Outside Mushroom Capital, at the edge of the mycelium bordering the mushroom fields.
Cloro had been waiting for a while.
He hid in a woodland linked to the fields.
Looking out, he saw neat rows of mushroom fields, humans picking mushrooms or carting beast corpses over.
The woods formed a shady cover, blocking the fields’ view—just dense tree shade, hiding any movement inside.
Finally, his contact showed—a bald guy in standard adventurer leathers.
Adventurers, always on the move, made perfect cover for secret meetups.
They didn’t know each other, just crossing paths for the mission.
For this, Cloro even tweaked his looks a bit.
Spies had to play it extra careful for these quick, covert meets.
Seeing an unfamiliar face, Cloro quietly sighed in relief.
His spot wasn’t quite “body in Mushroom Garden, heart with demons,” but screwing over old pals would’ve stung.
Strangers? Way easier!
Cloro handed over a scroll packed with detailed intel on Inanna.
Milo, the bald guy, leaned against a mottled tree trunk’s shadow, scanning it fast. A flicker of surprise crossed his face.
Beyond the basics—Inanna’s strength, looks, stuff known from the job—the scroll had her current location, predicted times and places she’d show, and a full rundown on her usual guards.
This goldmine saved Milo tons of recon, boosting his efficiency big time.
Milo tucked the scroll away, no small talk, no prying, just turned and left.
As an assassin, he didn’t need to schmooze or network like intel agents.
The mission was all that mattered.
Instead of heading into Mushroom Capital, Milo slipped into the dense woods near the suburbs, weaving through twists and turns to a hidden camp.
He scanned around—no one. Annoyed, he muttered, “Quit skulking! Got the intel! You a bat or a rat, hiding like this?”
A low chuckle came from nearby. A figure stepped from thick tree shade. “Caution never hurts. You’re human—who knows if you’ll get a wild hair and bring the Church’s Wings of Judgment back?”
“Like you were born a vampire!” Milo didn’t linger on it, tossing the scroll to his partner.
Milo, a legit LV56 diamond-tier assassin, was still fully human—for now.
His defection to the demons was simple: as an assassin, he’d done dirty jobs, raking in cash for fun with clean kills.
But you play by the river, you get wet. One slip-up landed him on the United Kingdom’s wanted list.
To avoid a life dodging like a gutter rat, joining the northern empire was his only move.
That’s why, human or not, he steered clear of human cities—too much hassle!
Normally, a diamond-tier newbie like him would wait years for the rare “First Embrace” to turn vampire.
But this time, Lord Sigmund promised a spot if they nailed the mission.
For an LV56 powerhouse, the blood core energy needed could mint a vampire earl. Plenty of veteran viscounts, stuck with lesser skills, envied Milo’s shot.
His partner, Giles, an LV50 vampire viscount, got picked for his knack at cracking magic defenses.
Milo knew the mission’s huge risks.
The target? A duchess’s daughter!
All his past hits combined couldn’t match her status, even if her strength barely hit gold-tier.
But if he always played it safe, he wouldn’t have picked the blood-licking path of an assassin!
Giles skimmed the intel, musing, “Next, we verify this info.”
“Verify’s fine,” Milo said, arms crossed, “but your ‘verify’ isn’t tailing her for a week, right?”
“For safety, it should be. Problem?” Giles shot back.
“You forget Sigmund’s tight deadline?” Milo’s words shut Giles up.
They didn’t know their boss endured nightly torment, only that this assassination had top priority and a brutal time limit—no room for slow, by-the-book steps.
A day later, they crept into the dense brush outside the St. Clair family’s private woods.
Storming the duke’s fortress-like magic defenses, killing the duchess’s daughter under a hall-tier butler and elite guards, then escaping? Near-suicidal, lowest odds.
Lucky break: the intel noted Inanna visited these family woods every few days to play.
The scary butler usually didn’t tag along—just standard guards.
A golden chance!
Still, as noble property, the woods were rigged with hidden alarms and magic arrays, even if less secure than the mansion.
So, they had to scout first. Giles would map all magic nodes, maybe quietly disable key ones to clear the path.
In the woods, Milo stayed sharp, watching from the treetops.
Giles pulled a ring with three odd gems, carefully slipping it into his mouth.
It dampened magic ripples around him, slashing exposure risk.
Then he tore open a special short-range detection scroll.
Invisible magic waves spread, revealing hidden constructs in his mind like reefs in water:
[Alert Array]
[Blast Array]
[Puffshroom]
[Mana Pulse Array]
[Puffshroom]
[Puffshroom]
[Puffshroom]
…
Giles froze.
He looked up, scanning.
The woods were quiet, not even a stray beast in sight.
Milo, on lookout, signaled all clear, spotting nothing off.
Giles silently triggered a second, precious detection scroll.
[Puffshroom]
[Puffshroom]
[Puffshroom]
…
Gulp—
He waved Milo down.
“Milo,” he whispered, “stay put. Don’t move an inch, or you’ll trip some hidden alarm we missed. I’ll check another direction for ambush or escape routes.”
“Let me come—” Milo started.
“No!” Giles cut him off, tone firm with “pro” logic. “My sensing range is limited. Together, I can’t keep you clear of all trap nodes. Wait here—I’ll be quick!”
Convincing Milo, Giles darted off, dodging dense shrubs. Once out of Milo’s sight, he dropped the calm act, panic hitting as he sprinted away from the woods!
An explosion roared behind him.
Trap! It was a trap!
Hopefully, his buddy could stall long enough!
But after running, he stopped. The surroundings had shifted. Looking back, his path was gone.
“Illusion?”
Ahead, a few “Aedins” strolled out lazily.
(End of Chapter)
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