Comodo advanced slowly, gasping, in the direction of the Assassin. He seemed unable to control his movements, as if his limbs were possessed by a force alien to him.

The handful of men Comodo had brought with him lined up beside the Assassin. It was clear that two factions were forming, and one of them was clearly at a numerical disadvantage.

Comodo slowly raised an arm. A green globe formed on his palm, from which beams of light were released and headed, very fast, towards the other men. The warriors widened their eyes and, after a few seconds of confusion, grabbed their own throats in violent spasms. It seemed that something had entered their mouth that blocked the passage of air. It was as if they had poured molten steel straight down their throats.

"Oops," laughed the Assassin, dodging in a black flash the beam that Comodo had directed towards him.

He wiped the blood of the blades on his clothes, then incinerated the scarlet remnants with his Mana.

"AhaAHahaAHahaHAHAHaHahhahaHAH!"

Malus acquired:

Madness

Malus acquired:

Psychosis

Malus acquired:

Schizophrenia

Notifications appeared in front of Comodo, but he didn't even notice. The Goblin could not control his mind or his body. He kept moving forward with slow, almost animal-like movements.

Its back was arched forward, like a beast ready to assault its prey. The arms hung limp toward the ground, as if they had no life, while the legs were bent and ready to spring like springs.

"I told him, I, that sooner or later he would go out of his mind with all those tortures," commented the Assassin, remembering the words he had repeatedly pronounced to Hades. What he invariably avoided giving weight to was the fact that he himself had enjoyed torturing Comodo.

Another shrug definitively absolved him of any guilt he could ever have, thus deciding to go straight to the facts.

"Hey, here, here, let's go play," he said, moving a hand towards him, as if he were talking. with a little dog.

Comodo's body shook violently in strange spasms as one of his hands began to accumulate an incredible amount of purple Mana.

Feeling that Comodo's Aura had now reached the extreme limit of the Late stage of the Seventh Phase, one step away from the Eight, the Assassin's face showed the first hint of concern of his stay in Orma.

"Eh, what the fuck though", were the only words he uttered, before disappearing into a gap of darkness.

He reappeared about ten meters away, after having dodged a purple death ray that had escaped from Comodo's hand. His brow was beaded with sweat, as he remembered the feeling that had hit him after he had dodged Comodo's Skill for the first time.

Why did even Missions that seemed simple, once delegated by Hades, suddenly become impossible? It wasn't the first time that, on a completely harmless expedition, things began to go to hell at the speed of light.

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"But is it possible ...", the Assassin cursed again, making a double jump in the air and ignoring all the existing laws of physics.

"After this mission I'm going to open the Assassin's ranch, a retirement home for stressed-out Assassins," the Assassin continued to himself, who was now advancing in the direction of Helial's group.

Comodo followed the Assassin in an attempt to kill him, shooting green and purple rays from all sides, but he could never hit his target. One after another, roofs, walls and stalls crumbled under the destructive power of his attacks. A whole stack of pots exploded, handles flying all over the place, along with a fish stall.

The figure in black flew in mid-air and grabbed a packet of fried anchovies, raising a thumb in Comodo's direction and immediately began to eat. He had to admit, even in such desperate situations there was always a positive side.

This time he decided to get straight to the point and not waste time: he flew to the position of the Human kid and his friends, intent on putting an end to that mission at soon as possible.

At first they had decided to avoid the flight so as not to attract attention from the bigwigs of Orma, who were fighting the Immortals. If any of them had noticed a bunch of hit men flying around the city undisturbed, it would have been a big problem. A Goblin in the Tenth Phase would not hesitate even a second to fight against a group of warriors that did not pass the Seventh Phase. Or worse, if they really ended up in the middle of a confrontation between multiple Immortals, then they would have died on the spot.

Comodo, at the time, was unable to worry about such problems and took off in a split second, nearly reaching the Assassin. And yet, despite the Goblin's terrifying change, the Assassin didn't seem too fazed. He showed no signs of fear or agitation, as if it were all too normal for him.

This was definitely a picnic, compared to all the times he had been chased by the man in his fancy multi-coloured armour for failing to complete a mission. Ade was a calculating madman, he was really one to be afraid of. But Comodo? Did he really have to worry about a brainless monster?

It was a common occurrence that cultivation could lead to insanity or destruction of the body. Once bottled within the Meridians, Mana still remained a force of nature that was difficult to harness forever. Without proper Breathing Technique or rigorous training, the body would have reacted badly to the presence of such energy.

At the base of any training there was a fundamental rule: to have full control over Mana it was enough to avoid as much shortcuts as possible, such as using Elixir. Fast growth was synonymous with unstable power, which would always be unpredictable.

In Comodo's case, however, brutal methods were used to increase his cultivation by two full Phases in just one year in order for him to be able to defeat Helial and his friends without any problems.

The Assassin and his men had had to subject the body of the Goblin to filthy torture, which had made even the executioners themselves shiver. But no one had had the courage to oppose the will of Hades.

Yes, courage ... It would have been better to talk about madness or suicidal instinct. You had to be crazy not to want to obey an order from Hades. Not only did this boy display an amount of talent that could surpass any warrior within the continent, but he also had a dense network of connections.

Both the Mana Congregation and various associations of the capital of Fiercelake seemed to be ready to respond to his call.

It was something incredible to believe, considering that we were talking about a young boy in his twenties.

The Assassin smoothly dodged yet another bright green beam, which looked like deadly lightning, and catapulted behind a building.

Instead of dodging it, Comodo walked through the walls of the building from side to side without even noticing. He threw himself through the walls, penetrating them, smashing the bricks and continuing to fly, despite the dust almost completely clouding his vision.

The figure in black turned back, looking at the explosion that Comodo's body had generated as it passed through the house. Now the Goblin had stopped in mid-air and was looking around, unable to see the Assassin anymore.

"Hey, here!" the man signalled, resuming flying with Comodo on his heels.

"How sad it is a chase like this!" he laughed, seeing the shapes of his targets.

Licking his lips, the figure in black gripped a dagger. Let's get it over with.