Conflict After the Black Market

You wanna pick a fight with me, Old man?

"6 Million going once."

"Lord Phantom, is it okay you don't get that book?"

Ethan ask.

"No, My goal was not that book. But the person who bid on it."

Let's bullshit my way through this, I can't stand to admit that I just don't have enough money on me.

"...? Don't tell me, he's our target for tonight?"

"He is. If my information was correct, the Cultist aim for tonight action was the Book of Illusion. According to how much he dares to bid on that book, I can say that he's most probably are one of the cult."

"I see, That makes more sense. I mean, It's not like Lord Phantom have the chance of not having enough money, right?"

Yeah, how do you know that?

"Enough jokes. Now that our target is confirmed, there's no reason to stay here any longer."

"We follow him?"

"Let's make it quick and silent."

"Understood."

The Auction continues without any problem, while waiting for the old guy to leave, I managed to grab an Item to make you fall sleep more easier, it cost me 1.5M Gold.

It's a Platinum Necklace with a Blue Pendant attached to it, the Necklace makes the wearer feels at ease or so they said.

After some time like an hour, the Auction finally ends and the Target makes his exit.

"Let's go, Ethan, Emma."

The middle-aged man, who is guarded by two robed figures makes his way to a fancy carriage. It looks pretty expensive, is he a noble or something?

I mean, it would be pretty bad if I killed a noble. The authority might not let the investigation forgotten so quickly....

Maybe... I should retreat?

"Lord Phantom, why are you stopping?"

"Hmm... I just have a bad feeling about this."

The Knight order's will be really mad if one of the Kingdom nobles died after all.

"Is it perhaps... a trap?"

"Exactly, Thet let us follow them to their carriage too easily."

"What's our next move, Lord Phantom?"

But... I really wanted that book though. Surely, sacrifice is necessary for greater good? I mean, my selfish needs are the greater good I meant here, but still.

"We have no choice but to keep going. We can't let him escape, not when he's right in front of us. Keep your guard up and prepare for ambush."

It'll be fine!

As long as you did not get caught, everything will be fine!

Yes, you can do every crime you want as long as you not get caught!

"Are you both ready?"

The twin reply with a nod.

"Stick to the shadow and makes as little noise as possible."

And let's go rob that damn book.

Improving our agility with Magic, we follow the carriage throughout the forest as quick and silent as the night wind.

Ethan movement was swift, the one thing I learnt about Ethan was his insane adaptability. He have a talent copying movement that he saw, even though it's only once. He copy my footwork like a second nature, it is far from perfect but more than enough.

Emma in other hand often struggle in quick- pace movement. She often looks lost whe n she's in a situation that she doesn't have the time to think. Unlike her brother who likes to improvise his next move, Emma do better in step by step, fully calculated planning.

She is by no means inferior to her brother, both have a pros and cons. In fact, the combination of variation between them both will be great use in the future if I could manage them correctly.

They both continue following my footsteps, though of course I have to slow down significantly for them to manage to keep up.

Fortunately, the terrain in the forest was really bad for carriages. And the trees give us plenty of option to move around quickly.

But, what should we do when we reach the road? Surely things will become more troublesome if we met some guard patrolling the area.

We have to finish this before that.

"On the count of three, I'll kill the raider and you both target the horses."

Though surpiresd being given order suddenly, Ethan immediately regains his composure and prepare his shadow blade. While Emma eyes went wide open but she still nodding and conjure her bow of light.

"One... two... three!"

In an instantaneous movement, the raider throat got sliced and his body slumped onto the ground. While shriek of horses could be heard in the silent forest before the light of the horses eyes went fade.

Soon after, the carriage door opened and the robed figures came out.

I supposed they're undercover knights that served him?

I havw nothing against the Knight's order but, if you chose to stand in my way then do be prepared for the consequences.

Must be hard working for a foolish master that dared to challenge me, huh?

"State your business!"

Pointing their sword to the trees, the both man scanning every corner and yet failed to detect our location.

Without any notice, Ethan lunges at one of them with full speed and aimed to thrust the target throat.

"Tch-"

The man managed to block and even landed a counter attack on Ethan's body. He quickly moving his body trajectory to minimize the damage. And with the Shadow Cloak I cast, he managed to avoid severe injuries.

Soon, the other robed man joining the fight. With one of them sprinting to the left and the other to the right, they intend to surround Ethan completely while he still recovering his footing from the damage done before.

"Aggh-?"

A light arrow hits one of the knight legs and he scream in pain. His partner panicked for a moment, did not expecting that to happen. Ethan did not hesitate to take advantage of the situation, lunging once more with a swing to the neck, aimed for decapitation.

But his lunges was too slow. Again, the target block Ethan attack but instead aiming for counter, he instead retreated.

"Tch, nasty one aren't you? That's twice that you aimed for my neck."

The other knight who already healed his leg wounds with potion finally able to move again.

Emma could've aimed for the head... I wonder if she's not ready yet.

Well, at least she managed to fire an arrow to one of them.

And it looks like things will get messy if I don't join in right now.

I use Shadowstep to appear behind one of the robed guy. Stabbing his heart immediately, he didn't even have the chance to scream as his eyes went wide open.

*Thud

"Shit! Another one?"

Now that there is only one of them, might as well point out where Ethan did wrong.

"Ethan, Listen up. First, you can't aim for a single hit kill with your current strength. These guys are too exprienced for that, they have the tendencies to guard their vital when fighting. It is an instinct they forged along the way."

