Chapter 108 – Shadow Assassin

Volume 3: Rising Winds and Clouds

The Demon Seed narrowed his eyes at the sight.

Clearly, the suicidal assault was placing him under no small amount of pressure.

After a moment's consideration, he abandoned the idea of casting another Fog of War.

Fog of War was useful, but it consumed a considerable amount of stamina. The Demon Seed had already spent most of his strength casting other enhancements. Little remained, and he needed to reserve it for his life-saving Skill.

That Skill was his trump card-the reason he had dared charge into the Outpost after losing the protection of the Demon Qi Matrix.

"Fall back!"

The Demon Seed transmitted the order directly into the mind of the Bipedal Lizard beneath him. Unfortunately, hemmed in by a sky-blotting swarm of its own kind, his enormous "mount" moved with painful slowness.

The sight only spurred the distant Suicide Squad onward.

Their Captain did not need to say a word. Two figures sprinted ahead, one on either side. Twin earthshaking explosions tore another enormous gap through the Bipedal Lizards blocking the way.

"Faster!"

The Captain's voice remained calm and resolute. The Military-issued Protective Device in his hands had already lost more than half its energy.

At his order, the Suicide Squad accelerated. Two more figures rushed forward.

…

"Move, you fucking idiot!"

The curse burst from the Demon Seed's mouth. The Bipedal Lizard beneath him swung its enormous tail, sending its kin flying, then pumped its thick legs in an attempt to escape the approaching Suicide Squad.

But more Bipedal Lizards kept flooding in from ahead, inevitably slowing him down.

"Brain-dead morons!"

The Demon Seed knew he still had enough time and that the Suicide Squad's chances of killing him were low. Even so, fury boiled within him.

With another angry shout, he issued a new command.

The Bipedal Lizards entering the city scattered and opened a path before him.

At last, the Demon Seed breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced back at the explosions drawing closer and cursed again.

"Faster! Faster!"

The Demon Seed was plainly cowardly and deeply attached to his life. Without the Demon Qi Matrix's protection, one Suicide Squad's desperate assault was enough to send him scurrying like a frightened Rabbit.

His Level 5 Peak mount accelerated at once. Without other Bipedal Lizards obstructing it, the creature moved with astonishing speed-far faster than the Suicide Squad fighting through constant resistance.

Only after it reached the base of the city wall did it slowly stop.

The Demon Seed turned around and watched the Suicide Squad's final struggle in the distance. A savage grin spread across his face.

"I'm not that easy to kill!"

…

As if he had seen the Demon Seed's taunt from afar, the last surviving Captain of the Suicide Squad calmly drew two Micro-Nukes from his Spatial Ring. The light around the Protective Device in his hand was almost exhausted.

He gave the Demon Seed a strange smile.

"Mission accomplished… Now it's time for you Demon Spawn to witness me!"

BOOM!

Flame surged into the sky. The blast wave hurled away the Bipedal Lizards that had just surrounded the white Light Shield. The deafening roar, wind, and sand made the Demon Seed frown and turn his head from the glare.

At that instant…

A black shadow burst from the darkness at the foot of the wall.

The figure sharpened into focus as it moved, a short sword in its hand glittering with cold light.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye-and directly behind the Demon Seed and his mount.

A silent assassination.

…

Class: Shadow Assassin.

Skill One: Shadow Concealment (Rank B, Active Ability): Conceals the user within shadows, suppressing body shape, sound, scent, and all other information that could reveal the user's location. The user may move slowly through connected shadows. Attacking immediately reveals the user and prevents reentry into Shadow Concealment for ten minutes.

This was the Military's Shadow Assassin Squad: venomous snakes hidden within darkness, created solely to assassinate.

And once a member revealed himself, the ten-minute cooldown on Shadow Concealment was more than enough time for the Assassin to die several times over.

They were disposable assets.

Fang Wenhai had ordered the Shadow Assassin Squad into concealment beneath the wall as soon as the Demonic Creatures breached it. Their purpose was to kill the Demon Seed.

At the time, he had not known whether the Demon Seed would enter the Outpost. That did not diminish the usefulness of the deployment.

Even if the Demon Seed never appeared, Shadow Concealment would allow the squad to escape the encirclement with ease.

The moment the Demon Seed revealed himself, the squad had begun moving silently through the wall's connected shadows. They reached his position and launched their violent assault during the very moment he believed himself safe.

…

The cold blade at his neck made the Demon Seed suck in a breath.

He was Level 5. As a Demon Seed, he should also have possessed a formidable Racial Advantage. At equal Physical Attributes, his body should have been far stronger than that of an Ancient Demon, much less a human.

But the Demon Race had created his species specifically to control Baru Demons. Calling its body weak would have been an understatement.

Even after accounting for his status as a Demon Seed, his Racial Advantage was merely comparable to a human's.

In other words, his body was no stronger than that of a Level 5 Class Holder with the same Physical Attribute.

His Skill set was also all but useless in single combat. Faced with the Shadow Assassin Squad, the Demon Seed cut a pitiful figure.

"Save me!"

His terrified wail rang out as a mental pulse burst from him and spread across the entire Outpost.

Every Bipedal Lizard nearby turned and rushed toward the Demon Seed, even if doing so meant enduring attacks from Military Class Holders.

Under the pressure of death, the Demon Seed had made a strategic mistake. He no longer cared about his original objective: breaking the Outpost.

Unfortunately for him, the Suicide Squad's assault now showed its true value.

Apart from his mount, not a single Bipedal Lizard remained at his side.