Chapter 248. The Ghost Strategist 5

The Waldhar State of the Iron Empire was in an uproar at the moment.

Aiden Vhorn, a young man who went by several aliases as a result of his feats, such as The Lodgekeeper, The Crimson Reaper, Professor Aiden Vhorn, had earned himself a new name to the collection of names given to him by the public.

The Ghost Strategist.

News being broadcast in news circles and intelligence agencies across the Waldhar State was that Aiden Vhorn was the one behind the energy core vein information leak in the ruined city north of York City.

Aiden Vhorn did this to lure several powerhouses from various organizations to the ruined city and use them as cannon fodder to get rid of the chaotic beasts in the ruined city. This would make it less risky for him to claim the energy core vein for himself.

Not only that, he had set ingenious poison traps that could not even be discovered with the naked eye.

Surveillance footage through satellite channels revealed that his plan succeeded.

Every warrior who ventured to the place died due to either chaotic beasts, environmental hazards, the attacks of other warriors, or Aiden Vhorn’s mysterious poison attacks.

What made everything more terrifying was that according to some deductions made from the video, he even used some energy cores to manipulate chaotic beasts and warriors into killing each other.

To be able to pull something like this off, one had to be someone with a deep understanding of human greed, needs, and psychology. Plus, he could also anticipate the thought patterns of the chaotic beasts. This person was too terrifying. Where he could not use physical strength, he’d resort to manipulative and tactical acumen.

By the time he had probably left the ruined city, everyone there, including warriors and chaotic beasts ranging from beginner Rank 3 to legendary Rank 3, in the ruined city, was dead.

Not even a single creature was alive.

All this had been achieved by a beginner Rank 3 warrior.

Many were wondering if he actually had access to the energy core vein.

This was when a piece of news started spreading through media handles and intelligence channels as a piece of rumor.

According to the rumors, Aiden Vhorn had claimed all the energy cores in the energy core vein and he had given them to the Artifact Engineers Association and Alchemist Association branch on Sauna City University campus.

Many were surprised by his patriotism to the university. But their thoughts were shattered.

In exchange for giving them the energy core vein, Aiden Vhorn, including his loved ones, would enjoy free resources of Sauna City University.

The sources were confirmed to be true. In fact, when asked by reporters if the news was true, Aiden Vhorn simply smiled and left the place.

His reaction, although he said nothing, confirmed the rumors.

Aiden Vhorn was indeed a madman who didn’t do anything freely. Everything he also did was well calculated to the end. As expected of the Ghost Strategist.

But, now that he had slaughtered several valuable warriors from several powers across the state, they would come after him covertly.

No one would be stupid to openly attack him because of his institutional and political backing.

However, they would send assassins after him.

How would he handle them?

A storm was indeed brewing, and Aiden Vhorn was at the center of it.

****

Aiden spent some time with Desmonda and his loved ones after returning to campus.

He trained with them, too.

After that, Desmonda, Asmodeus, Luke, Candice, and Seraphina left campus for a high difficulty mission. Naturally, because they now had free access to all university resources, the purpose of the mission was not to get contribution points, but to gain combat experiences and hone themselves.

Aiden made sure they left with legendary Rank 3 poisons on them. Also, unlike him who had lost the people protecting him from the shadows, they still had theirs. So he was not worried about their safety.

The parents of his friends, and Cosmo and Pamela, had also settled in as professors very well. They were also doing their best to grow stronger.

As for Vandaport and Ashbourne Cane, they were currently in the Serma Empire as guests for the alchemy conference happening there.

Wembley was currently in seclusion at the moment, trying to break into expert Rank 3. Now that he didn’t have to take care of his children who were grown-ups, he could focus most of his time on cultivation.

Currently, Aiden was ranked first on the Professorship ranking list because of securing the energy core vein. More contribution points had been added to the ones he was supposed to get from the mission.

