The assassins' pursuit continued throughout the night and into the morning.
Just as Jin said himself, the first advanced assassin, who blew poison darts at him, was merely the beginning. Right after Jin jumped from the roof, the streets filled with poisonous fumes. His vision marred by the gasses, Jin got lost in the alleys. Whenever he paused to catch his breath, a blade would fly right past his face.
Another flurry of arrows followed him as he escaped the alleys.
Deflecting and dodging all of the projectiles, Jin thought he was dead when three advanced cadets ambushed him from the sewers.
Not only that.
When he finally found the inn, as soon as he opened the door, fumes began to leak out. And through the haze, a dagger flew out.
It was pretty surprising for Jin, but he couldn't do anything about the half-a-breath's worth of fumes that he inhaled.
"Pant, pant… These crazy bastards…"
Jin escaped into the forest where he previously read his book.
Ptoo!
He spat out a mix of saliva and blood before shaking his head. If it weren't for his body, he would be suffering from a fever and spitting blood clumps into red spit.
'Even though this is a little organized, it's too organized. I don't know who's sending all these people, but I'll find them and beat their ass…!'
Krrrrrrrrrk.
Gritting his teeth, Jin clenched his fists. His eyes burned with passion and fighting spirit.
At the end of the forest, the sun began to rise. However, Jin couldn't be sure if the pursuit stopped by the morning.
His face was covered in cold sweat, and his robe was ripped and torn everywhere like an old rag.
Even so, he was surprised that he didn't have a single nick on his skin.
"Phew."
After spending five minutes scouting the area, Jin leaned on a tree. He could never dream of knowing that Yona was on top of that tree.
'Heehee. You're the best.'
Flap…
Yona dropped a piece of paper and concealed herself.
'What's this?'
Jin instinctively caught the paper out of the air.
(Playtime resumes in the evening.)
At that moment, Jin was at his limit. He would've cut the tree down.
Barely holding in his anger, Jin chuckled.
"Haha."
'I thought it'd be the best of the best executioners of Nameless, but it was just Elder Sister Yona. Well that's a little better. If I survive these attacks, I can more righteously and bluntly ask for the Thousand-Poison Antidote.'
* * *
Since Yona herself sent the message, Jin relaxed for the afternoon. After locking the inn door and taking a deep nap, the fatigue dissipated. The miniscule amount of poisonous fumes got cleansed. Everything left his system as he breathed during his sleep.
This would never happen if the poison were from a more trained Nameless Assassin.
'Now that I think about it, Elder Sister Anne received the Thousand-Poison Antidote because she entertained Elder Sister Yona for a while. Well, they "played" a little differently, though…'
Anne very annoyingly approached Yona then.
She targeted Yona's heart that had a unique personality and often faced loneliness. At first, Yona didn't trust her too much. But slowly and surely, her heart opened, and Anne obtained the potion.
—I loved you so much for so long, and you won't do anything for me?
Anne obtained the potion by forcing Yona to feel remorse. After her acquisition, she distanced herself from Yona, saying that she couldn't deal with her personality. Every sibling knew that.
'Elder Sister Yona's depression at the main house had many reasons, but her scars and bruises from Elder Sister Anne weren't small. Even I knew at such a young age.'
Of course, Jin had no intention of playing with Yona to achieve his goal.
Splish, splash!
Before coming into his room, he quickly washed his face in water that he gathered in a bowl. He tied his bangs so it wouldn't hang over.
Then, he shoddily sewed the holes in his robe and examined his equipment.
'It'll begin as soon as I open the door. If I open it without care, it'll be like a bee's nest.'
Was it because he already experienced it the previous night?
He felt like he could verse more skillful assassins. He got used to an entire city going for his head.
'But I won't be wasting time like yesterday. Be thankful that I'm only using my sword, you cadets.'
Jin thought that he could resist as many cadets if he used magic or spiritual energy. He was handicapped this entire time.
Creaaaak!!
Pshooo! Shhshhhk! Crk!
As expected, as soon as the door opened, the traps installed in front of the door activated. Poisonous darts flew towards Jin.
He moved out of the doorway. Having already expected Jin's movement, the assassins in the hallway held their breaths to conceal their location.
'I have no intention of losing to your pace, today.'
BOOM!
Jin wrapped the knob of his sword with aura and knocked down the door. The thin wooden door shattered, and a hole big enough for a man to pass through formed.
"I spared your asses yesterday, but starting now, you are risking your limbs trying to kill me!"
Wholeheartedly.
