The Reaper narrowed his eyes as he took his aim at the Half-Elf who was unaware of his upcoming demise. He had a good vantage point since he was located in one of the watchtowers that overlooked the battlefield.
He had first disguised himself as one of the Dwarves responsible for bringing food and water to the defenders before infiltrating the watchtower. The food and water he had given the unsuspecting guards were drugged, which caught them off guard.
It was nothing poisonous, but it was a special sleep serum that was enough to make those that had ingested it sleep for five hours straight.
He carefully knocked the arrow on his bow and aimed at his target that was over six hundred meters away from him. The Reaper had no problems targeting anyone from this distance because of his sniping skills.
The arrow that was knocked on the assassin's bow was dipped in the venom of the Ravenous Saw-Scaled Viper. It was a Deimos-Ranked Monster, which could be found in the Burning Basin that stood between the Gweliven Kingdom and the various Orc Tribes.
Even a graze from this venom was enough to kill a person within five minutes. Only a specific antidote, native to the Orc Tribes, could cure this poison, which had claimed countless lives, including those of E-Rankers.
(A/N: E-Rankers are the next rank after Initiate. They are the lowest rank of Rankers, but they are Rankers nevertheless.)
After imbuing his arrow with improved penetration and swift wind, the Reaper estimated that it should be enough to eliminate his target.
'Goodbye.' The Reaper sneered as he released the string of his bow.
However, just as the arrow was about to take flight, a whip wrapped around its tip, preventing it from flying towards its target.
The sneer on the Assassin's face instantly disappeared as he took out a dagger from his belt and looked at the person who had prevented him from claiming his kill.
Unfortunately, the person was wearing a mask, so it was impossible for him to identify his enemy. The first thought that came to his mind was to run, so that was exactly what he did.
As one of the Reapers of Twilight Rain, he made sure to prepare an escape route in case his assasination attempt failed.
The assassin jumped from the watch tower and extended his robe, imitating a flying squirrel in flight.
Just as the Reaper thought that he had gotten away from his pursuer, he heard a teasing voice in his ears.
"So you can fly," Scarlet said as she glided beside the assassin. As a Cambion, she had the ability to fly using the wings that she could extend from her back.
"It's you!" the assassin exclaimed. "Don't kill me, Scarlet! I swear I will never steal your prey again!"
Although she was wearing a mask, he had talked to Scarlet in the past, and the long red hair that fluttered out of her robe, was clear evidence of her identity.
"Too late," Scarlet replied, as she thrust her dagger towards the Assassin's neck and twisted it, similar to what Sid had done to Lux when he had stabbed him in the chest.
A gaping hole appeared on the Reaper's neck, as he looked at Scarlet in disbelief. Even though he had attempted to steal her prey, killing him was simply too much. Afterall, the two of them were in the same organization.
Scarlet sneered before changing her path flight as she landed near the walls of the city. Lux had tasked her to be on the lookout for possible Assassins that would target Aina. At first, Scarlet didn't want to obey him, but when he said that he would be sticking close to the Guild Master, the red-haired Dwarf beauty understood what the Half-Elf was planning.
He was using himself as bait to lure the other Reapers into attacking him instead of Aina, forcing Scarlet to hunt them down before they killed him.
Her life was bound to Lux, so, if Lux died, she would also die. For someone as ambitious as Scarlet, she wouldn't allow herself to die a second time, especially through the hands of other assassins like herself.
"Such a devious Master I have." Scarlet clicked her tongue as she prepared to scout for other possible assassins in the area. "I'll get back at you for this someday."
This was the second assassin she had killed, and she hoped that the organization hadn't assigned more than two Reapers to dispose of the doll-like beauty who led the Eternal Guild.
—-
"Achooo!"
"Achoo?"
"Eiko, don't imitate me," Lux said as he lightly patted the giggling baby slime on his head. The Half-Elf had seen the red mark that briefly appeared on his map, and saw a green mark pursue it.
He knew that it was Scarlet who had eliminated the assassin, and he was quite impressed by how efficient she was when it came to cleaning up those of her own kind.
Meanwhile, the other guilds were gradually losing ground against the Beast Tide that had overwhelmed the places that they were currently defending.
At this point, there had been a few monsters that slipped past Diablo's line of defense, but they were no match against the Guild Members of Eternal, who were quite happy to have something to do to pass the time.
The Guild Leaders of Twisted Destiny and Arcadian Lords no longer had time to deal with the Eternal Guild, since they were having problems on their own end.
Unlike their rival guild, Eternal, who had Diablo, they didn't have such a powerhouse in their ranks. Because of this, their frontline was breached by Rank 3 and Rank 4 Alpha Monsters, who were working alongside Rank 3 and Rank 4 Monsters.
The spies that they had planted in Eternal were also gone, so they could no longer continue their goal to pressure them into submission.
"Dammit!" The Guild Leader of Twisted Destiny cursed as he personally faced a Rank 4 Alpha Monster, alongside his Elite Guild Members that specialized in dealing with creatures of this rank.
Aina gave her rivals a side-long glance to see their current conditions.
If one were to look closely, they would see that the corner of her lips was raised slightly, forming a smirk on her doll-like face that was usually devoid of emotion.
'Serves you right,' Aina thought as she gave her rival guilds a look of contempt.
However, she also knew that her guild, Eternal, wouldn't have their current peaceful circumstance if she had rejected Lux's proposal to temporarily become her Guild Member.
Just as she was gloating internally at the two guilds' hardships, a resounding horn spread across the battlefield, which made her eyes widen in shock.
That was the Signal that a Deimos Ranked Monster was sighted on the battlefield. Although they didn't know if it was a regular Deimos Monster or an Alpha Beast, either one was bad news for all of them.
The Kingdom of Gweliven had dispatched an Elite Team of Initiates to deal with this kind of threat, so Aina wasn't too worried. According to the briefing they had with the City's Mayor and the General commanding the Gweliven Army, there were three special teams composed of Initiates that would deal with Deimos-Ranked threats.
But, Aina's composure changed when more horns were blown consecutively, signaling them that more than one Deimos-Ranked Monster had appeared on the battlefield. Although she had already expected this to happen sooner or later, the number of strong monsters exceeded her expectations.
"F-Five blow horns," Valerie, Aina's second in command, stuttered as she looked at the dense army of monsters in front of her. "Guild Master, one Deimos Beast at two o'clock!"
Aina immediately glanced in the direction where Valerie was pointing at. Within the mass of monsters that seemed unending, a four-meter tall Warthog was running in their direction.
"Ivory Killer Warthog!" one of the officers of Eternal shouted. "Be careful. That monster can go berserk at any time!"
The Warthog let out a deafening squeal as it charged straight towards the Eternal Guild with its two-meter long Ivory tusks that were strong enough to pierce through steel without any problems.
"Shield Warriors, hold the line!" Aina ordered. "When the Deimos is near, use your strongest defensive skill to block its attack!"
""Yes!""
Right now, they were standing on the ramparts of the Earthen Wall that was five meters tall. Even so, they didn't feel safe when facing a Deimos Ranked Monster that was known for its relentless charge that could destroy the walls of a city.
When the monster was only a dozen meters away from Eternal's defensive perimeter, its charge suddenly swerved away from its intended target as it changed direction.
The officers of Eternal sighed in relief when the monster shifted its charge away from them.
However, Aina, who was paying attention to the Monster, noticed that not only did it change direction, it was also headed towards Diablo, who had dismounted from his Nightmare Horse, and was running towards the Deimos-Monster, with his eyes burning brightly with his fighting spirit.
Comments