(Thank you very much to 'Yume no Shouyou', 'Snow Bubble Radish', and 'Lei Xiang' for the rewards!)
"Tap... tap... tap... tap..."
The rustling of branches and leaves scraping against the ground clearly rose from all around...
In the dim forest, pitch-black figures slowly entered the sight of Wu Yan, Hinagiku, and Mikoto amid faint footsteps...
They were monsters entirely black in color, with skull masks on their faces, some draped in black cloaks, others with black cloth wrapped around their lower bodies, and not even a single hair on their heads!
That was right!
They truly were monsters!
Other than their white masks, every part of them was black!
Their heads...
Their bodies...
Their muscles...
Their limbs...
Even their clothing—every Assassin was utterly black, like ghosts drifting through the forest beneath the dark night sky, making the already eerie and silent atmosphere even more sinister.
In the hands of the numerous Assassins, daggers, blades, and short swords gleaming with a cold sheen were pinched between their fingers. As their owners moved, they traced arcs through the air again and again, sending chills through the heart.
"So those are... Assassins..."
The expressions of both Hinagiku and Mikoto tightened as they scanned the surrounding forest.
"We're completely surrounded..."
One pitch-black figure after another gradually closed in from every direction, steadily shrinking the encirclement around Wu Yan, Hinagiku, and Mikoto. Some even stood on tree branches, raising their sharp weapons and aiming them at the three in the center.
Presumably, once all the Assassins launched their attack, the entire encirclement, above and below, would be filled with sharp daggers in an instant!
Though they were only at the peak of the sixth tier, the Assassins held every advantage of timing, terrain, and numbers!
They had the dark night for concealment, the surrounding forest