The night grew deeper, enveloping Elisa's mansion in thick silence. The sound of crickets in the garden slowly faded, replaced by an unnatural stillness.
In his dark room, Kazien suddenly opened his eyes.
Thump!
His heart beat once hard, a honed danger instinct signaling. Kazien woke up and felt numerous presences outside the mansion slowly approaching. Their killing intent was palpable, even though it was neatly concealed.
Without wasting time, Kazien jumped out of bed and shook the shoulders of the two people sleeping near him.
"Alvin, Allen, wake up!" whispered Kazien with an urgent but calm tone. "There are a lot of people outside!"
Alvin, with the reflexes of a fighter, immediately opened his eyes. His drowsiness vanished instantly. Meanwhile, Allen blinked in confusion, fear starting to creep onto his face upon seeing the seriousness on Kazien's face.
"Enemies?" asked Alvin briefly, grabbing his sleeping robe.
"Assassins!" answered Kazien coldly. "There are more than fifteen."
The two of them got up and immediately prepared to face the worst-case scenario. Allen, although trembling, tried to calm himself and stood behind Alvin.
"Alvin, get in position. Protect Allen," ordered Kazien.
Meanwhile, Kazien moved quickly and silently towards his aunt's room at the end of the corridor. However, unexpectedly, the main bedroom door was already open. Elisa was standing straight in front of her room, wearing a long nightgown layered with a thick robe.
"Kazien, do you feel it too?" asked Elisa with a sharp gaze.
Kazien nodded slowly, then said in a low voice: "It's better we pretend not to know. Let them fall into the trap. I know who is behind this, but I have to gather strong evidence first to destroy the mastermind!"
Elisa was very surprised to learn that her nephew knew the mastermind behind the attack. Her eyes widened for a moment. This child... how much does he know?
However, as an experienced woman, she decided to remain calm and postpone detailed questions. Now was not the time. She immediately discussed the plan they would execute to survive.
"You have a plan, right?" asked Elisa.
Kazien nodded again, his eyes glinting in the dark corridor.
"What do you plan for them?"
"We will let them enter deep enough. Then, we will ambush and incapacitate those assassins to extract information about the mastermind of this attack from them!" explained Kazien. "I need living testimonies."
Elisa smiled thinly, a terrifying smile. "But, it's okay if I kill some of them, right? Sometimes my hands are hard to control if someone disturbs my sleep."
"That's fine! But please don't kill all of them."
Elisa agreed with her nephew and began to follow his plan. She retreated into the shadows, merging herself with the darkness of the mansion.
Meanwhile, outside the mansion.
Behind the tall hedge, more than 15 people wearing black face masks were moving closer to the mansion wall. Their movements were fluid and coordinated.
Their clothes were also tight black, complete with deadly weaponry, like professional assassins moving in the silence of the night. They were like invisible ghosts.
The squad leader gave a hand signal. "Make sure our target's death looks like an accident or a failed robbery!" he whispered almost inaudibly. "Leave no magic traces."
One of them, the lock-picking specialist, advanced to the back door. He took out a small metal tool. He touched the keyhole on the door carefully.
Click!
A small sound was heard. He managed to unlock it in seconds.
Creak!
The door opened slowly. The well-maintained hinges made no significant squeaking sound. He and the other assassins entered the mansion one by one, their footsteps as light as feathers.
In the dark main lobby, someone who seemed to lead the operation moved his fingers and gave orders to them with a complicated hand code.
First floor. Second floor. Main target: Bedroom.
They nodded in understanding and then spread to all corners of the room inside. Their formation broke into several small units.
Each squad contained 4 or 5 people and began checking room by room they encountered on the ground floor. Kitchen, living room, dining room—everything was checked thoroughly.
Like assassins moving in silence, no sound was heard as they stepped on the marble floor or thick carpet. Even when running slightly, the sound of their footsteps was completely inaudible, as if they were floating.
The atmosphere inside the mansion was so quiet, as if the inhabitants were sleeping soundly in beautiful dreams. But the assassins were doing their dirty work with high efficiency.
Five minutes passed.
"There is no one on this first floor. The beds are cold," reported an assassin through short-range communication magic. "It seems our target is on the second floor!" whispered another assassin.
All the assassins gathered again and moved up the spiral staircase to the second floor to find their target. Their killing aura became thicker as they approached the destination.
Creak!
A guest room door opened, and several of them rushed in with daggers drawn towards the mattress.
Swish!
The blanket was thrown back. Empty.
However, there was no one in there. The pillows were untouched.
They came out of there confused, and one of them shook his head at the squad leader.
The search continued, checking other rooms in the long corridor. But the result was the same; they found no one when entering. This mansion felt like a haunted house.
Until finally, they arrived at the end of the corridor. The only remaining room was the one with large double doors. That room was the bedroom where Kazien slept.
The assassin leader signaled: Kill everyone inside.
Creak! The door opened quickly.
Four vanguard assassins immediately jumped in, ready to slaughter anyone on the bed.
However, as soon as their feet touched the bedroom floor...
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The sound of cracking ice sounded terrifying. The room temperature dropped drastically below freezing in a split second.
Suddenly, the bodies of several assassins trying to enter the room froze. Their feet were nailed to the floor by rapidly spreading ice, then creeping up to their entire bodies until they turned into eternal ice statues with terrifying shocked expressions.
All those behind were shocked beyond belief that their four comrades had frozen to death in the blink of an eye.
Magic trap?! thought the leader in panic. Is our presence already discovered, and they deliberately lured us in here?
Before they could retreat, a follow-up attack came.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Dozens of sharp and glittering ice arrows emerged from the darkness of the room, shooting through the air at high speed.
Zip! Zip! Zip!
The ice arrows pierced and penetrated the bodies of several assassins standing in the front row of the corridor. Their leather armor could not withstand the sharpness of that high-level magic.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
One by one, those hit by the ice magic arrows lay on the floor lifeless, fresh blood pooling on the luxurious corridor floor.
Panic struck the remaining assassin squad.
"Retreat! Retreat! We've been discovered! Mission failed!" shouted one assassin, forgetting his silent mode.
They turned around, intending to escape via the stairs.
However, at the end of the corridor leading to the stairs, a shadow stood tall.
Kazien had blocked their path. He stood relaxed, but a pitch-black aura emanated from his body, darker than the night itself.
The sudden appearance of their target behind them shocked all the remaining assassins. They were trapped. Front: ice mage. Back: this monster.
Kazien looked at them with eyes shining coldly.
"Who ordered you to commit this murder?" he asked flatly.
The assassins looked at each other. They were professionals. Surrender was not an option.
"Kill him! Break through!" ordered the leader.
One of them, holding two poisoned daggers, immediately rushed forward attacking Kazien at full speed.
"Die!"
Clang!
The loud clanging sound of two metals colliding echoed in the corridor. Sparks were created in the air.
Kazien didn't budge. He blocked the attack easily using only one hand. In his grip, a long sword made of solid dark element magic manifestation had formed.
Swish!
Seeing their comrade blocked, all the remaining assassins, moved fast. They decided to gang up on Kazien simultaneously from various angles to create an escape route.
"Attack together!"
Daggers, short swords, and poisoned needles flew towards Kazien.
However, Kazien smirked.
Clang!