There was a difference between a good assassin subordinate and someone Classed as 'Assassin'.
It was the difference between existing for the job your given and existing before the Class itself.
Being a human first and a tool second.
At least, one woman prided herself on being that.
Purple Wasp was codenamed after her ability to poison others to death. A 'hero killer' of Jianghu.
Under the reign of the Heavenly Demon, the Ming Cult; of the Pleasure Palace subsidiary division, she was practically born to kill. However, she found herself being outshone by an upstart like 'him'.
He didn't even have a nickname. The man was simply called 'Assassin Jone' out of specificity.
And yet he dared get more attention than her!
It wasn't a title as grand as her own, but his skills seemed more perfected and fleshed out than hers.
Range, accuracy, strength, technical precision. All of that came easy to this man of such mundanity.
How could that be possible?!
The femme fatale looked at the snivelling coward looking scared in front of the body of their target.
One had been successfully captured, but one mistake had put their entire operation in jeopardy.
This wasn't the scene their employer wanted.
Duke Bryan wanted an on-site scan of their physicality and capabilities, then send the details.
However, such a thing couldn't be done on the dead. All life force would fade from them quickly.
This would render their investigation useless…!
"Keep watch and don't mess anything up. If you screw this up even further, I'll kill you myself."
"Sorry…" Jone held his neck.
A sinking feeling grasped her heart the more this man at her level acted like he was some nobody.
Did he not notice it?
Killing without hesitation wasn't easy to do. You either needed to be gifted, or emotionally unstable.
Since his head seemed to be working fine, it had to be a gift. That's how the Ming Cult would see this.
If he had been born under the Blood Art Demonic Palace subsidiary division's influence, she was sure he would have made a name for himself. But here he was, unable to properly cope with his instincts.
Ruining a simple job because of his bloodlust…
No, could it even be called that?
As an assassin herself, she had seen many kill without the need of showing true killing intent.
They were top-class professionals in their field, and all who had hearts that defied common sense.
But Jone killed almost like he himself was a lifeless cog in the machine. It made her feel curious.
However, she didn't have the time to ask.
'This is all I can do myself.' For the sake of her own livelihood, she needed to step up the playing field.
Only a true 'Human' like her could possibly do this.
She took out a recording device to plant on her shoulder and some smaller cameras for autopsy.
The Duke couldn't call her in case 'Investigators' found traces of magical waves, but this was fine.
She'd just blame it all on Jone upon their return.
'Fool… This is definitely overkill.' She lifted the bloodied corpse off the bed and put it down.
The first thing to check was his meridians.
Rather than opening him up, she shone a strange light from her hand that scanned his entire body.
This was a Personal Skill she'd learnt years ago.
A technique that probably would be impossible for her to learn or master if she hadn't ascended.
The strange skill was called 'Autopsy Scan'.
Rather than relying on a Dao, it took her seeping her energy in a specific way into her target.
An ability that didn't fit her aesthetic at all.
Regardless, she had a big advantage over those newbies who had only recently entered this realm.
Their weakness only made them easy prey to her.
Though it also gave her a headache since different realms had different systems of advancement.
She sighed and cracked her neck before going straight into it. Her hand placed on the body's leg.
A voice recorder time-stamped her statements:
"Deceased died from a bullet wound through the dead. Death came about almost instantaneously."
She shone a pen-like flashlight camera at the front and back of his neck. The room light turned on.
"Small indications of burns around the inner layer of skin suggests a 'Magic' was misfired recently."
She didn't have to open him up to sense the lingering internal energies escaping his body.
There was something she noted:
"Slight traces of 'Lightning Energy' confirmed."
These two factors put together suggested the target was close to fighting back against Jone.
If he hadn't took the shot immediately, chances were that it would've turned into a drawn-out fight.
It was something assassins like them loathed.
Her hand opened the stomach area of the white-haired figure's clothes before she groped at him.
"Lacking of a 'Qi Centre' or any physical alterations whatsoever. The chance of being a fighter is slim."
Although she could tell from his calluses that he'd trained in hand-to-hand combat, it didn't seem like his main profession. The only way to be more certain of this was to find his main weapon choice.
Unlike the so-called 'Alaya Humans' of Pandorica Nation, Earthlings had too many magic systems.
To figure out a resident of Gaia, all you had to do was check the nature of their base Attribute.
If they had the Light Attribute, they were a true Gaia Human. If not, they were an Alaya Human.
Their Class or skills were meaningless to Duke Bryan beyond that since everyone was the same.
Their difference in Spirit Essences didn't change the way they used Mana or manipulated Ether.
Nothing about them was surprising.
On the other hand, every 'Magic User' and 'Martial Artist' of Earth had different flavours to them.
Even if they went by similar names to each other.
Purple Wasp checked the bed to find a long metal stave-like object that had a kind of blunt point.
She recognised it immediately.
"Energy conduit for Magic confirmed as a 'Wand'."
Things were gradually getting easier after she narrowed down the type of power he commanded.
"The type of Wand seems to rely on magical conductivity rather than autonomous casting."
"Lacking of spell carving on the heart and brain denies the possibility of the target being a 'Mage'."
"Overall evaluation from physiology and belongings suggest that the target was a high level 'Magician'."
She finally breathed a sigh of relief after finishing her report. All except one recorder turned off.
The camera on her shoulder remained active.
The femme fatale turned around to see her teammates quietly watching her figure in awe.
