Virgil wonders why a knight-rank cultivator would target someone like him.
He blocks the next strike, but pain shoots through his arm, and he stumbles back.
"Why are you attacking me?" he shouts, but no answer comes—only another flurry of attacks.
Using the attacker's momentum, he steps farther back and quickly tears an inferior shield talisman with his mouth.
A translucent energy shield forms just in time to block the descending blade.
Virgil pulls out more talismans as the attacker breaks the shield with fighting energy wrapped around his sword.
He retaliates with a fire arrow talisman, forcing the attacker back.
Not giving him a chance to recover, Virgil unleashes a second, then a third—one after another.
After the tenth arrow, Virgil frowns—the attacker has started blocking with condensed fighting energy, reducing the effect.
He pastes the next talisman onto his chest and rushes forward to meet the next charge.
With his fire arrow talismans spent, he switches to an inferior strength talisman and swings his sword.
Their blades collide, but this time Virgil doesn't get pushed back.
Even with the strength talisman, Virgil's arm trembles as the attacker's power overwhelms him.
He parries the next blow, glancing around and wondering why no guards have shown up.
Their swords clash again, and Virgil realises the attacker is just as skilled as he is.
He blocks a slash and sweeps his leg to trip the opponent, but the attacker hops back.
In retaliation, the attacker targets Virgil's extended leg with a quick strike.
Virgil counters by slashing at the attacker's arm, forcing him to dodge and only graze Virgil's leg.
He winces at the pain and staggers, casting a healing spell mid-combat.
Even after the wound closes, he continues to limp to keep the attacker from realising it.
He quickly uses another inferior strength talisman and swallows a bear blood pill.
The talisman drains his stamina fast, but it's the only way to match the attacker's might.
Virgil rolls to the side as the attacker's sword, coated in dark green energy, slashes down.
He activates a shield talisman just in time—the blade slices through it, but it buys him a second.
Virgil keeps stumbling, continuing his act as the attacker lunges again.
He blocks with more shield talismans, wearing down the opponent's energy reserves.
Noticing the fading green glow, Virgil realises the attacker is almost out of fighting energy.
He fakes a fall and blocks another strike with a shield talisman at the last moment.
In the same motion, he tears a flash talisman, blinding the attacker with a burst of light.
Seizing the moment, Virgil drives his sword into the attacker's belly and immediately steps back.
Blinded by the flash and pierced by pain, the attacker grips the blade and stumbles.
He collapses backwards, clutching the sword's handle, pulling it deeper into his own body.
Breath fading, the attacker lies still, life draining out on the cold ground.
Virgil doesn't wait—he dashes forward, yanks the sword free, and runs.
The guards didn't appear during the fight, but they might show up if he lingers.
He rushes home, washes the blood from his blade and clothes.
With his heart still racing, he falls onto his bed and begins to meditate into sleep.
A few hours before dawn, Meridth stirs at a faint sound.
Still half-asleep, she opens her eyes toward the noise, then closes them again out of habit.
But in the next instant, her eyes snap wide in shock.
"Who are you?" she blurts at the shadowy figure near the window.
The figure replies, "Mrs. Meridth, you gave us wrong information."
Meridth, confused and still waking up, instinctively assumes the figure is an assassin.
Then realisation strikes.
"Are you from the Dark Assassin Alliance? Is Virgil dead?"
The figure answers, "Virgil isn't dead because of your information, but one of our assassins is."
Meridth frowns.
"What wrong information did I give? I posted the task after he passed the talisman association test a few days ago."
"You didn't mention he was a spear guard for five years," the figure says coldly.
"What about it?" Meridth snaps. "He was a lowly soldier and never even got promoted."
"He didn't get promoted because he used his military merits to buy a basic talisman book," the figure says.
"And the spear guard unit defends the front lines against the undead—staying alive there for five years is miraculous."
Meridth's voice tightens. "Then you're not going to assassinate him anymore?"
"Once a task is published, we attempt three times," the figure says. "If the target survives, the task is cancelled, and we don't accept contracts on them for ten years."
"So?" Meridth asks, unsure.
"Virgil's task is one-star," the figure explains. "Only novice assassins will take it—and they won't be able to kill him."
"To kill Virgil, the task must be raised to two stars."
"Then do it," Meridth says quickly.
