Chapter 187: Assassination & Chain Mission

But just then, Aurelius’ expression changed.

A silver light emerged, flashing eerily behind his back.

The shadows beneath his feet squirmed and stretched, forming a shadowy creature behind him.

It had a humanoid form, looking like a human, but its entire body was covered in dense black shadows.

The creature clutched the silver light and thrust it forward, aiming straight at Aurelius’ back.

Perhaps caught off guard by the sneak attack or perhaps because of the gap in their respective strength, Aurelius had no time to react.

He didn’t even have time to turn around and look at his assailant.

The silver dagger pierced straight through his heart, sending a tremor through his body.

"You..." He tried to speak, only to stammer before collapsing to the ground the very next second.

The shadow stared at this scene without the slightest trace of emotion.

"Hehe. I didn’t expect I’d be lucky enough to be the first to find him," a male voice chuckled.

"Killing an ordinary person can allow me to obtain the necessary materials and rituals all the way up to Rank 4."

"I wonder who this kid has offended for them to be willing to pay such a high price."

The man shook his head. Soon, he stopped thinking about it.

Either way, it didn’t matter to him.

All he needed to do was take this kid’s head to the organization, and he would be rewarded.

Thinking of the promised rewards, the man couldn’t restrain his excitement.

He stepped forward and approached Aurelius, planning to cut his head off and keep it as evidence of the assassination.

With it in hand, getting the reward would be easier.

But just as he leaned down and was about to slash at his neck with the dagger, the man noticed something wrong.

The silver dagger... didn’t have any blood.

Its edge was pristine, as though it had just been washed.

’No! Something is wrong!’ He screamed inwardly and wanted to step back.

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

"Has it already been found? What a pity..." A calm voice reached his ears.

The next moment, the man saw the "dead" Aurelius move.

A blurred motion flashed through his shocked eyes.

The man froze.

Looking down, he saw that a hand had penetrated the left side of his chest, clutching his heart.

A second later...

Bang!

The hand clenched.

His heart shattered under the force.

"Wasn’t he an ordinary person? How could this be...?" the man muttered in his final moments before his body went limp.

Once the hand supporting his weight was removed from his sternum, he collapsed to the ground.

By then, Aurelius had already risen to his feet.

Waving his hand to clean the fresh blood off of it, he stared intently at the man on the ground.

With his death, the shadows surrounding the assassin were removed, revealing his true colors.

It was a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance, so ordinary that he would get lost if found within a crowd.

He possessed no special features or characteristics, being neither ugly nor handsome.

Everything about him screamed the word "average."

Aurelius raised his eyebrows.

Although the man looked completely ordinary and had died in a single attack, he didn’t dare to underestimate him.

Not only because such an appearance made him perhaps the perfect assassin, but also because of the last entry in the notification log.

[Killed a Level 44 Shadow Thief. Gained 3000 EXP.]

Rank 3!

Shockingly, the man who had been so vulnerable in front of Aurelius’ attack was actually a Rank 3 Awakener!

Such strength was enough to make him one of Blood Sun City’s top powerhouses.

Yet he had died. In a single strike.

’Tsk.’ Aurelius clicked his tongue inwardly.

’Could it be that this man is a fake Awakener? How come he is so weak?’

Had the man heard his words, he would have most likely risen from the dead just to curse him.

Damn it! Was he weak?

It was all because the information had been incorrect, claiming that Aurelius was an ordinary person who didn’t even possess a single Relic.

Otherwise, how could he have been so careless and let his guard down in front of his prey?

At the same time, another major reason behind his defeat was Aurelius’ own strength.

With such great physical strength, one could very well mistake him for a Warrior rather than an Arcanist.

As for the reason...

Part of it was the many adventures he had experienced. A more important reason, however, was the Netherworld Seal.

Aurelius’ right hand was not any weaker than a Rank 3 skill at the moment. In a sense, the man had faced a Rank 3 skill head-on.

