Chapter 20: Assassin Strike III

“Who are you…?”

“Allow me to officially introduce myself, Lord Osaran. I am the Deadly Poisoner from Barta. You may call me Black Smoke.”

“Barta? You’re with the Northern Barbarians?!” someone shouted as they finally realized the truth.

“We have always taken Lord Osaran’s strength very seriously. A Five Crown expert is powerful enough to annihilate an army of 1,000, even if he’s currently on his last legs. To be safe, we planned this decapitation strike against you for a very long time.”

“That’s impossible. Your identities were personally vetted by Master Karl. How could you have bypassed…”

Osaran sighed softly, gesturing for his guard to stop.

‘To think that child would resort to such deeds… Did I pay too little attention to him?’

“Cough, cough…” Osaran’s eyes dimmed, and he began to cough violently.

The sudden wave of exhaustion hitting his body caused his magic shield to flicker and vanish.

*Whoosh*

In that moment, the shadow lurking in the corner launched a swift, lethal attack.

“Protect Lord Osaran!”

The highly skilled swordsmen surrounded Osaran, brandishing their blades to form a wall of sharp steel.

Amidst the flash of cold metal, the shadow was forced to retreat to the side.

“Tch, how annoying!”

Snake Eye wiped a drop of blood from a scratch on her cheek.

These swordsmen protecting Osaran all possessed the strength of Three Crowns or higher.

While she could easily handle them one-on-one, it was difficult to win against their coordinated numbers.

“Damn it, the two of them are together!”

The appearance of a second enemy forced the guards to sharpen their focus.

“Just watch, Snake Eye. This thing in my hand is far stronger than any magic or martial art!”

Black Smoke tossed a cylindrical object in his hand, pressed a button on it, and hurled it toward Osaran.

“That trick again?”

The guards were wiser this time. The man in the lead chose not to cut it with his blade, but instead prepared to swat it away with the flat of his sword.

Black Smoke gave a sinister smile as he watched the guard strike the object.

*Poof!*

“What?!”

The moment it was touched, the black canister spewed thick smoke.

Everywhere the smoke touched was instantly corroded.

The first swordsman to come into contact with it subconsciously took a single breath before collapsing in a struggle.

Black, purulent blood began to pour from his nose and mouth.

“Hurry, take Lord Osaran and leave!”

The guards made a split-second decision.

They picked up Osaran and moved away from the toxic smoke, intending to escape the manor and seek refuge at the Imperial Palace.

But they had only taken a few steps when they heard a crisp clicking sound.

Toxic smoke suddenly erupted from the surrounding bushes!

“No, there’s poison gas here too!”

“Hahaha! Did you really think I left the table early just to go back to sleep? I set traps here long ago. You’re trapped, and you’ll die here!”

Black Smoke laughed maniacally.

Unless they all sprouted wings, their only hope was for a Hero to descend from the heavens… but how could that possibly happen?

Osaran reached out a trembling hand, forcing his Magic Power to coalesce.

“O God of Green Wind who circles the high heavens, please grant me a sliver of your breeze. Let the leaves sway and blow away the dust.”

“BREATH OF GENTLE BREEZE!”

A powerful gust of wind erupted from Osaran’s palm, blowing the surrounding black smoke away from the group.

“Lord Osaran!”

“Live…”

Having done all he could, Osaran lost consciousness.

He had already exhausted too much energy and Magic Power healing others at the testing grounds earlier that day.

Even a low-level wind spell like the one he just used had completely drained him.

Seeing the escape path Osaran had opened for them, the guards didn’t dare linger and ran out of the toxic cloud’s range.

“They’re going to escape,” Snake Eye remarked from the side.

Black Smoke didn’t throw any more poison canisters.

He simply stood there with her, quietly watching the group flee.

*Boom!*

The garden wall suddenly collapsed.

A 2-meter-tall giant appeared out of nowhere, grabbing the lead swordsman and snapping his neck with a single twist.

The others retreated in shock at the sight.

“What? There’s another one!”

“None of you are going anywhere!”

The giant slammed his fist into the ground.

The bracers on his wrists glowed with a yellow light, causing the earth to surge.

Walls of rock rose up, trapping everyone inside.

“A Magic Tool? It seems they really did come prepared.”

“How could someone get in from the outside? Has the magic barrier stopped working?”

“Lord Osaran has been betrayed. We must ensure he leaves here alive!”

“Break through this wall!”

The swordsmen concentrated their attacks on one spot.

Sword light shattered the rock wall, but the giant was already waiting for them on the other side.

“Rock Bear, don’t let a single one escape!”

“You don’t need to tell me that twice!”

One swordsman charged forward.

Even as Rock Bear’s fist pierced through his chest, he gritted his teeth and thrust his sword forward.

However, the giant’s skin was as hard as stone, and the blade barely managed to scratch the surface.

“Go, quickly!”

“You’re courting death!”

Under their comrade’s cover, the remaining two swordsmen attempted to break through with Osaran, only to be blocked by Snake Eye.

Her curved, snake-like daggers moved with a distorted, eerie rhythm.

They were incredibly sharp, instantly pinning down one of the guards.

“You’re all going to die here.”

Black Smoke’s figure appeared like a ghost beside the last swordsman.

The guard, who was carrying Osaran on his back, was caught off guard as Black Smoke slammed a hand onto his face.

Black poison spread from the assassin’s palm to the guard’s cheek.

In the span of a single breath, his entire face was corroded down to the white bone.

“Bye-bye.”

Black Smoke smiled and pushed the guard over.

The unconscious Osaran slid to the ground before the three of them.

With all the guards dealt with, Snake Eye stepped forward and drove her blade through the old man’s heart without hesitation.

She flicked the blood off her sword, confirming that Osaran, the King of Arcane and the strongest Mage in the Empire, had fallen.

“Hey! Are you trying to steal my credit?!”

Black Smoke looked displeased, but Snake Eye didn’t seem to care.

“Don’t be stupid. No one said how much Osaran’s head was worth. What does it matter who killed him? As long as he’s dead, it’s fine.”

“Let’s get out of here. If we stay any longer, Karl might backstab us. I don’t trust the people of the Kingdom of Nolan one bit!”

Rock Bear said to Snake Eye and Black Smoke as he cleaned the blood off his body.

However, when he turned to face them, both of them had looks of pure shock on their faces.

“What’s… wrong with you two?”

Rock Bear turned around in confusion.

His eyes widened as a black-haired youth entered his field of vision.

A dense aura of life was radiating from the young man.

“SPRING BREEZE AND RAIN: SWEET DEW.”

“ENDLESS VITALITY.”

“DETOXIFICATION ART.”

At Qiaolin’s feet, the swordsmen who had been corroded by the poison gas began to heal.

Their flesh knit back together, and the toxins vanished under the influence of his Healing Magic.

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

Seeing the poison he had painstakingly developed being neutralized so easily, Black Smoke couldn’t help but roar in interrogation.

Even high-rank Holy Magic couldn’t clear all that at once.

Even if it could, it shouldn’t be possible for a single Mage.

It should have taken at least three High-rank Mages working together, all of whom would need to be specialists in healing!

Yet this guy acted as if it were nothing.

He looked like someone leisurely leaning back in a lounge chair after lunch, lazily soaking in the sun before reaching out to cast a spell…

He hadn’t even chanted an incantation!

While Black Smoke was consumed by fury at seeing his poison neutralized so easily, Snake Eye was struck by something else—she hadn’t sensed the man’s presence at all until she saw him with her own eyes.

Just when did he arrive?