The Assassin's Seven Principles of Manipulation

Chapter 384: Chapter 379 — Light

’Everyone you see wandering around this world has a life of their own, you know. Their own problems, their own worries, most of which have absolutely nothing to do with you. Some have siblings they love and hate, just like you. Some have wives, children, people waiting for them to come home. People who would spend the rest of their lives mourning them if they never did. Killing innocent people just because they happen to be in the way of your precious goal? That’s not ruthlessness, protégé. That’s madness.’

Zephyrion fell silent. He’d initially thought Demorian had been pushing him because he wanted him to kill the man, but it seemed the opposite had been true all along. The ancestor had been testing him.

’Would it change anything? If I killed him?’

Demorian was silent for a moment before finally responding.

’Honestly? No. We’ve come too far for something like this to change what’s between us. I’m still going to help you kill Frost. Hell, I’d gladly help you drive the blade into that bastard myself. But afterward? I think I’d have to say a little prayer for the rest of the world.

’Because if you’re already willing to go this far just to get your revenge, then once Frost is dead and you’re standing at the very top of this world... well, who’s to say you won’t simply become the next him?’

Zephyrion felt his blood boil.

’I’m nothing like him.’

’Yeah. I suppose we’ll find out.’

Demorian fell silent after that, and for the first time, Zephyrion found himself genuinely irritated by the ancestor’s refusal to say anything more. Who did Demorian think he was, anyway? To actually compare him to Frost, spouting such nonsense as though he knew exactly what kind of person he was.

No one knew that. He’d made sure of it after spending more than a decade suppressing his emotions, keeping everything buried so deeply that even those closest to him could never tell what he was truly thinking.

Yet, after barely a year together, the ancestor suddenly thought he had him all figured out.

’It’s fine as long as I have a reason.’

He wasn’t planning to kill the town head simply because he felt like it. The man was a threat, a threat to his goal, and eliminating him was a necessary step towards achieving it. There was a perfectly valid reason behind his decision.

Besides, from everything the man had said, it was clear he hadn’t exactly lived an honest life. Who was to say he was innocent? For all Zephyrion knew, he could have been a mass murderer who happened to find love and settle down. Could anyone, especially a Herald-rank being, truly claim to be innocent?

’It’s necessary,’ Zephyrion repeated once more, firmly pushing the thoughts aside. Instead, he turned his attention back to the matter at hand.

It was still pitch-black, but through the vibrations and disturbances in the air, he could make out several branching tunnels stretching in different directions around them.

The more he sensed, though, the grimmer his expression became. A lair this extensive could only mean an equally large horde. There was no way this was the work of a mere dozen Gravemaws.

Brrr. Brrr.

The vibrations grew stronger the deeper they ventured, and so did the distant screams and sounds of battle. They were getting closer to the main lair, yet rather than focusing on what awaited them, Zephyrion found his thoughts drifting back to the matter he’d been trying to suppress.

He would have to silence the town head soon.

The thought made his chest tighten, and he could feel his irritation steadily mounting. The longer he delayed, the more unbearable the tension became, and several times, he considered simply turning around and getting it over with right then and there. Yet each time, he found himself continuing forward instead.

Demorian’s smug expression kept resurfacing in his mind, and it wasn’t long before Zephyrion began to understand the real reason behind his anger.

Part of it was the uncomfortable possibility that the ancestor might actually be right. But more than that, it was the realization that everything that had happened with Ingrid, with Lumi, had gradually made him more emotionally open than he’d ever intended.

Demorian being able to predict his actions so easily was simply a consequence of that. He’d allowed himself to become readable, to the point where someone else could actually anticipate what he would or wouldn’t do. The thought alone was enough to send a chill through him.

But he was done with all that emotional nonsense. There was too much at stake, and he needed to investigate Void, no matter what.

A faint glimmer suddenly caught his attention.

’Light.’

It was coming from somewhere up ahead. Zephyrion slowed his steps and glanced over his shoulder, finally able to make out the town head’s ashen face in the dim illumination.

Bringing a finger to his lips, he gestured towards the source of the light. The man swallowed nervously before nodding, and they both continued forward with considerably more caution.

By now, the screams and sounds of battle had grown so loud that they seemed to reverberate through the tunnel itself.

As they drew closer, the light gradually became bright enough to reveal their surroundings, and it wasn’t long before Zephyrion spotted a familiar figure crouching behind a large boulder up ahead.

Possum.

Zephyrion narrowed his eyes. The man was carefully peering around the boulder, seemingly observing whatever was happening beyond it.

’He’s not fighting?’

That was certainly not what he’d expected.

Possum seemed to notice their approach and glanced back. Upon recognizing them, he merely scoffed before turning his attention back to whatever had caught his interest.

Zephyrion exchanged a glance with the town head, who returned a grim look, before they both crouched slightly and approached the boulder. It stood near the entrance to what appeared to be an enormous cavern, blocking most of their view of the brightly illuminated space beyond.

Even without seeing what lay ahead, however, Zephyrion could feel an increasingly ominous sensation settling over him.

After a brief moment of hesitation, he straightened slightly and peered around the boulder.

Zephyrion’s eyes immediately widened.