Chapter 205: A Pitch-Black Night (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 205: A Pitch-Black Night (1)
Dmitry Square.
Amidst the bustling crowds that constantly came and went, a man sat on a shaded bench, idling away the time.
Chew, chew.
He slowly gnawed on a piece of beef jerky.
Beneath his pushed-back hood, his face was pale and gaunt. Though he exuded a peculiar aura, no one paid him any mind. Dmitry attracted people from all walks of life—slum dwellers, workers from the entertainment districts, and mercenaries active across the continent. In such a diverse crowd, a slightly unusual vibe hardly stood out.
The man's name was Cliff.
As the deputy master of the assassination guild Écorché, he surveyed his surroundings with an impassive gaze.
'In the single hour I've spent in this square, Dmitry's guard patrol has passed by twice. That means they deploy multiple units at regular intervals. Ordinary territories never maintain a security system of this scale. It requires a massive amount of manpower, and the incidents the guards actually catch are rarely more than minor squabbles. Since those don't pose any real threat to the territory, it's usually considered a pointless waste of effort.'
It was simple logic.
Rather than expending a hundred units of effort to prevent a single incident, it made more sense to turn a blind eye and simply spend two units to resolve it after the fact.
And yet, Dmitry's security was airtight.
Not only that, but their skills seemed formidable.
'It seems the rumors from the Western Front weren't exaggerated. For ordinary soldiers to exude an aura rivaling decent knights... If things go sideways in a place like this, my life will be forfeit.'
He swallowed the jerky. There was no sign of nervousness on his face.
He had faced far more dangerous situations in his life; what he was doing now was merely gathering the information necessary for an assassination. Overestimate your opponent rather than underestimate them. It was a famous maxim in the assassination industry, and Cliff had absolutely no intention of underestimating Dmitry—a territory that had recently been making the most unprecedented moves on the continent.
Just then, a man approached and sat down beside him. Wearing a friendly expression as if they were old companions, he quietly reported his findings.
"After infiltrating the iron mine and scouting the area, I found that Dmitry has almost no incidents despite the heavy foot traffic. The guards aren't just for show; they respond within five minutes of any disturbance. They're so skilled that even hardened mercenaries back down before them. The same goes for the night watch. While the patrols are slightly lighter than during the day, they're still at an impressive level compared to other territories."
"Any other points of caution?"
"There are many highly skilled individuals within the territory. We need to be careful of them."
Two weeks ago, members of the assassination guild had already infiltrated Dmitry.
Cliff smirked. It was exactly as he expected.
It seemed Roman Dmitry had tightened security to an excessive degree in response to the Kronos Empire's assassination warning. It was amusing. This desperate struggle to survive piqued his interest.
"You know, the more my target struggles, the more my blood boils. When they're unable to sleep at night, terrified of when they might be attacked, and I neutralize everything they've prepared just to plunge a dagger into their heart... the pleasure of that moment is thrilling beyond words."
The mere thought of it brought him joy. Swallowing the last piece of jerky, he stood up.
"Tell the informants. The plan will proceed as scheduled."
* * *
It was the night of the decisive operation.
Under a pitch-black sky, figures slipping through the streets like shadows melted into the darkness at the sight of the night watch.
Among them, a man wrapped in a gray cloak spoke.
"From this point on, the closer we get to the Inner Castle, the greater the number of guards. The interval at which the patrols cross the same point is about fifteen minutes. Once we take out the first set of guards, we must enter the Inner Castle within that fifteen-minute window, no matter what. Keep this in mind: Kronos does not tolerate failure. Even though we have successfully carried out every assassination under the Empire's orders so far, a single failure will plunge us into the abyss."
It was Cliff.
The fate of the assassination guild hung on this operation. Because the Master had repeatedly urged him to succeed at all costs, Cliff's mindset was completely different from his usual demeanor.
"I will take the lead. Once we eliminate the guards, dispose of the bodies quickly."
"Understood," his subordinates nodded.
After confirming the guards' positions, Cliff activated the ability of the gray cloak wrapped around his body.
"Invisibility."
Whoosh.
