chapter. 5

"HIIYAAAAAA!"

The knight's shout as they charged at Shadi, attacking him simultaneously. Shadi, undeterred, advanced confidently even though their numbers were greater than his.

The foremost knight raised his sword high, almost touching the ceiling of the corridor, then swung downward towards Shadi's head.

With reflexes, Shadi dodged the swing by tilting his body to the left, transferring his black sword from his right hand to his left, then with his left hand holding the sword, he slashed the knight's abdomen to the left waist, tearing it open and spilling out blood and entrails.

The second knight attempted to strike Shadi from the right, but his attack seemed sluggish compared to Shadi's speed.

Shadi delivered three consecutive slashes to the second knight's body: neck, abdomen, and left waist, followed by the third and fourth knights, who also received consecutive slashes.

The three knights were successfully brought down, leaving only three knights standing.

The fifth knight activated his magic sword, turning it into invisible mist, then threw the mist at Shadi.

Shadi, affected by the magic, found it difficult to see due to the mist.

"Illusion magic?" Shadi muttered, closing his eyes but remaining calm.

In the silence that ensued, Shadi moved with closed eyes, sensing the enemy's movements through his ears and killer instincts.

From the mist emerged two shadows, swinging their swords from left and right, crossing paths.

Sensing the danger, Shadi activated his magic as well.

"Shadow modify: shadow clone."

A black shadow appeared in front of Shadi, replacing him, and took the attacks from the knights.

Meanwhile, Shadi, behind his shadow, wielded two shadow daggers and swiftly slashed both knights simultaneously.

Now, Shadi stood before the leader of the knights, surrounded by his defeated comrades.

"Only you remain. Will you surrender or fetch your comrades?" Shadi spoke coldly, pointing at the fallen knights with his thumb.

"Hmph... What's it to you if you've defeated my comrades? I am different from amateurs like them," the knight leader said confidently and arrogantly.

"Very well, then show me your superiority over those amateur frogs behind you, frog leader," Shadi taunted, trying to provoke his opponent.

Angered by Shadi's words, the knight leader began emanating magical aura from his body, advancing to attack Shadi.

In a few steps, the knight was already in front of Shadi, swiftly swinging his sword towards him.

Shadi parried the attack but was pushed back significantly due to the immense force.

As Shadi pushed back the knight's sword, he retreated, but the knight immediately followed up with another slash to Shadi's side.

Shadi reflexively blocked the slash and was thrown against the corridor wall, not waiting for Shadi to prepare, the knight immediately thrust his sword towards Shadi's abdomen, which Shadi evaded using shadow movement.

Shadi kept his distance for a moment while the knight leader assumed a defensive stance.

"Not bad, your skills," Shadi remarked.

The knight leader did not respond, and a moment of silence ensued before both combatants advanced and exchanged sword blows.

With movements too fast for the eye to follow, they parried and exchanged strikes.

Neither seemed to gain an advantage; this was a fight to the death, so their defeat would mean surrendering their lives.

However, one of them didn't want to prolong this fight, so Shadi began using underhanded tactics.

"Shadow modify: shadow bind."

He released shadow magic beneath the knight's feet, which spread like tendrils and bound the knight's legs, rendering him immobile.

The knight leader was shocked when his legs suddenly couldn't move, halting his attack momentarily.

Shadi seized this opportunity, moving forward with his shadow to the immobilized knight leader and attacking his neck.

The knight leader was too late to respond to Shadi's attack, resulting in his head rolling off and rolling quite far from his body onto the floor.

After successfully killing the knight leader, Shadi broke through the door and entered the party hall where Lord Fredrin and the nobles were.

"I-It's the swift assassin, run!"

"Aaaahhh!"

"Save yourselves, let's go!"

Fredrin and the nobles were shocked to see Shadi entering their room, panicking and trying to flee from Shadi, including Lord Fredrin.

Unfortunately, Shadi didn't allow Lord Fredrin to escape; he extended his shadowy hand and restrained Fredrin, preventing him from fleeing.

"What is this? Let me go!" Fredrin exclaimed, trying to resist.

"It's not that easy, Lord Fredrin. According to the agreement, hand over the document, and I'll release you," Shadi said.

"I-I won't... everything, please," Fredrin's sentence was cut off when he realized that the nobles and merchants had already fled, leaving Fredrin alone with Shadi.

"a-all right, the document is in the box on that table," Fredrin said resignedly, having no other choice.

Shadi walked, carrying the bound Fredrin with his shadow, to a table with a wooden box adorned with golden carvings on its side.

"Open the box!" Shadi commanded.

Fredrin opened the box and handed over the land acquisition document.

"After that, deactivate the anti-dimension barrier outside the mansion," Shadi requested, which Fredrin complied with. He took a magical communication device and ordered his subordinates to deactivate the anti-dimension device.

Once everything was done, Shadi disappeared into his shadow dimension, leaving Fredrin lying limp on the floor.

The remaining guards managed to reach Fredrin's location and immediately approached him.

"Lord Fredrin, are you alright?" one of the guards asked.

Fredrin didn't answer the question; instead, he just stared blankly.

The guards escorted Fredrin to the infirmary for examination, while the surviving maids cleaned up the knights' bodies.

In the shadow dimension, Shadi changed out of the blood-stained dress into his assassin attire and quickly returned home to claim the mission's success.

However, an unexpected event occurred when Shadi felt his body being pulled and was thrown back into the real world.

Upon arriving in the real world, Shadi was confused before managing to calm himself down.

"damn it, what was that? Was that counter magic?"

Counter magic is a spell used to resist or cancel out enemy spells, and therefore Shadi was pulled out of his shadow dimension.

"Tch... Expert sorcerers, it seems. I know you're hiding, come out quickly!" Shadi shouted towards the secluded forest.

Behind the trees emerged a group of mysterious figures, cloaked and masked like Shadi, numbering ten in total, and they surrounded Shadi alone.

Shadi observed them from left to right before speaking.

"Are you after this scroll?" Shadi asked the group of mysterious individuals.

No one answered Shadi's question, confirming his suspicion.

"Hah... Looks like I'm not lucky this time," Shadi said, sighing heavily.

To be continued...