The sudden emergence of these black robed men surprised Kahn. But when he saw the suddenly opened door that came out of a stone boulder which was hidden in plain sight, he thanked whoever was watching over him.
But he wasn't hasty to rush in the door because the aura that came from these people was that of Peak Grandmaster rank person. Even the blonde man was an Intermediate Grandmaster. If he were to fight with these people, he'd at best be able to kill the blonde man and maybe one of the peak grandmaster fighters with the element of surprise and that too with his Hero of Darkness title & Berserk God Mode being active.
Otherwise, he'd be a headless chicken if he were to fight any one of these people during the daytime.
Since he wanted to avoid suspicion, he had stopped visiting dungeons and also no longer had any high-grade monster cores or mana ores on him to eat or absorb them because he used them to resurrect his subordinates.
And with the whole time being spent after that on hunting these noble clan heirs, his strength was still the same before he fought the Magma Drake Dungeon Boss.
It was more than enough to take out an Intermediate Grandmaster easily during the night with all his buffs but he'd still struggle in front of a Peak Grandmaster. And there were 3 of them. So unless he was an idiot who overestimated himself because of some OP buff skill, it'd best to stay out of these people's sight.
The men soon followed Bartholomew in the passageway. Kahn had also followed behind them using shadow walk and maintaining a distance so that they don't sense him. His aura and his presence was already hard to detect and during the night, the shadow walk skill and all his magic skills were also twice more effective because of the title. So he was able to follow them from 20 meters away without getting detected.
"Tell us about the target. And what do we need to avoid to ambush him quickly." asked one of the masked and hooded men.
"As you already know, this vigilante named Azrael has declared a war on our noble clans. He already killed 3 noble clan heirs and wants to kill my son next. But it presented me with a perfect opportunity to use his name and kill the clan leader. You do the job and make it look like Azrael did it." spoke Bartholomew and took out 3 parchments and gave them to the assassins.
"Here are his attack patterns and the type of wounds he makes while killing his targets. All you have to do is make similar wounds on the clan leader after you kill him and all the blame will be shifted onto him. Given the reputation of your Deathly Hollows assassin organization.. I hope you'll be able to kill a Semi-Saint rank Swordsman since there are 3 of you." informed the blonde middle-aged man.
Kahn, whose hearing was already sharp and could hear everything clearly under 100 meter radius was left speechless after hearing this conversation.
[What the fuck!! Are these people trying to shoot a gun using my shoulder?]
This was completely opposite to what he expected. First, he thought these experts were additional forces brought in to ambush and kill him. But there were actually here to kill the Volstov clan head. And were planning to pin the blame on him instead.
[Fine then.. Two can play the game.] he spoke and silently followed these people through the pathway.
"Make sure that you take away the amulet he is wearing. That way, it will look more believable that it was Azrael who killed the clan leader." spoke the employer.
"Why is that?" asked one of the men.
"It's something that one needs to come inside the bloodline tracking formation without alerting anyone. Even I'm wearing one. If you take it away, it'll be seen as he somehow knew about it and fought the clan leader to get it. But then had to run away without doing anything for some reason. Others will keep guessing but no one will know that it was the work of someone else." explained Bartholomew.
And finally when they had exited out of a hidden door behind a wooden shelf, a small dark room was revealed that appeared like a storage room. Bartholomew finally spoke again.
"The clan head is on the 5th floor. He's usually alone at this time. His room and office are marked on the parchment. I'm off to my residence where I'll be under a watch along with my son. So don't expect me to contact you again. And in case you're caught or killed.." just then, one of the masked men spoke.
"Don't look down on us. We would rather die than reveal the name of the employer. That's our main policy." said the man on the right side.
"I'll leave it to you then. The pathway will stay open till the morning, so finish the job before that." said Bartholomew and left the room.
The three men finally removed their hoods and robes. Their real attire was comprised of lightweight armor that didn't hinder their speed or movements in the slightest and the weapons were of the epic rank. Something that even most of the noble clans treated like family treasure but these people acted as if these were just normal tools.
After making small discussions on their final strategy, the three peak grandmaster rank assassins disappeared and left the room.
A minute later, a dark shadow emerged out of the passage door where whence they came from and another person donned in gray robes and a hood appeared.
It was Kahn in his Azrael persona.
Now he had two choices. He could follow behind the blonde man, kill him and then enter the secured residence where the clan heir was under protection. While his other choice was completely erratic and would benefit him a lot if things went according to his plan.
Kahn weighed down the pros and cons in his mind and finally came to a decision. He spoke to himself as he let out a greedy smile.
"While two dogs are fighting for a bone, the third one runs away with it."