A monster with an undying body, capable of casting Forbidden Spells with a mere gesture, was enough to strike fear into anyone.
After Isaac spoke his final words, Zayne ended his life with a casual slash.
Once Isaac was dealt with, the rest of the path posed no real challenge. It seemed that, aside from Dano himself, Isaac had been the strongest force in the underground black market.
Following the information he had gathered, Zayne soon arrived outside a particular room.
Hearing the sounds coming from inside, he let out a quiet breath. He was not too late.
He crouched beneath the window, pressed close to the wall, patiently waiting for the moment when Dano's guard would be at its lowest.
There was no way Dano would imagine that a sixteen year old kid would dare to come alone to assassinate him.
Zayne waited in silence, even tapping his fingers lightly in time with the rhythm inside the room, like a seasoned hunter lying in ambush.
At last, the sounds within abruptly stopped. Immediately after came Dano's loud shout.
The instant Zayne heard it, he tightened his grip on Starfall Skytrace, activated Infernal Overdrive and Swiftstep Waltz, and charged inside.
"Who's there?"
Dano barked the question. The underground king lived up to his reputation. His vigilance was razor sharp, and he noticed Zayne immediately.
What answered him was a beautiful streak of starlight, like a meteor tearing through the night sky.
Slash.
The blade flash was impossibly fast. Even though Dano reacted in time, he still failed to evade it. His left arm was severed cleanly at the forearm, the cut smooth as polished glass as blood poured out.
"Ah!"
Dano screamed and staggered backward, terror flashing across his face.
Joanna was frozen in shock, her mouth hanging open. Then she scrambled to her feet and fled.
Zayne did not spare her a glance. With Necrotic Dominion active, she would not get far anyway. He frowned slightly as he looked at Dano. He was disappointed that the strike had not killed him outright, but it did not matter. Losing an arm would drastically weaken Dano's combat strength.
If one strike was not enough, he would simply strike again.
But before Zayne could move, Dano snapped on the light.
Under the harsh illumination, he finally saw the assassin's face clearly.
"It's you. Zayne. The high school kid who killed Zion."
Dano was both shocked and furious. He never imagined that the one who had taken his arm would be a teenager.
"How did you get in here? Where's Isaac? Where is everyone else?"
He could not make sense of it. This was his territory. His stronghold. With so many men guarding the perimeter, how had a high school student slipped in and taken his arm?
"They're all dead. You're next."
Zayne raised Starfall Skytrace and swung it at Dano without hesitation.
"Dead? That word is far too distant from me. Too many people want me dead. A brat like you is not even worth mentioning."
Dano was ruthless. Even after losing his left arm, he remained calm. He had survived countless storms to earn the title of underground king.
Facing the incoming blade, Dano swung his remaining right arm and threw a heavy punch, smashing both man and weapon and embedding Zayne into the wall.
Cold killing intent flashed in Dano's eyes. He was a level fifty Berserker. Even with one arm gone, he was not someone a high schooler could challenge.
Cough cough.
Zayne hacked violently, shock filling his eyes. Dano was even more terrifying than Isaac.
If Zayne had not ambushed him and taken an arm, tonight would have ended with Zayne being captured alive.
That punch had shattered his chest cavity. Broken ribs pierced his lungs. To prevent the damage from hindering his combat ability, Zayne sacrificed his lungs without hesitation.
Forbidden Spell Worldbane Thunderfall.
An adamantine lightning strike descended in an instant, slamming toward Dano. But Dano snarled and punched again, shattering the golden lightning into crackling arcs.
Then Dano charged forward, his body like a mountain crashing down. Before Zayne's horrified eyes, Dano slammed him into the ground, carving a human shaped crater.
Dano followed up with a brutal stomp. Only when he heard the sound of Zayne's skull cracking did he stop.
Convinced that Zayne was well and truly dead, Dano walked to his liquor cabinet, grabbed a bottle of white liquor, and poured it over his wound. The searing pain made the veins on his forehead bulge.
"Damn it. Played with eagles my whole life and got my eye pecked out in the end."
He lit a cigar and took a deep drag. The nicotine dulled the pain slightly.
He turned toward his severed left arm on the floor. As long as he found a healing class Awakener, it could still be reattached.
Just as Dano bent down to pick it up, a golden spear blazing with radiant light shot down and pinned his right hand to the ground.
In the next instant, a blade flash passed by.
Dano's right arm was severed at the shoulder.
"What? Why are you still alive?"
Dano stared at Zayne in disbelief. He clearly remembered crushing Zayne's skull. How was he still moving? Was he truly immortal?
"Sorry. My class is Forbidden Spellcaster. I have a Forbidden Spell called Savage Death Rewind. By sacrificing three years of my lifespan, I can negate one fatal blow."
Zayne explained patiently. With both of Dano's arms gone, there was no way he could still win.
That thought had barely formed when the armless Dano suddenly lashed out with a kick, perfectly striking Zayne's jaw and sending him flying high into the air.