Night had fallen over Solara. The city was a sprawling maze of lights, shadows, and secrets.
On the rooftops, a blur of motion defied the laws of physics.
ZAP. ZAP. ZAP.
Markil wasn't running. He was blinking through space.
This was the movement technique of General Thoos. Unlike normal teleportation which requires complex mana calculations, Markil simply "deleted" the space between point A and point B.
He was moving at 20x the speed of sound, a streak of blue and purple lightning.
Below him, the team of Elves ran with silent grace.
Elrond stopped on a high tower overlooking the Royal District. He raised a hand.
"Everyone, separate!" Elrond commanded.
The team scattered instantly into the shadows.
Elrond stayed for a moment, looking at the massive layout of the Palace.
There are two main gateways, Elrond thought, analyzing the structure.The North Gate and the West Gate.
I told Markil to take the West Gate.
Elrond's eyes narrowed.
I don't know where Viper will be stationed. If that S-Rank Assassin comes to my side... I might have a hard fight.
But if he goes to Markil's side...
Elrond remembered the arena fight. He remembered Markil reattaching his own arm like it was a Lego piece.
Elrond smiled.
"He will be dead."
Elrond vanished into the night.
The West Gate
BOOM.
Markil landed on the cobblestone street in front of the West Gate. The impact cracked the pavement.
He looked up. The gate was massive—fifty feet of iron and reinforced steel.
"Hmph," Markil dusted off his shoulders. "I thought it would be harder to get here. No guards? Suspicious."
He walked up to the gate.
"Guess I have to knock."
Markil placed his hands on the cold iron. He braced his legs to push.
Just a little push should—
SLASH.
There was no sound. No warning. No presence.
Markil gasped.
He looked down.
A dagger was buried deep in his right ribcage. It had pierced his lung and grazed his heart.
But there was no one holding it.
"What..." Markil coughed, blood spraying from his lips.
Invisible?
KICK.
An invisible force slammed into his chest.
Markil flew backward, crashing into a stone wall. The dagger remained stuck in his chest.
"Argh!" Markil groaned. He grabbed the hilt of the dagger and ripped it out.
SQUELCH.
Blood poured out.
"Teleport," Markil wheezed.
ZAP.
He blinked ten meters back to create distance.
"Healing."
Purple steam erupted from the wound. In a millisecond, the lung repaired itself, the skin knit together, and the pain vanished.
From the empty air near the gate, a voice spoke.
"Oh?"
The air shimmered.
Viper appeared.
He was floating slightly off the ground. The third dagger—the one that had stabbed Markil—flew back to him, circling his head like a loyal pet. Two other daggers rested on his hips.
Viper tilted his head, his dead brown eyes filled with confusion.
"Nice," Viper said smoothly. "You have quite the magic. I haven't seen an Assassin who is also a high-tier Healer."
Viper landed softly.
"But wait... you are human. Why are you with the Elves? Did they force you? Brainwash you?"
Markil wiped the blood from his mouth. He stood up straight, his expression cold.
"Ooo, no, no, no," Markil said, cracking his neck.
"You know, I am on my own policies with them. I'm just taking out the trash."
Markil pointed at Viper.
"So you can rest in peace."
Viper scoffed. "Arrogant brat."
ZAP.
Viper blinked. Markil was gone.
"Behind you."
Viper spun around, eyes wide.
Markil was already mid-swing. His eyes were glowing with geometric crests.
"ASLER!"
The black greatsword materialized in his hand.
SLASH.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Markil swung horizontally.
The shockwave didn't just hit Viper; it tore through the fabric of the city.
A 1km cone of destruction erupted behind Viper.
Houses were sliced in half.
Streetlamps disintegrated.
And inside the houses... the civilians...
Markil stopped. He looked past Viper at the destruction.
He saw the roofs of the residential district sliding off. He saw the blood.
Markil's eyes widened.
Fuck.
I have to minimize the power of this sword. It's a World Ender weapon. I can't use it in a city!
While Markil was distracted by his own damage, Viper moved.
"Mistake!" Viper hissed.
SLASH. SLASH. SLASH.
Viper moved like smoke. His daggers cut Markil's hamstrings. Then his biceps. Then his throat.
Markil collapsed to the ground, a bloody mess.
Viper stood over him, breathing heavily.
"Got you. That sword... it's terrifying. But you lack discipline."
Then, he heard a sound.
Sizzle.
Viper looked down. Markil's body was glowing purple.
The cuts closed. The tendons reconnected. The throat repaired itself so fast it made a popping sound.
Viper stepped back, sweat forming on his forehead.
"Ooo fuck," Viper whispered. "Why is he healing so fast? Is this guy immortal or something?"
Markil stood up. He unsummoned Asler.
"Okay. Too much power," Markil muttered. "Let's try the new toy."
He held out his hand.
"WARFER."
CRACKLE.
Red and black lightning sparked. The massive, serrated blade of Balor appeared. But now, it pulsated with Markil's purple aura.
Viper's eyes almost popped out of his skull.
"What?! You have another legendary weapon?!"
Markil didn't answer. He swung.
He wasn't aiming for the body. He was aiming for the space around Viper.
SWISH.
Viper dodged easily. "Ha! Missed!"
