The lands of Muwawa were located to the South-central region of the Sword Scar Continent with the current Toro being to the South East. In the old era of Muwawa, the Great River passed through the country draining water from the Great Lakes region and funneling it to the Northern Red Sea. This great river was a source of livelihood for many in the continent and after Muwawa’s fall, it still existed as a border between Toro and Kiziba.
The Sese islands were located in the Great Lakes connected to this river. These islands had a very important spiritual and cultural meaning to all the clans and tribes of Muwawa. As far back as history goes, not a single king of Muwawa ever established direct rule of these islands. While the islands were recognized as part of Muwawa’s territory, they had an even greater identity: The Islands of the Gods! It was this identity that kept the matters of war and politics from the shores of these islands. Even for someone of Bemba’s character, it was hard for them to go against thousands of years of ancestral teachings in order to invade the Sese islands. This was because the islands held a great position in the hearts of Muwawa’s former peoples as each of the original major tribes had an important shrine in Sese. The high status of the Sese islands was one of the reasons Kato’s declaration had such a drastic effect on the flow of fate.
However, while Bemba did not dare invade these holy islands, it did not stop him from sending assassins to hunt down any remnants of the royal family still remaining in Sese. It was for this reason that some elders of the royal family in Sese concocted a secret plan to send away Kato and Wasswa to the Masaba Mountains in the north. It was only a year ago that these two boys descended from the mountains.
…3 hours after midnight, Sese Town…
As the rain continued hammering on Sese, the plip plop of the raindrops hitting the accumulated water on the ground hid something more menacing. Dark figures could be seen shuttling across the streets of Sese towards the center of the town. Each of these figures wore dark robes made of some type of fur that did not soak in the heavy rain. They also wore thick hide boots that did not seem to disturb the rainwater whenever they stepped on the ground. In the lead was a man in a dark purple cloak; a man that many of the important figures in Toro labeled as the Merchant of Demise.
This was an assassin with an ‘amazing’ story if one could even call it that. At the very young age of 11 he had already stepped into the Apex of Mortal Body Forging. His great genius was naturally recognized in Toro and from then on he enjoyed a smooth path through the military ranks; from a cadet, to a commander and all the way to a general. In a few years, this man had already reached one of the highest political and martial positions in Toro. However, while his genius was unmatched, his morality left a lot to be desired. Rape, human trafficking, murder of innocents, indiscriminate plundering, corruption, and embezzlement of military funds, none of these crimes were beneath his doing. However, Toro was not a saintly nation either and what got him in trouble was not any of these crimes but another incident altogether.
“Every other crime is fine under the heavens but touching that shitty royal blood brings down the floodgates. Those nincompoops worship royalty like deities. Well tonight I will slay royalty!” As he thought about the incident that caused his downfall, the Merchant of Demise could not help but be consumed by anger for a moment. Sure he had indeed raised a hand against royalty in Toro’s capital but didn’t he also have some royal blood flowing in his veins too! Although it was just from a side family of the main royal family, royal blood should still be royal blood! Instead those ‘clowns’ in court had labeled his entire family as false royalty as he was convicted and sentenced to death. However, the nation could not lightly toss away his strength and he was inducted into the Black Cards Organization as a Dealer. This was a government-run assassin organization that utilized enslavement sealing techniques to control its operatives.
After serving as a Dealer under the title of the Merchant of Demise for almost a decade, he had finally seen some light at the end of the tunnel. As someone who had a high potential of stepping into the next level: the Lord realm, his intelligence exceeded the limits of the field of martial arts alone. After researching the organization’s seal on his body for almost 10 years, he finally had hope of escaping from Toro’s clutches. That hope was the very same royal blood he hated the most! Before taking the mission, he had been very close to breaking the seal and the last step was acquiring pure royal blood. Once he accomplished this, he would be free once and for all. Therefore, despite knowing the dangers of this mission, he even fought tooth and nail to be assigned this task.
“Ha ha, good, good, after I escape I will make sure to give everyone ‘what they want from me’. Haa-aaa, I’m a merchant after all, I sell people their ‘wishes’; the entire royal family, the capital city, no, not just that but the entire country shall ‘receive my blessing’ once I’m free. This seal is the only thing limiting my strength and suppressing me from reaching the Lord Rank! The only thing in the way of my birthright! The only thing keeping me from greatness! Once it’s gone I will be able to immediately rise up to a Lord level combatant and not a weak one at that given my level of accumulations.” As he silently spoke these words to himself he could not help but laugh internally while thinking angrily, “I served yet this was my repayment!” However he was more excited than angry as tonight’s mission would bring him freedom and it would be the beginning of his revenge.
