"Reporting, sir. The villages surrounding the city have been completely destroyed. All civilians have been eliminated, along with several knights we believe belonged to the 12th Unit. We are continuing our advance. What are your instructions?"
A calm voice answered without hesitation.
"Keep pushing forward. Move silently. Carefully. Ambush the first and second main captains of the 12th Unit. I will arrive shortly, after I finish killing their Vice Captain."
The insect hidden within the hall remained perfectly still.
No sound. No movement. No presence.
It observed.
The Vice Captain stood at the center of the chamber, immersed in his training. Energy flowed around him in controlled cycles, rising and settling like breathing. His posture was relaxed, yet alert. Even now, layers of sound magic extended outward from him, subtle, invisible, constantly scanning.
The assassin waited.
Minutes passed. Then longer.
The Vice Captain was careful. Always careful. He never fully severed his awareness from the outside world. That made him dangerous.
So, the insect waited for the one moment that mattered.
The moment of discomfort.
The moment where focus slipped, not out of weakness, but out of strain.
When it finally came, the assassin moved.
The insect vanished.
In the same instant, it transformed, flesh stretching, form unfolding, into a six-foot-tall blond male with long hair and sharp, pointed ears. Two blades appeared in his hands, humming faintly with lethal precision.
He crossed the distance in less than a heartbeat.
One blade plunged straight toward the Vice Captain's heart.The other drove downward toward his brain.
Perfect angles. Perfect timing.
Both blades struck.
Steel entered flesh.
The assassin did not hesitate. The moment the strikes landed, he prepared to withdraw, already channeling his senses to confirm the kill.
Then it happened.
Something pushed back.
Energy surged violently from the Vice Captain's body, through the assassin's blades, through his arms, directly into him. A deafening impact erupted inside his chest, followed by a voice so vast and overwhelming it felt like the world itself had spoken.
Bone shattered.
Every bone.
The assassin was hurled backward, crashing across the hall, blood spraying across the stone floor. He landed several feet away, body broken, barely clinging to life.
As he lay there, gasping, a calm voice reached him.
"Ah," the Vice Captain said. "So, you finally decided to show yourself."
The assassin's eyes widened, not at his own condition, but at the fact that the Vice Captain was still standing.
"How…" he whispered. "How are you alive?"
The Vice Captain stepped forward slowly.
"I sent my men away. Dismissed my uncle. Lowered my guard on purpose," he said calmly. "All so you would attack. And yet you took far too long. You wasted an unreasonable amount of my time."
The assassin coughed blood. "That's impossible. Your heart and brain were destroyed. I saw it. There's no way… am I hallucinating?"
The Vice Captain tilted his head slightly.
"How do you know that was my heart?" he asked. "How can you be so certain?"
He stopped in front of the assassin.
"That's what happens when you attack someone you know nothing about."
The assassin's eyes flicked across the hall, mind racing even through the pain. Something clicked, something he had dismissed earlier as arrogance. The "threads." The bluebird spell the Vice Captain had cast on his uncle. Back then, the assassin had assumed it was merely a restraint, a way to monitor communication and magic. But now, seeing the Vice Captain standing with a shattered "heart" and "brain," the assassin understood the true purpose. Those threads weren't only surveillance. They were a mechanism, an exchange. A swap. A relocation of vital organs. The Vice Captain hadn't cast it to punish the uncle. He had cast it as preparation, using the uncle as a disposable container, so that when an assassin struck, the blades would hit a false target while the real heart and brain were hidden elsewhere.
The assassin laughed weakly, pain twisting his face. "You're clever. But that's not what I did to him. I used hypnotic magic. My specialty is the sixth senses. I wanted him to die peacefully. Even though he didn't deserve it."
He forced himself upright slightly. "If I had known I was facing a monster like you, I would have been more careful. How was I supposed to guess you'd be a demon who kills his own blood?"
The Vice Captain's expression didn't change.
"You were careful," he replied. "And you still lost. So that excuse is meaningless."
He continued, voice steady.
"Second, he wasn't my uncle. He was my mother's loyal servant. Served our family for years. But he betrayed us. I gave him a chance. And he still betrayed us again."
The assassin stared at him. "Then why aren't you killing me?"
"Because I'm curious," the Vice Captain answered. "Just as I was curious about him."
He gestured vaguely.
"When I took his heart and brain, I wanted to understand what made him unique. What made him special. Unfortunately, he died before I could."
The assassin's gaze shifted around the room.
The Vice Captain smiled.
"You're looking for my heart and brain," he said. "Thinking that if you reach them, you might still kill me."
He shook his head slightly.
"That's like a bug trying to reach the clouds. You are simply not qualified."
He leaned closer.
"And don't bother waiting for your allies. I noticed you following me since the forest. You're strong. Which is exactly why I had to be thorough."
The Vice Captain straightened.
"Don't worry. After you die, I'll make sure you're not lonely."
He drew his sword.
The movement was so fast it broke the sound barrier. The assasin's head was detached from his body.
"I wanted to give you another chance," he said quietly. "I really did. But high elves regenerate far too quickly. That puts me in an inconvenient position."
He sighed.
"Look what you've made me do."
His voice shifted.
"Sound spell one hundred-Mile Transmission."
The command echoed outward, racing through space itself.
"Teddy. Troll. Take the goblin and head to the forest. Aid Blondie."
He turned, eyes sharp.
"Blondie. Prepare yourself."
The Vice Captain smiled faintly.
"The attackers are coming."