Who was Fudu? He was the tall muscular guard with dark skin who had accompanied Kato, Wasswa and Wada; he was the fourth passenger on the giant white bird. When the assassins heard Wasswa’s voice, they immediately made their move. There was no use in hiding anymore.

In the lead was Skeletal Demon. Even though he had given up his freedom by joining the Black Cards Organization, today he was more excited than ever. This was because just a few days ago he had found out about a possible oncoming Demonic Territory uprising. "I can feel it in my bones! The Demon King has descended into this world. Within the next few years, the Demonic Territory will definitely invade Toro and the entire South East region!" This news that would shock anyone in Toro was known only to him. He knew that with a Demon King descending right outside the borders of Toro, the nation would sink into chaos sooner or later. “I only have to rise to a higher rank within the organization and this mission is the way.” His plan was to rise further and obtain a high position in the country so that he would have the power to assist the Demon King from within once the invasion happened.

“That way, I can receive more rewards from the Demon King!" As he thought this to himself, he could not help but let off a maniacal demonic laugh while rushing towards the door of the hut. Although his bony face had a naturally staunch look, what remained of his face could not help but contort in joy as he saw his future right before his eyes. However, at that point someone took one step from within the hut and some of the other assassins sensed something. A shocking strike! Skeletal Demon did not understand what had happened as his body continued moving forward due to momentum with his face still contorted in joy. However, his eyes which used to glow a fiery red had already turned pitch black. Death! A shocking spear strike had ended the life of the pseudo-immortal demonic human. Neither his regenerative powers nor immortality could save him. The mission had barely started yet one of the lieutenants of the 12 Martyrs of Death was already dead!

All the assassins were almost frozen in shock but everyone knew that a moment’s hesitation would reduce their momentum and in turn cost them their lives.

Before Skeletal Demon’s corpse even touched the ground, the second assassin had already arrived. It was another lieutenant, the poison master who went by the title of [Red Mist]. As he reached the door, he released a thick red mist around his entire body. In a split-second this mist split up into 3 parts. One part formed a [Seven Layered Poison Armor] around his entire body. The second part transformed into a red gaseous wall around the hut, the [Red Poison Veil Technique]. As for the last part, it formed a calabash poison gourd. This gourd named Buyu-Tango or simply Buyu was a Spiritual Item used to store over 1,000 lethal poisons. Unlike Red Mist’s usual poisons that came in a gaseous form, the poison in this gourd was in liquid form. Another strange aspect of the Buyu was that while the gourd could fit in the palm of his hand, within it was a poison lake so vast that it could drown out an entire village!

As Red Mist arrived within attack range, he pointed the Buyu at the inside of the hut. A poison master like him could kill everyone in the room without resorting to physical might. “Sigh, they are done for,” he thought with a sigh. After all, even opponents countless times stronger than him were helpless in front of his poisons. He was not just bragging. Red Mist’s greatest achievement had been defeating a Lord Rank warrior of an enemy nation! His title as a master of poisons was well earned.

In response to Red Mist’s attack, Fudu took his second step out of the hut. The burly man then clenched his free left fist and punched. His punch seemed slow to the observers but it was extremely fast. It only seemed slow due to the time dilation as all the combatants were moving at extremely fast speeds; speeds far beyond the limits of ordinary mortals. The speed of sound which children like Mwana found hard to reach had long been surpassed!

A river of poison that weighed upwards of dozens of tons flowed towards the inside of the hut in a collision course with Fudu. His fist seemed as if a tiny branch trying to stand in the way of an elephant. As the fist and the poison river from the Buyu collided, a shocking scene unfolded. The river of poison immediately evaporated before it even touched Fudu’s skin! Following that, Fudu’s fist continued unimpeded and crashed against Red Mist’s [Seven Layered Poison Armor]. The latter had barely sighed in relief for equipping his armor in the nick of time before noticing that the fist continued moving as if the armor was non-existent! The fist violently crashed into his stomach letting off a loud sound as if an explosion, “Bang!” Red Mist was downed in one punch!

He immediately fell to his knees coughing out several days’ worth of food. Following the vomit was a stream of blood and within the vomited blood one could see chunks of internal organs. Fudu’s punch did not send him flying away like a rocket; instead it had kept all the power and force of the punch within Red Mist’s body exploding within him like a bomb that ravaged his insides.

“What a powerful punch!” Everyone could not help but exclaim in shock. In less than a second, 2 of the lieutenants who were both at the Void Body realm were put out of commission! This was enough to halt the assassins’ steps.

Following Fudu, Kato and Wasswa came out of the hut side by side. As the heir, kato did not intend to hide as his guards did all the fighting. A huge battle was imminent.

As Fudu fully stepped outside, his momentum was enough to shake most of the assassins’ vigor. The most noticeable thing was that his body did not emit any energy fluctuations. He just seemed like an ordinary man as if none of his attacks utilized any special energy. Seeing the assassins stop, Kato moved to the forefront while observing each of them closely.

“What an ‘honor’ to have visitors on this sorrowful night. Since you are here to ‘help’ us send away our father, we shall gladly accept your ‘contribution’. On behalf of everyone, I Kato thank you in advance.” Kato said with a loud voice and even bowed down slightly towards the assassins. A bow from a King!

From within the hut a deep metallic voice commented, “A bow from a King. You should all feel honored.” This was Rukidi’s voice. He uttered those words as he followed his little brothers out of the hut. The assassins had just come in time to help the family blow off steam and wash away their sorrow after their father’s death. That was the reason Kato had even bowed to them. Their great sacrifice was indeed commendable.

