Rivers of the Night - Chapter 291

Chapter 291: Occupied
Theron walked through the Daggers of the Night halls with a light step. He didn’t seem like someone who was out of place at all, despite the danger of the situation.

All things considered, he was currently in the hallways of the deepest reaches of the organization. There was no way that Mesmeralda’s living quarters would be anywhere else. That meant the odds of running into a Gold Assassin were exceptionally high.

If Theron put himself in their shoes, he would find that there was really only one way to react in this sort of situation: come together and discuss.

Assassins were lone wolves and didn’t often do things like this. But any smart assassin, especially one capable of making it to Gold rank, would know how to adapt.

The baseline of assassins was that there was no baseline. There was nothing they wouldn’t stoop to, which also meant there was no part of the principles they wouldn’t be willing to bend.

Of course, not all assassins were like this, and some had their own codes of conduct. But whether they would stick to them in times of struggle was another matter entirely…

Especially when all of them felt trapped by the spatial field here.

That was all to say that the number of eyes on this location was probably quite a few, and as expected, Theron didn’t make it very far before he was spotted.

Or rather…

Attacked.

Theron’s dagger unsheathed smoothly, and he took a light step back. The timing of his backward movement dulled the blow just the slightest bit before his wrist flexed, stopping it in place.

With a twist of his arm, the blade shot up the shaft, and all of his backward momentum became a strong forward push instead. Before the attacker could even react, a layer of skin on their forearm had been filleted off, the dagger itself coming to a stop at their throat.

A searing pain ravaged the body of the assassin, but now suddenly pinned to the walls, unable to move a single inch, they hardly breathed—let alone moved.

As expected of an assassin, they didn’t make a single sound. Their arm had practically been bisected along its length, and yet the chilling look in their black irises met Theron just the same.

The height difference made it so that the latter was looking up at the assassin, but the steadiness in their breathing completely belied the scent of blood pooling in the air or the droplets of crimson falling to the ground.

Despite the calmness on the assassin’s face, though, they were in shock. Blades had hilts and guards for a reason. Replaying the exchange just now, they had no idea how Theron managed to parry their blade like that and yet still remain close enough to slice their skin so precisely.

All things considered, they were lucky that Theron hadn’t cut any deeper—or else, let alone a layer of skin, their entire arm would have been worthless.

“I am the Head Assassin’s disciple. I only didn’t kill you this time because you were unaware. But if you attack me like this again, there will only be death waiting for you,” Theron said coldly. “Now bring me to the other Gold Assassins, and I will explain the situation.”

The eyes of the assassin narrowed, but after a moment, there was a flash in Theron’s Mana.

“Wh—”

The assassin just barely managed to stop themselves from crying out in shock. It was only at that moment that they sensed the Silver Mana wafting from Theron.

They had been handled so easily by a mere Silver Mancer?

At that moment, any doubt the assassin had about Theron’s origins flew out the window. They had never heard of the Head Assassin having a disciple, but they were all assassins—no one would announce something like that.

Back in the Thistle Brook Branch, no one knew that Raiden had been the old man’s disciple either. Theron had only pieced it together after the fact.

Assassins were people with a lot of enemies. If they were going to raise a disciple, it would most definitely be in secret. But this made the Gold Assassin quite wary as well.

They had been trapped in here for so long, and now the Head Assassin had sent her disciple instead of coming personally. Just what could this mean? What was happening?

Slowly, the Gold Assassin nodded.

With an arm still dripping blood, they led Theron down the hallways. All the while, Theron carefully memorized everything, taking into account what he could, measuring the distances, and judging where most of everything should probably be.

If he didn’t know where things were in the future, that would easily blow his cover.

Soon, Theron had been brought to a stone room. Though, technically speaking, they were all stone rooms—this one just happened to be a little larger.

Within, there was a coalition of Gold Assassins numbering over four dozen.

This was the largest contingent of Gold Mancers Theron had ever seen in one place, but he was exceptionally calm nonetheless.

His calmness, and the reaction of the others, though, was very different. They couldn’t be blamed, of course—not when one of their own was walking in with an arm dripping blood.

The Gold Assassin didn’t say a word about the state of their arm, though. Instead, they silently walked to the side, took a seat, and waited. The only thing they did do was begin dressing the wound, but the way they treated the ghastly injury made it seem as though they were helping someone else rather than themselves.

Theron didn’t speak immediately either, scanning the room step by step and taking into account everything he was seeing.

Then, his lips parted, his words coming out slow, but almost casual.

“My master is currently occupied. There’s been a change to the Sangun Province, and outsiders with power similar to the Black Clan—maybe even beyond—have appeared. The branch may be on the verge of being compromised.”