This was a mission to strike the former royal family while they were at their weakest. “Isn’t it some un*********ed brats and dying old f*rts?” With that mentality, the Merchant of Demise had taken this mission alongside some other top assassins. Apart from his own team that went by the name: the 12 Martyrs of Death, there were 2 Coordinating teams: the Cleaning Vultures that ‘cleaned’ after assassins finished their ‘work’ and the 3 Hyena brothers who were the backup strike team on this mission. Apart from the Cleaners, every assassin on this mission was above the Earth Body Realm!
The Merchant of Demise was a Void Body expert and a peak Fusion Core Crystal Warrior, just a step away from the Lord Rank. As for the Merchant’s team, most of the 12 Martyrs were in the Sky Body realm with the strongest of them being Void Body realm Crystal Warriors. Apart from their high martial strength, some of the assassins emitted vague magical radiation of a high grade. It was clear that this group had Magic Masters in its midst with some of the assassins being Combat Magicians: warriors adept at both martial arts and magic. A force like this could decimate a village like the Jua village a hundred times over like nothing. Indeed while the Jua village had some Sky Body realm experts, none of them were Crystal Warriors!
The structure of the 12 Martyrs of Death had 3 lieutenants under the Merchant of Demise. They were not necessarily the most powerful but instead they were the most compliant subordinates in the Merchant’s team. The first lieutenant was [Red Mist], a powerful poison master who was currently dressed in dark-red robes. A layer of mist the color of dried blood seemed to envelop his entire body keeping away the rain. This was a figure that had been responsible for many major victories in war for the kingdom of Toro. Many enemy warriors had died under his poisons and the title of the Poison Witchdoctor echoed throughout Toro.
The second lieutenant was [Skeletal Demon], a Demonic Warrior with a borderline immortal body. Demonic Warriors were warriors who used Demonic energy and Demonic techniques as their foundation in training. Most of them came from the east, from wastelands known as the Demonic territory. This territory shared a border with Toro and Eastern Jin nation. Similar to Eastern Jin, this territory was filled with demonic energy and sometimes rampant demons would cross over too. Many humans were also influenced to practice demonic techniques by these demons while throwing away their humanity in the process. Skeletal Demon was one such man if one could even call him that as beneath his cloak all one could see was a skull with red fiery eyes. He had long ceased to be human. As for his reason to join the assassin corps, it was to escape imprisonment.
The third and final lieutenant had a vicious title: the [Plague Master]. He was different from poison masters like Red Mist as he controlled diseases, viruses, and plagues. Naturally, his method of attack had an extremely high risk and amount of collateral damage with many innocent men, women, and children dying by his hand. This man had been responsible for the massacre of tens of thousands in the Eastern Province just 20 years ago. He was a true sinner! One that had been condemned to die yet here he was, alive and working for the government. If the people of Toro knew that this monster was still kicking, what would they think?
Below the lieutenants were 6 "Middle Men" and below those six were 3 escape artists who served as the back-liners. The 6 Middle Men in the 12 Martyrs of death each had a codename fitting their personality and expertise. These 6 were: [Wind Walker Swift Gale], a wind-attribute warrior rumored to be one of the 3 fastest people in Toro; [Darkness Emphasis], an Illusion Expert with powerful befuddling techniques that could target the body senses, mind, and even the soul; [Swift Blade] who was a Sword Path expert rumored to have the fastest sword in Toro and condemned for attempting to assassinate the current king of Toro; [Thunderclap Chain], a thunder element warrior who claimed to be as fast as lightning; [Rain Walker], a rain maker and a diviner whose strength multiplied during rainy days; the last of the 6 Middle Men went by the title of [Grand Mole] and he was an the earth escape artist who was well versed in earth attribute spell techniques.
As this formidable assassin team stalked around outside Kagona’s hut, they heard a powerful command, "Fudu, take care of those rats outside." This was the voice of Wasswa Winyi, Kato’s twin brother. Immediately, the door of the hut opened and a great battle began. Their hopes for a silent assassination had just been dashed.
