At the Southern End, a resplendent smile spread across Kashi's face as Lunette's song came to its end. Taking full advantage of the army that had faltered in their steps due to the mana imbued in the music, Kashi issued a low order, "Rise."

Two sets of walls, roughly sixty meters apart, shot up from the earth, impaling many Chaos Order soldiers in the process.

The Chaos Order, which had split its troops into three to attack the drakul, suddenly found themselves short nearly three thousand men in one swoop.

The soldiers outside the wall panicked and unleashed their strongest skills against the barricade. However, the wall rebuffed all attacks with nary a scratch to its frame.

Kashi shook his head, a condescending look in his eyes. Did these idiots think they could break these walls? Pfft! The real reason he considered this city an artifact was neither the fancy interconnections, nor was it the walls hidden beneath the earth controlled from the throne.

In fact, in truth, the thin walls were not as hard as they appeared.

No, what truly made this entire city an artifact was that every inch of it was lined with invisible runes powered by the massive crystal at the heart of the city. Aside from miscellaneous tasks like opening and closing doors and verifying auras of Kings, the primary function of the crystal was to strengthen any section of the city.

The crystal accomplished this function by feeding mana to runes that hardened a section beyond human comprehension for a set period—usually four to six hours.

The major downside was that such strengthening activities used up a lot of mana. Aygor designed the crystal so that its mana absorption was quite slow (most likely to keep the balance) and only left enough mana to handle miscellaneous tasks.

Strengthening the first set of raised walls consumed most of the crystal’s accumulated mana from the past three weeks. Afterward, dozens of tired dwarfs then offered up their mana to replenish the crystal, but even with that, it still required two hours before it could charge enough to be reused.

From this, it could be imagined just how much mana the crystal consumed. When one considered all that mana went into strengthening a wall; hehe, trying to break down such a wall was indeed a momentous waste of time. It was apparent Aygor wanted this to be used only for strategic, emergency, or war-time situations.

By the time Lunette's song reached its conclusion, Larsial was beside herself with rage. Eyes looking like they could spit fire at any moment, she roared, "Bards! What are you doing!? Get our men out of that spell!"

"Too late." Across the battlefield, Kashi issued a crafty smirk as he stabbed an arrow into an enemy's helmet. "Do it."

Beautiful, evoking piano keys rung through the battlegrounds as the Choir of Maggots began their second number. The lead Chaos vocalist suddenly found his throat seemed to have grown a steel blade. Two drummers blanched as a massive black wolf appeared on their respective drums, cold red eyes holding no room for mercy.

Kira slapped the head off the first drummer. The second, paralyzed by the splatter of blood on his face, surrendered his head to her massive jaws, bronze helmet meaningless to the set of perversely sharp teeth. The direwolf spat out the head as she descended upon the defenseless war bards like an irreversible force of nature. Close-by, Shadow seemed to flit in and out of existence, becoming visible only for the short time it took for his blade to sink into an enemy's skull.

Panic erupted among the warbards. Their profession demanded they lightly dressed in garments that boosted charisma and mana instead of physical defense or attack. As a result, all it took was one well-placed back-stab to end their lives efficiently.

Afflicted with fear from the chaos of it all, the bards abandoned their instruments as they sought to flee from the two demons as fast as possible.

At the very least, they preferred to be killed by the assassin instead of the demon hound. The white killer granted a swift, painless death without the victim ever realizing he was there. The direwolf, on the other hand, was ten times more violent in her approach. She went as far as ripping off limb after limb, morsel after morsel, ensuring they suffered immensely before death.

Most of these soldiers did not fear death. However, no man wanted to perish under such pain and humiliation. Kira’s savagery crushed the morale of even those with the strongest hearts. The bards could do nothing but stumble upon each other in a bid to get as far away as possible before it was too late.

Amid all the chaos, Shadow's dagger suddenly froze inches away from a bard's throat. The assassin swiftly switched to a backhanded grip as he spun around.

Clang!

