In the slums of the city of Lurandal. In the shadows of the night, under the silvery moonlight of the bright full moon, and the crimson light of Velmaur, the neighboring planet. It was as if the slums were shrouded in the eerie, bloody darkness of the ominous night.

*Bang* *Bang*

Sounds of multiple gunshots were heard across the back alley. The residents of the slum closed themselves in their houses or hid far away from the source of the commotion. The residents were too afraid to come out to check the situation.

A young, dark-haired boy was running across the street with an anxious expression on his blood-covered face. The blood continued dripping down from the wound on his forehead and exhaustion started taking over his body.

From time to time, he glanced back to see if he managed to escape the trail. He was sprinting to stay alive. He doesn't know if he managed to escape, but he knows if he stops here, he will die.

The fear of death was the only driving force that helped him live in his current predicament. While taking deep breaths, he took another turn. But in front of him stood a person covered in black clothes from head to toe, with only a black dragon tattoo on his bare neck. He gritted his teeth in frustration and desperation and started running in the opposite direction.

His grip tightened on the pistol he was holding. He immediately fired at the black-clothed figure behind him without looking back. One would believe it's a last-ditch struggle for him to survive. Those aimless bullets can only be dependent on luck to hit their mark.

But, miraculously, from the trajectory of those bullets, no one can believe those shots were aimless. The precision of all those shots was like that of an expert. All the bullets were shot at the vital points of the enemy. This level of handling and control of guns can only be described as godly.

But regardless of how precise those shots were. That boy didn't dare to stop. He continued running as if knowing it was all meaningless.

And that is what happened. The black-clothed figure calmly took out a knife and

*Pang*

*Pang*

*Pang*

*Pang*

Sounds of metal hitting metal were heard, and all the bullets were deflected by that curved knife he held. None of those bullets even managed to scratch him.

"Haa... Damn it... Haa."

The boy cursed under his breath. He knew it would end up like that. But he has to buy some time for his escape. He can't find any other solution to his situation. He tried accessing a bracelet-like thing on his hand. But it was broken. Because his mana bracelet was broken, he couldn't contact anyone. Only the storage function was working somewhat. But too bad he only had some magazines for his pistol and other things were not useful in his current situation. After all, he wasn't an awakened so he couldn't use any artifacts.

The black-clothed figure chased him like a predator chasing its prey. Soon he increased his speed as if the game of run and chase was about to end.

The dark-haired boy continued firing bullets. Even if they were precise, what does it matter? All of them were blocked with a single knife.

"Haah... Haah."

While reloading those bullets, he didn't dare stop. Letting out hoarse grunting sounds each time he breathed. The muddy water on the road splashed everywhere as he continued running. His body was long past the exhaustion point. But what does it matter? His life depended on it.

'Will I die today?'

'If only I had mana.' He has yet to go through his awakening, so he hadn't formed a mana core yet. Hence, neither could he access mana nor his element.

Many thoughts resurfaced in his mind. But soon everything stopped as he felt a bone-breaking pain in the back of his head. Didn't know when the black-clothed figure already approached him and, with a violent punch on his back, sent his tattered body flying dozens of meters.

"Paah."

Blood splattered out of his mouth and from the various wounds on his body. His blood-dripping eyelids turned to his right leg, which was now pointing in the wrong direction.

The boy didn't know how many bones he got broken after that last attack. But the pain all over his body, especially on the back of his head, made his senses numb.

'Even my brain can't handle so much pain.'

'But why am I in this situation? What did I do wrong? I don't even know why does someone wants to kill me.'

Even in his near-death state, the boy wanted answers.

'Is it one of my parents' enemies?'

*Tap*

*Tap*

*Tap*

With the sounds of closing footsteps, the boy barely managed to turn his eyes in the direction from where the sound was coming.

There he saw his killer, his unknown nemesis, coming in his direction patiently, without any rush. Like he was waiting to give him a slow, painful death. As if he didn't want it to end so soon.

A desperate smile formed across the blood-dripping mouth of the boy.

"... W... Why?"

He barely managed to utter a word. His voice was almost inaudible, with barely any strength behind it. But the Assassin heard it clearly.

"You want to know why you are going to die, right?" The Assassin asked, as if amused by the situation.

The boy could imagine the mocking expression on his face even with his face covered. 'He is enjoying it.'

"It seems you don't even have the strength to answer me." The Assassin shook his head in pity.

"Welp doesn't matter. You are going to die, anyway. As for why you are dying, it's because someone powerful wants to kill you."

'Someone powerful? Who?' the boy thought. Even on the brink of death, he was puzzled. He knew with his current self it was impossible to escape. As for waiting for help, it was even more ridiculous. Because no one knew where he was.

He didn't tell anyone that he came to the city of Lurandal to take things off his mind because of certain matters at home. But who would expect to be targeted by an Assassin? He regrets his decision now.