"Wait for me here, Uncle Drew," Kent said, stepping down from the carriage as they approached the Old Mines in the northern part of the city.
It was the hideout of the Black Veil Syndicate, the group that had tried to kill him. At this point, he knew they were sent by the Ashland noble family, who were after Lilian for reasons he would soon uncover.
After all, they had caught a spy from the Ashland family, and John was currently interrogating him.
"I'll be back soon," Kent said before moving away. Uncle Drew drove the carriage off the road to conceal his presence. He was indeed an experienced driver.
Kent moved slowly, and soon, he could see the hideout, where men were busy with various activities. Some were sparring, others were talking, while in a certain room, a serious talk seemed to be taking place.
"It's been a long time since those three left. They should be back by now," a poorly dressed man said, looking a little worried.
"Relax, Cole. Your brother will be fine. After all, the target is just a Level 4 Root Blossom. Killing him would be as easy as drinking water," another man said casually.
"What if that's not the case, and they failed? Worse, what if they were captured?" Cole asked again.
"Are you mental? Maybe you should stop sticking your head between the legs of women. Your brain seems to be deteriorating by the hour.
How can three Root Master-stage experts get caught by a Root Blossom expert? I truly cannot see that happening. Think Cole, think."
"Well, Cephas is my little brother. I tend to worry about him, okay? It's not my fault you guys lost all sense of familial love and chose to become savages." Cole commented looking pissed
"Watch your tone, Cole, or I might just watch it for you."
"Tsk, try me, and let's see who gets to see the sunset."
Suddenly, just before things could escalate, a commotion came from outside, making the two inside the room run out. It was then that they saw a young man sitting casually, resting a sword sheath with a sheathed sword on his knees.
He was surrounded by dozens of bandits, all ready to kill.
"What is going on here?" the young man with Cole asked.
"Leader Orlan, we have an intruder," a young man said, stepping aside to make way for the two—Cole and Orlan—who seemed to be the big shots in the Black Veil Syndicate.
"Who are you?" Orlan asked, his sharp gaze fixed on Kent.
"You must be Orlan," Kent said, standing up and extending a hand for a handshake. Naturally, Orlan rejected it, shooting a pointed stare at Kent, demanding answers instead.
"Who are you?" he asked again, releasing some of his Peak Root Master cultivation aura.
"You're the leader of this bandit group, right?" Kent asked in return, ignoring the pressure.
"Yes. Now tell me who you are before I make you," Orlan snapped, releasing the rest of his cultivation base. The air around him shifted as his strength, more akin to a First Level Root Grandmaster, became evident. Yet, Kent stood there unbothered, watching him calmly.
"Make me? Please. I don't think you have the strength," Kent said with a smirk. "That being said, I'd like to know the relationship between your lot and the Ashland family."
"It would be best if you didn't make a move and just answered my question. After all, Cephas and his pals tried to play tough, and now they're nothing more than ashes of the past," Kent added, smiling strangely as he said it.
"What did you just say?" Before Orlan could react, another Peak Root Master released his cultivation base. It was Cole, Cephas's brother, glaring at Kent with fury.
"Oh, I failed to introduce myself," Kent said casually. "I'm Kent, the alchemist the Ashland family sent you guys to kill. And don't worry, Cephas never betrayed you. He only talked when death stared him in the eye." Kent's smile grew even wider, an unsettling confidence radiating from him.
All around him, the bandits began unleashing their cultivation bases, filling the area with dense, suffocating energy that seemed ready to crush anyone in its wake.
"You're dead!" Cole and Orlan shouted simultaneously, drawing their weapons and lunging at Kent. Yet, when their attacks landed, their weapons struck only thin air.
"Why the hostilities? I just want to know why you were hired to kill me," Kent said calmly, now 20 meters away, resting his hands on a large stone and grinning back at them.
He had used the [Teleport] skill, and it worked like magic.
The faces of the 61 bandits turned to shock as they saw Kent standing unharmed, far from their reach. They couldn't comprehend what had just happened.
"Kill him!" Orlan roared, giving the order. Everyone charged at Kent again, but just as they closed in, inches away from striking, Kent vanished again, reappearing in another spot 20 meters away.
"What?" Cole, now seething with anger and grief over his brother's apparent death, froze in disbelief. Watching Kent's teleportation trick, his face twisted into shock and confusion.
"Spread out! Don't let him have the 20-meter radius!" Orlan shouted, making it clear to everyone. He had picked up on Kent's skill—a rather quick attention to detail after seeing him use the skill only twice.
Even Kent was impressed by how quickly Orlan figured out his teleportation skill. But he just smiled and watched as everyone spread out as instructed.
"So, does this mean you guys won't talk?" he asked, glancing around as the bandits seethed with fury.
"Kill him!" Cole roared as he charged at Kent.
The moment Cole got within a meter of him, Kent teleported away, reappearing behind one of the bandits, whose head immediately fell from his shoulders. Kent's sword flashed and returned to its sheath almost as quickly as it had been drawn.
The attack had connected seamlessly. The bandit's head hit the ground, and Kent stood in his place.
"Since none of you are talking, I guess I'll have to kill you all and get the answers from the Ashland Family myself."
He vanished again, and a second later, another head fell, then another. Suddenly, the area grew silent as the bandits stood alert, glancing around, ready to attack. However, whenever they sensed Kent's presence, it was only for a split second before he moved again.
He was using the Teleport skill in rapid succession, and since the distance between them wasn't significant, Kent found it easy to teleport short distances while carrying out his grim work.
Short-distance teleportation had proven to consume less stamina, so he felt no fatigue or strain even after teleporting dozens of times.
Every split second, he kept teleporting away.
However, every time he moved, a head rolled to the ground. Kent was beheading them one by one, and within a minute, 59 heads had fallen. Then he stopped and looked back at Orlan and Cole, who were now as pale as sheets of paper.
"Now, do I have your attention, or should I take one of you out?" Kent asked. "I'll just keep one of you," he added, and in the next second, Cole's head rolled to the ground.
"Now, do I have your attention?" Kent asked again, pointing his weapon at Orlan's groin whose legs were trembling like a massage chair.