A faint light flared. The glow emanating from the gray cloak enveloped Cliff's body, and he melted into his surroundings, becoming completely invisible to the naked eye. It was a magic artifact. Assassins often utilized various tools to kill beings stronger than themselves, and this gray cloak was one of the most expensive items available.
He suppressed his presence. Moving with absolute caution, he approached the guards, who were patrolling in pairs.
'There are only two targets. According to the patrol routes we've mapped out, if we eliminate these guys and immediately move to the Inner Castle, we will only encounter guards one more time along the way. Roman Dmitry... I don't care what kind of monster you are on the battlefield; you won't survive an assassination carried out under the cover of darkness.'
Over the years, he had killed countless powerhouses. Among them were even those called Rankers, but there was nothing anyone could do against an attack they were unprepared for.
This time would be no different.
Brimming with absolute confidence, Cliff tailed the guard. He could hear the target's breathing.
Looking at the guard who was scanning the surroundings, completely unaware of his impending death, Cliff raised his dagger.
And the moment he slashed out to slit the guard's throat—
Clang!
'...?!'
His attack was blocked.
The guard had twisted his body in an instant, flawlessly deflecting Cliff's strike. It was a bewildering situation.
As Cliff and the guard locked eyes, the guard blew his whistle hard, as if he had been waiting for this exact moment.
Screeeech—!
"Intruders! Intruders have appeared!"
* * *
Confusion set in.
This was just a common guard. Cliff had never imagined such a problem would arise right at the entrance, long before they even breached the Inner Castle.
"Damn it! Eliminate these guys quickly!" Cliff shrieked.
The hidden guild members sprang out all at once, launching simultaneous attacks on the guards to erase any trace of their presence.
However—
Clang! Cl-cl-clang!
The guards' movements were extraordinary.
They did not back down even under the relentless onslaught. The two guards protected each other's backs, flawlessly neutralizing any dangerous openings.
Only then did Cliff feel his mouth go dry. At first, he thought the guard had just gotten lucky in blocking his attack, but looking at them now, they could by no means be called ordinary guards.
Just then—
Screeeech!
"Over there!"
It happened in an instant. Dmitry's soldiers appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the area. Cliff and his assassins had missed their window to escape.
A desperate crisis.
At Cliff's signal, the assassins gathered in a tight formation. While assassins who excelled at surprise attacks were notoriously weak in head-on confrontations, they had no other choice if they wanted to survive.
He gripped his dagger. His invisibility had already worn off the moment he attempted his attack.
Cliff scanned his surroundings with a tense face. He looked at Dmitry's soldiers. The moment he recognized the face of one of them, his eyes widened in shock.
"...Y-You?!"
It was a familiar face. Digging through his memories, the face of Thomas—the restaurant owner who had bumped into him a few days ago—perfectly matched the man he was looking at now.
His heart hammered. This operation had been fundamentally compromised from the very beginning.
"Cliff. Deputy Master of the assassination guild Écorché. Your entry into Dmitry must be because you received orders from the Kronos Emperor."
The guard who had blocked his first attack stepped forward. Looking at him now, his face was also familiar.
Although Cliff hadn't recognized him immediately due to the guard disguise, the intelligence they had gathered beforehand contained information about this man. It was Lucas.
"Two weeks ago, we detected signs of Écorché's assassins entering Dmitry. You probably thought you had perfectly concealed your identities, but we even knew that you joined them three days ago for the actual operation. Looking at your face, you seem curious about how I found out."
The Hao Sect. It was the information guild Lucas had established.
The members belonging to the Hao Sect blended seamlessly into daily life, reporting everything they saw and heard. On its own, none of it was extraordinary information. But by piecing those fragments together, Lucas had forged them into highly useful intelligence.
"The restaurant owner you first met when you set foot in Dmitry? He belongs to Dmitry's information guild. When you were looking around the square, the merchant doing business right next to you was also a member. And that's not all. The innkeeper, the blacksmith, the miners at the iron mine—they are all Dmitry's eyes and ears, and they reported every suspicious individual they witnessed to us. From that point on, uncovering your identities wasn't a difficult task. It's an open secret that the Kronos Empire employs assassins, and we figured Écorché would be the perfect tool for them."
From the very beginning, Dmitry had intentionally turned a blind eye to Écorché's presence.