"You're always so smart…!" Jone expressed in admiration of how she remembered all that.
Biology wasn't really a strength of his.
The magic user and 'Ninja' behind him agreed. The kunoichi-like woman was the first to step forward.
"What's next?" The girl asked eagerly.
"You come with me. Jone and our ticket out of here will stay here to watch over the target right here."
"What?" The fearful killer couldn't believe his ears.
"You almost made this mission a bust. Do you have any objections?" She held her daggers in hand.
The man quickly shut his trap.
He wasn't willing to offend her whatsoever.
"Then we all agree. Someone needs to take care of our escape route anyway. Or am I wrong?"
"Why won't you call me by my name…?"
"Get a proper title, then I'll call you that."
"But you call Jone by his name…!" Purple Wasp didn't even bother to address the girl's sorrows.
To her, their only magic user was just a tool to help her go back and forth between different locations.
It took a Spell Slot out of her, but that much was fine as compensation to use 'Shadow Transfer'.
The only thing her side of the group needed to do was grab the remaining targets and gather them.
Once done, they'd all be transferred together.
Since killing them wasn't their goal, she wasn't willing to bring along a talented liability with her.
She closed her eyes and heightened her senses before walking out. Her sensory organs reinforced.
"I can't sense our targets."
"You're perspective is wrong." The mansion was quite big, but not enough to escape her range.
The 'Ninja' that accompanied her only sensed using her Mana Sense, and that was her mistake.
Because both targets lacked a magic signature.
When she got closer and saw them with her own eyes, she couldn't believe they were Ascenders.
Both of them seemed fragile…
'Should we even hide ourselves?' A part of her had become lazy, but her professionalism kicked in.
She swiftly shook away those slothful thoughts.
Her hands tightly gripped onto the poisoned daggers she excelled in while approaching.
After getting a clearer look, she found herself finding that the old drunkard seemed strange.
Although weak, her eyes could see that there were countless number of scars etched into the old man.
This didn't range from cuts or gunshot wounds.
No, there was something deeply wrong with this seemingly ordinary man. It hadn't hit her yet, but…
"Huh? W-what?" Confused words came out of the stumbling man's mouth. She strained her ears.
Her squinted eyes catching a glimpse of the breaking of Spell Circles on the drunkard's back.
'Was it because that other target died?' She realised how important a role Sebastian played.
"What's wrong with you?!" Adam spoke hurriedly when his new teacher abruptly fall on his knees.
Purple Wasp heard something interesting:
"I think… Sebastian's dead."
"WHAT?!"
"He carved some life support Spell Circles into my back. It hurts… My organs are falling out of place."
"Then-"
"Don't! You need to run!!"
Of course, it was already too late. Her teammate lunged towards Adam before he could escape.
While she herself grabbed chose to take down the old man. Her steps leisurely while he collapsed.
"If you come with me, I can help you."
"Did you touch them?" Rather than sounding scared, Simon's intoxicated eyes looked at her.
The uneasy feeling those eyes gave unnerved her.
"The younger one isn't dead. If you want it to stay that way, then you better not make a dumb move."
Her eyes shifted to the Ninja, who had already caught and bound the owner of this mansion.
Her hand silencing the ordinary young man.
This was ended in checkmate.
There was no way for the weakened old drunkard to do anything. In fact, he was the weakest one here. She could tell from looking at him that there was no part of him that hadn't been damaged.
Her experience in autopsy and analysing loving opponents gave her a kind of 'clear sight' on him.
Secrets were hard to keep in front of her eyes.
However, Purple Wasp only seemed to become more cautious as her ignorance started to wane.
'How is he still alive?' There was no question in her heart that the life support magic was for comfort.
To survive, he didn't really need Sebastian's help.
Even without the assistance, the drunkard was still carrying himself despite how impossible it seemed.
Despite having fallen earlier, his creaky bones and degraded flesh was able to hold up his body.
Was he a zombie…?
"I think you need immediate medical treatment. I can give it to you so long as you don't resist."
"Don't act high and mighty. If I was in my prime, I would've smacked you away with my pinkie finger."
"But you're old now. Die like an insect, you fossil."
"Rude bitch…" He seemed all bark and no bite, so she got closer to him while keeping him observed.
A tranquilliser with enough potency to knock out an elephant appeared in her hand. It was too late.
The dart stabbed his abdomen.
"Urgh… Hey, you call this poison?" He still spoke empty words as if it would change the inevitable.
Even though he acted tough, the tranquilliser dart did its job in forcing his mind to lose all tension.
His eyes became heavier…
…and his sobered eyes truly started to get murky.
"Hmmm! Mmmph!!" Fear started to overcome the pitiful landlord. He struggled with all his might.
Of course, nothing could change his destiny.
Simon had fallen asleep on his two feet. Kang Hyuk was knocked out. On top of all that: Sebas died.
His fate was to become an experimental subject.
Sensing that the Duke had already switched off his observation tool, Purple Wasp finally took it off.
Her shoulder felt tired…
Little did she expect that at that moment, a sudden eruption of lightning would destroy a certain room.
The life support magic on Simon's body started functioning again, but this escaped her notice.
A smokescreen covered the hallways…
…and walking out were shadowy silhouettes.
Her mind stopped functioning for a moment when she saw their faces. She couldn't believe her eyes.
Sebastian Pegasus lifted his wand at her silently.