Chapter 1
I am going to die.
The cool night breeze, the light from the half moon peeking out, and my senses from having lived an assassin all whispered the same words.
I shall soon die.
I looked around at my surroundings.
There were many paths in the garden, between the shrubs that looked as soft as wool.
But there was no path to life. There was only the path that reeked of death.
"Raon."
I raised my head upon hearing a voice, one that weighed heavily on my heart. A middle-aged man with what looked like white frost combed into long silvery hair stepped into view.
It was him.
Derus Robert.
Like a morass of death, the enormous garden billowed death into the air due to the presence of a single man—the head of House Robert.
"Yes."
I swallowed hard and opened my mouth.
"You have shown a competence that befits your title as the leader of the Shadows. The family has grown even faster thanks to you moving behind the scenes."
"I merely did my job."
I did not pretend to be happy or otherwise. I bowed my head like an emotionless wooden doll.
"But Raon…"
He began softly.
"Do you think that a Shadow needs freedom?"
Derus reached out his hand. His shadow extended its hand across the ground as well.
"It is enough for a Shadow to follow its master's orders. Thoughts, emotions, feelings are unnecessary."
"That is correct."
"Why did you act on your own, even though you knew that?"
Derus' voice sharpened, becoming cold, and tightened around my heart.
"And you even broke your indoctrination."
Goosebumps formed along my spine. I bit down on my tongue to hide my surprise.
What?
I had not spoken or acted differently than before, and I had not the slightest idea how he found out that the indoctrination had lost its effect.
"Speak. When, and how, did you break the indoctrination?"
At that point, it was clear that he already knew everything if he was acting like that.
"How did you find out?"
I bit my lip and raised my head.
Indoctrination.
It was how House Robert controlled the assassination team called 'Shadow'.
They abducted or bought young children and, after killing off their emotions, indoctrinated them and used them as assassins for the rest of their lives.
I too was indoctrinated, but was able to get rid of the dreadful shackles in a strange turn of fate.
"Because you were preparing to escape the clan."
Derus continued leisurely.
"I put two leashes on all of the assassins of Shadow, including you. The first one is indoctrination, and the second…."
"Ugh!"
A scream burst from me before I even registered the extreme pain. It was as if my lungs and heart were being sawed through.
"Rage Worm. The insect placed in your body is gouging your heart out at my command."
"R-rage Worm…."
Rage Worm was the worst black magic, the type that could even discern a slave's emotions.
It seemed as if Derus had used the Rage Worm to become aware of my plan to escape House Robert.
"I-it's not enough to put on a facade of justice, you even went so far as to have fed me Rage Worm? You disgusting bastard!"
"It's not disgusting. It's called being thorough. And you did actually break the indoctrination."
Derus smiled, the warm gaze that he showed in public on his face.
"There is a saying that every human lives while wearing a mask. It's just that my mask is a little thicker and more special when compared to others."
"Derus Robert..."
I clenched my teeth. I raised my body, stifling the heart-splitting pain.
I could not die without doing something.
I was abducted at an age that I do not even remember properly, and was raised to become an underground hunting dog and assassin for House Robert.
I had lived, forgetting all emotion and feeling, and only coincidently managed to break free from the indoctrination.
I had thought that I could finally live according to my own will, but it was not the key to my prison but the shackles of death that met me.
What sort of sin had I committed that forced me to live like a dog, I do not know.
Damn it!
A reddish water filled up the dried-off well of emotions. It was a rage that I had never felt before.
"You can stand in that state?"
Derus' expression wavered a little.
"I will not meet my end in disgrace."
I grasped the sword at my waist.
My senses, which had detected my death, had not changed since I stepped into the garden.
I will die here.
If I was meant to die anyway, I would not go down without a fight. At the very least, his arm… No, I would at least create a wound and die.
"Aaaargh!"
I unsheathed my sword, the concentrated aura exploding.
At that moment…
The blade stretching out broke in half.
Click.
I heard the sound of the necklace around my neck falling to the ground.
The world spun as Derus' cold eyes and the moon flipped upside down.
Ah…
That's when I knew. My head had been cut off by Derus' sword.
However, the assassin's sword is not all that meets the eye.
The frightening aura hidden behind the broken blade flew towards Derus' face.
"How vulgar."
Derus waved his hand as if annoyed. The final attack went out like a flame at the light gesture, as if he were swatting away a fly.
As expected…
Derus was a warrior said to be the strongest in the continent. It was expected that I would be unable to win.
For he was strong, and I was weak. It could not be helped.
Yes… It… can!
The rage that had begun to spread from the bottom of my heart boiled up like lava.
It was unfair that my entire life had been toyed with by Derus, and it was a painful shame that I could not complete the 'Ring of Fire' that I had obtained by fate.
I could not die that way.
God, or even the Devil was fine.
As the rage—the desire to tear Derus' mask off and slit his throat at any cost—engulfed my whole body, my world ceased in red.