Shadow's eyes narrowed at the daeben across from him whose drawn dagger clashed against his. Forced into a reactionary position, the white-haired assassin could not prevent himself from being launched several feet backward.

Shadow's gaze never left his opponent's rage-filled glare, even as he slammed into the bard he had tried to assassinate half a second earlier. In defiance to every law of physics ever made, even as they were airborne, the assassin's hands bent backward, reaching for the bard's shoulder.

Shadow pulled himself into a handstand, the top of his head parallel to the bard. Even though he was now backing his assaulter, he did not seem to care. Using the bard's shoulder as a fulcrum, Shadow tucked in his legs, bending inwards as he dropped to the other side.

Once he dropped to waist level, he kicked against the bard's back.

The bard flew toward the assaulter, and Shadow used the momentum to flip back a few extra feet to give himself more space and time to assess the situation.

All this happened in the blink of an eye. By the time Larsial started chasing after the Shadow, the bard was already hurtling towards her. Enraged, Larsial's purple eyes turned blood red as she let out a shout. "[Burst!]"

Mana burst in waves around the daeben as runes etched all over her skin suddenly lit up with brilliant dark lights.

Shadow's assassin skill [Discerning Eye] allowed him to examine the numerous skill buffs that were also activated at that moment. There was [Fox's Promise], which rendered her blade strikes unblockable. [Assassin's Breath] passively rendered Larsial invisible should the foe lose sight of her. [Endless Strike] removed the cooldown on a random skill whenever a critical hit landed.

Finally, [Critical Strike] increased the chances of a critical strike by roughly 25%, among many other passive skills.

Shadow's feet barely touched the ground before he swiftly shuffled to the right, narrowly dodging a dark, dense mass of energy that zipped past.

Larsial burst through the bard dissected in two by the earlier energy, and his blood dyed her blonde-hair red with blood.

Larsial locked gaze with the assassin, death incarnate as she morphed across the distance, suddenly appearing next to him. With a sultry smile, she ordered as her blade thrust for his head, "Die."

"I refuse." Shadow bluntly replied. Gaze cold, he lightly slapped the flat of his left dagger against hers in an outward swing. Hmph, although her strikes now had the ‘Unblockable’ attribute, nothing prevented him from merely deflecting them.

Swift retaliation followed.

Even as the sparks from the first collision blossomed, Shadow’s right dagger flew out like a viper to its prey, aimed at Larsial's exposed neck.

In response, Larsial’s right arm suddenly bloomed with dark energy as she unleashed [Repeater Strike] . Her aura coalesced into three extra arms, which struck at the white-haired assassin within milliseconds of each other.

In response, Shadow's right blade danced. [Flashing Blades] accelerated the speed of his strikes. He successfully parried two but was forced a step back as the third drew a deep cut up his arm. Ignoring the sharp pain, he struck against the last blade. His aim was slightly off, turning it into a block instead of parry. Luckily, the skill's extra effect came into play, canceling out [Fox's Promise] . Although he managed to block the strike, the power behind it was still quite considerable. Shadow's feet kicked up dust as he was knocked several feet backward.

Larsial, intent on taking advantage, crouched low and charged. She snorted as she slapped three kunai daggers out of her path. The disdain in her eyes, however, swiftly shifted to rage as she parried five more kunai. The opposing force slowed her down, and things only got worse as a hail of kunai and shurikens shot towards her from all angles, blocking any avenue for escape save backward.

Shadow advanced steadily, unleashing an entire arsenal of thrown weapons at the daeben. Eight shurikens bursting with his ki launched from between his fingers, four on each side. They flew outwards, then began curving in on the retreating daeben.

Larsial, having just parried over twenty strikes, narrowed her gaze at the shurikens. Spotting a vulnerability, she prepared to charge into the middle. Her decision quickly changed to a block as Shadow abruptly appeared before her left dagger aimed for her chest.

Larsial successfully blocked the blow but was then ‘coincidentally’ knocked into three of the eight shurikens' flight path.

