Asher listened to Blue speak without uttering a single word. Since the assassin clearly believed that Asher would die here, Asher simply decided to listen. There was no need to interrupt a man who thought victory was already in his grasp. As he absorbed the information he wanted, Asher's eyes slowly narrowed at the edges, a faint glint of cold calculation flashing within their depths.

'The Assassin Leader…' he thought to himself. His mind immediately spun toward the shadowy figure he had come to identify as the Assassin Guild Leader. Ever since his True Awakening over a year ago, Asher had anticipated something like this. It was almost inevitable. Yet Malrik and Wuthenya had already informed him that the Assassin Guild had made no moves against any Moon or Sun, and that there was no immediate cause for concern.

And yet, here it was.

It seemed the Assassin Guild Leader was finally making a move after failing ten times. Asher had once expected this current situation, but after his discussion with Malrik and Wuthenya, he had gradually set those concerns aside. But at the end of the day, even if he suspected that the Assassin Leader would eventually target him, it meant nothing if he didn't know when or how.

He couldn't exactly live every single day looking over his shoulder.

Asher released a quiet sigh as he processed the mention of Finch. Hearing that Finch was the cause of their current predicament almost made him scoff. Well… not exactly. While Asher himself was the true reason all of this had escalated, Finch had undeniably been the spark that lit the fuse.

'Does this mean I have to hide my identity every time I go on a mission?' Asher wondered. The thought lingered for barely a fraction of a second before he forcefully dismissed it. He couldn't live like that. Hiding forever simply because a single enemy had set their sights on him? Then what about the next enemy? And the one after that?

If he started running now, he would never stop.

"I suppose it would be an honour to kill the head of a Wargrave," Blue said calmly. "After all, even his Emperor doesn't have such a feat under his belt. And as promised, I will spare your friends."

A small smile formed on his lips, though it was hidden behind his pristine white mask.

In the very next second, Blue blurred forward, tearing through the air like a bullet. This time, however, he did not unleash his full speed, believing firmly in the deal he had struck with Asher. But just as he surged forward, Asher vanished from his path in a flicker of space distortion. Before Blue could close the distance, Asher had already teleported out of the way.

A heartbeat later, Blue's short sword tore through the air where Asher had been standing only an instant ago.

"It seems you are going back on our deal, Asher," Blue intoned, his voice colder than ice. Irritation and frustration were beginning to seep into his tone, no longer completely hidden.

Asher's figure reappeared atop a distant tree, his purple eyes locked firmly onto the masked man below. He didn't reply. He didn't bother justifying himself. He simply stood there, balanced on the branch, his body loose yet coiled with readiness.

Asher wasn't a fool.

Although Blue had claimed he would spare Finch, William, Norman, Clara and the rest of the team, Asher didn't believe a single word that left the assassin's mouth. The man before him was an assassin to the core, someone who would say anything if it made his job easier.

Besides, would the Assassin Guild Leader truly allow loose ends to live?

Absolutely not, that would be extremely stupid on their part.

Asher knew, without the slightest doubt, that the moment Blue killed him, the assassin would move on to Finch, William, and everyone else involved, slaughtering them all to prevent the matter from ever leaking. And that wouldn't be the end of it.

After killing William, Finch, and the rest, Blue and Black would likely turn on their own assassin team as well. They, too, would become loose ends, witnesses who knew too much. And once Blue and Black reported back to the Assassin Leader, they themselves would be eliminated.

In the end, only the Assassin Leader would remain, ensuring that the truth of what happened here would die alongside every witness.

Originally, Asher would have used his light based illusion skills to deceive Blue, or perhaps launched long range attacks to test him. But he had already come to a clear conclusion: it would all be futile. Even if he maintained a fifty meter distance, it wouldn't change the outcome.

Blue was simply too fast and could nullify long range attacks too according to his calculations.

The next moment, Blue's knees bent as his muscles tightened like a coiled spring on the verge of eruption. The earth beneath him trembled as raw power gathered within his body, cracks spreading outward from his feet.

'Here he comes,' Asher thought, his perception stretching to its absolute limit. Every sense screamed at him to prepare.

With a thunderous boom, Blue shot forward like a bolt of lightning. The ground beneath his feet shattered completely, forming a jagged ravine as he accelerated to his peak speed.

In less than a blink, he was already in front of Asher.

Asher couldn't even react.

In the next split second, Blue's short sword slashed toward Asher's neck. Like a razor through paper, it cut through with horrifying ease. The air screamed as the blade moved, and the leaves of the tree they stood upon exploded outward under the sheer pressure of the strike.

A frown appeared beneath Blue's mask.

He hadn't felt resistance.

He hadn't felt the familiar sensation of flesh being severed, nor the warm splatter of blood. There was no metallic scent in the air, no weight to the strike that confirmed a kill.

Blue's thoughts raced in that instant. His Nullification ability was active, actively canceling Asher's powers.

'How did he...?'

His thoughts trailed off. For a moment, he considered attributing it to the Tenth Sun's soul-bound weapon. But his assassin instincts rejected that explanation immediately. To him, the Tenth Sun had survived far too long to be saved by his soul-bound weapon alone.

'Did he find a weakness in my Nullification ability?'

The thought made Blue frown deeply beneath his mask.

With only a few minutes of combat, the Tenth Sun had already identified one of the limitations in his nullification ability.

'This is getting out of hand,' Blue thought grimly. 'He's far more monstrous than anyone anticipated.'

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