Chapter 54: 26 Needs More Money

Chapter 54: 26. Needs More Money

Sabios was originally a scion of a noble house in Hal-Gansi. One deathly midnight, his brother sent him, still an infant in swaddling clothes, to the main temple of Cain.

This was intended to ensure Sabios would not compete with his brother for position, but to his brother's horror, the Withered Spirits threw Sabios into a boiling cauldron of blood. Most Duruchi infants die in unspeakable agony, their cries intertwining with the cold sneers of Cain's Brides. By the will of Cain, Sabios miraculously survived; he emerged from the terrible ordeal unscathed.

Sabios was subsequently branded with the runes of Cain and resided within the Temple of Cain, receiving meticulous guidance from an Assassin Master. He learned the way of the poisoned blade and the secrets of silent movement. He became a supreme killer and murderer. He was also a master of toxins, capable of coating his blades with various poisons—some lethal, others merely capable of inducing unconsciousness. With a single light scratch, he could cause an enemy's nerves to burn, their heart to burst, or their bones to shatter. He took great pleasure in witnessing the agonizing deaths of his enemies, often letting them suffer for days before they finally expired.

One day, the dying Withered Spirit that had thrown him into the blood cauldron told Sabios of his origins; shortly thereafter, the dying spirit was sacrificed to Cain.

Now, Sabios needed the Sovereign to verify this news. He sought vengeance; he sought to reclaim everything that once belonged to him.

Sabios accepted a contract to assassinate a Crackalond noble named Dakus Hellbane. He was well aware of the prestige of the Hellbane family of Crackalond, but driven by greed, he gritted his teeth and took the job. He then took a ship south to the Dimlight Tower, used the Sovereign to clear his path, exchanged the guards there for a warhorse, and began a day-and-night journey along the southern coastline of the Sea of Malice to reach Crackalond.

After that, Sabios waited. He waited for an opportunity, and finally found it on the day of the Twilight Tide. Seeing the soldiers descend from the stockade walls to provide support, he leapt from a black pine tree and used his grappling hook to scale the wall with speed; the six-meter-high stockade and pit traps were effortless for him.

Upon entering the enclosure, Sabios first went to the largest house. After observing for a while, he sensed something was wrong. Based on the arrangement of luggage and items, it was clear that three Duruchi lived here—two men and one woman—and there were no valuable possessions.

He went to another room, where the belongings were even more meager. Had it not been for the Hardrica hanging on the wall, he would not have believed that two Duruchi elites resided here.

Only after reaching Dakus's room did Sabios confirm that this was indeed the target's quarters.

"How cunning. A great noble actually lives in this tiny room," Sabios muttered softly, looking at the four mirrors attached to the ceiling.

Subsequently, he witnessed the Twilight Tide. He saw the Divine Secretkeeper emerge from the portal, heard the wild laughter of Loic, and saw the Magma Dragon exile the Divine Secretkeeper. He knew that the Duruchi standing upon the dragon's back was the incarnation of Adaeus, and he saw the Matriarch of the Hellbane family appear with the Warlock Coven.

Sabios couldn't help but lament in his heart: *What kind of massive job have I taken on? This needs more money!*

Dragging his exhausted body, Dakus pushed open the door and set down the Echo Drum. His eyes saw nothing but the bed; he didn't even want to remove his armor; he only wanted to lie down and sleep.

The moment he sat on the bed and lay down, the keen perception granted to Dakus by Morayge Heg allowed him to sense danger. Before he could draw his Messer, he braced his right hand against the bed surface, pushed off forcefully, and used his left hand to snatch the gilded dragon-patterned three-legged bronze incense burner from the nightstand.

Sabios had originally intended to attack the moment Dakus removed his armor, but Dakus had sensed him. Dakus grabbed the incense burner and performed a tactical roll, dodging the shots from the repeating hand crossbow. Dakus pulled out his flintlock pistol, disengaged the safety, and without even aiming, fired directly at the ceiling. At that exact moment, Sabios's second bolt arrived, striking the incense burner Dakus was holding against his neck with his left hand. With a loud *crack*, the repeating hand crossbow in Sabios's hand was coincidentally broken.

The damage to the crossbow left Sabios in a disadvantageous position. If Dakus managed to run out the door, the contract would fail. He decisively threw a grappling hook at the door, intending to settle the fight inside and prevent Dakus from escaping. He then wrapped the rope around a crossbeam and leapt down.

This entire sequence occurred in the blink of an eye. To Sabios's surprise, Dakus did not bolt for the door; instead, he swung the incense burner directly at the mid-air Sabios, gripping it by its feet.

At this moment, Dakus's eyes had turned blood-red, and his gritted teeth gave him a terrifying, ferocious appearance.

Sabios performed an extremely strange abdominal contraction, narrowly dodging the blow from the burner. Immediately following a backward roll, he drew the punch dagger and serrated dagger from his waist and charged at Dakus.

Dakus remained calm and composed; he did not lose focus, nor did he speak or shout—he had suffered such setbacks before. He also knew that a Cain assassin's weapons were coated with a dark poison synthesized from Black Lotus; one wrong move would mean instant death. Although he had been blessed by Edrez and Loic to enhance his agility and strength, there was no logic in rushing in blindly without such enhancements.

Sabios thrust his dagger diagonally toward Dakus's armpit. Dakus dodged to the right, closing the distance with Sabios, and swung the barrel of his pistol with his right hand toward Sabios's waist. Enduring intense pain, Sabios struck back with the hilt of his blade. Dakus raised the incense burner with his left hand to block the incoming hilt, the massive impact nearly causing him to lose his grip on the burner.

Dakus swung the butt of his pistol toward Sabios's face. As Dakus's movement distorted, Sabios jerked his head back, dodging the attack. However, the reverse blade on Dakus's bracer sliced into Sabios's hood, cutting through his chin and straight into his left eye, slicing up to the brow bone before sliding out. Sabios let out a scream and recoiled.

At this time, Rain carefully inspected the wounds of the siblings. Finding them harmless, he was about to make a sarcastic comment when he heard a scream from the next room. Flane, who had been lying on the bed with his eyes closed, suddenly turned and opened his eyes to shout at Rain: "Quick, go! The sound came from the Master's room, there's danger!"

Dakus charged directly toward Sabios's left side. Blood flowed uncontrollably from the left side of Sabios's face, and his left eye could no longer see anything. Sabios could only judge by sound. He launched a left-side defensive strike, giving Dakus no opening, but seeing no chance, Dakus dodged away. A whistling wind of a blade cut through the air as Dakus performed a roll to narrowly evade Sabios's thrust.

By this time, the whites of Dakus's eyes were entirely bloodshot!

(The items mentioned in the book are basically all useful, though the way they are used might be... erm...)

(End of Chapter)