Night cloaked Pritampur Palace in eerie silence. Under the soft moonlight, a group of figures dressed in black, their faces veiled with spiritual concealment talismans, silently crept over the rooftops of the eastern wing.
Each of them was a cultivator at the Early Spatial Tempering Realm, powerful enough to massacre entire noble clans silently. Hand-picked by the Second Prince Vikrant, they were known as the Ghost Shadows, professional assassins trained to kill without leaving a trace.
Their target?Priyanshu Yadav.
But the "target" was already waiting.
Inside his chamber, Priyanshu sat cross-legged, a faint smile playing on his lips as he stared at a glowing scroll in his palm.
[Scroll of Puppet Lord: Active]
[Targets within proximity. Initiating link…]
He let out a whisper. "Let the puppets dance."
Outside, just as the lead assassin leapt down toward Priyanshu's balcony, his body froze midair.
"What the—!?"
His limbs began to move on their own.
One by one, the other assassins experienced the same. Their movements twisted unnaturally, eyes filled with horror as their hands reached for their own weapons.
Shing!
The first assassin's blade slashed his own throat, blood spraying across the wall in an arc. The second impaled himself through the heart.
The remaining four collapsed to the ground, twitching violently as invisible strings controlled their demise.
Priyanshu walked out onto the balcony, watching it all happens with calm, curious eyes. The moonlight cast a halo around him, as if mocking the darkness he wielded.
"Assassins?" he said lazily. "Too old-fashioned. Try something more subtle next time, Vikrant."
Suddenly, a voice echoed in his mind.
[System Notification: +600 Evil Karma Points][You have unlocked Shadow Technique: Reflection of Murder]
"Reflection of Murder?" Priyanshu blinked. "What's this?"
[Allows user to clone the aura and signature of any person they kill using puppeteering methods. Clone can act on behalf of target.]
He grinned. "So... I can fake someone's presence now."
He turned toward the bodies.
"But faking a death… That's even better."
Meanwhile, in the Second Prince's secret manor...
Vikrant paced anxiously, waiting for news.
A jade slip suddenly shattered beside him.
"What?! Failed?! All dead?"
His expression twisted into rage. "That brat…! What kind of monster is he hiding inside?!"
But deep in his heart, a new feeling took root—fear.
The next morning, the palace was in uproar.
Six assassin corpses were found hanging upside down from the front gate, their eyes gouged out and mouths stuffed with paper bearing one phrase:
"Send more."
Priyanshu sipped tea on the roof, watching the chaos unfold below.
"Let them send armies," he murmured. "All they'll do is build my legend for me."