Twin blades lashed out, shattering two of the shurikens on contact. Larsial tilted her head to the side, narrowly dodging the last, but it left a mark on her face as a souvenir. The daeben paused, eyes narrow as blood trickled down the side of her cheek. She seductively snaked out her tongue and licked the blood, a smile on her face as she raised her daggers, "You will have to pay for that."

Once again, Shadow's replied, "I refuse," and then charged at her.

A flurry of attacks followed, both assassins exchanging blow for blow, parry for parry. Despite dancing back and forth, utilizing everything from skills, corpses, feet, to even sand, and the blossoming sparks that shone in the midday sun, neither assassin had managed to inflict severe damage on the other.

Shadow seemed to possess an uncanny ability to read all attack paths, managing just about to alter the course of every strike that came his way. Larsial, on the other hand, seemed to have an endless supply of ki. What's more, it seemed like none of her skills needed any cooldown period, as she could freely unleash them with ease.

If it were any other warrior, they would already have fallen. However, Shadow utilized as little mana as possible. He borrowed her energy to throw her off course than block her attacks.

At one instance, Shadow's right arm suddenly lagged a second behind his thoughts. Larsial's kicked at the arm with her right leg and knocked the dagger out of his hand. She then spun around and launched a roundabout kick to the face with her left.

The strike should have missed as Shadow tilted back, beyond the boot's range. However, a blade shot out of its toe and sliced past the assassin’s forehead.

Shadow took two steps back to recoup, but Larsial refused to grant him that time. She flung herself at him, a flurry of whips, blows, and kicks, which Shadow could only struggle to dodge or parry. Without his daggers as protection, he suffered minute but consistent strikes from her blade. Although she hadn’t struck his vitals yet, at this rate, he would lose too much blood and get punished by the 'weakened' trait.

Shadow came to a sudden halt. Cold eyes examined the onrushing blade. Rather than escape, he suddenly pushed forward and rammed his chest into Larsial’s dagger.

Larsial, although caught unprepared, would not let this opportunity pass. Unfortunately, she could not get any significant purchase on her left hand because of how close she was to the assassin. So she raised it, aiming to sink the blade into the assassin's skull when a great sense of danger assaulted her.

Larsial forcefully seized her attack and attempted to pull the dagger in her right hand out of Shadow's chest. But Shadow's left hand clamped onto her wrist, refusing to let go. His right pulsed with dark ki as it slammed onto the daeben chest.

[Palm Strike] was a low-level skill with one of the highest ceilings in the game. This seemingly mundane palm skill could be upgraded into a skill that would still be relevant in much higher levels. It was unfortunate that it had a prerequisite that its user must first be disarmed in battle before use.

Naturally, only a crazy person would bother with the skill since assassins relied on severe damages from critical strikes. To upgrade [Palm Strike] , one would have to fight consecutive battles unarmed. This was beyond stupid since assassins had low damage output and could only rely on hitting sweet critical strikes, which were much harder to get when striking with a palm.

Most Summoned and even Residents never bothered with this (except pugilists), but Shadow had witnessed Kashi's training methods. The daeben regularly used any skill he learned as often as possible. Many times, even outside of combat, he kept cycling through passive skills in a bid to level them up. The daeben would let himself get hit in battle to raise endurance, sometimes even going as far as to restrict himself from using specific skills in some situations just to improve one aspect of himself or another.

To Kashi, there was no such thing as a junk skill, only an underutilized one. As a result of that influence, the assassin devoted himself to mastering any skill he picked up, regardless of difficulty or ranking.

In this instance, Shadow forced Larsial to appreciate the fruits of his considerable labor. Her eyes went wide, pain shooting up her chest as her heart forcefully constricted. A bittersweetness shot up Larsial’s throat, and red spots soaked Shadow's hair as he blasted her away.

Unwilling to let her go, Shadow extended his arms forward. Grapplers attached to his gauntlet burst off and bit into the daeben's chest, securing themselves within. Shadow pulled back. The grapplers receded, dragging the stunned daeben along. Shadow's cold gaze held no emotion as he once more slammed his palm against Larsial's chest. This time, however, he took his time, ensuring as much of his ki wreaked havoc in her systems as possible.

