Whether it was speed, the grasp of timing, or the concealment of breath, there seemed to be no issues.
Except.
"Your moves are too old-fashioned." Xi Mu sidestepped, avoiding the incoming rapier, flicked a dagger from his sleeve into the neck of the rushing assassin, then with practiced ease disarmed the killer and pinned them on the table, unable to move.
"Be quiet, I don't want to waste words with the hotel's management." He pressed firmly over the assassin's mouth, waiting for them to completely stop breathing before withdrawing his hand.
He already had a very mature method for handling a dead body with experience without causing too much trouble.
That was to sacrifice it to the Witch of Death, not only would the corpse disappear without a trace, but even the soul would be taken by the Witch of Death.
The disposal was very clean.
"Knock, knock, knock~" Sudden knocks on the door came, Xi Mu glanced at the corpse lying on the table, tore off some of the assassin's clothes, wiped the bloodstains on the table, then dragged the body by the neck and hid it behind the table.
Opening the door, he was met with the owner of the duel arena.
"Looks like you've attracted quite some trouble." The owner of the duel arena pushed his glasses up and quickly realized what had happened inside the room.
Being around dead bodies every day, he was all too familiar with the smell of blood and death.
"An assassin trying to kill me." Xi Mu shook his head and asked the glasses-wearing man, "Is my duel arranged?"
"Tomorrow night." The duel arena owner was concise, totally uninterested in why Xi Mu was targeted by killers.
He only said one practical thing.
"Don't get killed, otherwise it would be difficult for me to explain to the audience tomorrow."
"How about you send someone to protect me?" Xi Mu joked, but the owner of the duel arena responded unexpectedly quickly.
"If you need it, I can."
"Can the people you send be trusted?" Xi Mu asked back, to which the owner of the duel arena gave a slight smirk.
"There's absolutely no chance that an assassin could infiltrate them."
"Then protecting her will be enough." Xi Mu pointed towards Letixia who was holding onto the doorframe with an expression that said she had a lot to tell him.
The owner of the duel arena glanced at Letixia and gave a well-meaning warning, "A duelist should not have too many weaknesses, do not let her slow down your blade."
Letixia: "..."
Although she knew she was purely a hindrance at the moment, being told so by the owner of the duel arena still made her feel a strong sense of defeat.
If her limbs weren't pierced by arrows, if she could still move freely, she wouldn't be a burden.
But now she didn't have the confidence to refute.
"A blade doesn't slow down because of a woman." Shaking his head, Xi Mu passed by the owner of the duel arena.
"The body, I'll take care of it first." The owner of the duel arena glanced behind the sofa, clearly aware of where the corpse was.
He would certainly protect Ahtal's safety for his own benefit until the duel was over, but the other party was confident in their own safety.
All he had to do was look after the other party's vulnerability.
Outside the hotel.
Xi Mu stood at the entrance, watching the bustling crowd and walked towards the alley; he was not wearing armor, nor carrying a heavy greatsword.
Defenceless, he walked into the deserted alley.
In the crowd, several people followed Xi Mu's footsteps, and as he walked deeper into isolation, more and more trackers joined.
Just as Xi Mu thought, as long as he didn't kill too many at once, this group of assassins wouldn't easily give up and would willingly come to him, like experience points for the taking.
"What's the deal with this guy?" A plainly dressed woman unconsciously reached into her bag.
"Why does it feel like he's deliberately luring us?"
"It doesn't matter, we have more people this time." The man in a suit smiling beside her had eyes cold enough to send shivers.
"And we are not third-rate killers."
"Wouldn't it be better to just kill Letixia directly?" A whispering assassin complained, and a detached explanation came from not far away.
"That hotel has already been taken over, we can't get in," said the mature woman with golden wavy hair and red lips, as she slightly moved her fingers.
"However, as long as we kill that man, we can kill Letixia anytime we want; after all, the arena won't protect someone who is worthless."
"Wait, the man is gone!" an assassin exclaimed. Suddenly, Xi Mu's footsteps shifted and his figure disappeared into the alley.
When they followed, they found no one.
"Split up and search, send a message if you find him," the mature woman with golden waves decided on the spot, dispersing with the other assassins in all directions.
Dawn was breaking, and a deadly fight unfolded in the corners of the city.
In the dim passageway.
The assassins advanced on tiptoe with daggers in hand, vigilantly observing their surroundings, aware of how troublesome their target was by the corpses of their previously fallen comrades.
Be careless, and you'll really die.
However, even with caution, death awaits.
From the ceiling, Xi Mu's body suddenly dropped, seizing the assassin's neck and twisting it with a sound of breaking bones, leaving the body limp.
Before hitting the ground, Xi Mu, supporting the assassin's corpse, entered the shadows and moved into an abandoned room, where he skillfully switched into the dead man's clothes.
Then, he infiltrated the organization of assassins searching for him, using even more professional assassination techniques to slowly eliminate each moving experience bag.
Some time later.
"Damn it, how did that guy do it!" The mature woman with golden curls gritted her teeth, her eyes revealing confusion and terror.
Why could her opponent kill her companions using methods she couldn't comprehend at all?
Who exactly is the assassin, and why does it feel like that knight is more professional than them?
"Who knows that sort of thing!" A trembling voice came forth, as a figure in black cautiously retreated step by step with a dagger at the ready.
"This guy's strength is just not normal, it shouldn't be us trying to assassinate him!"
"Retreat!" The mature woman with golden curls glanced at her companion, who was so frightened he was nearly losing his will to fight, and moved to join him.
The enigmatic silver-clad knight was indeed not suitable for them to carry out this assassination.
Suddenly.
"The assassination ends," said the assassin in black out of nowhere, as he suddenly plunged his dagger into the heart of the mature woman with golden waves.
Xi Mu pulled off his hood, looking at the surprised and then enlightened woman, he flicked the blood off his dagger. If he wasn't lacking experience bags at this stage, he wouldn't want to resort to luring his prey in order to collect them, each one coming to his door on their own initiative.
Once he advanced the plotline of assassinating the God of Plague, he could start the quest for the power struggle; then, he would be able to kill freely.
Leveling up would be much faster then.
For now, however, he needed to bide his time until he found the Goddess of Plague wandering the city, after which he could leave this place.
As for trying to kill a deity and explode rare skills and a vast amount of experience points, that was impossible. The gods in this game setting had no concept of death; he had to rely on the power of the Witch of Death to grant the deities the concept of death before he could kill them.
Or wait until he acquired the power of the Flame Giant Surter, using the fire that could burn the world, to kill a deity completely.
Right now, he wouldn't talk about whether he could even breach a deity's defense; stabbing the God of Plague hundreds of times would still do no harm to it.
Therefore, all he had to do was to find a way to advance the storyline of Black Blade Night and push the game into the next phase.
Back at the hotel.
At the front door.
The arena owner sat on a chair, watching Xi Mu, dressed in black, walk in and smilingly said:
"Is it settled?"
"It won't end before they kill the princess I'm protecting," Xi Mu shook his head, and the arena owner nodded in response.
The owner pushed up his glasses that reflected the cold light, elegantly stood up, and came over to Xi Mu, patting the new duelist's shoulder.
"Ahtal, I look forward to your performance tomorrow."