The Real Predator II

"The situation is definitely in our favor, but it seems like he knows we are after him..."

"Do you think that old foggy spilled the beans? I could've sworn that he said he was neutral."

"We don't know for sure that the Guild Leader defected, but we can always ask him later and charge him with treason if need be."

"Hey, are the assassins just gonna watch? They should be skilled enough to pluck him out of that crowd without being noticed, right?"

"Who knows what they're thinking. Maybe they intend to wait for him to be alone?"

"Or maybe they fell asleep?"

"You idiots... The whole point of sending this entire elite unit was because Dragon Slayers generate many complicated variables that could make it tough for the assassin unit to do anything. We need to stay cautious and wait for the perfect moment when he's alone."

Around seventy-five hardened veterans were perched on the high up rooftops of many buildings, observing the energetic crowd below with a hidden bloodlust that couldn't be detected through their casual conversation.

The cities average building height was nothing compared to places like the royal capital, but it was enough to make someone with a fear of heights quite nauseous. The massive intersection that the front entrance of the guildhall opened up to was usually incredibly busy, and it was even more so nowadays, making business flourish and the surrounding buildings particularly tall. The structures they were silently waiting on were four to five stories so they had an amazing birds-eye view of their target, which they had their gazes centered on, watching every little detail of every movement he made, checking for any illegitimacy or a trap. There was nothing that could escape their vision.

The sun was close to the center of the sky but their shadows weren't cast down onto the street because of the angle they were at, so no one could notice them. That along with the legendary and epic four-star items hiding their presences for them made it unthinkable that they could've been noticed. The plan they cooked up had no flaws or possibility of failure.

Captain Usman was silent as he listened to his subordinates speak their mind freely. After the countless life-or-death battles they've prevailed over together throughout the decades, he typically ignored these types of unprofessional conversations if it didn't affect the mission too much. His experienced eyes never left the slightly paranoid and rushed man weaving his way through the crowd as Usman used multiple ranger abilities.

Every single one of Kyren's movements was being monitored with extreme detail. But they couldn't seem to find anything suspicious about his actions.

It's been a few seconds now and the imperial unit was on the edge of their seats as they itched to jump into action. Years of blood and battle gave them a slight joy to their work but they always controlled it when necessary. The prospect of fighting someone who supposedly had some of the powers of a dragon excited them greatly.

Usman's muscles and facial expression abruptly tensed up when he sensed something peculiar and he turned towards what seemed to be a restaurant with one of the legendary Grandmasters sitting at a two-seater all alone near a large window.

He was taken aback by how the A~grade powerhouse of many famed tales, a rather large idle of his, was looking in the direction of Kyren like he saw his long lost evil twin with a stupid but adorable look of amazement on his childlike face. A large myriad of complex emotions could be seen crossing his expression as a small amount of his aura seeped out unconsciously from receiving a shock.

No one else noticed his aura because it was only at a level that an A~grade would notice.

Despite the specialness of such a character, he didn't find it all that strange that he was here. With this event going on and the adventurers guildhall being nearby, it wasn't that hard to believe. He would love to meet him in person, but he was on a mission so that was out of the question right now.

'..... I wonder why he's dining there? Is he looking at the target? I can't really tell but somethings off here...' Usman stared deep into his hero's eyes and detected emotions that rubbed him the wrong way, "Confusion and... fear?"

"Did you say somethin' Captain?" The head of someone nearby turned to him with a perplexed tone. Usman was generally quiet in situations like these.

He looked for a couple of seconds longer before turning his gaze back to the target, "It's nothing."

He felt a bit unsettled by the look in his idle's eyes. His gut was telling him that something was terribly wrong, but he couldn't just abandon such a crucial mission on a mere notion, otherwise, the pompous higher-ups would get pissed and chew him out.

He ultimately decided that the target and the legendary Grandmaster that he's looked up to since his childhood was unrelated matters. His focus was now completely back to Kyren.

"Is he trying to lose us in an alleyway? What a fool, bwahaha!!" The same person who just interacted with Usman couldn't contain himself at the sight.

Kyren didn't even move far away from the guildhall before dropping into a dark alley in between two larger than normal buildings.

They've already unanimously confirmed through Kyren's demeanor that there was nothing suspicious about him, meaning he was genuinely flustered and trying to keep his cool. Their target apparently set no traps, was not acting, and had no common sense.

"If you're running from someone, you usually stick to crowded areas unless your sure you can lose them?! What's this guy's thought process?"

