A frigid winter wind was blowing through the streets of Blackreach City. Very few people were outside their homes, and aside from anyone who had no other choice, no other person would be willing to face the freezing cold.

However, in a certain alleyway in the third district a dark robed person was walking forward with conviction as if the frigid cold had no effect on him. This person was covered in dark clothes from head to toe and their face was hidden under the shadow of their hood.

As this person walked through the alleyways, they seemed to be sticking close to the walls of the alleyways making the wall's shadow cover their body. Unless someone was specifically looking for this person, or were very close by, they wouldn’t be able to see his complete figure.

While Wesley was walking through the alleyways, he made sure to remain hidden; his dark clothing and the winter clouds that covered the night sky made him very hard to see, but he still walked towards the Kader Manor with utmost caution.

Wesley is a naturally cautious person and would often choose prudence over convenience, however, today Wesley was overly cautious to the point where he would stop walking ever so often to see if he was being watched or followed.

After a few minutes of walking, Wesley eventually reached the end of the alley he was in. Across from the place where Wesley was standing, a wall that was fifteen feet tall was standing erect. This was the outer wall of the Kader Family.

This wall was not too tall, however, it was nearly five feet wide, and there were a few dozen guards standing on watch along the entire perimeter. This was one of the most heavily guarded places in the whole of Blackreach City.

Wesley was feeling extremely apprehensive about entering this place. Walking into a trap unknowingly is one thing, but walking into a trap while you're aware of it causes extreme anxiety. Wesley's unwillingness was extreme, but he has already crossed the point of no return.

Two of the four family heads have already died, and the last two were aware of his scheming. If Wesley didn’t kill these last two family heads, it wouldn’t be long before they realized that the Black Family were behind the whole thing.

Wesley did not want anything to happen to those five kids. Putting aside their talents, Wesley felt extreme affection towards these kids. After spending a year with them, Wesley thought of them the same way he thought of his little brother, and was willing to protect them.

However, did he feel enough affection for these kids to sacrifice his life? Wesley was willing to risk his life for them, but he absolutely would not give his life for anyone. One might think It is heroic to sacrifice one's life for the sake of others, but a dead hero is more useless than trash.

Wesley was not going to die for a cliché. Wesley immediately made up his mind that he would try to kill the two family heads, but at the first sign of danger, he would immediately get out. It would be ideal to kill the four families' heads and establish the Black Family in Blackreach City, but that was necessarily the only way. The Black Family could establish themselves in other cities just as easily.

Having made up his mind, Wesley looked at the wall of the Kader Manor, his eyes filled with conviction.

The guards on the walls of the Manor were all standing at attention, however, the cold winter wind caused most of them to feel extremely drowsy and tired. They all knew that falling asleep in the cold means death, but that didn’t make that allure of sleep any less tempting.

One of the guards who was on watch was currently looking at a random alleyway with bored eyes that were barely open. He only had a few hours left before he was relieved of his duty so all he had to do was stand there and not fall asleep, and soon enough he would be snugged in his warm bed.

The guard who was dreaming about beautiful sleep, suddenly saw a figure emerge from the alleyways and his eyes sharpened immediately. This figure that emerged was clothed in dark clothed with a dark hood, a single glance was enough to know that this person was up to no good.

The guard immediately decided to shout and alert everyone to the presence of this suspicious character, however, before he could do anything, the dark clothed figure suddenly disappeared in darkness. Moments later, the guard felt his throat clench and his eyes darken.

The guard immediately clenched his eyes as he tried to breath, but whatever was around his neck was too strong. All he could do was simply gasp for air, as he felt the realization that this was most likely his last night dawn on him.

"Open your eyes."

An extremely soft yet sonorous voice reached the guards ears as he felt the constriction around his neck loosen slightly; just enough to let him take in some shallow breaths.

The guard slowly creaked his eyes open. All he could see was darkness, and amidst this deafening darkness where a pair of jade green eyes staring at him unblinkingly. The guard immediately felt his heart clench as he felt that this was the after life and those green eyes were the devil's.

"Don't bother screaming. No one will hear you."

The guard couldn’t even scream if he wanted to. His heart was already at his throat, making him barely able to breath, let alone scream. He simply stared at those floating pair of eyes that seemed to be looking directly at his soul.

"I will ask you some questions. If you answer them truthfully, you'll forget this ever happened and have the best sleep of your life. If you don’t answer, you will die a very painful death. Do you understand."

The guard simply couldn’t understand what he was hearing. What could he know that the devil himself didn’t. What did he have to offer the devil to appease him. He didn’t know what this devil wanted from him, but he still nodded his head affirmatively.

"Good. Tell me, have you noticed anything unusual from the Kader Manor in the last two months."

The guard was taken back slightly by the question. He forgot everything about the Kader Family in his fear, but it seems that this devil is interested in the Kader Manor. The guard has already decided to do anything this devil asked of him so he tried speaking, but his throat was still being held.

The restriction around his neck loosened once again causing him to cough and breath in huge amounts of air. After a few seconds, the guard looked at the pair of eyes and spoke:

"The Main Manor has been sealed for the last two months. Aside from few maids who bring the guards food, no one else leaves or enters."

"Hmm."

Silence followed after the devil's small hmm. It was as if he was pondering something, which caused the guard to feel some more fear creep up in his heart. Could it be that he wasn’t satisfied with my answer. As the guard was worrying more and more, the devil spoke once again:

"Have you heard any rumors about what is going on inside the Manor. Anything unusual or weird?"

The guard thought for a moment. He didn’t know why this devil was so interesting in the affairs of the Manor, but he had neither time nor conviction to question him. He immediately scanned his memories and after a few seconds of silence, he seemed to have remembered something as he spoke:

"The other day we were joking around with one of the maids that was bringing us food. She said something about a mysterious old man suddenly appearing in the Manor."

"Tell me about this mysterious old man."

The devil immediately asked a question with some anxiety in his voice causing the guards to be slightly taken back. He continued speaking:

"She said that this old man appeared almost two months ago and he spends most of his time eating and sleeping. She also said that the Family head instructed them to treat this old man with the utmost respect."

"Is that all you know?"

"Yes."

"Hmm. You did well."

The guard was instantly relieved at the devil's words. If the devil was satisfied then he would survive. Suddenly he felt the thing that was constricting his throat disappear. This caused the guard's eyes to lit in happiness as he felt his heart surge with happiness.

"You can now rest."

"Thank Yo..."

Before the guard could even finish his words, a cold dark light flashed past his neck and he felt his eyes dim. Soon enough a headless body fell on the ground with a hollow thud.

Wesley just looked away from the guard's body and towards the wall of the Kader Manor. His hunch that the Kader Family was hiding some trump card was now confirmed.

This mysterious old man that appeared in the Kader Manor was most likely an expert the four families invited to safeguard themselves against the assassin. This old man was most likely extremely strong for the two heads to feel safe under his protection.

This expert was most likely either a Grand-Master or an Elder. If he is a Grand-Master, then Wesley was confident that with some luck and ambushing, that he could easily kill him. However, if the expert is an Elder, then Wesley could only ran away lest he risks dying a pitiful death.

An Elder is an extremely powerful existence amongst mages and swordsmen. A few years ago, Wesley did not think too much about an Elder level expert, but after coming in contact with the second Elder and the many elders of the Academy, he no longer held any such ideas.

If this expert was an Elder, comparable to the Second Elder, then Wesley would only be throwing his life away. He would most definitely die before he could even realize what was happening. The difference between a Grand-Master and an Elder is only a single step, but an Elder can kill a hundred Grand-Masters.

However, Elders are extremely rare, the chance of Wesley meeting one is fairly slim. The four families could easily hire an Elder, but there is no way they could have done so in the short period of time they had because according to the guard, the old expert appeared some two months ago.

The Four Moons Royal Academy has some thirty Elders as Instructors, However, these Elders serve the academy and cannot be easily moved by the four families. Wesley was absolutely confident that this expert was utmost a Grand-Master.

Having gotten a glimpse of what was waiting for him, Wesley once again walked towards the wall of the Kader Family. He already figured out his course of action. Walk in, try to kill the remaining heads as soon as possible, then get the hell out before this old expert could make his move.

..........................................................................................................................................

