Chapter 86: Ilunia’s Prophecy 2

Ilunia never once hesitated to change the future. She watched the future, observed it, unraveled every piece of understanding within it, and put it to use for a single purpose.

That being, guiding the best possible path for her Master.

And tonight, Ilunia once again set into motion the cult she’d built, one devoted entirely to worshipping her Master.

Before her, Ilunia "looked" at Wilson standing in front of her, alongside several other men.

Ilunia stayed silent for a moment, then curved her lips.

"You just need to hold back the rest. As for that one, let him through so he can reach My Lord."

In that vision, Ilunia had seen that her Master would indeed still come out victorious, even against every kind of ambush thrown his way.

But that would also leave her Master in a genuinely dangerous condition. The assassins sent by the great Mivelo family were each ranked at Rank-D at the highest.

Which was exactly why Ilunia refused to accept letting her Master suffer serious injury as an option, when she could instead set one more plan into motion for this.

It was time to make a statement, to show the world a little something.

Her "gaze" returned to Wilson, still standing before her. Then, Ilunia curved her lips.

"You may go."

The night air felt as cold as ever, a crescent moon hanging in a star-scattered sky. A somewhat strong gust of wind sent the white cloth wrapped around Ilunia’s body fluttering, and following that, using her hearing-related skill, Ilunia could sense that her people had already departed.

***

’Simple mission,’ Wilson was a Rank-C Hunter, and as a member of the cult worshipping the White Gloves figure, it was only natural that the object of their worship would always be watched and guarded from a distance.

That was exactly why Wilson knew right away that the assassins here weren’t going to give him any real trouble at all.

The strongest among them sat at Rank-D, while the rest were just a handful of Rank-E’s.

Wilson kept his eyes on the empty street, hiding atop a three-story building. In this currently deserted road, he spotted a man walking alone, a pair of white gloves wrapped around his hands.

Meanwhile, around him, Wilson closed his eyes for a moment, sensing the shift in the wind, the gusts moving through the air, and through all of that, he could pinpoint the locations of the assassins hiding somewhere nearby.

Once he’d confirmed each enemy’s position, Wilson paused, watching the figure their cult had come to worship. He held no faith or conviction whatsoever about this figure supposedly becoming humanity’s future salvation.

He only knew one thing. His true loyalty was actually directed toward that girl, Ilunia, who’d given him enormous help throughout his life.

Which was exactly why Wilson sometimes felt a flicker of displeasure watching Ilunia stare at that figure with such an intense, fanatical gleam in her eyes.

’...Since he’s the one from the prophecy, shouldn’t he be able to handle this problem on his own?’

Wilson felt tempted. Why not just let the assassins ambush him and see how the man would actually react?

Wilson wasn’t worried the man would actually die, after all, he could save him at any moment he wanted.

It was a tempting thought, but Wilson quickly shook his head.

’I can’t betray her like that. I’ve already sworn my obedience to her.’

Still, just because Wilson had decided to follow the plan didn’t mean he had nothing left to do about this situation.

Instead of letting just one Rank-E slip through to ambush him, Wilson chose to let only that Rank-D assassin through instead, curious to see how the outcome would play out.

That wasn’t too much, was it?

Wilson was confident that wasn’t excessive at all. So he glanced briefly at the others, his companions assisting him in this operation.

"Hold back every other assassin, and make sure to stay silent so only that Rank-D Hunter gets through to ambush him."

Wilson was genuinely curious, what exactly was so special about this man that made him the sole salvation?

Enough, even... to make Ilunia, that sharp-eyed seer, welcome him as a god and look this fanatical whenever it came to him?

***

"..."

’I feel like throwing up. This is genuinely excessive.’

The streets had gone far quieter than usual, Julian barely saw a single vehicle pass by. Every building and shop had closed far earlier than usual too.

Everything around Julian screamed of impending bad news and an ominous feeling closing in.

’Good thing I managed to borrow a sword from the Academy to use.’

Julian gripped the sword’s hilt with a palm slightly damp with sweat.

He used one of the skills he’d received from Ilunia to sharpen his hearing, trying to pinpoint the direction any ambush might come from.

Since Ilunia had told him he’d end up winning, that somehow gave Julian a boost of confidence and reassurance.

But actually being here now, feeling this pressure, it turned out to be far heavier and more nauseating than Julian had ever imagined.

His mind raced as Julian kept shifting his gaze, trying to catch anything that felt even remotely suspicious.

That’s when he heard a faint, light whistling sound, so faint and small that Julian almost missed it entirely.

’Is that just my imagination, or not?’

Julian trusted his instincts immediately, refusing to take any risks as he spun around and raised one hand.

Two layers of mirror formed there, and something fast and whistling slammed into that mirror barrier with tremendous force.

The impact came with such overwhelming force that it created a crack, shattering the first layer of that protective mirror entirely.

Julian’s entire body jolted as he stared at the figure ahead of him, breaking into cold sweat. And with that, Julian let out a breath of relief.

He’d genuinely come close to dying just now. Thankfully, he’d trusted his hearing and instincts in time.

Julian’s gaze then met the assassin, who lunged forward like a shadow, moving with tremendous speed, clearly intent on finishing Julian off in a single strike.

Julian immediately recognized that the assassin was a Rank-D Hunter, likely one who’d chosen an assassination-focused skill book centered on shadow manipulation as his primary element.

The assassin wore a black tunic covering his entire body, wrapped around his head and face, leaving only his eyes visible. In his hands, he held two daggers gleaming with a sharpness capable of cleaving Julian clean in two.

The assassin looked genuinely surprised that Julian had managed to block his attack, his expression shifting as he leapt back, putting distance between them.

"Thought the target would be easy. Turns out he’s actually decent. Makes me wonder, are those rumors about you actually true or not?"

The assassin tilted his head, speaking in a heavy, muffled voice behind the cloth covering his face. "Personally, I don’t buy it, clearly you’ve just got a bit of skill and some luck. Right?"

After saying that, the man vanished into the shadows, disappearing completely from Julian’s sight.

The next instant, Julian’s ear twitched slightly as he caught the same faint whistling sound again.

Without a shred of hesitation, Julian gripped his sword, and the blade immediately began forming frost, slowly gathering along its edge.

The air shifted around him.