But then, Viper fell to his knees.
"What..." Viper gasped. "My arms... they feel heavy... my mana..."
Weapon Ability: Hemophage.
Even a near miss drains the opponent's energy.
Markil floated upwards, hovering above the kneeling assassin.
"Drain," Markil commanded.
He slashed downward.
BOOM.
Viper screamed as both of his hands were severed at the wrists.
The impact destroyed a 500-meter section of the pavement, but Markil controlled it better this time.
Viper stared at his stumps. "MY HANDS! I AM AN S-RANK! HOW?!"
Markil landed. He dismissed the sword.
His fists began to glow with a dense, heavy purple aura.
"You talk too much."
POW.
Markil punched Viper in the chest.
It was a clean hit.
Viper was launched like a cannonball. He smashed through a stall. Then a brick wall. Then a house. Then another house.
He flew through 50 buildings before crashing into a pile of rubble.
Markil walked slowly toward him. His steps were heavy, deathly silent.
Viper groaned, trying to stand up without hands. He was broken, bleeding, and terrified.
He saw Markil approaching. The boy looked like a demon.
Viper forced a smile, blood bubbling in his teeth. His flying dagger—controlled by his mind, not his hands—hovered shakily around him.
"Hey..." Viper wheezed. "What's your name?"
Markil stopped ten feet away.
"Why do you have to know?"
Viper backed up against a wall, his legs trembling.
"Okay, listen! I don't want to die! So please... tell me! Do you want a rank? I can give you that! I can give you money! Gold! Artifacts!"
Markil tilted his head.
"Markil."
Viper blinked. "What?"
"It's Markil," he said coldly. "Know this name. Because it will be the last thing you will ever hear."
Viper's face twisted in anger. "You arrogant..."
But then he smiled again. A desperate, cunning smile.
"Ooo, listen! Please! Just listen! I'm Viper! Don't you know about me?"
"So you are Viper," Markil said, unimpressed. "I thought you would be strong. But you are weak."
Viper snapped.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING WEAK?!"
Inner Monologue - Viper:
I know what I have to do. My special art... Krand.
My flying dagger just has to touch him once. Just a scratch. If it makes contact with his blood, I can control his body with my own mind.
But his teleportation... if he moves, I miss. I need him still.
Viper fell to his knees again. He started crying. Fake, sobbing tears.
"Please!" Viper begged, burying his head in the dirt. "I beg you! Please leave me! I will never do this again! I'll leave the Kingdom! Just let me go!"
Markil looked down at him with cold, dead eyes.
Viper saw Markil's guard lower slightly.
NOW!
The flying dagger shot up from behind Markil, aiming for the back of his neck.
"IT'S THE END, YOU DAMN BRAT!" Viper shrieked.
Markil didn't turn around.
His eyes flashed with the geometric crests of Kareno.
I saw that 3 seconds ago.
FLASH.
Markil spun.
He didn't dodge the dagger. He ignored it.
He slashed with his hand, coated in Void Mana.
SCHLICK.
The sound was wet and final.
A line appeared on Viper's neck.
BOOOOOOOM.
The force of the hand-slash traveled behind Viper, cracking the ground for another kilometer.
From far away, Elrond paused mid-jump. "Wow... what is that noise?"
Back at the gate, Viper's head slid off his shoulders.
THUD.
His body collapsed. The flying dagger clattered to the ground, lifeless.
Markil stood over the corpse.
Suddenly, Viper's body began to turn grey. It cracked like porcelain and dissolved into dust, drifting away into the wind.
"Huh?" Markil blinked.
"Don't tell me... it works in the real world too?"
Absorption.
Markil looked at the flying dagger on the ground.
It began to shake. Then, it floated up.
But it wasn't glowing green anymore. It was glowing with a deep, ominous Purple Aura.
Markil grinned.
"This Viper guy... have I got his skills?"
He looked at the other two daggers on Viper's belt (which were now in the dust). They didn't move.
"I guess he didn't have skills. He had an Ability."
Markil looked at the floating purple dagger.
He pointed a finger at a ruined house in the distance.
"GO."
ZOOOOOM.
The dagger didn't just fly. It teleported.
It pierced the house.
SHRED.
In a single second, the dagger flew back and forth ten thousand times. The house didn't collapse; it was turned into sawdust. It was sliced 100,000 times before gravity could even realize it.
The dagger flew back to Markil, humming happily.
Markil's jaw dropped.
"Wow."
"It has the power of slicing houses... or humans... from miles away."
He looked at his hands.
What is going on? Every weapon I wield... every ability I acquire... it becomes broken.
It evolves.
He looked at the two normal daggers in the dust.
"Go?"
They stayed still.
"Meh," Markil shrugged. "Garbage loot."
He turned to the massive gate.
Beyond it lay the Palace. The King. The nobility.
Markil's playful smile vanished. His face became a mask of judgment.
"This nobility..." Markil whispered.
"I will make him regret why he was born."
He remembered Elrond's stories. The rape. The torture. The "Garden."
Markil clenched his fist. The purple dagger circled him like a shark.
He walked toward the gate.
Then, in a single second—
ZAP.
He teleported inside.
(Chapter 33 Finished)