Kahn followed behind the assassins from a far distance. He would always hide a level below the floor they were passing through to not get detected.
When he noticed how the assassins were doing the stealth work without getting caught, he felt enlightened because their techniques were simply flawless.
Unlike him who was using the shadow walk, a skill made from an assassin & a ranger skills, the professionals did it in a very neat and practical way.
They used their concealment skills and used magical artifacts that not only sealed any sound coming out of the 3 meter radius invisibility barrier that was cast around them, they also used mind distortion artifacts that put the guards under a mild daze as if they were looking at something far away while they were lost in their own thoughts. Their senses were also affected and weakened to the extent that none of them even noticed a silhouette of something walking right in front of them.
This was a perfect combination because not only it ensured that they'd not get caught, but also controlled the ability of the guards to sense their presence as well. Unlike Kahn who had to rely on the shadows of these guards and the architecture such as dark corners or shadow of pillers to pass or hide through them.
These were the true professionals who had absolute control over the battlefield. Forget detecting them, your own senses were weakened to the point these people could walk right in front of you and put a dagger in your throat.
[I gotta get me one of those.] thought Kahn as he felt the need to get those artifacts in the future. Naturally, they'd be far too costly and not available in many places to begin with.
[[Author : I know I'm throwing in a lot of names of unexplained artifacts and formations recently but roll with them for now because the MC never had a chance to study or practice them. His priorities were different. Definitely explaining all of them in detail in the next arc.]]
When the group of assassins finally reached the 5th floor, they took out another set of Artifacts made for isolating & noise cancellation. One wouldn't even feel the vibrations while walking on this floor.
Two of them spread across the floor which consisted 9 big rooms and currently, 12 guards were patrolling in between the passages while some were keeping an eye on entry and exit points.
Unlike all the previous floors where nearly 50 to 80 guards were stationed, this floor had the least amount of guards.
Mainly because who would dare to attack or ambush a Semi-Saint rank fighter? And that too right in his home where nearly one thousand soldiers were guarding just the main mansion.
When Kahn finally managed to reach on this floor as his body was still part of the shadows.. What he saw gave him a newfound sense of respect for these assassins.
All the 12 guards were already dead. Their bodies were placed close to the walls. Some had their throats swiftly cut while some had a knife passing through their eyes. Not a single sound was revealed to the lower floors and there seemed to be no sign of struggle at all.
Because everything in the perimeter of this floor was so silent that Kahn couldn't even hear or feel his heartbeat. He felt like being in some sort of limbo between life and death.
[Press F for Respect.] he praised these professionals like some noob getting gobsmacked after watching the skills of the pro gamers.
Compared to these people, his assassinations were a bit messy and took a lot of time. It had been nearly 3 minutes since these assassins entered the premises of this floor and all the guards were already finished off.
Although they had the advantage in rank and stats, the techniques were indeed worthy of applause.
[So I guess they'll be going in for the kill now.] spoke Kahn and kept on hiding at a far distance. He did not wish to be detected & killed by these people at all. Rather, he was rooting for them instead.
Because they were going to deliver him a big piece of juicy steak on a platter. And he didn't even have to pay for the meal.
Unbeknownst to the watching eyes of Kahn, the grandmaster rank assassins used the noise cancellation barrier and had finally cleared out the entire floor. Now there was only one thing remaining.
To take out the clan head.
Two of them now stood in front of the clan head's bedroom and looked towards each other before they finally opened the door.
But unlike they had expected.. The clan head wasn't asleep but instead, he was sitting on a chair at the opposite end with a black epic rank giantsword in his hand. The clan head of the Volstov clan was actually waiting for these assassins.
The assassins were stunned on the spot. Their strategy was sound but somehow, the Semi-Saint Swordsman had sensed them.
The man on the right of the assassin duo took out a green pendent and pressed the small bead in the center.
In the next second, the entire bedroom of the clan head was encapsulated by a dense black barrier. The noise cancellation formation was removed on the other hand and Kahn could finally hear his heartbeats again.
Inside the barrier, the clan head finally spoke.
"And here I thought Azrael was but one man." he said in his tyrannical tone and released his immensely dense and chaotic orange aura that filled the entire room.
"Don't compare us to that amateur. We've read how he planned his infiltrations. It's nothing but a jumble of many ifs that went into his favor. He's not even worthy of becoming a part of our organization." said the man on the left. Both these assassins however seemed completely unaffected.
