Chapter 637: Assassination

In the darkness of the night, around a dozen figures, draped in black clothes from head to toe, surrounded the castle of the deer clan from every direction.

They moved simultaneously, closing the distance with quick but silent steps. Some entered the castle through open windows at different levels, while two of them used the back and front doors to move inside.

In less than a minute, all of them arrived at the central hall, where a grand throne stood atop a high platform.

They only gave a slight nod to each other before spreading out again.

’Calling herself our ruler and isn’t even using a single guard to protect herself,’ one of the infiltrators whispered to himself, his dark eyes scanning the long, dimly lit hallway ahead. ’Her arrogance will be the end of her.’

He moved a few steps, took cover behind a pillar, making sure no one was in the vicinity before moving further again.

A few followed him from behind, while other infiltrators were already covering the distance from different hallways.

They all gathered at the intersection before a massive wooden door engraved with a deer’s face crowned in ethereal antlers.

The dark-eyed infiltrator stared at it for a few seconds, his hands tightening at his sides.

He carefully opened the door and entered on his toes. The others followed as well, with two of them staying at the door to keep watch.

The room was dimly lit; the only source of light was a table lamp beside the bed against the front wall, which was covered in curtains.

Two infiltrators reached the window, carefully opening it for an escape route as the others surrounded the bed.

The dark-eyed one slowly parted the curtains with trembling hands, drawing a dagger from his storage pouch.

There she was. The sleeping figure of Gumiho, her face still covered behind a veil as she lay straight with both hands resting on her abdomen. She seemed almost lifeless. If not for the slight rise and fall of her chest, they would have thought she was already dead.

All eight of them leaned forward, their sharp daggers pointing at Gumiho’s sleeping figure.

’We have no goddess!’ the black-eyed one declared as he brought down his blade.

The other blades followed suit. Just as they were about to stab Gumiho, a blanket of utter darkness, darker even than the night itself, appeared above her, halting the attacks.

"It’s a trap," the black-eyed man gasped. "We need to retreat."

The ones at the window were about to jump out, but it suddenly slammed shut with a loud thud. A similar dark veil covered the glass window and the door.

The next moment, all the infiltrators felt a stinging pain in their arms and legs.

Their eyes lowered to their limbs, a horrific gasp escaping their lips.

A thin line had appeared across their wrists and ankles, beads of blood emerging from them.

Thud!

Their hands fell to the floor, followed by their bodies.

"Aaghhhh!!!" All of them screamed in unison, in agony, as blood sprayed from their severed limbs, turning the stone floor crimson.

From the shadows along the wall by the door, Vyaghra emerged, holding obsidian daggers in his hands, blood dripping from their tips.

"Seventeenth assassination attempt in just two days," Vyaghra muttered, his footsteps echoing on the cold floor, drowning out the screams of the infiltrators.

His pale amber eyes glared at the dark-eyed man as he continued, "Your plan to lure the leader of these rats out of the hole has finally worked, Your Majesty."

"Catching him will not change anything," Gumiho’s calm voice echoed. "Soon there will be others who will replace him."

Strangely, it didn’t come from the bed.

The assassins’ eyes moved to the corner of the dark room, from which only a pair of pink eyes stared down at them.

’Wh-when did she go there,’ the black-eyed infiltrator gasped. ’O-or was she never in the bed to begin with? It was just an illusion.’

Vyaghra turned to the corner and knelt before her as he declared, "Then I will keep slaughtering every last one of these pests who dare to raise their arms against you, Your Highness."

Vyaghra was a proud man. He never bowed to anyone except his master and father. Yet, Gumiho had managed to earn his unconditional loyalty.

When he saw her sitting on the throne in the castle, giving orders with unwavering dominion, he realised she was the one who could truly bring dawn to not only the Beast Factions but the entire Western Continent.

At that moment, the words of his master echoed in his mind.

---

"Vyaghra, you have the greatest talent for darkness under the heavens," Arthur told him after a brutal sparring session.

Vyaghra forced himself into a sitting position despite the pain from the bruises covering his body, listening carefully to his master’s words. "The fact that you can already use Shadow Darkness of Sovereign Class before even forming a Divine Seed speaks volumes of your talent. It won’t be long before you become a High-Tier Beast and manifest the divine Soulforce, which will increase your control of the Shadow Darkness."

"However, Shadow Darkness must be used carefully," Arthur warned him in a serious tone. "If you overuse it without a divine seed, the darkness will corrupt you, forcing you to lose control and turning you into a mindless death demon. Even with the Divine Seed, the danger remains. Darkness is the most difficult attribute to master, after all."

"Master, is there a method to prevent the corruption?" Vyaghra asked, keeping his tone calm.

"There is," Arthur revealed. He tapped Vyaghra’s shoulder as he continued, "You need to find the light to keep darkness in balance."

Back then, Vyaghra didn’t understand his master’s words. But after seeing Gumiho using the very power to heal the world itself, he had found his answer. Gumiho was the light he must follow.

He must protect her from the darkness by becoming the darkness itself.

---

"Rise, Vyaghra," Gumiho’s voice came, warm and gentle. Being trained under the same master, she felt a connection of siblings with him. He was like a big brother to her, not that she would ever say so to him.

Once Vyaghra rose to his feet, she asked, "Have we received any response from the human factions?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Vyaghra replied with a nod. "They have agreed to the meeting for peace talks. But..."

After a brief pause, he revealed, "They demanded that the venue of the meeting be in human territory."

"Alright," Gumiho replied with a sigh. Her eyes shifted to the infiltrators on the floor, or more accurately, to the one with the black eyes.

"Have you told Lord Mriga...that his disciple, Simha, has committed treason."

The black-eyed man’s eyes widened, his face turning pale.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Vyaghra answered. "He has sent an apology letter and even said that he will personally ask for your forgiveness. As for Simha...he said that you may do as you deem fit."

"Damn you!" Simha cursed, his Soulforce dramatically rising. The mask on his face burned away, revealing the stumps of his severed antlers. He had cut them down to hide his identity. "You are nothing but a curse to the beasts! How can we let someone live who possesses the power to turn us into mindless animals? We are nothing more than slaves to you! I would rather die than serve a bitch—"

Slash!

His head rolled to the ground before he could utter another word.

Not just his; all the other eleven heads hit the floor with a wet thud as well, including the two who had been guarding the door outside.