An assassin was dead.
Everything happened silently, effortlessly in the sound veil of the rainstorm. None of the other assassins noticed till their partner was dead.
But in the end, they were still Heimdalls.
The rainstorm could only dull their senses so much.
Their danger instincts tingled as they turned just in time to see the foreigner who suddenly appeared in their midst already on the move again.
"Enemy". The first assassin who noticed muttered calmly, jerking the others into action as they clenched their daggers tighter.
Yet, when their attention was on this one enemy, this was when something fell from the roof of this room.
Lightning flashed, briefly illuminating this room as the shadow reflection of the unknown element appeared, it was a human. 2 of the assassins reacted faster, they were the ones that Geass already marked out as having foresight.
Both of them were not Paul's target though, the 3rd assassin was.
With blood-red eyes, Paul fell, landing with his knees on the assassin's shoulder even as his right hand moved in a blur.
The Stiletto on his right hand stabbed at the assassin's neck.
"Die!" Paul's eyes burned with hatred and fury.
At this moment, only murder was in his eyes.
In the last moment though, this assassin reacted, managing to raise his right hand to block the attack. The Stiletto effortlessly stabbed through his arm, then into his neck but the dagger didn't stab deep enough.
Grunting in pain and exertion, this assassin shoved violently, making Paul lose balance as he fell from the assassin's shoulder but even as he fell, he stabbed again, this time at his enemy's face.
Paul's stab was ineffective as the assassin swatted it aside with his own dagger. He used his left hand to cover his neck, applying pressure to stem the bleeding even as they finally recovered from the ambush.
The lean man didn't give them time to fully recover though.
In the end, just like he expected but feared, he was only able to take down 1 assassin out of the 5 before they could recover but that didn't mean he would give up.
"Ghost Dance!" Growling, this lean man pounced at another assassin as he executed a combat technique.
Illusory gray gas born of his God essence emerged, dancing around this middle-aged man's daggers like gray flames as they stabbed repeatedly 5 times at an astonishing speed.
The assassin was alert though, blocking with his daggers diligently though he struggled. At the end of the 5-dagger stab combo, the lean man's right leg kicked.
It was a devastating round kick.
BAM!
The assassin's skull most likely didn't fracture, but from the sound, that leg to head kick definitely did a whole lot of damage as this assassin staggered backward. The other 2 assassins didn't let Geass push his advantage though.
They pounced on the lean man, preventing him from going after their staggering partner.
Also, at this moment, despite the fact that it was just a second since everything transpired inside this room, the assassin who was left outside to keep watch finally rushed in having detected the commotion inside.
It was now a 2 vs 4 situation.
The lean man didn't panic as wielding his daggers in a backhanded posture, he calmed down and got prepared for this clash, after giving orders.
"Paul, finish him!"
The assassins were elite combatants, skilled intermediate combat awakened. They just never expected the lean man to be just as skilled as they were, this was the reason why this ambush was so effective.
They were cautious, but clearly, they were not cautious enough which already led to another of them dying.
Not anymore though.
Recognizing his threat, the 3 healthy assassins pounced on Geass as he fought desperately to protect his life with his 2 daggers, leaving their concussed partner.
This staggering assassin now became Paul's target.
Paul did not hesitate. Eyes still burning with hatred, he kicked the ground and exploded forward with speed, his 2 Stilettos in hand.
Paul stabbed with the Stiletto on his right hand but right at that moment, the threat of danger made this assassin's eyes clear up as he glared at the short boy before him.
Paul aimed at his head but raising his left hand to block, Paul ended up stabbing his palm.
Ignoring the pain, this assassin clenched his fist, holding the Stiletto in the process and pulled the boy closer.
The boy had more strength than he expected but still, the assassin was able to pull Paul over as he did not expect it.
Spinning the boy round with his Stiletto still stuck in his palm, before Paul could understand what was happening, 2 hands rapidly wrapped around his neck. He was held in a chokehold.
The assassin tightened his grip and Paul choked.
Oxygen was sucked out of his lungs, his throat became dry and parched, his vision became blurry. Paul struggled but due to the angle at which he was held from, he did not have the foundation to utilize his superhuman strength.
His lack of combat experience was laid bare.
For a moment, he felt like his whole world turned dark.
Paul felt like he was being drained of all life. Struggling to maintain his vision, he looked over at Mr. Geass only to see him drowning in a tirade of dagger attacks.
The 3 assassins already had him cornered, he was fighting for his life.
Paul felt like chuckling. 'Get revenge my ass, I can't even survive past today!'
'Geass was right, winning is impossible'.
'Killing 1 of them is already pushing it, we rode our luck while it lasted. We tried our best'.
His heart already gave in, yet the look in his eyes sang a different song. 'F*ck! I don't want to give up!'
'I can't die now…, not when mom's murderers are before me!'
'What would she think of me? A coward?' The mere thought of this set his heart on fire. 'I must get revenge!'
'I must survive!'
'I must get strong!'
'I must protect Sophia!'
And then, it happened…
KABOOM!
Thunder struck.
…
Geass' plan was simple and straightforward. It was already drizzling, he wanted Paul to use his storm control powers to work on that foundation and summon a rainstorm in this ruin.
A rainstorm would do a lot in hindering a Heimdall's extra sensitivity.
The other centerpiece of his plan was the skyscraper. This skyscraper was teeming with demonic beasts, and Geass was pretty sure that the assassins would be able to tell too.
They would expect them to avoid the skyscraper but at the same time; to cover all grounds, they would still want to check it out with minimal expectations.
This meant that unlike how they checked the other ruined buildings, in the skyscraper, they would be looking out for demonic beasts rather than humans.
Besides, they never expected them to have the guts to ambush them.
This was what gave Geass the opportunity to kill one of them while Paul clung to the roof of this skyscraper. He was supposed to descend on the other assassin without foresight and kill him in the chaos before they could react.
In the end, Paul failed, leaving them in a 2 vs 4 scenario. The greatest strength of the assassins was not their individual strength, but their teamwork.
Geass had no hope in a 1 vs 3 fight against the assassins.
And again, Paul was losing, yet it was that defiance to losing that pushed him to exceed the limits of one of his God powers at this moment.
Held in a chokehold, losing breath, losing consciousness, in a fit of anger, Paul was able to use his storm control powers to call more than just a rainstorm.
He called thunder.
KABOOM!
It was not just any thunder, with it came electricity!
The electricity affected everyone in this room including Geass except Paul. And with everyone electrocuted, Paul was no longer held in a chokehold.
Everything else that transpired was instinctive.
'Besides, with your God power of superhuman strength, you can bait your opponent into thinking you're all about precision. When he buys it, you can teach him a treacherous lesson by ripping his head off with your bare hands'.
Paul still vividly remembered these words and right at this moment, they came to the forefront of his consciousness.
In the brief moment that the thunder strike bought him, raising his hands up, Paul grabbed the assassin who was behind him by the head.
"Argghh…!" Growling loudly, he moved backward, slamming the assassin against the wall and then, he pulled and twisted with his superhuman strength.
He felt some resistance, but only for a moment.
Bam!
There was a snapping sound followed by a rain of crimson as a head was pulled right out of its neck!
Paul killed his first human.