Wesley used the gap in the Manor perimeter where the guard he just killed was to sneak into the Manor grounds. The night gave him some cover, but he still made sure not to be accidentally seen by using multiple Dark Ports to move forward.

Wesley could have easily used his Dark Warp to enter the Kader Manor directly, however, he opted not to do that for two reasons. First, he doesn’t know if he might accidentally Warp into the room where the expert was residing.

Second, Wesley was still on guard against the old expert being an Elder. If he really is an Elder, then there is no way the mana fluctuations caused by his spell could be hidden from him. Although Dark Port has a smaller range than Dark Warp, it used very little mana, so his chances of being discovered were less.

Soon enough, Wesley reached the entrance to the main Manor. After making sure that there was no one around, Wesley immediately walked in. Wesley had no intention of spending anytime more than necessary, so he immediately walked into the Manor.

As soon as Wesley walked in, his surroundings changed. The darkness of the night that covered the world did not exist in this Manor. The hallway that Wesley walked into had multiple firestones lining its walls, causing one to not know whether it was day or night.

Wesley would have preferred if this hallway was dark and gloomy because now he had no cover. Wesley walked forward towards the end of the hallway which led to a Manor's central hall.

As soon as Wesley reached the end of the hallway and he was able to see the main hall, he noticed that there were two maids standing on one corner of the hall talking about something in hushed voices.

Wesley just looked at these two and then his eyes turned slightly cold. He immediately put his hand on his dark sword that was hanging from his hip and immediately used Dark Port to appear behind them.

Before the two maids could even realize that Wesley was behind them, Wesley swung a backhand fist to the head of the first maid. The moment the swing reached the unassuming maid's head, she was tossed away like a kite and immediately knocked out.

Wesley's training at the hand of the second elder and his use of the training armors made his body extremely powerful. When Wesley was not wearing the movement restricting armors, his body's explosive strength and power was too tyrannical. It would be surprising, if the maid was able to withstand Wesley's strike.

The remaining maid was immediately surprised b what happened to her friend. She tried to turn her head, but a cold and rough hand clasped on her mouth and a dagger was held against her throat. Immediately, fear and dread crept on the maid's heart.

Suddenly, she heard a sonorous voice next to her ear. It seemed that whoever spoke was right next to her and she could even feel his breathing.

"Don't be afraid. Your friend is just unconscious. If you answer my questions, you'll both be fine."

Wesley was not keen on killing innocent bystanders like these two maids, but he would do it in a heartbeat if he had to. In his current situation, Wesley had no room for morality when his life hung on the balance.

The maid immediately nodded her head vigorously. Her face was teary and she wanted to cry out, but the voice behind her struck fear in her heart. At this point, she gave up any idea of being a hero and wanted to only survive.

"Are the Kader and Blume Family heads in the Manor?"

Wesley was worried that the two heads snuck out and left that expert behind for him. If this was the case, Wesley would immediately leave this place.

The maid pondered Wesley's question. Her thinking was a little slow due to her fear, but she still understood what Wesley asked. She immediately nodded her head. Seeing the maid's response, Wesley was delighted, he spoke again:

"Good. You're doing well. Now tell me, where are the Kader family head is at."

Wesley loosened the hand that was on the maid's mouth. The maid immediately started sobbing, but she didn’t dare scream. After a few moments of silent sobbing, the maid spoke in a soft, broken up voice:

"The he..ads are stayi..ng downstai..rs at the family vua..lt."

The maid's words were jumbled and unclear, but Wesley still heard everything he needed to know. The two family heads seemed to have holed up in their vault downstairs.

"Well done. You can rest now."

Wesley suddenly wrapped his hand around the maid's throat and squeezed. The maid's face immediately drained of color as she struggled to breath while scratching Wesley's hand. Soon enough, she was rendered unconscious.

Wesley immediately stepped over the unconscious maid and walked towards the stairs. He needed to take of things before his presence was felt by the expert. He also didn’t dare use any spells lest he alert the expert.

However, before Wesley could step on the first step of the stairs, against earthen colored wall appeared out of nowhere almost instantaneously and blocked Wesley's path. Wesley's face immediately changed as he realized that he was detected.

"Shit."