He let himself get chased because he didn't want to kill any cadets. Although he showed mercy the previous night, they had pushed Jin to the edge. Whether they were cadets or moving on orders. Either way, they were trying to kill him.
Slash!
Jin darted out of the hole and lightly cut the waist of a cadet. Before he could hear a scream, Jin twisted the blade to deepen the wound.
"If you don't find a doctor soon, you'll be finished."
The other cadets surrounded Jin and began throwing sharp projectiles. Deflecting them would be easy, but the most threatening in the swarm were the hooks.
These hideous hooks, made with the talons of eagles woven together, clung onto anything it touched and never let go.
And its tensional strength was off the charts. It didn't break at the swing of the sword covered in blue aura.
'Every time I see that, I feel like I'm being treated like some beast.'
At first, because it didn't break easily, Jin didn't know what to do. It was the main cause of the tears in his robe.
However, he didn't plan on falling for it twice.
'Something I can just stab and withdraw… Why did I think to just swing at it?'
Thinking of stabbing something flying at the speed of an arrow wasn't common.
Ting, titing!
Jin began to lightly stab each grapple like quick jabs, and the cadets licked their lips.
Unfortunately, they did not have sword skill or physical ability like that of Jin. The reflected grapples with the jaws open flew towards the cadets. Earsplitting screams echoed.
"Kaaaaargh!"
"Errrrrk…!"
The small hallway then filled with blood and bits of flesh. Jin walked on and over the cadets to head to the first floor.
'They're a little worse than the guys from yesterday. Probably trying to elicit hubris or something. The ones on the first floor will probably be the special ones amongst the cadets.'
The best cadets who were one or two steps away from the Nameless Manor. Just as Jin expected, the assassins stationed on the first floor and outside the inn were very talented.
'I should never move in the trajectory they want me to go. I'll lose if I do. Wherever the attacks fly in, I shouldn't dodge them. Just charge through.'
'Instead of being chased, make him chase.' Jin presumed that the assassins would act upon that principle.
'If I destroy everything in my path, they'll naturally just follow me. Since they treated me like some giant beast, I'll return the favor.'
Slash! Crash!
As soon as he arrived on the first floor, he shot blade crescents everywhere like a madman and bulldozed through the first floor. Every pole or wall he encountered, he burst through it.
Of course, this was through all of the projectiles, but it was better than the day before. Once caught in a blade crescent, a head would be lost.
'Nobody get startled. If he escapes the inn, then the squad on the roof will snipe him…'
The squadron leader signaled his thoughts, but not even ten seconds later, his prediction was proven wrong.
As soon as Jin burst out of the inn walls, his plan was to 'bulldoze through anything in sight', including cadets' residences and small shops.
"Aaaaaaack!"
"Oh! M-My house!"
The Jin-assassination squad couldn't register the situation, and the beginner cadets suffered great damages in their property.
They attacked him first as an organization. Not just a cadet's assassination attempt, but a planned action with dozens of people involved. And Jin thought that was too much.
'Are these cadets resilient or will my aura deplete? Or will the leader of Nameless take action? Let's see what happens, Elder Sister Yona.'
Every time another brick house collapsed, Jin's smile grew.
"Haaah… hoo…."
Jin slowly got exhausted. The aura on Bradamante got significantly fainter, and his body felt heavy like steel.
So, after the pursuit settled down, he hid himself in a restaurant and caught his breath.
'Shit, it seems the leader likes Elder Sister Yona more than I thought…'
At this point, Jin thought that the leader or one of the best executioners would come for him.
Then, he could use Quikantel's present and reason his way out of the situation.
However, it was Yona who sent the cadets to pursue him.
The leader of Nameless would respect all of Yona's decisions. Even causing this much of a ruckus, Yona would just write a one-hundred-page self-reflection and face no other punishment.
Knowing this fact, Jin would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised.
'At this rate, the cadets will find out that my aura is weak, clench their teeth, and then give it their all. What should I do? Do I have to use magic or spiritual energy? Using Miss Quikantel's present now would be too premature and humiliating.'
After thinking for a while, Jin's eyes burned with anger.
"Hey, you guys hiding over there. Come out. Before I bring you down with the ceiling. Seeing that you're shit at hiding your footsteps, it seems you guys aren't the ones who are out to kill me. If you leave, I'll let you live."
The next moment, Jin was met with unexpected faces.
"Huh… What? Why are you guys coming out from there?"
The ones behind the pillar were Dante and Beradin, who were scratching their heads.
—————