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CHAPTER TWENTY
“Drop the egg and walk away with your lives,” said the voice in a low but fierce tone. As the figure approached, undoing its stealth, Al and Shin could see a bald, grotesque man covered in scars. He was about 5'8", slim but sinewy. His face bore a wild, mean look, and three golden teeth gleamed in different regions of his mouth. A tattoo of the fallen mercenaries, whose remains lay gory on the ground, was inked onto his forearm.
“This is your last warning. I already saw your fight with the elder wyvern, and I know you’re exhausted,” he continued. “Moreover, I’ve seen what you’re capable of. Once I’ve seen an ability, it won’t work on me. So drop the egg and move away from the dwarfs—they are mine.”
His warning was sound and precise, his aura radiating his lethal intent. Al and Shin knew he wasn’t exaggerating. But backing down wasn’t an option. Not after promising the dwarf girls they’d be safe. Letting them go now would make them hate themselves. He turned and saw the fear in the girls eyes, they trembled at the mere sight of the man, like they had encountered him before.
Al suggested, “Why don’t you just take the egg and walk away? I'm sure an elder wyvern egg is more valuable than some dwarfs.”
Shin nodded in agreement, but the man frowned. “Stop wasting my time. All this carnage will soon attract beasts, and I don’t want to be around when that happens. The egg and the dwarfs come with me. It’s non-negotiable. Move aside.”
Before he could take another step, an ice lance erupted where his foot was supposed to be. He leaped backward, his reflexes razor-sharp, twisting in midair to avoid the incoming spike. But Al was relentless. Another lance erupted, sharp and jagged, bursting from the ground like a crystalline spear. The man twisted his body with inhuman agility, shifting just enough to evade the attack. Before he even landed, a fire arrow whistled through the air, its tip glowing with deadly heat. He flicked his wrist, summoning a dagger from his sleeve and knocking the projectile off course in a shower of sparks. As he touched the ground, Al had already conjured another flurry of elemental attacks—a sudden burst of ice shards, sharp as daggers, hurled towards him, followed by a sweeping jet of flame. He moved with a terrifying grace, weaving through the attacks as if he could see them before they even came. He ducked under the ice, twisted away from the fire, and spun with fluid precision, his body slipping between the lethal barrage like water flowing through cracks.
Just when it seemed he had maneuvered himself out of danger, Shin appeared at his blind spot, moving like a blur of raw force. Shin had waited for the perfect opening, his muscles coiled like a predator ready to strike. The assassin barely had time to register the presence before a powerful fist slammed into his stomach. The impact was devastating. A shockwave rippled from the point of contact, his body folding around Shin's knuckles. His feet lifted off the ground as he was sent flying, his breath stolen from him. Saliva and blood sprayed from his mouth as he hurtled backward, crashing into the dirt with an unceremonious thud.
As Shin approached to finish him off, the body was gone. A flicker of movement—two daggers flew toward Shin, charged with aura, cutting through the air with a sinister whistle. Shin barely had time to react, twisting his body as the blades sliced past him. He avoided direct impact, but as the daggers struck a rock behind him, a deafening explosion erupted. The force shattered the stone, sending razor-sharp debris flying. Shards of rock tore into Shin’s arms and legs, drawing blood, he was already battered and almost out aura from the last battle with the wyvern. Smoke and dust filled the air, obscuring his vision for a moment. Fire attribute. The assassin reappeared behind Al, his presence a mere ghostly whisper before his attack landed.
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In one swift motion, he delivered a crushing kick to Al’s neck and chest. The sheer force of the blow lifted Al off his feet, twisting his body midair as he tumbled violently across the battlefield. His back slammed against the dirt, rolling him over multiple times before he finally skidded to a stop, groaning in pain. His chest burned, his vision blurred from the sheer impact. A sickening grin stretched across the assassin’s face, his scarred features twisting in delight as he reached down, fingers curling possessively around the egg. He had won.
But before he could savor his victory, Shin was there to greet him, his fist surging with aura. The assassin barely tilted his head, dodging at the last second. His movements were smooth, effortless, his eyes gleaming with cold amusement as he swatted Shin’s attack aside with the back of his hand. Then, without hesitation, he placed his palm against Shin’s chest.
“Goodbye,” he whispered.
A miniature explosion erupted where his palm had been. Shin barely had time to react before the force blasted him backward, sending him crashing through the underbrush like a ragdoll. The assassin let out a maniacal laugh, reveling in his dominance.
Or so he thought.
A chain lashed out, wrapping around his legs in a vice-like grip. A split second later, he was yanked off his feet with brutal force, his body whipping through the air. The ground rushed up to meet him, and then—impact. He was slammed down, the sheer force rattling his bones. Again and again, he was lifted and driven into the earth, the relentless assault leaving the once-proud assassin gasping for air.
Al was there, standing over him. A storm of kicks and punches followed, Al’s fury unleashed. But just as he moved in for the finishing blow, the assassin vanished. His voice echoed in the air, laced with mockery. “I’m an assassin. How do you expect to defeat me when you can’t even see me?”
A nightmare unfolded. Shadows danced. The assassin struck from unseen angles, landing vicious blows before vanishing into nothingness. His knives flashed, slicing the air, cutting deep. Al staggered, blood dripping from his wounds, his mana nearly depleted. Yet he endured, his mind working.
Then—an opening. Taking a play from the assassins book.
Al activated an explosion rune on the assassin’s body, using the force to propel him toward Shin, who stood ready. The assassin tried to vanish again, but this time, Shin grabbed him mid-motion. “Not this time.”
Shin pummeled him, each strike breaking something within the man. Blood splattered, bones cracked, the assassin’s screams drowned by the violence. He managed to slip away, but Al was ready he had forgotten an ability he had, and ability that had save him countless times. It allowed him to sense his surroundings he called it..
Mana World View.
With his eyes closed and senses sharpened, he detected the assassin’s movement before he struck. He sent a dagger flying towards the assassin, the assassin caught it—but now he was marked.
He appeared before Al again to deliver a lethal strike but he was caught in Al’s trap, the chains wrapped around his leg and abdomen he tried to wriggle free but couldn’t. Wasting no time Al attacked him with the dagger aiming for his neck but he caught and held on to Al’s arms, for a man scrawny he had an unforeseen strength.
Shin came rushing in with a lot of momentum like a last resort using the last of his auras he struck. A fist to the jaw shattered it, the momentum driving his head into Al’s blade. A clean cut.
The assassin watched as his headless body fell. His last sight was of Al and Shin standing over him.
A voice was heard from the headless body saying “you took what is mine now I’m going to hunt you down.” A dark purple smoke seeped from his eyes and his body dried up instantly like a tree sap drained of all its liquid and left under the sun. A sign.
They had been watched. Al remembered this nasty spell, a spell used by the mercenary leader to keep his surbodinates in check and to spy on them. A pesky black magic that left a disgusting feeling and mark where it was used. But this also means they had been marked.
A voice startled them. “You both had a lot of chances, but you wasted them. Let’s go.”
Alexandri.
Shin, still breathing heavily, growled. “You were watching us this whole time? We could have died!”
Alexandri gave him a dead look. Al sighed. “Forget it. I sensed a similar presence when I was tracking the assassin.”
They had no time to argue. Reinforcements were coming.
Al had sensed Alexandri earlier when he was trying to track the assassin, Alexandri had been watching the fight all along from a high point, without interfering.
He wasn’t sure if Alexandri would have stepped in if they were really in danger, the man was hard to read.
“Let’s leave,” Al said. “Before more arrive.”