Larsial's panicked glare, shrouded with hatred, shifted to a sneer as she tore open a scroll fastened to her belt.

Shadow hastily retreated as several wind blades burst out, ripping the very air itself to shreds. Still, despite his quick retreat, he could not escape several of the wind blades from cutting into him. His right arm hung limply by his side, having suffered the worst of the counterattack. The wind blades also shredded the steel wires that connected both grapplers to his gauntlets.

Larsial smiled at the assassin, tongue seductively lapping at the blood that leaked down her lips. "Haven't met someone who could push me this far in a long time. You should be proud of yourself." She winced, stumbling as the pain in her chest flared up. "What's your name?"

"..." Shadow's cold gaze never changed. He only raised his left dagger before him in reply.

"Cold type I see," Larsial murmured. "Well, can't say I don't like that too." Fishing out another scroll from her pockets, she lamented, "Unfortunately, you hurt me too much, so I can't play anymore." She tore the scroll, and Shadow's gaze turned vigilant as a wild burst of mana escaped. "I am called Larsial D'Arul."

A gloating smile spread on Larsial’s face as three manticores burst out of a Summoner's Gate. The eight-foot-tall beast possessed a lion's body, a man's face, and a scorpion tail. Some manticore breeds had wings, but a pair of scorpion-like pincers grew out from its front shoulders in this breed. "Remember that for your reincarnation."

The gloating smile widened when the white-haired assassin, seemingly realizing retreat was not an option, chose instead to charge toward the manticores, dagger firmly held in a backhand grip. Shadow's cold gaze remained fixated on the daeben opposite, completely ignoring the advancing beasts.

Larsial's eyes sparkled with excitement as the lead manticore pounced on the puny assassin. "Die!"

"I refuse." For the third time that day, Shadow declined the offer, gaze still plastered on the daeben even as the manticore's paw came crashing down upon him. A single hit from that massive paw would end his life with his current injuries. Yet his cold nonchalance as he kept his steady advance seemed to belie that reality.

It was just as a hair follicle on the manticore's paw was about to touch the assassin...

BOOM!

The earth cracked as the manticore suddenly slammed face-first into the ground. Before it could protest, its captor stomped its paw against the manticore's face. Then proceeded to tear out its throat with a single bite.

Kira, whose height had grown to match the manticores, glared at the remaining beasts. Blood dripping down her teeth did nothing to diminish the majesty in her gaze. The arrogance, pride, and disdain apparent in her countenance seemed to declare her the Queen of all beasts. It was as if where she stood, no one else was permitted to raise their heads.

The manticores shuddered, auras heavily suppressed by the divinity emanating from the direwolf. Still, as they watched their brother slowly bleed out beneath the wolf's feet, their rage finally overtook their fear.

Shadow ran ahead of Kira as the manticores charged. He slid beneath the feet of the first, then kicked off the earth. He sailed over the second, who only spared him a parting glance, even as he landed on its back. Quick feet nimbly dodged rapid strikes from the manticore's tail, the assassin's gaze strangely calm despite the precarious situation.

Shadow's body erupted with a dark glow as his left foot landed on the beast's rump. Before beast or man could react, Shadow suddenly shot across the distance in the blink of an eye as [Marked Death] activated.

Marked Death, a skill used in conjunction with Mark of Doom, activated when a foe had been marked with an assassin’s ki. Mark of Doom by itself had a low success rate, but when applied directly with a body part (hand, leg, etc.), its success rate largely shot up.

Mark of Doom had two functions. The first was to severely weaken the enemy over a long period. It essentially served as a drain pipe for the enemy's HP and Stamina. Its second purpose was to act as a tracking device, such that no matter where a target ran or hid, the assassin would always be privy to their location.

Marked Death worked in conjunction with Mark of Doom , instantly transporting an assassin to any marked target within a specific range. To the untrained eye, it bore a striking resemblance to teleportation. But in reality, it was accelerated movement, so fast the regular human eye could only recognize it as instantaneous teleportation.

