A Rest

"We shouldn't have split up; that wasn't the damn plan." Cheng was furious that everything had gone wrong, still baffled by where Jun had gotten those artifacts.

"It's supposed to be a ceremony; how dare that guy bring weapons like that?"

Albion looked at these shameless assassins and, in a mocking tone, said, "We're attacking him with seventeen assassins at once, and you still have the nerve to complain about the opponent's methods?"

"You're right; from my perspective, this is all fair."

"Come on, we're not that far."

…

In a more open field, Jun sat down to catch his breath while letting his muscles, which had tensed up greatly, relax.

There wasn't much to do but wait; he knew he'd be found soon.

"What a mess, but all of this is better than trying to escape the Asura village without authorization," Jun thought, knowing how heavily guarded Asura village was to ensure that people like him never escaped.

Jun didn't understand codes, nor did he know exactly why the Haiyue Clan still strived to remain strong if they never interfered with the outside world. But what he did know was that if he broke the rules, he would die. Facing veteran assassins is more brutal than dealing with people with the same level of experience as him.

Even so, even so, killing is not pleasant.

At this moment, Jun did not feel motivated; he simply killed for purposes that did not fulfill him much.

When would the time come to use his sword for something he truly desired?

"He's around here, quickly."

Jun stood up, looked at his arms covered in cuts, and tied a bandage to stop the bleeding. "Superficial cuts, but I'll expose myself to greater harm if I prolong this battle any further."

"We've got you."

"You won't escape."

'But I was waiting for you, you bunch of idiots. I can't believe it; they're such big fools...' Jun, with his scarf lowered from his face, pulled it back up, looked at Cheng among the group of enemies, and felt disappointed.

He had expected more from that fool when he didn't attack him without thinking in the trial, but now that he was doing these things, it really disappointed him.

"How about we take a breather?" Jun shouted, still somewhat exhausted.

Albion smiled and asked from afar, "Will ten minutes be okay?"

"That's more than enough. I promise we'll finish everything here." Jun spoke as if he hadn't just killed seven of his pursuers.

Cheng gritted his teeth; this wouldn't work, as if Jun recovered, the likelihood of him killing them all would only increase. "We need to move; he's tired now; this is our chance."

"Are you that afraid of Jun?" Albion found the bodies of the other assassins, but all of them were truly disappointing in combat.

"It's not that. Didn't you just see him now? He has many tricks up his sleeve; we don't know what else he could pull out to harm us, but we're still wasting time here." Cheng thought he could take advantage of everyone and attack when Jun was dead, but his plan wasn't going as expected.

"The others were weak; we are not. We're not scared of that idiot," said another boy who sat down to take a break.

They could do nothing more than sit down; undoubtedly, this was the most disappointing blood ceremony in history.

Jun couldn't say that; right now, he was preparing his second weapon, specifically developed for situations like this, where he needed time to eliminate several opponents.

It was the famous green smoke bomb, one that would rob them all of their vision, giving Jun many chances to win this battle without getting wounded.

"Alright, we can begin."

Jun, who was pulling various things out of his backpack, stood up when he heard these words, looked at the nine remaining assassins, and muttered, "Cowards with fear, what a surprise."

"What did you say?"

"Come on, let's finish this," Jun said as he pulled up his scarf to avoid inhaling smoke when things got ugly.

There was no reason to be fair; this wasn't a story where honor brought a person eternal life or anything like that.

Jun knew his odds; winning a fight when it's one against nine assassins is madness.

"Alright, let's resume where we left off."

Cheng gritted his teeth, unsheathed his sword, and seriously wondered if continuing to attack Jun was the best idea he could think of.

"No, I won't be a coward."