Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 949: Another Rat

Asher could be seen sitting against a tree as he stared into the clouds in the sky. At the corner of his eye, he could see the original countdown. On the countdown, one hour and just over two minutes remained. His mind went through all the training he had undergone under FatelessPen, recalling every lesson, every battle, and every hardship he had faced under the man.

He couldn’t help but be grateful to the man. FatelessPen had brought him far enough to elevate almost all of his skills to their current level of power. At this moment, his combat prowess stood on an entirely different level. To the rest of the world, Asher, who had just won the Inter-Empire Competition, had only been gone for five days, probably spending that time doing whatever he wanted. But unknown to everyone aside from FatelessPen, his strength had already completely stepped into the Voidstar Life Rank.

If anyone knew the truth, their eyes would tremble with pure shock. Although some might have expected tremendous growth, they had already concluded that it had been his Physique that evolved five days ago when he consumed the Fruit Of Dawn. After all, they had watched his body shatter before their very eyes before healing itself completely.

Asher didn’t move from where he was. He simply remained seated as he waited for the remaining hour to pass. Throughout these past two weeks, he hadn’t even checked his phone or tried to find out what William and the rest of the clique had been up to. Even at this moment, FatelessPen wasn’t within him within the separate space, as the man was keeping an eye on the other students.

After all, people were cunning. Although it might seem as though Asher and Arianna were the primary targets, assassins and hidden enemies would naturally use that attention as a diversion before exploiting the opening created by everyone’s focus on Asher to wipe out a large number of the Star Academy’s other students, especially the entire third-year class.

After all, they were the ones about to be integrated into society the moment they graduated in just two weeks. Eliminating them would cripple the future foundation of the Empire far more effectively than targeting only a handful of famous geniuses.

That way, the Zarethorne Empire would lose a considerable amount of future power.

And FatelessPen’s thoughts had proven correct, as assassins had indeed attacked Teo Swig and his classmates. Even William wasn’t spared, nor was Finch. A great number of students were attacked at random throughout the city, and FatelessPen simply erased every assassin with a single attack before any of them could even reach their intended targets.

Hence, the students continued living their lives, completely oblivious to the constant assassination attempts that had been made against them.

And unlike the time when FatelessPen allowed an assassin to reach Asher because Asher was capable of handling the attacker himself, FatelessPen wasn’t willing to take even the slightest risk with the rest of the students.

At the same time, however, FatelessPen knew that these assassins were merely those operating within the Thalvorn Empire, hired by nobles and influential figures from all four Empires to eliminate one another’s heirs and promising talents. In other words, the assassin organizations within the Thalvorn Empire were practically drowning in wealth as commissions continued pouring in from every direction.

Although they barely achieved any meaningful success as every Empire and every Academy had tightened security around their students and heirs, making successful assassinations increasingly difficult despite the overwhelming number of attempts.

FatelessPen already knew that the moment they left the Thalvorn Empire and started the journey back to the Star Academy, they wouldn’t encounter any mid-journey attacks or ambushes unless they came from Monsters, Emovirae, or other natural dangers lurking throughout Crymora.

‘Should I just tell the immortal woman that my commission ends here?’ FatelessPen thought to himself as he sat on the roof of the Gentle Hotel while the students were fast asleep, while he and his clone stood watch.

Cindralis was the immortal woman he was referring to, given that she had lived for nine thousand years without showing even the slightest sign of dying anytime soon.

‘But the payment she’s offering is way too tempting, and it isn’t something I can simply create because I don’t have enough Astra energy for it,’ he sighed helplessly as he stared into the distance, his eyes fixed upon the numerous skyscrapers and towering high-rise buildings.

Yes, Cindralis had promised FatelessPen something he simply couldn’t resist. If she hadn’t, there was absolutely no way he would be here playing bodyguard to a bunch of students whom he wouldn’t even blink at if they died on some random Tuesday morning.

‘Should I leave a clone with the Sky Jet, then stay with the Wargraves? That way, I can also get all the action,’ he contemplated. ‘Even if anything happens to the students, say the Sinvairas decide to make a move, I could teleport to them in literally less than a second,’ he continued, slowly convincing and tempting himself.