Larsial's gaze burst with shock, barely able to place both daggers before her chest, as a black mass slammed into her with the force of a minotaur. Her feet dug into the earth, sparks exploding as both weapons fought for supremacy over the other. Larsial's brows furrowed, sweat dripping from trembling arms as she struggled to stave off Shadow's considerable momentum.

Behind the assassin, Kira snorted as the manticores lunged at her. She bit down on the manticore below her feet. Blood dripped down her teeth as she raised her head once more, the beast's decapitated head lodged between her teeth. With a disdainful snort, she spat it out.

A loud boom akin to a thunderclap echoed out, and the lead manticore suddenly flipped over. It slammed against the earth, a decapitated head rolling to a stop next to its disfigured face.

Kira's countenance oozed pride as the second manticore pounced for her. Her right paw whipped out.

Pshhh !

Blood gushed forth.

Boom!

A missile crumpled a nearby Chaos Order soldier.

The direwolf took a step forward as a headless corpse dropped to the earth next to her feet. She placed her right paw on the face of the last surviving manticore.

The once savage beast was now akin to a house cat, its entire body shrunken on itself in a bit to make itself smaller. The manticore whimpered as it pleaded for mercy.

Kira did not place the sniveling cat in her sights. She applied a little pressure on her right paw. Blurksh! Her paw hit the earth as the manticore's head reduced to mulch. Kira gazed at the fallen corpses, an almost primal instinct flooding her entire being. Her muscles bulged, fur standing straight as she reared back her head.

Shadow and Larsial blinked in shock as a massive howl boomed across the battlefield. It bore into their souls, setting their bloodstreams ablaze as an enormous pressure akin to the descent of a god forced its massive presence on their hearts.

The strength in Shadow's arms abruptly doubled while the dark glow encompassing Larsial and the other soldiers instantly vanished. The daeben was forced to a knee as she buckled under the assassin's superior weight. The blocking daggers were now above her head, and the only thing preventing them from being smashed to pieces was their superior make.

"A trump card is only a trump card for as long as it remains hidden."

"What?" Larsial frowned, barely catching the assassin's murmur.

"Nothing," Shadow replied with a shake of his head. "Just the ramblings of a mad man." Runes running along the edge of his blade lit up with a dark light as he fed the last of his ki into it. The blade hummed, its buzz akin to a bee as it began vibrating in place. The blade's penetration stat rapidly shot up, bolstered by the vibrating force.

Larsial blanched as cracks webbed across both daggers. Real panic reflected in her eyes as her mortality dawned upon her. With a loud cry, she managed to deflect the blade as her weapons shattered to pieces, the pieces tearing into her face. The daeben shrieked in hateful pain as Shadow's dagger dug into her shoulder, breaking her collarbone in the process.

Shadow's right hand, which had hung limp this whole time, suddenly shot up, his palm straight, with a thin film of ki forming a blade.

It shot straight for the daeben's exposed heart.

Larsial, too weak to defend herself, could only watch her end with resignation.

"That is about enough."

Shadow forcefully canceled his arm's momentum. An action that caused his blood to flow in reverse and heavily damaged the already impaired arm. The assassin cradled his now truly useless arm as he made a sharp retreat. Not a second too soon as an immolation of flames appeared before the injured daeben.

Ruse stood with his back to Larsial, red glare boring into the assassin opposite. "Heal yourself." He ordered over his shoulder before rising several feet in the air, flames somehow offering him the ability to levitate. "As for you..." Ruse muttered as he regarded the injured assassin with disdain. A massive sphere of flames over two meters in diameter formed ahead of him.

With a wave of his hand, flames blasted towards the assassin, who, having exhausted the last of his ki and stamina, could do nothing but watch as the flames hurtled towards him.

Shadow, faced with this peril, kept a measured gaze, the serenity in his gaze serving to spark further irritation in the Primate's eyes.

