System S.E.X. (Seduction, Expansion, eXecution)

Chapter 334: Chapter 334: The Invisible Executioner

Suddenly, the killing intent returned with the force of a tidal wave. Without hesitation, Ethan threw himself to the ground, but this time he didn’t just dodge. As he fell, he pivoted his body and swung his forearm upward, aiming for the space where a lunging attacker would be.

CLANG.

His arm hit something solid—something that felt like cold, vibrating steel. A spray of blood painted the air as a hidden blade sliced deep into Ethan’s forearm. He rolled away, clutching his arm, which was now bleeding profusely.

The blood from his wound didn’t just fall to the ground; some of it splattered onto an invisible shape in front of him. For a fleeting second, the red mist outlined the silhouette of a tall, slender figure standing less than three meters away.

”So, you can feel me,” the voice said, sounding amused. ”But feeling me isn’t the same as stopping me.”

The blood on the invisible figure vanished, as if absorbed or wiped away by a cloaking field that defied all of Royal’s technology. Ethan was standing in front of a ghost he couldn’t see, couldn’t track, and couldn’t touch.

”Jason, get out of here now! This is a different level!” Ethan roared, his purple eyes glowing with desperate intensity.

”Crul, how is this possible?! How did he penetrate my skin?!” Ethan shouted in his mind, his breath hitching as he felt the warm blood soak through his sleeve.

[Scanning residue on the wound... Master, the blade is composed of a hyper-density neutronium alloy, likely reinforced with spiritual resonance. It is designed specifically to bypass high-level physical defense skills like yours,] Crul replied.

Ethan’s heart hammered against his ribs. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, he felt genuine, cold-blooded fear. He had become accustomed to being an invincible god amongst men—bullets bounced off him, fire didn’t burn him, and no one was fast enough to touch him. But here he was, bleeding out on the pavement from a ghost he couldn’t even see.

He had over 10,000 Lux Points, but an advanced skill capable of dealing with this—something like True Sight or Dimensional Lock—was priced far beyond his current reach. He was trapped.

The killing intent spiked again. Ethan threw himself to the side, rolling over the shattered glass. He didn’t even try to counterattack; he was purely in survival mode, dodging by fractions of an inch. Each time the invisible blade hissed through the air, it left a new shallow cut on his back or shoulders.

”Coward! Is this all the great Ethan Blake is? A rat scurrying in the dark?!” the invisible voice hissed, sounding increasingly frustrated.

”Who’s the coward, you damn ghost?! Show your fucking face and fight me like a man!” Ethan roared, his voice cracking with the strain of the high-speed pursuit.

The bombardment was relentless. The assassin was a whirlwind of invisible steel, and Ethan was reaching his limit. His stamina was draining, and the blood loss was making his head light. He needed a miracle. He needed it now.

”Crul! The Gold-Rank Roulette ticket I got from the mission! Use it! NOW!” Ethan screamed internally.

[[Understood. Activating Gold-Rank Random Reward... Spinning...]] Crul’s voice was calm, a sharp contrast to the chaos around them.

Ethan ducked a decapitating strike, the wind of the blade ruffling his hair. He prayed. He didn’t care what it was—a weapon, a skill, a distraction—anything to tilt the scales.

The digital wheel in his mind spun with blinding speed, gold light flooding his internal vision as the invisible assassin prepared a thrust aimed directly at Ethan’s heart.

Ethan continued to dodge, the silver blade of the invisible assassin whistling past his ear, leaving another shallow cut. His arm was screaming, and his vision was tunneling. He was on the verge of collapse.

[Reward Confirmed,] Crul announced. [Integrating Gold-Level Skill: ’Amethyst Eyes’.]

A holographic description materialized in Ethan’s mind, flickering violently as he ducked another attack.

Amethyst Eyes (Gold-Rank Passive/Active Skill): Inherit the blessings of your Ancestors. Abilities: ???

There was no further description, only a single, glowing ”Accept” button. There was no time to think, no time to analyze. He was seconds from death. He slammed his mental finger onto the button.

A scream tore from Ethan’s throat—a guttural, animalistic sound of pure agony. His mind exploded into a maelstrom of raw, untamed data. Ancient memories, visions, and sheer, incomprehensible power surged through his consciousness, threatening to tear him apart from the inside out. He stumbled, clutching his head, his body wracked with tremors.

The assassin, sensing the sudden incapacitation, stopped its relentless assault. The invisible figure materialized partially, a shimmering distortion in the air as it watched Ethan writhe in torment. Its voice, no longer amused, dripped with cold satisfaction.