But as the thought settled into his mind, he shook his head as though resisting the devil’s temptation. There was no certainty that any attack was coming for the Wargraves, so if he followed them, nothing might happen. Besides, FatelessPen wasn’t someone who cheated or scammed his clients, and leaving only a clone behind to protect the students fell under what he personally considered cheating and scamming.

His thoughts drifted elsewhere. He had spent most of the past two weeks with Asher, and the longer he remained around the boy, the more FatelessPen found himself tempted to take in a disciple and train someone purely for the amusement of it. After all, having a successor actually seemed rather entertaining.

FatelessPen didn’t particularly care whether that successor came from the Thalvorn Empire, the Zarethorne Empire, or any other Empire. As far as he was concerned, he could simply take one disciple from each Empire purely for his own amusement. Then, if war ever erupted between all four Empires, he could simply sit back and watch his own disciples battle one another to determine whose teachings had produced the stronger warrior.

FatelessPen stroked his chin thoughtfully as he reminded himself that he needed to be careful before making any rash decisions. He knew the only reason these thoughts were appearing was because of that outrageous boy called Asher. He had to constantly remind himself that if he truly chose to train someone, he couldn’t expect them to become a monster on Asher Wargrave’s level.

Burdening someone with such impossibly unrealistic expectations would only do far more harm than good.

‘What about that Teo Swig kid?’ FatelessPen thought to himself. ‘He’s talented, possesses immense Astra energy reserves, and has an affinity for four elements. If trained properly, he could become someone second only to monsters like Asher and the First Sun.’ He quietly immersed himself in that train of thought.

Although Teo Swig had been overshadowed throughout the competition, that was only because far too many outrageous candidates backed by prestigious families and extraordinary lineages had participated this time around. FatelessPen believed that, given the proper guidance and sufficient backing, Teo Swig could eventually give Isaac, Acker, and the rest a genuine run for their money.

He shook his head, deciding not to rush such an important decision. He would make that choice on some random day when he was fully convinced that he genuinely wanted to do something like this. After all, taking in a disciple only to grow bored of them later was an incredibly dangerous thing to do.

Besides, he wasn’t even sure that Teo Swig would accept. But whether he accepted or not didn’t really matter to FatelessPen. He could simply ask someone like William instead, who possessed just as much talent. And with the Canestane family lacking any Crownstar-level backing, they would almost certainly accept immediately. After all, if FatelessPen became William’s master, didn’t that mean the Canestane family would fall under his protection by extension?

But all of these were merely random thoughts caused by the cool night breeze and nothing more. For all FatelessPen knew, he could wake up tomorrow and completely abandon the idea of ever taking a disciple.

The next moment, he snapped out of his thoughts as the senses he had spread across a five-kilometer radius suddenly tingled. His gaze shifted toward the disturbance as he noticed yet another assassin rapidly closing the distance before silently slipping into Ryaen’s room through a shadow movement technique.

‘Another rat,’ FatelessPen thought to himself before immediately losing interest.

The moment the assassin entered Ryaen’s room, before he could even emerge from the shadow realm he had been using to conceal and transport himself, his head exploded into a gruesome spray of blood, shattered bone, and brain matter as FatelessPen’s clone killed him with nothing more than a single glance.

There was no need to dispose of the body. Since the assassin had died while still hidden inside that shadow realm, his corpse would remain trapped there indefinitely, producing neither odor nor decay unless someone possessing the ability to manipulate shadows or darkness deliberately pulled the corpse back into the physical plane.

‘It seems the assassins of the Thalvorn Empire are far too numerous. They keep losing members, yet they just keep sending more,’ FatelessPen thought to himself. ‘It’s almost as though killing the students was never their true objective but merely a distraction for something else,’ he thought, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

The next moment, he sighed and shook his head. ‘I’m just connecting unnecessary dots because I want some action,’ he thought to himself before lying down on the rooftop, shifting from a sitting position as he stared at the beautiful moon overhead, his mind slowly drifting into quiet contemplation.