ceiling as support, propelling myself to the wall, nding with my sword ready to strike Isabelle. The threads move toward me, but a yer of wind protects me as I advahrough the tangled web, aiming for her face.

  "DIE!" she screams, raising the dagger toward my neck.

  Behind her, something approaches through the window. At the st sed, I use the wind to dodge and fall dowairs, rolling to the lower floor.

  A massive water serpent crashes through the window, and a bald man emerges from within it.

  "It's three against one..." I observe the mage-assassins positio the top of the stairs as I take my stance.

  "No... it's fainst one," a voice echoes from the floor where I stand. A man approaches, his hands engulfed in fmes.

  Isabelle leaps down to my floor, followed by the others.

  "We're a famous group. They call us 'The Four Elementals,'" she announces.

  A wind mage, a fire mage, a water mage, and ah mage... the situation is getting plicated.

  "A boy as young as you, being an assassin... how peculiar," ents the fire mage.

  "You know, it's been a while since I've had to put in this much effort. That's why I've got permission to go all out. Thanks for that," I say.

  They look at me, fused.

  "Today, you'll be fag a General!"