"Interesting.. Then who are you lot?" asked the clan leader, still looking carefree as if this revelation did not faze him in the slightest.
"We're from Deathly Hollows. And we've accepted a contract to take your life. From one of your own." said the assassin without a worry.
"Not very bright, are you? Why are you even telling me that it was a traitor in my clan who hired you." chuckled the clan head as he got up and brandished his greatsword.
In response, both the men took out their daggers and replied in unison.
"Because dead men tell no tales."
Outside the barrier, Kahn slowly walked closer towards the door but he didn't hear any form of noise or even a struggle.
[What the hell is happening?] he asked himself.
Nothing was coming out of the room. No sound, no vibrations or even a sign of a fight.
His Hunter's Intent barely picked up three heat signatures moving inside the room as if they were fighting each other but as far as his other senses and abilities.. They picked nothing as if the room was present in some another dimension itself.
[Whatever they're using to seclude the battlefield.. Is definitely an Epic rank artifact.] he thought.
Inside the room.. A ground-shattering battle was happening. Dozens of attacks from both sides were clashing against each other. But the floor that had turned pitch after the assassins activated the pendant, appeared as if it was now indestructible and the walls of the bedroom had completely disappeared.
"What's this?" asked the clan head after his attack barely missed one of the assailants.
"It's a Domain Artifact you illiterate swine! This is why we easily kill ignorants like you who only think that physical strength is all that matters." replied the other man and threw a bomb at the clan head.
The clash between these men was enough to destroy a football field but nothing happened to the mansion or the clan head's room.
Kahn who was nothing but a spectator at this point didn't even understand what was happening. He had no idea how the ongoing battled he could sense inside the room hadn't caused any damage or alerted anyone.
[I better stay hidden or I won't even know how I died.] he thought and hid inside the shadow and went back to his original position.
Inside the domain, an intense battle was happening for more than 20 minutes straight where the Semi-Saint rank clan head was oppressing both the attackers easily and barely giving them a chance to retaliate. All they could do was dodge and parry to keep their bodies intact.
"With just this much.. You came to kill me? Are you looking down on me you little shits!!" he roared and launched a heavily destructive aura attack on the assassins. The strength behind this attack alone was enough to split the whole clan mansion in two.
Both the Assassins disappeared from his sight in the next second as if they never existed there at all.
The clan leader didn't leave his guard open and quickly swung his giantsword on his left.
Clang!
A spark of weapons clashing appeared and a figure defending against this giantsword was revealed.
The clan leader didn't even flinch and used his right hand to grab something in the air.
Grip!
In his hand, was the hand of the 2nd assassin who just tried to stab him in the stomach.
"Prepare for your death." spoke the clan leader with enraged eyes.
"Someone's definitely going to die.. Just not us." said the 2nd assassin and smirked at the clan head.
Stab!
The next moment, a black dagger suddenly pierced the neck of the clan leader and a figure of another assassin was revealed.
Boom!
An intense and ground-shaking burst of aura from the semi-saint rank swordsman threw all the assassins 10 meters away from him.
He clutched his neck in disbelief and noticed that this blood was turning black.
"How.. Did I not sense you.." spoke the clan head as he took out a high-grade poison antidote potion from his space ring and drank it.
"Who do you think was managing this domain from the beginning then? I became one with the Domain itself." chuckled the 3rd assassin who just stabbed the neck of the clan head. The blood on his dagger had turned black as well.
"There's no point in struggling. The poison our daggers have can't be detoxified by any normal antidote." spoke one of the three men.
Just in twelve seconds.. The body of the clan head dropped on the floor. His entire body had black veined patterns underneath the skin and a froth came out of his mouth.
Just like this.. One of the top 3 powerhouses of the Flavot city, a Demonkin semi-saint rank Swordsman & also the clan head of the strongest noble clan of Flavot city was killed by the three peak grandmaster rank assassins.
"I guess the time is about to be over, we barely managed to kill him before the artifact activation time ended." spoke the man on the left.
When the dark barrier finally disappeared and the bedroom of the clan head came to be. All the three assassins heaved a sigh.
SHRILL!!
The next second however, the entire space around them froze and everything stopped moving including their own bodies.
A dreary and murderous aura came from behind them and a ghastly voice spoke.
"Thank you for your help.. Now please leave your lives here for me."