Vol. 6 - Ch. 80 - The Truth Behind the Unknown Cause of Death

Kuchi increased his speed and chased after the boy, capable of killing without hesitation even in broad daylight.

The boy suddenly turned and entered a three-story equipment store. Kuchi hesitated briefly, then followed him inside.

Narrow indoor spaces were prone to unexpected events, which Kuchi disliked. However, for dealing with just one boy, Kuchi didn't think it was anything to worry about.

—If Heavenly Ghost had hired a long-range sniper or a curse-based assassin, they would have been unable to act the moment the boy entered the building.

—But I'm different. Where the target goes doesn't affect my assassination method.

Kuchi tried to keep up with the boy, but his zigzagging movements inside the store caused some trouble.

—This guy's movements are a bit strange...

—Could he have spotted me?

—No, he couldn't have. If he had, he would have attacked me.

For safety, Kuchi deliberately paused, testing whether the boy's movements would change. The result was that the boy continued to wander aimlessly.

Seeing this, Kuchi boldly continued chasing. Soon, it reached the top floor with the boy, an empty warehouse with only two windows.

Outside the windows, the nearest building was five meters away. Kuchi didn't think the boy had the courage to jump out.

—Good, you're trapped!

Kuchi pounced confidently! But at that moment, in the blink of an eye, four things happened almost simultaneously before his eyes. 

The boy tossed out an unidentified sphere emitting white smoke, along with a long, black sword. At the same time, a completely black, humanoid figure emerged from the boy's shadow. Then, the boy vanished into thin air, and Kuchi couldn't find him anywhere in the room.

—Damn it! I've been ambushed!

Kuchi immediately turned and ran, but the blue flames chasing him from behind were much faster!

The relentless blue flames burned through Kuchi's body, and under the scorching heat, he was reduced to a small pile of black ash.

As an invisible assassin, Kuchi's death was also invisible and silent.

… 

So that was it. It turns out the enemy was invisible.

Seeing the notification that he had killed the Invisible Assassin Kuchi, Jiang Ran finally understood the reason for the 'unknown cause of death'.

Through mind-reading, after hearing from the sparrows that "the assassination target is here", Jiang Ran immediately turned and entered the building he had pre-selected.

In his estimation, there were two possible types of enemies: one that could attack from a distance with skills, and another that could silently approach.

If it was the 'invisible' type, Jiang Ran's mind-reading would be useless, because his mind-reading relied on the Dimensional Eye, and being able to see the opponent was a prerequisite for using it.

Therefore, after entering the equipment store, Jiang Ran continued his zigzagging movement as planned, reaching the top floor. Then, regardless of whether the enemy had followed him, he used multiple tactics, finally engaging the 'Shadow Step' skill to teleport to the building next door. 

When the smoke grenade exploded, Jiang Ran vaguely saw something swirling in the air. However, whether he could see it or not made little difference to him; the "Black Sword Flaming Dragon Horse" skill had a range that covered the entire room.

Finally, Jiang Ran, hiding safely, watched as the shadow clone unleashed the Blue Flaming Horse, thus ending the counter-assassination operation.

… 

After the 'Shadow Step' skill's cooldown ended, Jiang Ran returned to the third floor of the equipment store and retrieved the Black Sword Flaming Dragon Horse before leisurely going downstairs and leaving.

This way, even if Heavenly Ghost saw him leaving, it wouldn't reveal his 'Shadow Step' skill.

After leaving the equipment store, he was pleased to see that the three sparrows were still waiting outside.

Jiang Ran believed that Heavenly Ghost must have spent considerable resources and effort to find this Invisible Assassin Kuchi.

After the assassination attempt failed, according to Heavenly Ghost's usual style, he would probably take a break to formulate a new strategy before trying to assassinate Jiang Ran again.

The best proof was that Jiang Ran's next death would have nothing to do with Heavenly Ghost or Earthly Ghost—at least, that's how it appeared on the surface.

Alright, after overcoming the "death crisis", the next step is to save Heloise.

Jiang Ran already had an idea about how to treat her.

This situation was somewhat contradictory.

The "Stars' Warning" given by the divination rabbit spirit was indeed correct, but following it would mean avoiding the "trouble" of Heloise and forming some kind of alliance with Vanessa.

Jiang Ran's approach was to follow the "Stars' Warning", but not entirely. 

Don't covet the light dance of butterflies; in the end, he succumbed to that "fascination".

Don't ignore the cry of the deer; he had once ignored it, but now he was making arrangements to ensure the deer would "come to him".

Without the "Stars' Warning", Jiang Ran would have spent much more time and energy searching for clues. He was deeply grateful for the divination rabbit spirit's help.

… 

Shifting the view to the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons in the Hell Abyss Empire. 

The snake demon, Earthly Ghost, and the hawk demon, Heavenly Ghost, stared at each other.

According to Earthly Ghost's plan, Heloise should have been fully infected by the 'Parasitic Blood Snake' today and then died in a self-detonation.

But in the end, neither Heloise nor Banning were dead. They were both alive and well.

Heavenly Ghost was also puzzled. How could Banning leave the equipment store safely after the Invisible Assassin Kuchi entered with him?

Could Kuchi have failed? Wasn't it said that he never failed?

Heavenly Ghost immediately contacted his informant, hoping to find out what happened to Kuchi, but he had a premonition that the assassin might already be dead.

Neither demon wanted the other to know about their failure, but since both had surveillance capabilities, discovering the truth was only a matter of time.

Heavenly Ghost and Earthly Ghost now finally understood why the Lord of Eternal Winter's assassination attempt on Banning had failed.

This young man was truly unpredictable. ·

=====

July 8, 187

8:16 p.m.

Confession Death Countdown: 30 days left

Full Infection Remaining Time: 2–3 days

=====

In Dris Town, Vanessa walked dejectedly through the streets, seemingly taking her pet deer for a walk, but in reality, she was looking for someone.

Since this morning, when the Maze Instructor, Ice Star Shirley, announced the captain selection process, she hadn't been able to find Fick anywhere.

Now, she had resorted to looking for Captain Pryde. After searching for a while, she finally found him in the stables.

"Hey, I don't care if your name is Little Suzu or whatever, but without my permission, you're not allowed to approach Sasha!"

As soon as Vanessa entered the stables, she witnessed a bizarre scene.

Captain Pryde was standing with his back to the pegasus Sasha, as if protecting her, glaring fiercely at a tall and imposing warhorse.

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