He had exceeded the contribution points veteran professors of the university had accumulated from taking on countless missions of the university.

Many professors and students were shocked by this. However, they understood that he deserved this.

Taking all of the thousands of energy cores from an energy core vein was no small feat.

It would boost the industrial economy of Sauna City University to higher heights the missions they had accomplished could not accomplish.

They sighed. Aiden Vhorn was indeed a terrifying person. He could not help but cause an uproar and break records wherever he went.

*****

Sauna City University.

Somewhere in the professorship residential district.

Across a beautiful lawn.

On a clear Tuesday morning.

Three people in T-shirts, shorts, and sneakers were currently jogging together.

"Aiden, what do you plan to do about the assassins that will be sent after you from the powers whose people you killed in the ruined city?" Cosmo Adams asked.

Arica also looked at Aiden, who was in dark shades.

"You already have the Order, the Cyrenthia Empire military, and those industries from the Eldorath Empire after you. How the hell are you so calm?" Arica was shocked. Even she wouldn’t have been so calm if she had so many enemies. Aiden was just built differently.

Cosmo also nodded, "Mmm."

Aiden chuckled, "Worrying won’t change anything. As for dealing with them, I’ve secured thousands of different poisons for such situations with my free access to campus resources. It won’t be a problem."

"Alright," Cosmo said.

"That’s good to know. You are someone who is careful. You won’t try something you are not certain of."

Suddenly, Aiden’s expression changed.

He stopped moving.

Several microscopic crimson threads, not even Arica and Cosmo could see, snapped towards different directions.

"Aurghhhhh..."

"Pfrrtt!"

Several screams resounded as ten individuals fell on the ground from the void.

Cosmo and Arica were shocked. They didn’t see any attack from Aiden. All they saw was that Aiden had stopped moving and that ten individuals had fallen on the ground.

Aiden’s assassination methods were really terrifying.

Had Aiden been on the lookout for assassins even as they were jogging?

Was that why he was in shades? He didn’t want to give it away to any assassins that he was spying for them.

After all, everyone knew that Aiden Vhorn’s eyes turned crimson when he activated his affinity. If the assassins had noticed his eyes had turned crimson, they would have been careful and they would have been extra careful.

"How did you notice us?" one of the assassins said as blood spewed from his eyes and his skin started to turn blue.

Aiden walked calmly to him.

"Look at the rest of your colleagues," Aiden squatted and spoke to the assassin politely.

The assassin looked at his other colleagues in fear.

They were all dead. They had blue veins all over their skins.

"How did this guy even identify us and attack us? I didn’t even see anything graze any part of my body. What sort of poison did he use? Had it been gaseous, I would have noticed... How is this even possible? What sort of attack did he use?" The assassin was shocked.

He possibly couldn’t realize that all this while, Aiden had microscopic crimson threads soaked in cutaneous floating around him. The moment the poison grazed the skin of the assassins, it would enter their bloodstream through their skin and kill them.

"Kindly tell me what I need to know and I may give you the antidote to the poison so you don’t end up like them," Aiden said. "Why were you targeting my friends?" Aiden said politely.

Cosmo and Arica were surprised.

The assassins were after them and not Aiden?

"Don’t kill me, please... we were sent by the Nova Secret Sect and the Adams Secret Sect to get rid of them," the assassin blurted out in fear. Aiden Vhorn was a madman. If he didn’t speak, the man would kill him.

"Thank you," Aiden replied politely, his expression calm. That was all he needed.

He stood up.

" The antidote..." The assassin said.

" I said I may give you the antidote. I didn’t say I will" Aiden said politely to him and turned.

The assassin chocked under the effects of the poison and died.

Aiden absorbed the blood essence of the dead expert Rank 3 assassins.

Then, he put the corpses in his storage bracelet. It wouldn’t be hygienic for university streets to be full of corpses.

He turned around and walked back to Cosmo and Arica, who had shocked expressions on their faces from the information of the assassin.