The card left Si-eun's hand with a whistle, its form cutting through air.
A shadow moved, using the shade of the trees as cover it tried to flee the scene.
It was clear, this particular assassin was on a different level compared to the rest.
Si-eun couldn't see the appearance of the assassin but the silhouette hinted at someone with a small frame, a child or a lady perhaps.
Their movements were nimble and graceful, not the kind those barbaric morons performed earlier but something more, like an art perfected for assassination alone.
Whoever it was, they weren't amateurs.
Si-eun, intrigued as he was had already reached his limit, any more and he was done for.
Not only would he fall ill but his entire demeanor would change, replaced by a persona of a teenage boy with emotional issues and an ego which needed whipping.
To cut the long talk short, he would become something similar to the old Azazel.
So he had no time to waste.
Several orbs of mystic flames materialized around him.
The orbs moved, chasing the shadow of the assassin while the card on the other hand, had a very special role.
Si-eun observed the assassin while his orbs pressured them.
He watched intently, observing the assassin's movement with a certain level of concentration.
His eyes were closed however his jester class made up for it.
Everything had a trace of mana in it, as long as it was a living organism and Si-eun's jester class blessing, the serpent's blessing allowed him to peer through the weave of any living creature that possessed mana.
It was better to say that everything that had mana or was made up of mana couldn't escape his sight during the skill usage.
Of course it required no mana since It was a passive skill so he could use it anytime even without donning the jester attire from his build set, the only requirement was that it could only work whenever his eyes were closed.
'Hmm?'
Something caught his interest.
The assassin was using a barely noticeable amount of mana on the sole of their feet to enhance their movement, clever and precise however it wasn't the use of the mana that caught his attention but rather the nature of the mana.
It was pale, like silver touched with the faintest hint of blue which was barely noticeable, unlike the nature of the royal family's mana which burnt a fierce golden glow, this was more refined.
"Moon mana?" He mused aloud, just enough for the assassin to hear it.
Their body froze for a brief second but by then the card was already against their throat just a few inches away from biting into their flesh.
The mystic flames vanished at the same time causing the tarot card to drift lazily in the air before reaching the soil.
Of course how could he forget, only one family possessed mana with the nature of the moon.
One of this world's most unique mana users and the only family in liefher to be blessed by two gods.
The moon goddess sehalia and the shadow walker, Ares.
This nimble assassin was from that family and was apparently one of the most important characters in the game, in some playthroughs they were even more useful than the protagonist himself.
He'd almost doomed the world because he got a little too excited.
Just thinking of the repercussions made him shiver.
Si-eun chuckled then opened his narrowed eyes.
"Ah… what a pleasant surprise, I must say I didn't expect the princess of the Avalion kingdom to grace me with her presence."
He lingered before giving an exaggerated bow.
"I, Azazel Von Astavore greets lady Tyrisa d'el Nyx, first princess of the Avalion kingdom, the noble flower of the Northern isle, blessed of the moon and the one loved by shadows. it is an honor to be in your presence."
The assassin's eye twitched but she said nothing.
"However…" Si-eun's voice sounded again, this time a bit colder. "If I may ask, why were you watching me, I almost chopped off your head by instinct."
The assassin frowned but she retained her silence.
Now that he got a closer look, Si-eun noticed her bright ruby eyes or rather her disguise, the princess Tyrisa d'el Nyx had a pair of strange eyes, well the Nyx family in general had cyan colored eyes which looked like a mixture between blue and a small volume of green.
'She ran off again, it's baffling how the king doesn't notice the member of another kingdom's royal family trespassing into his land… no, that bastard probably knew but did nothing about it for the sake of his supposed amusement.' Si-eun thought with exasperation.
He sighed then shook his head.
"Not speaking eh, well whatever I don't particularly care."
His voice dropped a few octaves, losing its playful tone as he spoke.
"But I do hope for both our sakes you don't speak of what you saw here, I can always whistle blow to the king, I'm sure he'd be more than pleased to have a reason to doom your kingdom."
As soon as he said those words his eyes lit up with avarice.
He ignored the presence of the Avalion princess and began to loot the corpses of the assassins he'd killed earlier.
"Aha… who ever sent these guys must be generous, look at this much gold, well considering who the targets were this much is reasonable."
A voice sounded from behind him, low but cold, her tone was laced with unmasked disgust.
"Have you no respect for the dead? Why must you dishonor their corpses." She asked.
Si-eun turned to stare at the Avalion princess like she'd just said the most ridiculous thing ever.
"Respect? What's that? Dishonor? Haha.." he snorted.
"Princess then tell me, who exactly should I leave the money for? The animals? My apologies your highness but walk out of your comfort zone behind the sheltered walls of the palace, you've clearly never been to the real world where situations like this doesn't matter, there is no honor for the dead, the dead are just… dead, they had it coming."
The princess stifled a curse as she muttered some inaudible words.
Her expression was torn between annoyance and reasoning.
In the end she jumped onto one of the tree branches then disappeared like a phantom.
There was clearly no use hiding her abilities now that her identity has been discovered.
But how? Just how did the lout of house Astavore fish her out?
She couldn't tell.
But what she did know was that he was dangerous, a dangerous, filthy shameless money driven clown, that's what he was!
Even worse, he had the gall to threaten her.
Her lips parted beneath her mask as she cursed in a language which sounded similar to Russian.
"Damn him."