Just as the flames were inches from Shadow's hair, a loud bark rumbled, issuing a massive shockwave that blasted the fire into a collection of harmless embers. The edge of Shadow's lips raised ever so slightly, displaying the first emotion that day as a massive direwolf came to stand before him, its enormous frame the surest sign of protection he would require.

Ruse's brow rose, a tinge of amusement in curled lips as he raised his arm. Three fireballs descended like meteors, all targeted at the assassin.

Kira barked three times, and terrible shockwaves reduced the fireballs to mere embers.

Ruse only laughed as several fireballs simultaneously formed and then shot towards Shadow and Kira.

Kira's gaze flashed with rage at the airborne enemy, but she could do nothing but stand her ground, using the shockwaves from her barks to block the attacks from the enemy.

"Is that all you can do!?" Ruse mocked, laughter reverberating across the battlefield as the fireballs increased in intensity, size, and speed.

Although frustrated, Kira could only match Ruse bark for flame, unable to launch an attack for fear of exposing the weakened Shadow behind her to the fire that would most definitely end his life. Shadow too frowned, frustrated at his body, which suffered the 'weakened' stat.

Shadow’s limbs refused to work, confining him to the ground until the cooldown time of five minutes wore off.

However, as the fireballs increased, it became apparent that Kira would not hold out that long. Shadow winced, his lips just about able to request, "Leave me. I'll find a way."

Kira's strong back never wavered or trembled. She simply ignored the assassin as she continued her struggle against the falling flames, red eyes ablaze with a determined will. Eventually, the flames were too much to counter with her barks alone. K

ira searched deep within herself and issued a desperate, loud howl, borne of her desire to protect, her desire to live like her mother once lived. A massive, dome-like barrier made entirely from propagated sound formed several feet ahead of the direwolf, its umbrella-like structure shielding them from the flames.

At this point, it was a matter of which ran out first, the Primate's mana or the direwolf's voice. Despite the seemingly obvious outcome, Kira persisted, stubbornly refusing to let her voice drop even a decibel lower.

Ruse’s laughing face that peered through gaps in the bombardment suddenly overlapped with that of the daeben all those months back. Kira, who suddenly found herself in a similar situation to that of her mother, felt a massive surge of conflicting emotions arise within her. ‘

Mother, was this what you faced? Was this what you felt? Was this why you did not mind losing your life? Mother, tell me, why do my feet not move? Why do I not abandon this man? Why do I feel compelled to strive for his life even at the cost of my own? Mother, can you hear me?’

"Who gave you permission to lay a hand on my guild?"

BOOM!

Kira's eyes welled up as Ruse crashed to the earth, three arrows buried deeply in his chest. Weakened from overexertion, her body rapidly shrunk to a form no larger than a cub's. She stumbled and would have fallen if it not for the daeben who appeared by her side.

Kashi ruffled Kira's fur, a huge grin on his face as he praised, "You did good, Kira. You saved Shadow. Can't tell you how much I owe you."

"Hmph," Kira snorted, though even she could not hide the relief in her eyes. "You cannot begin to count how much you owe me. Why start now?"

"Well, that's true, too," Kashi chuckled. He placed his forehead against Kira’s, voice soft as he said, "You get some rest now. I'll finish up here."

"As usual, finishing up when everyone else has done the heavy lifting," Shadow joked as he weakly got to his feet. Although the weakened status had elapsed, he still suffered numerous injuries, which had lasting effects until a healer took a look at him.

"That's the job of a boss, isn't it?" Kashi quipped back as he too got to his feet. "Take care of her," he requested as he turned to the crater which had recently formed from the Primate's descent.

A massive inferno exploded outward as Ruse burst into the sky, his entire body an amalgamation of flames. The arrows buried in his chest burned to dust as the flaming Primate glared hatefully at the daeben below. "KASHI!"

The daeben's aura abruptly chilled, eyes akin to the colds of the netherworld. The frost-filled glare narrowed at the primate flying above. "I do not permit you to talk down to me. Get. Down. Here."