These robed man were by no means as strong as knight, they probably just some guards. But Ethan is just a child, he's like 9. Even though I'm the one who trained them, there's only so much you can do in one month.

"Tch, Die!!"

The man start to activate his magic and cast a water aura around his sword. With a speed that also boosted with magic, he rushed towards me with a large swing.

"Second, the moment your attack got blocked and he aimed for a counter, though you managed to turn your body around to minimize damage, you still took too long to recover your stances. It's as if you did not predict your attack will be blocked, you should be ready of every possibilities. If Emma didn't have your back, you will already got cut down from two sides."

Blocking it with my Shadow Blade, the man lost his balances. I put a small stab on his leg, and he stumbles a few steps back while grumbling.

"Third, Instead of lunging at him when the other one was Immobilized by Emma's arrow, you should just vanished to the shadow and prepare a surprise attack from an angle he could not block. Sometimes, going defensive doesn't mean that you're losing."

As the man looked up to charge at me once more, I already vanished. The man face starts to fall apart once he finally realized the danger he was in... there is no escape.

"N-no... I-I don't wanna die!!"

Raising his weapon, he look around to try to find me.

"And last but not least, if someone already knew you're aiming for their neck. Try to mix some feints instead just repeating the same move. If you don't do that, your attack will be so incredibly obvious to read."

I appear behind the man and give him another stab on his other leg.

"Aggh-"

As he fall down to his knees, with one quick swing.

*Thud

The robed man head was rolling on the ground, with a face in pain and tears in both eyes. The last sight he saw was a Phantom with face covered in pure darkness, looking at him with utter indifference.

"Lesson done."

It was too pathetic to even called it a battle. It was a one sided massacre.

"Lord Phantom, my apologies. I made too many mistakes in just one night"

"No matter, the fact you do so many mistakes and still survived is more than enough. I'm not expecting you to be perfect on your first mission, just make sure that you remember everything I taught you."

"Yes, Lord Phantom."

"Serve me well."

Ethan bow his head, until our exchange was interrupted by some kind of bizzare noise.

"HI-HIEEEE!!!"

What kind of creature made that disturbing sound-, oh it was you.

Right, I got too caught up in the moment, I forgot his existence.

The fat man started to roll on the ground when he fall down of the carriage.

He trying to push himself back up but couldn't. Maybe it's the fear, or just his body weight, you tell me.

"Y-y-you!! What do you want? Who are you?!"

"I'm sorry. But I have no intention on introducing myself to a fool who can't even stand up on their own."

Yeah, we're right in the middle of nowhere forest now. I won't risk anything leaked in case other customers from the black market was passing through and overheard me.

"A-a fool? You!! Who do you think you're talking to? Ugh-"

His face become red with anger and embarassment, he try to shout some insult but ended up as a whimper. Once again, he tries to pull himself back up but failed.

"Lord Phantom, you don't need to dirty your hands. Let me."

Hearing this, his face become more distorted and he slowly push his body to crawl away from us.

"H-HIEEE!! D-don't come any closer!!"

"Pathethic Swine, you dare to beg for mercy when all you do was evil!?"

Ethan eyes turned bloodshot looking at the supposed "Cultist". He maybe can't stand the sight of someone who loves to hurt others to be so meek.

"Ethan, calm down."

"...! Understood."

"... Though it is true that you need some more exprience. You may handle it."

Without waiting any more seconds, Ethan sprint towards the noble with all his might. Not giving a chance for him to get away even inches further.

*SWISH

A quick swing was all it takes to end this man's life, or so Ethan thought.

*POOF

All of a sudden, the noble's body turn into a mist, leaving no trace of him at all.

"W-what happened?"

Ethan frantically looked around for clues of what's going on. When he failed to found one, he turned his head to his Master.

"Lord Phantom, what is this?"

"... Hasn't I told you that you need more exprience?"

Looking his Master turning into a form of Black Liquid, Ethan was dumbfounded.

"A clone? Then, where is Lord Phantom?"

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"Huff, Huff, I-I managed to ran away!!"

*Tap Tap Tap

A heavy footstep could be heard in the forest, running with all he got and panting like a dog. The noble managed to slip away in the middle of chaos.

"Who the fuck are they? My guard did not stand a chance at them at all!"

A group of three has attacked his carriage when he's on the way returning to his mansion. Unlike any other group he has encountered, this one was definitely the weirdest.

"I never heard of an Assassin group who disguises themselves as children. What kind of weirdo!! Tch, nevermind. For now, I have to get away from here and reach the road."

Once he reach the road, the guard patrol will have his back. Surely the Assassin know better than to kill a noble inside the Kingdom?Yes, as long as he reach the road! Everything will be fine.

He assures himself like that and keep running as fast as his slow legs could get him to.

"...!?"

What stopped his foot was a figure... a figure that shouldn't be here at all.

The Phantom who moves so fast, his subordinates couldn't keep up. He easily managed to kill the guards he personally assign to protect himself like a fiddle.

The one that he didn't want to meet the most. Cold sweat start pouring even more from his forehead, combined with the tired gasping for air. He could feel that something is approaching from the dark... Death.

The sound of bushes, the falling leaves, and the cold night wind. Everything else doesn't matter anymore.

As he sees the black figure coming out of the Shadow.

"You really thought you have the chance to run away, swine?"

With a pitch-black coat and mask shrouded in dark, the air in the forest turned drastically cold.