He immediately jumped backwards and tried to escape. However, after jumping backwards, at the moment that Wesley landed, his feet went through the floor as if it were sand and he sank ankle deep. Immediately, the floor hardened, trapping Wesley.

At this point, Wesley's face was exceedingly ugly. Not only was he discovered, he was also captured. Furthermore, the speed that those two spells were simply too fast. Unless there were two earth mages present, this speed was simply impossible.

Wesley immediately tried reaching for his dark sword so that he could use Dark Port to escape his earthen restraints. At this point, Wesley didn’t care if he was exposed as a dark mage, his life was in danger.

However, as Wesley's left hand went towards his sword, a well timed spike emerged from the ground and, before he could reach his sword, pierced through his palm. Wesley's eyes immediately turned red and he let out a painful scream.

While Wesley's left hand was being pierced by that spike, another similar spike pierced through his right palm as well. This was the most pain Wesley felt in his entire life.

"Don't struggle too much little one. Today you will leave your insignificant, little life behind. Haha."

Wesley suddenly heard a croaky voice reverberate throughout the entire hall. It was as if every single wall was speaking at the same time. Wesley looked around trying to pinpoint the source of the voice but to no avail.

The voice once again reached Wesley's ears, however this time it came from Wesley's left. Wesley immediately turned his head only to see a gray robed old man walking towards him with a grin on his face.

This old man looked emaciated, and was skeleton than person. His face was filled with creases and showed his age, but his eyes burned with vigor and determination. Seeing this old man, Wesley's heart churned with regret and fear.

The old man just looked at Wesley as he walked towards him. The moment he was standing in front of Wesley, the elder reached towards Wesley's hood and pulled it off revealing Wesley's face.

Seeing Wesley's youthful face, the old man was slightly startled. He had assumed that this assassin was a lot older, but now that he was looking at him, he simply couldn’t fathom how such a child could be caught doing such things.

The old man was slightly taken back, but he immediately cast it aside and he spoke again:

"Little one. I hate to kill a child such as yourself, but it must be done. However, I'll make your death painless if you tell me what I want to know."

The old man's words caused Wesley to almost laugh out loud. He has used that line so many times that it was almost his catchphrase. When Wesley would kill a troupe of bandits, he would use this line to coerce the last one to tell him the location of their base.

Now, the same line he used so many times was being used on him. This kind of irony was enough to be used as an example of poetic justice. Wesley's eyes slightly curved in laughter as the elder spoke.

Wesley looked at the old man and spoke with a pained expression:

"My lord. I am but a lackey. I will tell you everything I know, but I hope you'll have mercy and release me."

The smile on the old man's face turned to a frown. Wesley's words were what he expected to hear, but he caught a glimpse of what seemed like laughter on Wesley's face causing him to feel that Wesley has already resigned to his face. The old man immediately spoke:

"It seems you are not willing to listen. We'll change that soon enough."

The old man immediately reached towards the ground and a small needle made out of earth floated up from it. The needle floated towards the old man's hand. The old man pointed the needle towards Wesley's chest where his heart was.

The moment the needle came in contact with Wesley's chest, the tip pierced his chest causing Wesley to grimace. The old man spoke again:

"Don't worry. I won't kill you yet. We'll see how many needles can impale your heart before you die. Of course, you can tell me who sent you and where they are, and you don't have to go through all of this."

Wesley's face turned a shade uglier as he listened to the old man's words. It seems tonight was going to be the last night of his life.

The old man saw the change in Wesley's expression, and immediately smiled. The old man looked at Wesley's eyes, and the moment Wesley's eyes met his, the old man slightly pushed the needle deeper into Wesley's heart.

"AHHHHHHHHHH"

"Haha. That's one."

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Ugh....

I couldn't wait for too long so immediately worked on this chapter, it is slightly cliffhanger, so i'll release the next one after 24hrs.

I don't know if you guys saw it, but this story is 20th in this weeks top viewed. Thank you guys for this, i have to admit, i was really excited when i saw this.

Now, if there is someone who wonders why my punctuation is so bad and there are so many comma errors in my writing, i want to refer you to visit this link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKl6umkwKfU

Warning, this link does explain why my punctuation is horrible, but it is explicit, so don't go there is you are easily offended or if you younger than 10yrs. :)