The Masked Warrior had been Miller’s nightmare ever since he appeared in Rivershore City. He had never expected to be faced by such an enemy.

 

Originally, Miller thought that the Masked Warrior was Diapheis’ enemy, having only killed his son in passing.

 

***

But, he also knew that this kind of hitman was quite cruel, so Miller had asked a member of Shadow Spider to come to Rivershore City and take care of the guy; it’s just that--

 

“That damned assassin! I paid him so much, and he still told me that he had other business to settle--he would only go look for the Masked Warrior in the evening.” Miller was obviously angry, and a little scared, since he had started talking to himself.

 

How did he break in?!

 

He was only a Fighter, so what about all of Miller’s Mercenaries, what about his sentries.

 

“Don’t bother trying to work it all out, they are already dead.” Kade spoke in an indifferent tone.

 

Miller shivered and moved incredibly quickly for a fat man, darting off his seat and hiding behind the two Berserkers.

 

Gnashing his teeth, he asked, “So, who was it that hired you?!” His eyes had gone bloodshot with rage.

 

Without even waiting for a response, he started to crazily shout, “Kill him! Kill him! I want him cut into pieces!”

 

***

The two Berserkers immediately drew their large axes, holding them in one hand, while keeping their other hands near their waist; near the handles of small, strangely shaped daggers.

 

Kade was paying close attention to these men, and he knew from experience that they were Berserkers from the Barbarian Tribe on the edges of the Great East Sea: The East-Sea Tribe--those knives were throwing knives, the art was taught to them by the people of the small islands off the coast.

 

These were some of the hardest Berserkers to deal with, since they used the meditation techniques taught by the islanders to keep their Rage under control, and they also learned the advanced hand-to-hand combat skills also common in that area.

 

“Who hired me?” Kade spoke calmly as he took half a step back, immediately attracting the attention of all three men.

 

“Who is it?! Tell me!” Miller shouted, making a hand-sign to temporarily stop the Berserkers from attacking.

 

“Who hired me?” Kade spoke with ridicule evident in his voice, “Could it be that you don’t recognize me with a mask on, dear uncle?”

 

“You didn’t expect this day to come when you poisoned my father? When you collaborated with the Acheron Gang to plot against my life, you also didn’t expect me to fight back?”

 

Kade’s voice had returned to normal.

 

Miller’s shock overwrote his rage.

 

“This is impossible!” Miller showed an alarmed expression when he heard this familiar voice, “How did you do all of this? You are obviously a waste, with no Magical talent and no fighting ability?!”

 

Kade skillfully moved his broadsword through the air, causing the Berserkers to stiffen and Miller to jump back a step, before continuing in a cold tone, “Well, it just proves that you misjudged me. Just like I misjudged you--I could hardly believe that you were the kind of man who would murder his own brother.”

 

At first, Miller was having trouble catching his breath, but he soon spoke with a sinister look on his round face, “So what if you know? I had a very hard time looking for you. Who could have imagined that you would deliver yourself to my doorstep? As long as I can kill you today, White River Valley will be mine, the secret inside the castle…”

 

He suddenly stopped talking, the snakes inside his eyes started rotating at high speed, his laughter became gloomy and icy cold, “What are two sons worth? As long as I can get that thing…Hahaha, perhaps you aren’t aware, but I already received the Twin Snakes Great Blessing: Doom! You are destined to die today--Kill him!”

 

Miller gave the order again.

 

***

Under Miller’s command, the two East-Sea Tribe Berserkers, began their assault.

 

Even though the room was wide, it was still extremely cramped for a fight between Class Holders.

 

The first Berserker’s attack hadn’t even reached him when two small throwing knives had already left their sheathes and flew through the air.

 

This type of knife was exceptionally sharp, and aimed with unerring precision towards his vitals. Even for a Fighter like Kade, he wouldn’t die if he got hit once, but he may end up with wound that would take years to recover.

 

Miller had a sinister smile--for him, Kade was as good as dead.

 

But, since Kade’s eyes hadn’t left the Berserkers since he had arrived, the second the knives left their large and scarred fingers--he made a move.

 

With seemingly no effort, he spun his Broadsword and deflected both knives with almost no effort.

 

Kade lowered his stance as both Berserkers held the hilts of their two-handed Great Axes in both hands, ready to attack in an instant; both groups were intently staring at each other. The Berserkers’ Rage was building, helped by their feelings of impatience--they had failed to kill a 1^st Rank Fighter with their first attacks.

