These past few days were nothing but travel, then a bottle of Cham milk and a short break.
Skyhawk had been "assigned" the most exhausting job: carrying the Cham Deer and feeding it. Every day the deer's belly ended up round as a drum… and then Skyhawk had to shoulder it again.
Jasper handled a 600-meter zone. Sable covered 1,000 meters.Ironically, Jasper was the most relaxed—he only needed to use Eagle Eye once in a while.
Sable moved through the treetops, leaping from branch to branch. Suddenly, a group appeared ahead.
He immediately melted into a thicker patch of leaves and watched.
That group was heading straight toward Jasper's direction.
Sable studied their faces one by one—then his gaze locked.
One of them was unmistakable.
The very noble brat from Bluehaze City… the one whose family had hunted Sable out of the city.
Sable's fingers tightened.
He silently drew an arrow, aimed at the noble's position—
Elven Arrow.
The guards didn't even notice the attack at first. Their reaction lagged by a heartbeat—far too slow to stop what was coming.
The noble saw the arrow and froze, terror blooming across his face.
A black figure flashed out of the crowd.
A dagger snapped forward—
Clink.
The dagger struck the arrow midflight, knocking it off course.
The Elven Arrow exploded to the noble's left instead.
Four guards were caught in the blast. Green toxin sprayed over armor and exposed skin alike. The metal hissed—sizzle, sizzle—as plates began to melt. Where flesh was exposed, it blackened and bubbled as the poison ate into them.
Second-layer venom.Without a strong antidote, they'd die slowly—bit by bit.
The noble stared at the four writhing men. He did have detox potions—just not enough to waste on guards.
He swallowed, face twisting with pained reluctance.
"Damn it… antidotes are expensive. Even I don't carry many. When we get back, their families will be compensated."
Then he muttered the part he didn't want to say aloud.
"Give them a clean death."
The remaining guards hesitated.
The noble looked awkward—he wasn't about to do it himself.
The black-clad man stepped forward without hesitation.
Four quick strikes.
Four throats.
Each kill was clean—precise—merciless.
"Good," the noble said, regaining confidence as if the cruelty had never touched him. "One Gold Coin for you. And you saved my life—five more."
The black-clad man bowed.
"My lord, this is my duty. You took Mas from the Mercenary Guild—that alone is the greatest reward. Serving you is Mas's honor."
The noble laughed, pleased with the flattery.
"Not bad. Don't refuse. Now go—catch the one who tried to kill me. Bring him back, and I'll add another five Gold Coins. I want to see who's so bold."
Mas's eyes sharpened.
He launched like a shadow toward Sable's hiding spot.
Sable bolted instantly.
Behind Mas, the guards cursed under their breath—if they caught the attacker, they could've earned that one Gold Coin too. A month's wages… gone in a blink.
Still, after witnessing the noble's generosity, none dared slack off.
They chased.
Sable ran and fired to harass—shots meant to slow, mislead, bleed.
Mas was terrifyingly fast.
Sable checked the system's readout while moving—Mas was only Bronze Tier Rank 5.
But his speed didn't match his rank.
The way he moved… the weapon in his hand…
A thief. Or an assassin trained like one.
Mas dodged Sable's arrows with ease. The guards behind him weren't so lucky.
Most of them were Bronze Tier Rank 3–4. A few were Rank 6, but those stayed near the noble for protection.
Sable's arrows had serious penetration.
If he hit a seam or thin joint, the arrow went in.
In his willpower sensing field, five men were already poisoned. Others weren't pierced, but toxin spattered their armor—still enough for Sable to track them by the lingering venom mark.
Soon Sable entered Jasper's 600-meter Eagle Eye zone.
Then Mas.
Then the trailing Rank 4 guards.
Skyhawk noticed Jasper suddenly pause.
"Boss? What's wrong—Sable trouble?"
Jasper slipped Shadefang into the beast space and climbed into the treetops in one smooth motion.
"Stay here," Jasper said. "Sable's bringing trouble this way. I'll clean up the small ones."
Skyhawk nodded fast and immediately hid the Cham Deer.
If that deer died, he'd have nowhere to cry—Cham Deer weren't something you ran into twice.
Mas grinned as he chased Sable, eyes glinting with sick excitement.
Almost… almost…
A few more seconds and he'd catch him.
Then he'd collect his reward, earn praise from his "boss"—
And better yet…
Mas's gaze flicked greedily over Sable's movements.
Elven bloodline.
Rare.
If he could deliver a bowman with elven blood to the black market… the Gold Coins would pour in.
Pity it wasn't a female elf.
He'd heard rumors—female elves sold for absurd prices.
Pureblood elves, though… he didn't dare.
Even his boss couldn't beat an adult elf, and the purebloods lived deep in Uth'Zya Forest—a place where death waited in every shadow.
Still.
A half-elf bowman?
That was money.
Jasper moved in Stealth along Sable's trail.
He waited until Sable and Mas had passed—
Then Jasper struck the rear.
Silent kills. Fast kills.
One by one, the pursuing guards dropped before they even realized death had arrived.
When Jasper finished the last man, he stripped the corpse of its armor with calm efficiency.
They were poor again.
Armor sold.
Armor bought time.
"Now that I'm stronger," Jasper muttered, wiping blood from his sleeve, "killing low-rank trash is getting boring."
His figure blurred—and vanished.
Mas, still chasing, suddenly felt the air behind him go wrong.
Too quiet.
He glanced back.
The guards were gone.
All of them.
Cold dread crawled up his spine.
A trap.
Mas spun and tried to retreat—
Too late.
Skyhawk stepped out from the trees behind him, blocking the rear.
Sable stood ahead, bow drawn.
Front and back—sealed.
Mas could probably outrun Sable.
But killing him quickly? No guarantee.
And the moment Mas saw Skyhawk's gear and aura, his expression stiffened.
A light knight…?
Why was a knight involved? Was his boss's movement noticed by Bluehaze's upper circles?
No.
That didn't fit.
This knight felt… different. Not like the regimented "big shields" Mas had seen.
More like—
A wild knight.
Mas narrowed his eyes at the sword and shield.
Those weapons looked strangely familiar.
Trapped, Mas leapt into a tree.
His body blurred—
And vanished.
Stealth.
Just like Jasper's.
But a heartbeat later—
A blade surfaced from the air.
Jasper stepped out as if cutting his way through reality itself.
His left wrist snapped—
Piercer punched into empty space.
Mas was forced out of concealment like he'd been hooked.
He fell hard from the branch, rolling in the dirt.
A shattered dagger blade clinked beside him.
Mas's eyes went wide.
This one's dangerous.
Not just dangerous.
His presence… his timing… his power—
This was an assassin that felt frighteningly close to his boss's level.
Jasper, Sable, and Skyhawk formed a triangle around Mas.
Mas barely managed to block Jasper's Shadow Assassination, but his right hand went numb from the impact. His left hand flicked—
A fresh dagger slid into his palm.
Jasper watched with interest instead of rage.
"Your killing power isn't impressive," he said mildly, "but that speed… that's fun."
Mas said nothing.
Inside, he was already calculating survival.
Then Jasper's Eagle Eye caught something—
A faint purple flash on Mas's body.
Mas didn't move, didn't speak, didn't signal with his hands.
A hidden request.
A silent beacon.
A call for help.
Jasper didn't rush.
He simply tightened his grip and smiled a little, eyes cold.
"Alright," he thought. "Let's see who you're calling."