Knowing they were scouting the area, Dmitry let them gather their information. Then, upon receiving reports that the assassins were finally making their move, they immediately restructured the guard units. Lucas had teamed up with Henderson. Other sectors were similarly stationed with personnel more than capable of countering the enemy's attacks.
An attack under the cover of darkness. Cliff had thought their plan was flawless, but from start to finish, they were merely toys dancing to Lucas's tune.
'...At this rate, we'll die.'
Cliff frantically scanned his surroundings. He hadn't expected this.
When he received the order to assassinate Roman Dmitry, he hadn't thought it would be such a difficult task. Their stealthy movements weren't something that could be stopped just because the enemy anticipated an attack. Yet, to have their very presence uncovered in this manner... In the end, to enter the castle, they had no choice but to cross paths with people. No matter how much they forged their identities or hid their faces under robes, all that information flowed directly into the Hao Sect.
And Lucas had not missed a single discrepancy.
Having cornered the assassins, he signaled his soldiers.
"Attack."
At that moment, Cliff also shouted, his face twisted with venom.
"Clear a path! Break through them and head straight for the Inner Castle!"
* * *
Assassins.
The reason they were strong was because they launched surprise attacks at a time of their own choosing. Conversely, this meant they were bound to be weak in a head-on clash.
Slash!
"Argh!"
"Urgh!"
It was a one-sided slaughter.
The moment they clashed, Dmitry's soldiers pushed the assassins back. Men fell in rapid succession after exchanging only a few blows. At the very least, Cliff's presence stood out. He put up a threatening display with a dagger enhanced by Sharpness, but his performance did not last long.
Lucas lunged at him.
As Lucas ruthlessly pressed the attack, Cliff was instantly driven into a corner.
'He's strong!'
Lucas. He was someone who had stood out during the initial recruitment of private soldiers. Although he had been reassigned to lead the information guild due to his unique talents, having experienced all kinds of hardships on the battlefield, he possessed combat capabilities that ranked near the top among Roman Dmitry's followers.
Armed with a dagger and a sword slightly shorter than average, he wielded his dual weapons with dazzling speed, slashing Cliff's chest in the blink of an eye.
Slash!
"Aaargh!" Cliff screamed.
As Cliff stumbled backward, Lucas swept his ankle, sending him crashing to the ground.
Thud.
It was over.
By the time Cliff tried to scramble back up, a sword was already pointed at his throat.
"I'll give you ten seconds. Explain to me why I should let you live."
Slide.
The blade bit into his neck. As blood trickled down the steel, Cliff burst into a manic laugh, looking as if he had completely lost his mind.
"You miserable bastards. Don't go thinking you've won already. The reason the Kronos Empire hired us despite announcing the assassination beforehand is because they were certain we would succeed no matter what. You must know it as well. Écorché has a true 'Sword' of its own. Along with him, assassins attacking from all directions should be storming the Inner Castle by now."
He smirked. He was a dead man anyway. Because of that, he wanted to see his opponent panic.
This operation wasn't his task alone. Écorché had launched attacks from four directions centered around the Inner Castle, and the one known as the "Sword of Écorché" was moving independently. It was an operation bound to succeed.
While Cliff had risen to the position of Écorché's deputy master due to his leadership and years of service, his actual combat skills weren't particularly outstanding. He was merely one of the decoys.
The operation would ultimately succeed.
But then—
"Is there any other information? Aside from what we already know?"
Hearing his opponent's response, Cliff's pupils trembled. Seeing Lucas accept his grand revelation so calmly made his heart sink.
Lucas's eyes turned ice-cold.
"If you have nothing else to say, then you have no choice but to die."
Slash.
"Gurgle..."
Cliff foamed at the mouth. As the sword slit his throat, he desperately tried to stem the flow of blood with a trembling hand before collapsing limply onto the ground.
With all the enemies eliminated, Lucas flicked the blood off his sword and spoke.
"Group 2, clean up the area. Group 1, follow me. We will establish a perimeter around the Inner Castle to ensure the enemies cannot escape."
Inside the Inner Castle...
He had no worries about that place. Whatever happened in there was the domain of Roman Dmitry, not his.