 

Just as it looked like the three were about to engage in an epic duel to the death--two shadows flashed through, one aiming for each, unprepared, Berserker. The shadows were as fast as lightning, their duel curved daggers glinted in the light.

 

With one surprise attack, they severed the tendons in both Berserkers’ arms and legs, before they faded back into the shadows.

 

With a grin, Kade darted forwards and decapitated both Berserkers.

 

Blood sprayed, Kade’s clothing began to get dyed red. Ignoring all of that, Kade used the clothing of one of the dead Berserkers to clean his broadsword, then coldly looked at Miller.

 

He looked like a Demon King that had just emerged from a pool of his enemies’ blood.

 

***

“How could this be?” Miller felt as though he had seen a ghost, watching those two strong men dying so easily in front of him. He couldn’t believe it, those two were true 2^nd Rank Berserkers!

 

Why did it seem like Kade was able to kill them with no effort at all?

 

Miller took two steps back, stumbling over the couch and falling onto his enormous butt--being woken from his stupor, he managed to get a look at those two shadows that were standing by the walls.

 

It was two Elves, but they appeared as though they were in a very bad shape, standing unsteadily.

 

“You two did very well, look for a safe place and heal yourselves before coming back to me.” Kade spoke, looking between the two women with a pleased smile.

 

Amber and Agate nodded, disappearing into the shadows while supporting each other.

 

Miller suddenly realized.

 

Actually, Kade had just attracted the attention of the two Berserkers, while the two Elves were the ones who launched the attacks that weakened them; the Elves used Sacrificial Assassination, severely wounding themselves in exchange for completely disabling their enemies.

 

Originally, with the Berserker’s abnormal constitution, if they had used Ancestral Blessing--they would be as hard to kill, in close combat, as a Wizard of a similar Rank would be at a distance.

 

But they had underestimated the 1^st Rank Fighter, Kade. Focusing their attention completely on him, instead of the shadows that were quietly creeping in from the sides.

 

This was Kade’s plan.

 

Unfortunately, the attack the Elves used: Sacrificial Assassination, severely weakened them for quite a long period of time. It was one of the reasons that many Players had chosen Phantom Assassins and their related Classes--this Skill ignored the target’s defenses, forcing them to enter a near-death state. However, for Players, the weakness was a 50% decrease in all Attributes for half an hour; but for NPC (Non-Player Characters) the downsides were much worse: only a 20% decrease in Attributes, but it lasted almost a week.

 

This meant that the two Phantom Assassins would be unable to help Kade in combat for around a week--but, he could still use Kylie’s extended Stealth, if necessary.

 

On top of that, for NPCs at least, the Sacrificial Assassination had a chance (10%) to miss.

 

The Phantom Assassins may have been severely weakened, but Kade had successfully killed two 2^nd Rank Berserkers and gotten 480 Exp.

 

To have two loyal and devoted subordinates like this, Kade felt that offering the Divinity as a sacrifice wasn’t a loss--he felt both of the Elven girls’ joy, and pride, when he shared his thoughts over their mental link.

 

***

“Well, is there anything else you want to say?” Kade stared at Miller.

 

All the fat on the large man’s body jiggled as he shivered, “You can’t kill me! I am a follower of the Twin Snakes of Doom! If you kill me Sir King Cobra will find you and turn you into a soulless puppet!”

 

Miller seemed to hold this as his last hope.

 

“Right, you won’t dare to kill me!” He suddenly became filled with a strange confidence, laughing as he continued, “I originally advised your Father to become a member, but he actually criticized it as an ‘Evil Cult’. It was only natural that I would kill him. He was brazen enough to insult the great Twin Snakes of Doom, serves him right for profaning those glorious Gods! You are also a little bastard; Sir King Cobra will avenge me.”

 

Kade looked at him with pity in his eyes, “Brainwashed into being a cultist? Did you think I didn’t make any preparations? The Twin Snakes Cult really have a way to follow the trail of their enemies--but I’m sorry, I know of a way to restrain it.”

 

He walked over and punched Miller, before drawing his spare dagger and carefully stabbing it into Miller’s eyes; he dug out the eyeballs in which the two snakes spun and swum.

 

A blood-curdling scream echoed in the room.

 

Outside the window, flames began to rage.