Although he found the assassin’s death somewhat ridiculous, Aurelius knew the situation very well.

Staring at the dead Shadow Thief, a trace of worry appeared on his face.

He recalled the man’s mutterings before his death and couldn’t help but let his thoughts wander.

Had someone ordered his assassination?

Promising that he would help the person who killed him become a Rank 4 Awakener, nonetheless.

As an Awakener himself, Aurelius knew full well how lucrative such a reward was.

Although Rank 3 and Rank 4 were separated by only twenty Levels and an Advancement Ritual, the two Ranks represented something completely different.

Rank 3 was still considered a low Rank. Most Awakeners would remain there until the end of their lives.

On the other hand, Rank 4 Awakeners had already entered the middle Ranks of an Awakener’s journey.

This was a leap in life level, even more apparent than the improvement from an ordinary person to an Awakener.

Aurelius could be certain that as long as the news of the reward spread, countless Rank 3 Awakeners would rush to Blood Sun City to cut his head off.

Even Rank 4 Awakeners might be tempted.

Even if they didn’t personally need the reward, all people had relatives, friends, or subordinates who could benefit from such a great opportunity.

The more Aurelius thought about it, the deeper his frown became.

He couldn’t understand who would place such a bounty on him.

He had no enemies. Or rather, all the enemies he had made had long since died and had no way of seeking revenge.

Those that didn’t, like the Sunless Sect and the Thieves’ Order, had no way of knowing his real identity.

Moreover, from the man’s words, it was obvious that the person who had placed the assassination task still regarded him as an ordinary person, proof that it was not someone he had personally offended.

This ruled out most possibilities.

In the end, Aurelius settled on two possible culprits.

One, the Sol family.

Two, the enemies of the Sol family.

’Could it be that my father’s wife learned of the summoning order and wants to prevent me from arriving in the Imperial City?’

Aurelius’ imagination went wild.

Unfortunately, the information available to him was far from enough to let him arrive at any definite conclusions.

’Unfortunately, this man was so impatient to get the reward that he attacked me inside the city.’

’If I hadn’t been afraid that this man had any trump cards and would alarm other people, I could have captured and interrogated him.’

Aurelius shook his head.

Suppressing his thoughts, he glanced at the lifeless corpse and waved his hand.

Immediately, it was moved into the System Inventory, awaiting later use.

Only the man’s belongings remained behind.

The silver dagger, a black earring—two Common Relics—and a small, round token.

The moment Aurelius made a move to pick up the latter, the air around him froze.

A secret condition appeared to have been activated as the two came into contact.

...

"Ding! Chain Mission has been Issued!"

"Mission—Unknown Enemy (1): You’ve been targeted by an unknown enemy, who placed an assassination order for your head. Having killed the first assassin, you realize the danger you are currently facing."

"Mission: Evade the following wave of assassins."

"Rewards: The reward will change based on the Player’s way of succeeding."

"Reminder: The assassins’ target is you. Your family and friends won’t be in any danger."

...

After so long, a new Chain Mission had appeared.

Just as Aurelius expected, a large number of assassins would soon come looking for him.

However, the thing that attracted most of his attention was the Reminder near the end.

It made him breathe a sigh of relief.

With his current strength and many means, he wasn’t afraid of most opponents. Even Rank 4 Awakeners were not enough to make him fearful.

What he was worried about, instead, was the safety of the people around him.

Elena was fine.

Since she had given him the Time Hourglass, Aurelius knew full well that his mother had secrets and could protect herself.

However, other people like Mia were not the same.

Even with Homer’s help, she could very well be in danger if targeted.

Thankfully, the Player Panel had resolved most of his worries.

The assassins wouldn’t target the people around him or use them to get to him.

That was a good thing.

Of course, it also meant that Aurelius would have to bear the full brunt of their attack.

And judging from the reward offered for his head, not all assassins would be as careless as this one.