Chapter 23

A few seconds passed.

Finn continued to lay on the floor, waiting. The longer he waited, the larger his shudders became. In his mind, he kept on anticipating the masked man pounding down his fist and hitting his body.

A few more moments passed.

Finn felt himself becoming more and more nervous. Why hadn’t the strike arrived yet? What was happening?

Just as he thought about those things, he suddenly felt a soft kick hit the side of his body. His body convulsed involuntarily at the abrupt contact. "Uh, uh, p-please don't hurt me." He managed to let out a plea in a small voice.

A few seconds later, another light kick once again struck the side of his body, this time slightly harder. Finn almost lost his mind out of fright. Why was this attacker kicking him? Was it a warning? "P-please." Finn slowly stuttered in an extremely scared tone. "I'll d-do anything! I can give you tons of money! Just, just please don't hurt me."

A lengthy period of time passed in silence. Whoever had been kicking him seemed to have stopped kicking for some reason. After a little while, Finn actually began to feel a bit hopeful. Maybe this attacker was agreeing to his pleas!

However, the next moment, Finn's train of thought was swiftly destroyed, and he once again felt the sudden pain of a kick in his side. This time, the kick had much more force, so much force that it flipped Finn around and turned him so that he faced whoever was kicking him.

Finn quickly opened his eyes out of pain. In that moment, his vision became extremely clear.

In front of him, he saw a small black-cloaked figure. The figure was short, maybe even shorter than Finn, and looked very familiar. His face covered by a black cloak, he had an aura about him that was very peculiar.

Underneath the figure's foot, lying right next to Finn, was the previously seen masked man, unmoving. Clearly, the black cloaked figure had defeated the masked man.

Finn gaped at the scene. He knew this black cloaked man! It was the famous fighter of the Bindan arena he had witnessed more just a few days ago!

Looking around and clearing his head, Finn instantly realized what must have happened. During his fight with Zairen, a weird masked man had tried to attack him, but the small-statured black cloaked figure had saved Finn at the last moment, dispatching the attacker.

Curiously enough, Finn had not heard the black cloaked man approach or attack the masked man at all. It was as if he had not made a single sound.

"S-sir! Thank you for saving me!" Finn stammered. As some seconds passed and he gained awareness of the situation, he found himself becoming more and more reverent of the small black cloaked man. Previously, he had already greatly respected and looked up to this character! However, now, this man had most likely saved his life.

Finn’s respect toward the man was starting to grow from simple awe to near worship. He actually began to feel as if he had found a deity to pay respects to.

With great effort, Finn brought himself to his knees and then bowed down. His head touching the floor, Finn talked with an unwavering tone. "Master black cloak, thank you so much!"

The black cloaked figure stood motionlessly, not saying a word. Actually, underneath the cloak, his face was twisting violently. He was holding in laughter with all his might, struggling to not let out a loud guffaw.

"Finn's attitude has really flipped! Just a few minutes ago, he was calling me a coward, and now, he bows his head down in worship! Truly hilarious." The black-cloaked person thought to himself, a wry smile creeping onto his face. "I wonder how he would react if he knew that I'm Zairen."

However, just as he was smiling, his face suddenly changed.

Behind him appeared a flash of black. It was a lithe black-clothed man, wearing a large silver mask. He was dressed very similarly to the unconscious man beneath Zairen’s foot, but was slightly smaller and even more agile. His hand held a long, silvery knife, which he was using to viciously strike down at the back of Zairen’s neck.

Zairen was shocked to find out that he had not detected the presence of this additional assassin at all. Zairen, even at his current level, was confident in his ability to detect the presences of others. However, this person had managed to sneak up on Zairen completely unnoticed!

Zairen reacted quickly, sidestepping and dodging to the side. The knife streaked past the space he had been occupying just a split second prior.

Zairen’s expression stifled. His observant eyes could detect… the knife the opponent had just used had been packed with spirit energy!

‘Who is this person?’ Zairen thought. ‘He can actually use spirit energy to such an extent!’

Clearly, the opponent was no pushover. He had been able to get close to Zairen undetected, and had actually used spirit energy through his knife! The ability to flow one’s spirit energy through a weapon was not something a beginner could learn. It was a technique that could enhance a weapon’s power, durability, and speed by a great margin.

Zairen could sense that… had he been hit by that knife, he would have been easily split into two!

Although the two masked men were dressed similarly, Zairen could tell that the difference between their fighting ability was like the distance between heaven and earth. Zairen had easily dispatched the taller masked assassin, but the one he was currently fighting… this would be a far more difficult fight.

The next moment, the small masked man had already turned and was striking out again, his arm a total blur as it slashed toward Zairen’s exposed side.

Instantly becoming serious, Zairen took three rapid steps back and in a flash, was already twenty thirty meters away.

The two fighters froze and stood facing each other, each one alert and tense but neither making a move.

“Who are you?” The masked man asked with a gruff voice. He sounded middle aged, definitely older than thirty years old. “I didn’t know that Bindan village actually had such an expert.”

Zairen didn't respond. Shrouded by his black cloak, he merely stood there silently. He currently had no way to disguise his voice; if he spoke normally, his high-pitched articulation would instantly give away the fact that he was actually a young boy.

Although he could fake a voice, like he had done in the Bindan Arena, he knew it would sound strained and fake, so he would not use one if he didn’t have to.

After waiting a few seconds and not receiving an answer, the small masked man once again spoke out: “I have no quarrel with you. My brother and I only wish to take this little boy with us.” He pointed at Finn, who was still kneeling on the ground, trembling. “I can pay you a large amount of money if that’s what you require.”

Zairen glanced at Finn. Why did these two mysterious assassins want to kidnap him? Was it for hostage money?

Zairen inwardly shook his head. That couldn't be the reason. The assassins wouldn't offer Zairen a large amount of money if that was the case.

Zairen stared back at the masked man, and then gestured towards Finn. He shrugged, asking a silent question: what do you want with him?

The masked assassin instantly understood the gesture, and was silent for a few seconds.

Then, he looked over at Finn and slowly responded. “Let’s just say… his father has some debts to pay.”