“No wonder aunt did not sense them or send a warning.” As Kato looked up at the sky, he seemed to have noticed something that settled his suspicions. He had been wondering all along how the assassins got so deep into Sese unnoticed. While the town did not have guards with everyone having the freedom to enter and leave freely, it did not mean that there was zero security. A secret network of observers and guards had protected Sese in secret for countless years. Additionally, Kato had a secret information network in Sese placed under his maternal uncles and aunts.

Up in the sky, one would not notice anything if they did not look carefully but on closer inspection, Kato saw a dark veil enveloping not just Sese town but the entire island. He instantly understood how the assassins could get to his father’s hut undetected. This veil was the technique of one of the assassins who went by the title [Darkness Emphasis]. Unlike an ordinary illusionary domain, this technique consisted of 3 parts: Dark Veil, Dark Curtain, and Dark Blanket which targeted the physical senses, mind, and soul respectively and befuddled them.

Kato reached behind his back and retrieved his spear. With his treasured spear in hand, he took a step back as his muscles bulged and his veins popped. He then extended his body and leaned backward in an awkward position like a taut bow. “Pierce! Reigning Maiden!” With a great shout he moved forward and released his spear like a canon ball. ‘Pew’, the first veil was ripped through! ‘Rip’, the second veil was pierced! ‘Boom’, the Reigning Maiden spear collided with the last veil resulting in a huge explosion as the veil shattered like glass. This was a spear throw that combined Kato’s physical power, psychic power and even spiritual power all in one attack. An attack that many spear grandmasters could not even hope to replicate. This was Kato’s power!

The instant the veil was shattered, everyone’s senses felt sharper. The assassins on the other hand were even more shocked. Tonight was not their night as their plans collapsed one after the other. With the veil gone, Kato’s side was able to sense the position of the 3 back-liners under the Merchant of Demise as well as the 3 Hyena brothers and the Cleaners. Unlike the front liners, these assassin teams were distributed all over the island.

With a hand sign followed by a wave of his hand, Kato’s followers shot out of the compound towards the edges of Sese where these assassin backup teams were located. Kato had a total of 10 followers all possessing exceptional strength. When Kato had first descended from the mountains, he landed at the Podi port in Rukidi’s territory with his followers before moving on to Kiziba. In the year after his deal with his older brother King Kisitu, Kato had settled down in Kibiro with his subordinates.

While he had many subordinates, he only had ten followers as this was a special class of subordinates. All 10 had taken an oath to the king unlike the ordinary subordinates. Kato’s followers were: Bukulu and his wife Wada who was Kato’s eldest sister; Kagwe and his wife Ndimu Wala; Yaddon and his wife Nansa Sang Wawo; Bulemezi and his wife Kweba; Mazina and his wife Mu who was also another of Kato’s older sisters.

Apart from these followers, Kato also had another Internal Security Organization. This organization had been formed long before his position as heir was made official. For a long time, it was already known that Kagona would offer his kingly blessing to either Kato or Wasswa. As the mother of the twins, Namu Kana’s position had also been elevated to Queen Mother and together with 9 of her siblings they formed a team called “Mabawa ya Mfalme” which translated to The Wings of the King. Each former king of Muwawa relied on his own maternal aunts and uncles as the backbone of this internal security team. The Queen Mother’s sisters and brothers would be scattered across the kingdom where they collected information in order to forestall any rebellious plots by civil chiefs, or a prince’s attempt to dethrone the king.

After Kato pierced the three-layered veil, the [Merchant of Demise] quickly told [Darkness Emphasis] to retreat behind him as the latter was not as strong in physical combat as in illusions.

Not a moment passed before another move was made. This time it was by the assassin Swift Blade. This was a man known for possessing an extremely fast blade, one that could even draw blood from the king of Toro. It was his plans for rebellion that had landed him in the Black Card’s Organization as a dealer. While his strength was no less than the Merchant’s, Swift Blade was known for his extreme arrogance no matter who he faced thus he was not placed in a leadership position.

“Is he the heir? It’s just a brat. Let’s not waste anymore time here.”As he thought this, Swift Blade’s sword had already reached Kato’s eye. However, although Kato noticed his attack, he did not even make an attempt to dodge or parry the sword. Kato looked at Swift Blade plainly as if he did not care about the attack that was about to end his life.

“Where does his confidence come from? Even a Lord Rank expert would not be able to escape unscathed if they do not take this attack seriously. For him, he is guaranteed death!” However, Swift Blade’s thoughts were interrupted by a light to his side before an object hit his sword at extremely fast speeds parrying it to the side.

Kato did not even lose a single hair to the attack however he was not the one who blocked it. As the sword continued vibrating in his arm from the force, Swift Blade looked to the side where an old man was standing with one arm outstretched holding an energy blade. This was old man Kasi.

Watching the entire sequence of events, the Merchant set his eyes on Kato as the magical device in his hands vibrated. This was a sensory device given to him for this mission for the purpose of identifying the heir. While the initial plan that involved trapping the royal family in the illusionary veil before killing them all with Red Mist’s poison had failed, killing off the heir would still turn the mission into a major success. As for the Merchant, Kato’s blood was the most ideal for his escape plan. Although the strength Fudu and Kato had showcased had shocked him, he still had to strive towards his goal.

“I will attain my freedom no matter the cost!” As the Merchant was thinking about how to isolate Kato from everyone else, Kato himself pointed at him with his spear and called him out, “You. Are you the leader? Let’s go elsewhere. Let us not disturb my father’s rest any further.”

New Words

Buyu - Calabash

Tango - Gourd