Chapter 28: Assassin
His eyes alternated between the three knives flying at him, his mind racing as he thought about what to do in that situation.
But time wasn’t on his side.
The knives were all heading at him with equal speed, which means he couldn’t dodge them one after the other.
So what does Morden do?
He activated a boost, with a small twist to it.
[Strength +10 (temp)]
[Speed +10(temp)]
Instead of increasing one single stat to the max, he instead split it into two and amplified them.
He turned around and rushed at one with all the speed he could muster, and upon arriving he threw a punch at the knife and sent it flying away.
Due to his new location, the other two knives easily passedby without hitting him.
"Aren’t you a smart one, choosing to face one head on, if you had decided to dodge, then you would be dead by now."
Trying his best to ignore the stinging pain in his arm, Morden looked around him as he tried to figure out the enemy’s location.
But he just couldn’t pinpoint it.
Things went quiet for a bit, Morden standing still to listen for movement while his opponent tried to be as sneaky as possible, creating a deadlock.
Swish!
Morden suddenly noticed another glistening knife heading towards his eyes.
’It doesn’t seem like he is throwing this one; he is holding it.’
Though his opponent appeared to be invisible, he already had a plan on what to do.
The instant he noticed the attack had gotten close enough, he activated the boost again, increasing his speed to the max, and then he ducked and did a sweep on the ground.
He expected his feet to touch someone and probably knock him over, but his feet moved through with little to no obstruction.
The only thing he was successful in doing was dodging the attack.
"Hahaha, do you really think I can only turn invisible or something? You really are a naive kid."
"Another rule of the Bearer World kid: do not assume you know your opponent, or else you won’t know how you died!"
His words were followed by another barrage attack.
Knives weren’t being thrown at him this time.
They swung at him with crazy precision, all aimed at vital spots at the same time.
’How the hell is he doing this?’
He looked at all the knives coming for him at the same time and couldn’t help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.
Since he was currently bending on the ground as a result of his previous failed attack, he just couldn’t activate Boost to escape.
’I guess we will have to tank it and see what comes out from it."
[Durability +20(temp)]
Morden had just finished his preparations when all the attacks finally landed.
Ding! A dull sound ringing out
Might be due to their varying angles or force, but Morden could strangely feel them hurting on different levels; there was a strange disharmony to them.
Regardless of his injuries, Morden attempted to stand on his feet to attempt another assault on his opponent.
"Bastard," he cursed while gritting his teeth.
A knife had made a large cut on his Achilles tendon, and now he couldn’t stand back up.
"It was fun playing with you, newbie, but now I am done with what I was here for, so I have to leave," the voice said in a slowly fading voice.
"Don’t bleed out and die."
While on the ground, Morden watched a fully formed ghostly figure emerge from one of the walls and slowly head towards the door.
It was the all-too-familiar red ghost, and it was currently Leaving.
It wasn’t attacking anyone or possessing anyone; instead, it ignored him totally and just headed for the door.
"That bastard," Morden cursed through gritted teeth, it really must be him."
Though he didn’t have a face to hold on to, at least he had a voice to watch out for. And now that he actually thought about the voice further, it actually sounded familiar.
It was very familiar.
’From where? where exactly?"
He racked his brain as much as he could, hoping to find a memory he could connect this one to, and before long, he managed to find a connection.
"It was him,"
Another part of his memories seems to have been jolted, as Morden could remember someone saying something before everything went dark.
"It is time," and after that everything went dark.
For now, Morden felt he didn’t need to think of anything anymore; he had finally found the killer, and the last thing to do was to actually get him.
He felt blood rush to his head due to a feeling he couldn’t really understand, but before it could escalate, something else arose and washed away all those thoughts instantly.
After the red ghost had left through the door, the only thing left in the house was Morden and a strange silence.
"There was no noise, no pain, and no blood."
"Uhhh? No pain? No blood?" he muttered.
Seconds ago, Morden was covered in blood on the ground, completely immobile, and now there was nothing.
Not even the pain in his arm from punching a fast-moving knife.
’What the hell is going on?’ he said with a strange face.
Though he was extremely confused, he knew better than just to sit there and think of it since he was fine and his opponent had left; then he would have to return home to rethink.
Without hesitation, Morden stood to his feet and took a last look around the room before rushing towards the door and sprinting out.
He was heading back home, and there was this time there wasn’t any care in his steps; he just ran around with full focus.
Not too far from the abandoned building, a figure stood there with dark trench coats while he stared at Morden’s back with a mischievous look on his face.
"The first seed has been planted; now all we need to do is make it grow and sprout strong."
"Heheheheheheheh,"