"They should be moving any second now... there they go!" One of the knights clad in full body armor from head to toe pointed out five dark silhouettes move at incredible speeds from different areas. Their speed was almost even too fast for them to follow with their eyes or skills.

"Looks like the parties finally starting!"

"Hopefully this wasn't a wasted few months and this gets interesting."

"He was really good at hiding, but not so much with running away."

"Let's see if he's even remotely a worthy opponent."

The five dark silhouettes dashed into the alleyway and there was an odd moment of silence among them, waiting for the order to move out.

Usman sighed at their childlike yearning for a fight, but he had no room to talk. They've been waiting in this city for too long doing hardly anything except train so they all developed a sense of resentment for their target who they couldn't seem to find for the life of them. They were all itching to either get this over with or get revenge, with Usman yearning for the former.

Usman's left hand raised and he summoned his choice weapon from his soul realm. It was a massive longbow of stunning quality that could reach his solar plex or chest in height. He was one of the best rangers or marksmen in the entire empire so this wasn't his only bow, but he chose this one for numerous reasons, namely for the unreal penetrative and distance abilities. The insane penetration was perfect for piercing through stuff like dragon scales if need be. He was staying back and command while sniping the target from a distance if things devolved to that point.

"You know the plan. Mages and archers on nearby rooftops, warriors and berserkers hide nearby, healers on me. Wait for an emergency signal from the assassins if they can't handle the situation... Commence the operation!"

Dozens of the soldiers left after images as they headed toward their designated areas, leaving a small group behind.

Captain Usman glared at that ominous and dark alleyway with mixed feelings. Unlike his usual unconscious scowl and serious complexion, this one was genuine. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was seriously off.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Within the alleyway, Kyren was met with a dead end as he looked up at the massive wall that blocked his "escape". It was the same alleyway that he and Maya used to change into their cloaks beforehand so he's already confirmed that this was a good staging area.

He couldn't help but internally snicker as he looked over some notifications that popped up.

<You've discovered the proficiency, [Theatrics]>

<You've discovered the job, [Actor], at an [Adept] level. You've also acquired the pre-rank of [Ace].>

<A majority of your magic, skills, talents, and abilities have been blocked..... processing..... you've easily resisted. Effects are nullified.>

<A strange but dangerous chill is detected in the air. A curse related to the ice element is inflicted upon you..... Your race is related to that of a reptilian. It's considerably effective..... processing..... you've easily resisted. Effects are nullified.>

'How cautious... but it's all for naught.'

He actually kind of forgot that dragons were reptiles, and therefore weak against the cold. His pursuers must've done their homework and guessed that he had some relations to dragons whether it be through himself or his equipment. However, he wasn't aware of the special powers of people with Slayer titles because he wasn't truly one himself, so he wasn't too sure as to why they would go this far.

He suddenly felt multiple sets of eyes bore into the back of his head and he fought back the urge to grin. He summoned his Draconic Animate gauntlets and combat boots from his soul realm as he used [Gene Transformation: Focused Transformation] to warp them to look more dragonlike and monstrous.

He slowly turned around and raised his arms defensively as if ready to go out fighting.

The five figures that followed him into the alley faltered due to multiple reasons. They quickly unveiled their presence and used keen eyesight to observe their target.

"So this is your Dragon Slayer ability? I must say I've never seen something like this..." The leader of the assassin unit slowly trudged forward and eyed him with both excitement and apprehension.

Kyren went into his acting mode and feigned a feeling of distress and slight anguish, "W-Who are you people and what do you want from me!?!"

His main objective right now was to stall until all his pursuers were thoroughly ensnared in his trap. This meant not just the Imperials, but also the Templars who were waiting for the perfect moment to jump in. The church was most likely trying to assess his combat abilities through the unknowing Imperials, so he would need to wait.

The assassin leader paused and looked between his comrades before looking back at him. His voice became hollow and cold as he said with a hint of threatening, "You must be joking. Did the Guild Leader of this city not tell you about us?"

"Huh? What does this have to do with the Guild Leader?! Was he in on this too?!"

After finding no signs of bullshitting, the assassins internally apologized for suspecting the Guild Leader. They swiftly drew their weapons and aimed some killing intent at Kyren.

He deliberately flinched at the onslaught of blood lust and he took a few steps back, looking threatened and cornered.

"How did you discover our existence then?"

