Arthur followed the path mapped out by the bots and arrived at the dungeon entrance in less than five minutes.

The thick, oppressive air of the dungeon gave way to a clear breeze as he emerged from its gates. 

As he exited the dungeon and walked towards Kai, he saw the fight was long over as bodies of unconscious guards littered the field, some twitching as they fought off the effects of precise pressure strikes and tranquilizers.

Arthur’s eyes swept across the ground and then lifted towards Kai who stood there at the far edge, with his arms folded in front of his chest.

Arthur opened his mouth to thank him, but Kai interrupted him, “We should get out of here now, before stronger reinforcements arrive.”

Arthur nodded without argument and after taking the bots back into his dimensional storage, he looked towards Kai.

“Let’s go.” Arthur said, falling into step beside his master.

They left without another word, disappearing into the night like phantoms.

…

Alistair stood behind a broken window of a weathered building without its roof across the street, his arms folded as he watched Arthur and the masked man vanish down the alleyways of Brightwater.

“Well,” he murmured to himself, “there goes our plan to recruit him.”

Behind him, Tristan landed lightly from the adjacent rooftop, his cloak trailing behind him. “Master, he’s leaving the dungeon. What do we do now?”

Alistair didn’t look back. He closed his eyes for a beat, then opened them with a faint sigh. “There is nothing we can do.”

He turned around and began walking down the rusted stairs. “Let’s leave this place before the real monsters arrive.”

The others emerged from the shadows, one by one. No one questioned his decision, though it might have been a failed mission, at least they are all alive.

Together, they left the area silently under the night sky.

…

Elsewhere

Atop a tower cloaked in shadow, the assassin squad watched the unfolding events through enchanted monocles and far-sight lenses.

As Arthur exited the dungeon and met with Kai, the assassins became alert.

The woman in black, the same one who was in Count Bahram study and the leader of the squad of assassins, stood at the center of the group, with a calm and composed look.

“They’re leaving,” one of her subordinates whispered.

“I can see that,” she replied coolly, arms folded beneath her cloak.

Another assassin asked, “Boss…do we proceed?”

She nodded once. “We will, but it won’t be easy. That masked one is a Grandmaster martial artist, we can’t take him head-on.”

She then looked towards her squad and said. “We split into two groups. One will distract the Grandmaster, while the others including me will finish the task as fast as possible… just buy us one minute.”

She looked at each of them in the eye, her voice steady. “There may be casualties. But Count Bahram’s orders are clear; we must complete the task. Do you understand?”

The others being hardened assassins didn’t even flinch at all and nodded.

The woman’s expression hardened. “Move.”

And just like that, they disappeared from the rooftop while blending with the shadows.

…

Midtown – In an abandoned section of Brightwater

Kai and Arthur moved through the lower districts, winding through narrow alleys and cutting across rooftops, when they sensed some people trailing behind them.

Kai was the first who sensed them, with his mastery of Chi it would be surprising if he couldn’t sense the strong life signs following them.

“We’ve got company,” he said, projecting his words into Arthur’s mind.

Arthur opened his ‘Map’ and saw some red dots on it closing the distance between them.

‘There are two groups. One is tailing, and another fanning out to surround us,’ Arthur replied in an even tone.

Kai nodded. ‘They’re good. Completely concealing their mana, but not well enough.”

Arthur smirked. ‘Should’ve brought more with them.’

They both looked at each other and nodded subtly.

The next moment, Kai’s voice rang inside Arthur’s mind, ‘On my signal.’

Arthur didn’t break stride. ‘Alright.’

After they were some distance away from the dungeon, Kai finally gave Arthur the signal to attack.

‘Now.’

Like wolves turning on the hunter, Arthur and Kai spun on their heels abruptly and darted down a side alley, toward the assassins.

The ambushers, who had thought themselves hidden, froze in place.

“What the…!?” one of them barely got the words out before Kai was on him.

CRACK!

A knee to the sternum sent the man flying backward into a stone wall, leaving a spiderweb crack in the brick.

Arthur didn’t waste a second. His hand flicked, and two throwing knives zipped through the air, disarming a pair of attackers mid-draw before they could even raise their crossbows.

“Regroup!” one of the assassins barked, recovering fast. “Formation B!”

They weren’t amateurs. They were hardened killers with years of combat under their belts, so they quickly composed themselves and got ready to attack.

But Kai and Arthur weren’t amateurs either.

Chi burst around Kai like wildfire, the golden energy brightening the alleyway as he moved in a blur.

Arthur summoned a short sword made of darksteel, cleaving through the gap of an incoming pincer and twisting under a scythe meant for his neck.

“Fast little bastard!” one of the assassins spat, only to be silenced as Arthur slammed an elbow into his throat.

…

There were a total of ten assassins, all of them at least 6th Circle. Seven of them, all at 7th Circle, moved toward Kai to divert his attention, while the remaining three targeted Arthur. Among those three, two were at 6th Circle, and the last, their leader, was at 8th Circle.