”It seems you’ve finally reached your limit, little king. The bloodline runs dry,” the assassin said.

The assassin closed the distance, the neutronium blade glinting as it raised the dagger for the killing blow—a precise thrust aimed directly at Ethan’s heart.

Just as the blade was about to plunge, Ethan’s head snapped up. His eyes, previously a swirling storm of purple, had deepened into an intense, vibrant amethyst. They glowed with an otherworldly power, not just seeing, but perceiving on a plane far beyond mortal comprehension.

The assassin, mid-strike, froze. Its body locked up, muscles rigid, dagger hovering inches from Ethan’s chest. Its eyes, wide with sudden, utter terror, stared into the bottomless depths of Ethan’s new vision. It saw not a man, but an abyss. It saw not a king, but a concept. It saw not a mortal, but a nascent deity.

The assassin was petrified, not by a physical force, but by the sheer, overwhelming power radiating from Ethan’s Amethyst Eyes.

The sharp pain in Ethan’s skull vanished, replaced by an absolute, chilling clarity. His new Amethyst Eyes didn’t just see light; they saw the very structure of reality. The void in front of him was no longer empty; he could see the fibers of space bending around his attacker.

The assassin was an older man with a lethal presence. He had a neatly trimmed white beard and a deep scar running across his face, leaving him half-blind. The terror in the assassin’s single remaining eye was palpable.

”Crul... what is this? I feel something flowing from my eyes toward him,” Ethan said in his mind.

[[Master, the amount of data I am processing is massive. The Amethyst Eyes are hijacking the spatial fabric... Give me a moment to—]] Crul replied, but Ethan no longer needed the explanation.

As if an ancestral knowledge had been downloaded directly into his instincts, Ethan understood one of the functions of his heritage. His eyes locked onto invisible pressure points in the air surrounding the assassin. With a single thought, the space around the man became dense—solid as concrete—freezing him mid-strike in a ridiculous pose.

Ethan let out a dry laugh, fascinated. He shifted his gaze slightly and watched as the assassin let out a strangled scream of agony; the space itself began to contract, crushing his bones and his invisible armor.

”It’s like playing with a bug in a jar...” Ethan said.

However, the euphoria was short-lived. A sudden wave of dizziness hit him, and he felt his spiritual energy draining like water in a desert. Maintaining that level of manipulation was expensive.

”Enough playing for today,” Ethan said.

With a swift movement, Ethan reached out and snatched the neutronium dagger from the petrified man’s hand. The assassin tried to plead, but his voice was nothing but a choked rattle under the spatial pressure.

Ethan didn’t hesitate. In a perfect silver arc, he slid the blade across the old man’s throat. The head, with its white beard and single eye full of terror, separated from the body before the blood could even spray. The corpse hit the ground like a heavy sack as the effect of the eyes dissipated.

Ethan wiped the blood off the blade using the dead man’s suit and stored the dagger in his inventory.

”This is a great dagger... I’m keeping it,” Ethan said, though his voice sounded weary.

He stumbled slightly, his Amethyst Eyes fading back to their normal purple hue, as Jason rushed toward him, face pale with shock.

The adrenaline that had been keeping Ethan upright evaporated the moment the assassin’s head hit the pavement. His knees buckled, and the world began to tilt into a hazy, violet blur.

”Chief!” Jason yelled, dropping his rifle and catching Ethan before he slammed into the concrete.

Ethan went limp, his consciousness slipping into a dark void. As he lost consciousness, his body’s passive regeneration kicked into overdrive, but the damage from the neutronium blade was severe. Blood didn’t just leak from his wounds; it flowed like a river, soaking through his clothes and staining Jason’s tactical vest in seconds. It was an impossible amount of blood, a crimson tide that seemed to defy the limits of a human body.

”Stay with me, Ethan! Damn it!” Jason said.

[[I am diverting all available energy to his cellular repair, but the blade’s residue is slowing the process. Get him to the safe house now,]] Crul replied, its voice tight with urgency.

Jason didn’t waste another second. He hoisted Ethan’s heavy, bleeding frame over his shoulder and ran to the truck. He threw Ethan into the backseat and jumped behind the wheel, flooring the accelerator. The tires screeched, leaving streaks of rubber and blood on the road as the truck roared away from the docks.

Inside the cabin, the sound of Ethan’s ragged, shallow breathing was the only thing Jason could hear over the engine. The backseat was already a lake of red.

”Hold on, Boss. Just hold on,” Jason said.

As the truck disappeared into the smoke of the burning city, the dawn finally broke over the horizon, revealing a North End that would never be the same again.