Chapter 73

Their mission was to assassinate a brutal Yerusian warlord. A massive fight had erupted between the two assassins over the warlord's head. When reinforcements arrived, they relentlessly bombed the base with fighter aircraft. Nash escaped, but Shawn was left behind in the inferno. Nash hadn't expected Shawn to survive.

“Number nine on the Blood Leaderboard!”

“I’ll be number nine once I kill you!” Shawn laughed coldly, tightening his grip on his blades before charging at Nash. The other killers raced toward the warden. Chaos erupted. Walter and Grant dove under a table; Stellar and Henderson stayed by the warden's side.

Nash sprang to his feet and darted forward with incredible speed. Two black figures collided. The clang of metal followed. One figure weaved through the five killers advancing on the warden.

Ten seconds later, the man with the smiley face mask stood before the warden, appearing seemingly out of thin air. Shawn remained motionless. The five killers held their ground.

Zakariah gulped. “They move so fast, I can’t even see their strikes!” As head of the martial arts association and a fifth-stage Grandmaster, his inability to follow their movements was mortifying, yet undeniably true.

Stellar approached Nash. “Is… it over?”

Nash nodded without further explanation.

Shawn stared in disbelief at a bloody arrow protruding from his chest, where his heart had been. He looked up at Nash. “How… how are you so powerful?”

Nash leaned in and whispered something in Shawn’s ear. Shawn shuddered violently, collapsing. His gaze unfocused, his grip on his blades loosened.

Slam! Slam! Slam!

The remaining five assassins fell, one after another.

A breathless teenager from the Lee family ran up. “Has… has been found…”

Olivia urged, “What did you find?”

“I’ve found the old master…” the teenager gasped.

Olivia shoved the teenager aside and raced toward the mansion.

Joseph, looking guilty, addressed Stellar and the warden. “Colonel, warden… I apologize for my rudeness!”

The warden smiled. “It’s not your fault… To be honest, I’m to blame. I led the killers here!” They had infiltrated the Lee estate to kill him, but thankfully, his mentor was unharmed. He would have been consumed by guilt otherwise.

Joseph bowed to Nash. “I’m sorry for misunderstanding you!”

Nash ignored him and returned to the warden’s side. Shortly after, Olivia returned with a different wheelchair, Mr. Lee seated within. The warden rushed to greet him, but Mr. Lee began to wail like a child.

Olivia whispered to her father, “Grandpa was stripped naked and stuffed in a closet. He must have been terrified!”

Joseph’s face contorted in pain. “At least he’s alright… at least he’s alright!”

“Then… should we proceed with the celebrations?”

“Let’s proceed. Set off more firecrackers later!”

Joseph went to his father; Olivia went to reassure the guests.

Stellar approached Nash. “Are you alright?”

Nash crossed his arms. “I won’t die!”

Stellar said with apprehension, “Those killers were terrifying. I can’t imagine what would have happened if you weren’t here…”

Nash smiled slightly. “So, are you going to increase my pay?”