Kai let the assassins think that they were able to distract him, while in truth he was just letting Arthur have a chance to fight in a real battle to gain experience.

One assassin lunged at him with a black-bladed sword slashing horizontally. Kai tilted his head to avoid it and casually stepped into the assassin’s guard.

Bam!

A glowing palm struck his chest, and the sound of ribs cracking was heard. The man folded over midair and was launched into a wall.

Another hurled a dagger covered with crackling lightning, but Kai caught it mid-spin with two fingers.

“Try harder,” he said flatly.

…

Arthur pivoted and parried a strike from the first assassin, his short sword ringing with the force of the blow. The second came in fast, slicing diagonally with a scythe, but Arthur ducked under and countered with a knee to the ribs.

He was defending against the two but he hadn’t forgotten the glaring red dot on his map. Only two of the assassins were attacking him openly, but there was a third attacker who was lurking in the shadows.

Just then a woman suddenly appeared behind him from the shadows.

SHING!

He spun around, his instinct screaming at him. A glint of silver met his eyes as the edge of a dagger came down on the back of his neck.

CLANG!

Arthur was lucky enough that he foresaw, she might attack him from behind and was able to block the attack, otherwise he might have been decapitated with how fast the woman was.

Sparks flew where the attack met, and both of them took a step back to assess their opponent.

“I can see how you were able to kill Young Lord Elaric and his guards so easily,” the woman said. Her tone was cold, devoid of any emotion. “But that won’t save you.”

Arthur raised an eyebrow finally figuring out who sent the assassins. 

But before he could react the shadows beneath him twisted, as black tendrils shot up like ropes and coiled around his arms and legs, slamming him into the wall and yanking the sword from his hand.

The other two assassins didn’t miss the chance and lunged immediately, with their daggers out, aiming for his heart and throat.

Arthur gritted his teeth. “Alright that’s enough…”

But the moment their blades were inches away from him, Chi erupted from his body.

“HAAAAAAAAA…!”

BOOM!

Golden flame-like energy surged outward like a shockwave. The shadow tendrils binding him snapped, freeing him.

The shockwave hurled the two assassins backward, one slammed into a wall, the other into a stone column.

The leader landed in a crouch several meters away, barely able to resist the force. She clicked her tongue. “Chi? Tch… impressive.”

Then she vanished into the shadows again.

Arthur stood on top of the crater caused by his outburst, now wreathed in a golden flame-like aura.

He lifted his left hand, and his short sword flew toward him. He caught it and narrowed his focus on the map.

He let the woman think that he couldn’t track her position and pretended to look around to find her.

He spun abruptly as the leader reappeared, her daggers aimed for his exposed ribs. But this time, Arthur was ready.

Chi flared around his fist as he punched. A blast of wind and golden energy roared outward.

BOOM!

But he hit only air creating a shockwave.

“Dammit,” he muttered, while gritting his teeth.

The remaining two assassins finally recovered. One of them charged towards him, shouting, “Die already!”

Arthur darted forward instead of retreating. He ducked under the assassin’s strike and plunged the short sword into his chest, clean through the heart.

The assassin went limp instantly.

But just as he was going to finish off the other one the woman finally appeared again seeing a gap in his defence.

She emerged just behind him again, with her blade raised.

Arthur thought, ‘Got you.’

Because he was waiting for just this.

Zzzzt…!

Lightning began crackling around his body. In a blink, arcs of golden electricity burst in all directions, forming a three-meter wide lightning field around him.

The woman’s expression shifted for the first time into a surprised one.

The woman realizing she had fallen in a trap tried to retreat into the shadows. But the moment she touched the field…

ZAP!

“Arghhh…!” She screamed, her invisibility flickering out as the lightning stunned her, locking her movements.

Arthur turned, Chi coiling around his arm like a golden dragon, and punched again.

BOOM!

This time the punch landed square on her chest, launching her across the alley like a missile. She smashed through the walls of a few abandoned buildings, disappearing into the debris, her life and death unknown.

The final assassin lunged toward him out of desperation. Arthur turned, his blade swinging through the air, as he slashed through his chest.

The man dropped with a final scream.

Arthur slowly turned toward the wreckage where he blasted the woman.

But there was nothing there, just shattered stones and a trail of blood.

“She escaped,” he muttered, eyes narrowing. “Figures.”

The leader fled the moment she felt she couldn’t win the fight against Arthur now that she was severely injured, and there was also a Grandmaster present. So she decided to flee and relay this information to Count Bahram.

He then looked towards Kai, who was dusting himself as he finished off the last assassin.

Seven assassins were on the ground, killed or crippled around him.

Kai approached Arthur, his gaze scanning the area. “Done?”

Arthur nodded, exhaling slowly. “Yeah.”

“Good,” Kai said simply. “We’ve wasted enough time.”

Arthur gave one last glance toward the bloody trail, then turned away. “Let’s go.”

They vanished into the night once more.

***

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