The moon was high. The castle was silent.
I sat in a velvet armchair in the corner of my bedroom, swirling a glass of liquid. It looked like blood-red wine. It was actually grape juice. I hate alcohol; it makes me sleepy, and tonight, I needed to be wide awake.
"Two in the morning," I whispered, checking the grandfather clock. "Right on schedule."
I put on the Spectacles of the Deceiver.
Instantly, the dark room turned into a wash of blue wireframes. I looked at the door. I looked at the window. Nothing.
Then, I looked at the ceiling.
There was a bright orange blob clinging to the rafters like a spider.
Found you.
The assassin was good. I couldn't hear him. I couldn't smell him. Without these glasses, I would have been dead in ten seconds. He was slowly lowering himself down on a thin, invisible wire, directly above my empty bed.
I watched him land on the mattress. The orange blob raised a dagger. He stabbed the pillows viciously, three times. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
Feathers exploded everywhere.
The assassin paused. He realized the bed was empty. He realized he had stabbed a duvet, not a Prince.
"A little to the left," I said from the corner.
The assassin whipped around. He was dressed in a tight black bodysuit, his face covered by a mask. He didn't speak. He didn't hesitate. He just launched himself at me.
He was fast. A blur of motion.
But I was cheating.
I didn't move my body. I moved my mind.
"Authority."
The assassin was mid-air, his dagger inches from my nose. He expected me to dodge or scream. He didn't expect the floor beneath him to bite.
My shadow didn't boil this time. It snapped.
It shot up like a bear trap made of darkness.
CRACK.
"Gah!"
The assassin froze in mid-air, suspended by black tendrils that had wrapped tight around his ankles and waist. He struggled, slashing at the shadows with his enchanted dagger. The blade passed right through the darkness like smoke.
"You're the 'Shadow Stalker', right?" I took a sip of my juice. "Irony can be really mean sometimes."
The assassin's eyes went wide behind his mask. He realized he couldn't move. The shadows weren't just holding him; they were paralyzing him.
"Who... what are you?" he rasped. His voice was rough, like sandpaper.
"I'm the guy who wants to sleep," I said, standing up. "And you ruined my pillows. Those were Egyptian cotton."
I walked closer. The shadows tightened. The assassin groaned as his ribs started to creak.
"Wait!" he choked out. "I can—I can tell you who sent me! I can work for you! I have skills!"
I paused.
For a second, I considered it. A spy would be useful.
But then I looked at the dagger in his hand. It was coated in green slime. Poison. If I had been asleep, I would have died a painful, frothing death.
This guy wasn't a soldier following orders. He was a professional murderer for hire. If I paid him more, he'd work for me. If someone else paid him double next week, he'd stab me in the back.
Loose ends are annoying.
"Pass," I said.
I snapped my fingers.
The shadows didn't just hold him anymore. They swarmed.
The eldritch mouths opened. Dozens of them, appearing all over the black tendrils wrapping his body.
The assassin started to scream, but a shadow gagged him instantly.
Mmph—!
CRUNCH. SLURP.
It was faster than the wolf. The assassin was a "glass cannon"—high damage, low defense. The shadows tore through his magical defenses like tissue paper.
I looked away. I wasn't squeamish, but watching a human-shaped object get folded into a singularity of darkness was... unpleasant.
Ten seconds later, the room was quiet.
No body. No blood. Just a few white feathers floating down from the ruined bed.
[Consumed: Human Assassin (Class: Shadow Stalker)]
[Assimilation Complete.]
[Strength +3]
[Agility +8]
[Passive Skill Acquired: 'Stealth (Medium)']
[Active Skill Acquired: 'Shadow Step']
"Whoa."
I checked the status again. Agility +8? That was huge. My body felt lighter instantly. I felt like I could do a backflip right now.
I looked at the [Shadow Step] skill description.
[Shadow Step]: Instantly teleport to a shadow within 10 meters. Cooldown: 10 seconds.
"I can teleport now?" I laughed. "Okay, that is broken. The devs really need to nerf this class."
I sat back down in the armchair and finished my juice.
The immediate threat was gone. My brother, the 3rd Prince, would be waiting for news of my death. When the sun rose and I walked into the breakfast hall alive, he was going to panic.
And panic makes people make mistakes.
"One brother down," I whispered, closing my eyes. "Six more to go."
Being a villain was hard work. But the rewards? The rewards were pretty sweet.