"You'll need to pay an additional 300 gold shiks," the figure replies.
Meridth freezes.
She doesn't have that kind of money—the 100 gold shiks for the original task came from selling her jewellery.
"I don't have any more," she admits quietly.
"I don't care," the figure says. "You have two days. If I don't receive the money, the task will remain one-star—and another novice assassin will take it."
Then the figure vanishes before her eyes.
Meridth lies in silence, eyes wide open, unable to sleep.
A few hours after dawn, Mora knocks on her son Morise's door.
No sound comes.
She opens the door and steps into the room—untouched.
It's clear Morise never came home last night.
Did he succeed in his assassination?
If so, he should have returned by now.
Uneasy, she leaves the room and sends a servant to check for any news.
Hours pass.
Then the servant returns—screaming.
A piercing cry echoes through the house: "My Morise!"
A few minutes later, Cole and Dylan arrive, having heard the news.
They find Mora sobbing in the living room, grief collapsing her posture.
Beside her, the servant lies dead, skull crushed.
Cole speaks gently, "Mora, calm yourself down. We will avenge Morise."
But his calm tone cuts through her like a blade.
It was Cole who led Morise into the assassin's path.
Rage erupts.
Mora leaps at him, her nails glowing faint green.
"Because of you, my son is dead!"
Cole reacts quickly, catching her wrists before her claws reach his throat.
"Mora, what are you doing? Come to your senses!"
He struggles to restrain her.
Dylan sighs.
A rune glows on his palm, and white bone-chains burst from the floor, binding Mora.
"Mora, control yourself," Dylan says. "Fighting among ourselves isn't the answer."
Cole nods. "I'll find out who Morise's target was—and I'll get revenge."
Mora breathes heavily, tears falling.
"I want to see Morise," she whispers.
"You can't," Dylan replies. "The guards likely discovered he was an assassin. If you go to see the body, they'll start investigating you, too. Last night, Bolan was killed by the guard, which was to our advantage. But you could still be linked."
Mora chokes on her tears. "Now I can't even see my child."
Cole says, "Don't worry. I'll send someone to retrieve the body."
Slowly, Mora calms.
Dylan lifts the bone-chains.
Mora lowers her head and leaves in silence.
Cole's face becomes cold, stripped of feeling.
"Mora's lost her emotional anchor. She'll start to lose her emotions, too."
Dylan nods. "It's for the best. Her feelings were interfering with the plan."
Cole's tone sharpens. "Bolan is dead. We need a new corpse supplier to continue our work—maybe more than one."
"I'm looking," Dylan says. "There are many, but none easy to trust."
They leave the house together, uncaring, the servant's corpse still lying in the living room.
Virgil wakes and lies still, thinking about last night's attacker.
"He looked like an assassin," he mutters.
The next question comes—who would want him dead?
The answer is instant: Pike.
"I have to do something about Pike," he decides.
But not now.
Virgil hasn't moved against Pike yet—not because Pike's cultivation is higher.
The assassin's strength was the same as Pike's.
With his talismans, Virgil could kill him.
But it would take time.
And it must be done in silence—one strike, no noise.
No one can suspect him.
Even if the guards overlook it, Pike is a member of the Howling Wolf Gang.
Their leader is an Earth Knight.
The leader wouldn't need to act himself.
Just a few members with Pike's strength could easily end Virgil's life.
So Pike must die without a trace.
No suspicion.
Virgil gets out of bed.
An hour later, his mind enters the simulation tower.
For a week now, he's been running simulations of the hidden talisman.
He doesn't need it anymore—it hides his cultivation.
But with his current strength, there's nothing to hide.
Now, he must grow stronger—fast.
He doesn't know Pike's next move.
The best way to survive is to increase his power as quickly as possible.
He removes the hidden talisman simulation and enters the 100 Body Forging simulation.
It shows that two weeks are enough to complete up to the 10th Body Forging.
The time is short, thanks to the past month he spent training the technique.
That same training helped him survive the assassin's initial strike.
He then takes out a pinch of soul sand and places it on his tongue.
A cold wave floods his spirit.
He shuts his eyes and enters meditation.
He focuses inward, drawing the fourth rune onto one of the 36 lotus petals.
A week later, he steps out of his house and walks toward the Talisman Association.