Chapitre 204: End of a long night
The Third Shadow shallowed his saliva and asked shakily, "Who are you? What did I do to offend you?" His grand demeanor as one of the five leaders of the Whispering Shadow was gone.
"You committed two sins," the man said. "Although, I suppose there's three now…" He looked toward the disfigured woman in disgust. "The first is your abhorrent acts you're committing now. The second is going up against the Arcellius Family."
"The Arcellius Family?" the Third Shadow whispered incredulously. That decrepit and fading family had enough sway to coerce a master assassin to move against him? He could not believe it.
"This was something that the former Third Shadow agreed upon. You broke that agreement." Hearing those words, the Third Shadow felt a chill down his spine. It was the words of judgement! The man continued, "The third sin is… you decided to harm someone close to us!"
"Us?" he asked confused, but his confusion turned to horror.
Because in front of his very eyes, an inconspicuous figure emerged from the shadows like a ghost. The Third Shadow paled. He was looking forward the entire time, held in place by the assassin's dagger. There was clearly no one there before! He was sure that this was the work of a single assassin. But the impossible happened! A person truly appeared from thin air! Worse yet, his horror turned into shock upon seeing the person's features. Their body was cloaked in black cloth, without any remarkable features, except for an ominous mask depicting a crying face and the setting suns. Indeed, these two were Inari and his partner!
After settling Shirley's affairs, they came straight here with the broker's help. The sad part was that the Third Shadow's location was not very hard to find at all. With the right connections, it was easy to learn who it was and track him down. There were many holes in his identity, unlike Lord Wenmord. Prior to his demise, Lord Wenmord operated as the Second Shadow for decades right under the Royal Family's nose. No one suspected a thing. That was how tight his information network was! On the other hand, the Third Shadow had none of that. This man was the epitome of a spoiled and rotten apple. His flamboyant and playboy attitude was known by many, as he openly flaunted his power. Many considered him the plague of Firecast!
Unfortunately for the Third Shadow, since the Third Hand was absent, that made Inari and his partner's infiltration a hundred times easier. The Third Shadow might have other capable guards under his beck and call, but the two master assassins were in a league of their own. Remember, they were Perception Realm Masters! They could already sneak into the Vensire Family estate and assassinate the young heir, the former Ten Dawn Tengon Vensire. By that logic, it was quite effortless to do the same here. However, there was a large difference. This time, they were not joking. They killed anyone and everyone that had a relation with the Whispering Shadow. This mansion was really drenched in blood and bodies! The fury of these two could not be settled so easily.
The Third Shadow might not recognize their true identities, but he did recognize their masks and skills. After all, the crying and smiling masked assassins were famous in the capital! They rarely struck, but when they did, mountains of corpses were left in their wake. They came and went as they pleased. No barriers seemed to exist for them. Whether it be a high-profile aristocrat, an affluent merchant, or a court official, they killed everyone equally. Their unfathomable skills earned themselves a perfect reputation. They were nicknamed the grim reapers! As assassins, this was the highest form of respect! The capital's underground world feared them, and the Third Shadow was no exception either.
"Grim reapers…" he muttered incoherently.
Wait… They mentioned the agreement with the previous Third Shadow. The one with the Arcellius Family, if I remember, was promised between… he realized as his horror and shock took another massive leap. No, that was impossible. It can't be those two! His eyes were widened, trying to convince himself that his realization was wrong. But as he thought on it, his body grew increasingly colder. If he was correct, then these two assassins, their identities went beyond the capital's grim reapers. If he was correct, then he really hit a dead-end this time. They were…
"You are-" he started when his mouth was slashed open.
He screamed violently as blood spewed from his wounds. Howling like a mad dog, his pain was unbearable. He thrashed on the ground, hoping for any sense of relief. He might be the Third Shadow, but he only inherited the position. He had experienced none of the hardships in life. One could say, this was his first taste of pain. Besides his cries for help, no one reacted. The three women looked on coldly, especially the one disfigured. She seemed to be relishing in his pain. Seeing this, Inari pondered for a brief second before deciding to hand her his dagger.
"This?" the woman wondered.
"You want revenge, right? This is your chance. Do whatever you like to him," Inari said demonically.
His partner gave him a sidelong glance and said nothing. The disfigured woman held the cold dagger handle and saw the dark blade light. The metal was coated to absorb light making it jet-black. This was a true assassin's weapon! Feeling emboldened by Inari's words, she marched forward fearlessly towards the Third Shadow who took her virginity and her beauty. Originally, she was forced into this by the Third Shadow. That which gave her infinite admiration and adoration was gone now. As a woman, what greater shame was that? So, for that, an equal debt must be paid! Her eyes glinted as she slashed down and… off came a particular man's part.
The Third Shadow screamed at the top of his lungs when the pain reached a new level. His hands were desperately grasping his now absent genitals, blood pooling through his clothes. If left on his own, he would likely bleed out in a matter of minutes. His eyes rolled back, and he fainted. The shock over losing his member was too great. The woman snorted coldly, while the other two women shivered in fear. She was so cruel and decisive! Regardless of the man's foolishness, he was still the Third Shadow, who controlled one-fifth of the Whispering Shadow. Castrating him was undoubtedly courageous, but also reckless. Even Inari was slightly speechless.
"Sorry about that, partner. I didn't think she'd be so quick on the draw," Inari apologized. He knew exactly how deep his partner's resentment ran. This was undoubtedly taking the wind from his sails.
The man snorted. "Forget about it. I've killed enough people already. You owe me one for this."
"Then let's wrap everything up and get out of here." Inari smiled. They spoke nothing like cold-hearted killers known throughout the capital, but best friends sharing banter. If not for his partner's disturbing statement, then the women could be convinced…
The disfigured woman returned Inari's dagger sheepishly. Her body moved faster than her mind, and she had yet to fully consider the consequences of her actions. Now that the reality caught up to her, she was horrified. She was a weak and powerless woman while the Whispering Shadow would never let this disgrace go. They would surely seek her to settle their debts! Therefore, she hoped to gain the help of these two master assassins. It was a farfetched idea, but she had to try anyways! As expected, Inari did not say anything. However, playing with the dagger that castrated the Third Shadow, he flicked it out. It pierced through the air and perfected pierced through the Third Shadow's forehead. With enough momentum to land hilt deep, he was instantly killed!
"There," Inari smiled. "If anyone comes asking about the Third Shadow's death, you can point to us, the grim reapers of Firecast."
"Thank you very much!" the women kowtowed hastily.
"Let's get going then," he nodded to his partner. With a flash, the two assassins disappeared, leaving the estate in ruins. Like this, both the Third Shadow and the Third Hand were annihilated in Firecast! The long, long night in both Algard and Firecast finally drew to a close…
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
DivineFifteen
DivineFifteen Now, we are finally reaching the end point of Book 2. There were many little tiny plot points I want to touch upon, as well as a brief interlude before Book 3, so I expect 20-25 more chapters of content. I hope that you enjoyed this book's storyline. It was a large departure from Book 1, both in style, scope, and characters. I'll talk more about this later in an afterword. Enjoy. :)
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone