After the cloud of dust slowly faded, Alaric stepped out. He raised one eyebrow and said,

"Well, well… as expected. You'd attack me the moment I let my guard down."

Matt chuckled, jumping down from the ruined building before slowly walking toward Alaric.

"Tch. So you've known my true identity. That explains why you always kept your guard up, even when you were fighting that horde of goblins."

His voice gradually dropped, turning heavier.

"How did you figure me out? I'm certain no one in the world could notice it… unless you have some kind of special blessing that lets you do that."

Alaric only shrugged, refusing to answer.

Matt sighed, and a tinge of murderous intent began to rise within him.

"Alright. Doesn't matter anyway. You have to die here."

Alaric chuckled.

"That's right. You must die here."

Without hesitation, Alaric and Khaled lunged at Matt.

Matt simply smiled and raised his sword, ready to fight.

In an instant, an arrow shot toward Alaric, but he only gave it a cold glance before turning to the Archer—his summon perched on top of the building.

A stage-1 summon with Awakened potential and four mana cores.

"Cover me," Alaric commanded mentally, telling Khaled to handle the arrows while he engaged the assassin.

The first clang of steel rang loudly through the area, followed by the booming noise of explosions that added to this deadly song.

Alaric thrust his longsword toward Matt's chest, but somehow this handsome bastard slipped past it with a slick technique Alaric couldn't understand—even in half a second. Matt countered with a slash that narrowly sliced Alaric's right hand… Damn. If not for the timely backup from the slave demon, Alaric's hand would've been lying on the ground instead of gripping his sword.

"You got lucky," Matt scoffed.

But Alaric barely wavered. He simply kept the rhythm of his attacks as usual. Of course, he'd get better after this.

Because of the exploding arrows, Khaled barely had time to fully assist Alaric. He only interfered occasionally—whenever he found an opening after deflecting the deadly barrage from the Archer in the distance.

Sure, he could rush over and kill the Archer. But if he did… Alaric would die under the assassin's blade. So the top priority was killing this bastard first. Once he died, the Archer would die too.

The assassin was undeniably strong—no he was a genius of the Assassin Order, who trained harshly since childhood, someone who had survived countless trials. He definitely had enough skill to kill Alaric, who'd only reincarnated into this world not long ago.

But Alaric didn't care about being weak. As long as he kept growing, he would defeat this assassin. He was certain—not out of blind belief, but because of what was actually happening: his sword style and perception were rapidly absorbing the assassin's unique techniques.

"I'm gonna turn your unique technique into something ordinary."

Clash after clash, as the fight escalated, Alaric began to adapt to the assassin's swordsmanship.

The secret lay in his technique.

He chuckled and commanded his summon.

"Open a chance for me, I'll kill that bastard."

Khaled, who had just jumped into midair after blocking a rain of exploding arrows, landed hard. With a lightning-swift movement, he drove straight at the assassin and delivered a downward slash—except in reality, it was an upside-down feint.

For sure, a faint attack. But at least it distracted the assassin for a moment.

Taking that chance as best as he could, Alaric used the new movement he had just learned from the assassin, thrusting a series of fatal blows right into the gaps of his opponent's footwork.

That's right, the assassin tried his slippery sword and movement technique again—but this time, he paid for his dull repetition with a whole right arm.

He screamed in pain and rage, clutching his cut.

Alaric didn't let the intensity of his blows down. He even pushed it to a new level, forcing the assassin back until he lost focus for just a second from the blood loss.

He'd lost his right arm. Then his left leg.

Alaric shook his head in disappointment and began lowering the intensity of his blows. With a brutal kick, he sent Matt skidding across the ground before the man smashed into the trunk of a tree at the far distance.

"I'll leave his inferior summon to you… I need some questions answered by him."

Khaled nodded and walked away.

Alaric cracked the bones in his neck to relax, then slowly approached the assassin.

"Hello, buddy."

"Seems I'm not the one who's dying here." He smirked faintly while glancing up at the tall tree.

"Who hired you to kill me?"

The assassin lay motionless on the ground, trying to move his body, but after a few seconds, he gave up.

He scoffed weakly.

"An assassin will never expose their client."

He added quietly.

"If I die, someone stronger will come for you."

…

Alaric frowned for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

"So, if everyone forgets you… what will happen?"

Silence.

The assassin glanced at Alaric with a confused look, then exhaled deeply and answered,

"A strange question… but sure, they'd just send someone like me again."

Alaric nodded.

"You're right. So, just die."

In the blink of an eye, the assassin's head dropped, rolling across the ground before being stopped by Khaled's longsword.

[System]: You've slain a green-core summoner.

[You gained 15 Chaos Points.]

[You have completed the Life-or-Death Mission]

[Reward: 250 Chaos Points]

—

[Personal] [Summon] [Gacha] [Mission]

Chaos Points: 750

—

***

In an office room filled with papers and water bottles, a middle-aged man was reading a book. His face showed no emotion. However, for some reason, he frowned for a moment, put the book aside, and called someone.

"Greetings, Commander. What made you call me?"

The middle-aged man spoke.

"Have you sent an assassin to kill that boy yet?… Remember, a special guest hired us, so no mistake is allowed."

"Even if that boy is just a student, his head is worth 1,000,000,000,000,000 dollars."

The one on the other end of the phone replied.

"Sir, don't worry… I already sent a Rank-E assassin… he is… he is—"

"Sorry, sir, I guess my schedule got full so… I forgot. I instantly sent the best Rank-E assassin to kill that boy."

The middle-aged man gritted his teeth in fury.

"Send a Rank-C assassin to kill him. I need him dead at any cost."

"Do it right now, or I'll kill you first."

With a rage-twisted face, the man slammed the phone into pieces.

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