Crimson Overlord

Late in the night.

Boy's Dormitory, Leon's room.

Leon and Daneel, his right-hand man were talking.

''So, you saying that you Zeroth Organization refused to accept the contract saying that all of their men were hired to search for the mysterious being that appeared months ago?'' Leon asked, not pleased by this piece of news.

''Yes, they said they are not accepting any assassination contract. They are busy; if you're in a hurry, I can try elsewhere, or I can wait until they finish with what they are doing. It will probably last two months, they said.'' Daneel explained with a sigh.

''Too long, and then ?'' Leon shouted, seemed not pleased with this answer.

''After leaving Zeroth Organization, I went to the Luxiria. I visited the Bloody Hall located in the slum, and I hired them. They took the job, saying they would make their move once we started our expedition. One month is more than enough to kill him, they said.'' Daneel added, trying to calm down his master, who was already showing signs of anger.

Right after hearing what Daneel had just said, Leon was pleased. Their new destination would be Orpheus's grave; he was sure of it.

Even Daneel felt pity toward Orpheus.

'To think you'll anger this madman. 'All I can say is may your soul rest in peace.'

°°°°°°

The next day, Orpheus and the others were ordered to regroup in another city. They took many teleportation portals to arrive at a new city.

The city of Dawnburgh was built on the banks of a modest natural harbor and is truly a fully modernized city. Its elegance is matched by the backdrop of monumental waterfalls, which have helped shape the city into what it is today.

The riches these waterfalls brought were of great importance. Still, they were also influential when it came to architectural designs. The vast majority of buildings mimic the falling waters of those waterfalls, sometimes by having their man-made waterfalls.

The skyline was spreading with elaborate skyscrapers, and they all seemed to be in perfect unison despite being different. Parks and gardens are flourishing in Dawnburgh, attracting a lot of attention.

This city was the meeting place for the S class. It was here they would receive further instruction on where they would go. If it would be in a group or in pair.

''Let's go. The teacher said we will meet at the square tomorrow before leaving.'' Xiaosu said, trying to drag Orpheus with him to go on tour. It was a new city; of course, they should visit all the famous spots, or it would be a waste of the remaining day idling inside their room at the Inn.

Orpheus accepted, which shocked Xiaowen; together, the group (The Ren twins, the Xiao twins, Nemesis, Amber, and Lilith) visited many famous spots until night arrived.

After eating dinner, they each went to their room, but Orpheus warned Lilith that they would have a visit tonight.

''Enjoy your meal.'' He said before closing his door. He would have loved to take care of the assassin that would visit tonight, but he had competent subordinates; he noticed that she was closer to breakthrough; she just needed a little push; many a powerful enemy could be the trigger for this or some nice meal. Either way, tonight was her day. Orpheus had not forgotten about Amber; he had something else planned for her.

°°°°°°

Late in the night, Eastern's part of Dawnburgh, where most of the Inns were located.

A man shrouded in all black with a sinister black mask tiptoed to mimic the stillness of the night.

Only his hollow green eyes were visible; you could feel no emotion from within, only eerie calmness that sends a chill down one's spine.

The man would sometimes go slow and flash silently like a cat jumping from one building to another.

After an indeterminate amount of time, he stopped on top of a certain five-story building with a signboard; drawn on the signboard was a sun illuminating a golden plain.

『Golden Meadow』was written on the signboard.

It was now 3 hours past midnight, and all people inside this building should be already asleep by now, making this specific time the best moment to attempt a perfect assassination.

Even so, he decided to be sure of his assumption. The man paused and listened for more than five minutes to ascertain if his assumption was correct.

He then crouched down and steadied his breathing to the bare minimum as he tried to check through a window.

All this man's actions denoted trained expertise in the ways of night combat that could only be had after many successful kills in this kind of job. Indeed, this person was a master assassin. This is what he does for a living.

After the twenty-five careful observation to ensure his target was sleeping, the seasoned assassin from the Blood hand moved closer to the window giving access to his soon-to-be victim's room.

He took out a dagger to help him open the window's lock.

Of course, he could have punched his way in, but that would defeat his purpose in coming.

The man in black was about to use the sharp weapon but was only halfway through the motion before he was entirely stopped.

He felt a strong presence from behind him that was not there a second prior.

''It's quite late for a nightly visit, don't you think?"

Someone suddenly said the voice was genderless.

When the assassin heard these words, he could not help but shiver in fear.

To be able to arrive at his blind spot without him knowing when and how that happened was ridiculous!.

He knew this because he was a master in the arts of hiding and moving at speed. And a pretty accomplished one at that. He was not a weakling either, a Level 4 assassin which meant he could even kill low level 3 if he put his heart into it.

So, the man was astonished by what was currently happening. This kind of thing doesn't happen unless there was a huge gap in strength or this unknown master had used some kind of advanced concealing technique beyond that of his understanding.

'Fight or flee!' the assassin thought briefly.

There was no reward for any heroics or useless endeavor he might do if that would culminate in him losing his dear life for it.

That would be a funny thing for him to do because he was an expert assassin who loved slaying his targets, killing as they slept; he thus got the nickname 'Silent Reaper', he is famous among his peers, and currently, he was in trouble.

Should he fight, or Should he flee instead?! The assassin once again asked himself this question. Being a warrior and facing a foe head-on was not one of his strengths.

Especially not against someone more powerful than him.' FLEE!' the assassin finally decided, then he jumped and arrived on the rooftop like an agile monkey.

The assassin's steps became heavy, and gone was the cover of silence that he had meticulously applied ever since his arrival.

Screw that; he was running for his dear life.

After all, what mattered most right now was to get away as fast as he possibly could from the unseen monster.

"Oh? You are leaving already without accomplishing your goal?"

The person with the genderless voice taunted the already fleeing assassin.

'Like hell, I will wait to accomplish my goal. I'd be the one dying tonight if I stayed.' The assassin shouted in his mind as he continued his mad dash on top of the rooftop.

And soon, he was about to jump onto another building like a cheetah; however, suddenly he felt like he had been enveloped in darkness and,

BANG!

Sound could be heard as a wrecked figure of a man dressed in all black bounced back as if it hit something so hard when he tried to jump.

"Puh!!!" The assassin coughed a mouthful of blood.

He felt that he may have suffered internal bleeding just from that one attack alone which scared him silly.

In fact, he was sure of it with every hard breath he took.

"Hah! Hah!'' He exhaled his lungs, and there was even more blood due to his efforts.

He was severely injured! The man looked around, hoping to see the person who left him in this sorry state.

Alas, all he saw was darkness and endless darkness.

''What the hell is this?!''

The assassin asked a bunch of questions to nobody in particular.

Suddenly, his eyes widened in utter terror when he came up with a possible explanation for the current phenomenon he was experiencing

''An easy job, it was said? What a joke! I hate it when the information is faulty, to begin with. It makes the job a little more difficult than necessary.'' The assassin grumbled before adding,

''This may be my last mission. To think that the target has a powerful guardian. An expert I will be helpless against.''

Suddenly, the man stopped as he felt the world stop because a pair of beautiful red eyes locked onto him; he lost his right hand at first, followed by his left hand, then something pierced his neck, and all his blood got sucked away.

The Silent Reaper died under Scarlett and its master. Lilith savored the man's blood until the last drop.

BOOM!

There was an explosion inside her body shortly after, she had stepped closer to Level 3.