"..... Ever since I stepped into the Guildhall, I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching my every move." Kyren pointed at the assassin on the far left who was within the building at the time, watching him in the lounge, "Then I noticed that man's attention on me so I tried to get far away from him."

It wasn't like an elite assassin from the Royal army to slip up like that. They could tell that Kyren was slightly weaker than them, most likely a peak C~grade or a newborn B~grade. This meant that his senses and instinct were monstrous and they raised their guard higher. There was a good chance that there was more dragon to Kyren than meets the eye.

"All you need to do is come with us and you'll be fine. We are apart of the Royal army that serves directly under the Emperor. All you need to do is come with us for a little bit, and once you answer our questions and cleared of guilt, you can go back to killing dragons or whatever.

In fact, we may even give you the rank of a Warlord if you're strong enough. There have been lots of draconic presences lately and the Empire would rather rely on its own strength and leave the church's Dragon Slayers out of this. So it would be great if you just cooperated."

The five revealed their insignias to prove that they were who they said they were.

Kyren seemed hesitant as he glanced at their weapons with unease. "Then why do I feel more threatened than invited."

"You drew your weapons first, so we just responded."

Tensions rose and an unsettling atmosphere dominated the ominous alleyway.

Kyren shook his head begrudgingly after a while, "Sorry, I'll have to decli—"

*CLANG* *TING* *CLANG* *CLANG* *TANG*

Kyren "just barely" managed to block the incoming dagger assault from the assassin leader. The leader was quite a few meters away initially but he closed the distance in an instant.

His twin daggers sent out a barrage of lethal attacks that seemed to pummel Kyren, leaving afterimages. A flurry of metal on metallic scales rang through the surroundings.

Some of the strikes managed to "somehow" get through Kyren's defenses and he would grunt while small cuts began to appear all over his body. It was hard to tell if any of the attacks made deep wounds because of the many layers of cloth and the thick cloak he was wearing, but they could all tell they were somewhat effective by the faint trembling of pain Kyren was doing.

The leader returned to his comrades and looked at his target with a hint of surprise. "He really does have an inhuman instinct..."

They all noticed that he managed to block all the vital shots and they were slightly impressed. But it didn't matter now, after all, the leader's attacks were only a distraction. That flurry of attacks gave the other four the perfect opportunity and enough time to cast some spells.

Kyren's [Spatial Perception] skill, which has been active for the entirety of the event so far, and his actual senses were showing some irregularities.

'Illusions huh? I guess they will be more useful than I thought. I just so happen to need some capable people of their expertise.'

The two assassins on the farthest left and right were fakes and the real ones were approaching from his front left and right sides. He also sensed faint darkness magic from the two on either side of the leader. It became obvious that they were about to use a skill or spell.

Kyren also noticed that their dark mana was slowly and discreetly connecting to the shadows directly behind him and he immediately figured out their plan. Two were approaching with stealth and invisibility while the other two were probably going to use some sort of instantaneous movement spell.

All six of them looked like they were in a fierce standoff with either side waiting for the other to make a move, but in reality, Kyren was already surrounded.

Kyren couldn't help but smirk under his mask, 'Let's get this over with as soon as possible.'

<Even if what you're about to do will be humiliating? Risking the activation of a curse?>

'I should last.' Despite saying that, he felt bitter about doing something as degrading as this.

The only two reasons why he didn't finish this right away was because some civilians could get mixed up among his enemies. Then he would have the problem of covering everything up, and he didn't have the ability to manipulate memories. The church in particular was much deeper in hiding, more numerous, and very spread out, so he could only go with this plan to get them all out in the open without any unnecessary complications.

Now fully prepared, Kyren made the slightest changes in his stance as if he was going to try an attack.

Seeing this, the leader said in a low voice, "*whisper* Time for round two then. You'll be coming with us now."

The two using dark magic literally sank into their shadows and instantaneously appeared behind Kyren mid-leap with strange items raised. The illusions disappeared and the two creeping up followed suit, also lunging at him with the same strange items.

This item looked like the handle of a whip but without the whip part. A magic circle instantly formed odd ropes of a weird material sprang out and darted for him as though they had a will of their own.

In that split second, the smug and triumphant assassin leader's eyes met with Kyren's and he caught an unusual but sinister flicker in his eyes behind the veil of darkness the hood provided him. A shiver went down his spine and his suspicion went through the roof.

A horrible premonition sank its teeth into his heart with no real reason as to why.