The Instructor Who Was Instantly Killed

Rein and Piscis had been playing a game, and from beginning to end, he had held one enormous advantage.

The enemy was in the open, while he was in the dark.

He had practically guessed all of the enemy's cards, while the enemy had always regarded him as a weakling safely under their control.

That "underestimation" would cost the enemy his life.

At least until the second his ankle was seized, the assassin lurking on the ceiling had been utterly confident in his stealth.

In his view, it could not have been easier for a seasoned assassin to hide from a rookie he had trained himself.

Several days of uninterrupted surveillance without the kid noticing a thing was the best proof.

Besides, Wolf believed he knew everything about Rein.

His New Recruit Training Corps assessment scores had been at the bottom, and he had barely passed each professional skill. He had only advanced to Transcendent a few days ago, after taking a Ghost Walker Gene Potion.

Overall, he was just a greenhorn who could probably last only two or three exchanges against him.

Yet the supremely confident man fell flat on his face in the very next moment.

Naturally, Rein recognized the assassin who had fallen from the ceiling.

The mockery in his eyes spoke for itself.

Wolf Bilge, captain of the Weasel Bandit Group's 19th Squad, was also one of the New Recruit Training Corps instructors. He taught recruits skills related to stealth, tracking, and intelligence theft—the Stealth Expert Sequence.

In truth, Rein had already deduced this man's identity from certain details several days ago.

So at this moment, he was not surprised in the slightest.

But Wolf, who had been completely stunned by the blow, was gripped by terror.

Being dragged down from the ceiling after someone precisely grabbed his ankle could only mean that his supposedly flawless stealth had been entirely within the other party's perception.

Wolf looked at the sharp-eyed Rein before him, and every hair on his back stood on end.

Part of it was the shock of being successfully ambushed by a rookie; more of it was confusion over how he had been exposed!

Even if this 9527 had advanced to Transcendent, Ghost Walker was clearly a potion from the stealth assassin sequence. How could it enhance strength and perception to such an absurd extent?

He had thought he was dealing with a sheep he could knead at will, only to discover it was a hungry wolf in sheep's clothing.

This murderous 9527 before him did not match the unremarkable new recruit in his memories at all!

What the hell was going on?!

Rein ignored Wolf's shock. After smashing him heavily onto the floor, he flicked his wrist, and a sharp scalpel appeared in his grip.

The assassins of the Weasel Gang were desperadoes. Even with one leg broken and unable to stand, a seasoned thief who had crawled out of piles of corpses could still launch a vicious counterattack at death's door.

"Hmph! Kid, don't forget that I was the one who taught you how to hold a knife!"

Sure enough, although Wolf's face was filled with alarm, his hands were not slow at all. As he fell, he had already drawn the Cold Light Dagger from the leather sheath at his waist.

Counterattacking in a crisis was an essential ability for a seasoned assassin.

The dagger tore through the air from a tricky, bizarre angle, striking from a blind spot in his field of vision. This was Wolf's signature killing move!

He was certain that this strike would make the rookie regret everything!

Meanwhile, Rein's ear twitched slightly. His expression was solemn, yet there was not a trace of panic on his face.

He keenly caught the enemy's movement and silently recited in his heart: Next attack: left-hand blade, backhand ankle cut.

Then something astonishing happened.

As if under a spell, Wolf actually drew his blade and attacked exactly as Rein had "predicted."

The sharp dagger spun a flourish in his left hand. He used his body to conceal the blade's trajectory, then slashed backhandedly toward Rein's ankle.

That entire string of exquisite movements could be summed up in seven words: left-hand blade, backhand ankle cut!

Since he had already predicted the movement, how could Rein possibly be hit?

Just as the blade slashed over, he suddenly raised his foot and stomped down hard. With another crisp crack of breaking bone, Wolf clutched his left wrist in agony as the dagger fell from his hand.

"How is that possible?"

Wolf grimaced in pain, his face changing drastically!

After being severely wounded again and again by a rookie he had trained, he suddenly felt as though Death's scythe were pressed against his neck. Every hair on his body stood up in terror.

What the hell?

How had his movements been predicted?

Once could be a coincidence, but twice had to mean something was wrong.

Wolf admitted that this rookie's strength was astonishing, but it was only roughly on par with his own. Even after being ambushed and having one leg broken, he had been confident that his seasoned combat experience would let him hold out for several exchanges. By then, Piscis should have noticed—

But now, in the blink of an eye, even his arm had been broken?

He knew that he did not have long to live.

The keen perception of a Transcendent from the Perception Sequence, the immense strength of the Fighter Sequence, the neural reaction speed of the Assassin Sequence, and that uncanny predictive ability.

Could this really be the level a newly advanced Awakened could reach?

Could this really be an ability a Transcendent of the Assassin Sequence could possess?

In the midst of danger, countless questions flashed through Wolf's mind.

But in the next instant, he became certain of one thing.

This 9527 had absolutely not advanced to Transcendent by taking a Ghost Walker potion, because he himself had awakened into this Exquisite Black Iron Sequence!

Vaguely, Wolf guessed at one possibility.

As Piscis's close partner, he naturally knew about Baron Morin's Relic—

But at that moment, regardless of the truth, it was already too late.

As that thought surfaced in his mind, Wolf's gaze at Rein instantly changed from horror to despair.

"So it turns out everything had been under that kid's control."

Heh heh. He had thought the situation was completely under control, but the entire time, the other party had merely been acting for them?

What terrifying scheming!

Wolf still wanted to make one last struggle, but having lost the initiative and with one hand and one foot crippled, he could no longer launch any effective counterattack.

Rein said nothing. His eyes held only coldness, and the killing moves in his hand did not stop.

In the dream, this instructor had trained with him through countless nights.

Left-handed, skilled at ankle cuts and backstabs; his blade flourish would always be backhanded; before a thrust, his shoulder armor would draw back in a tiny bodily tell—

Rein knew every one of Wolf's attack habits and weaknesses in his techniques.

After stomping Wolf's wrist apart, Rein gave his enemy no chance to retaliate. He stepped forward, shifted sideways, and drew the scalpel across the man's neck, carving out a crescent-shaped wound.

This was an assassin's basic skill—Throat Cut!

In an instant, flesh split open and blood sprayed violently from the carotid artery.

After learning Fundamentals of Anatomy, Rein understood Human Anatomy even more thoroughly.

There was absolutely no chance of survival from this cut.

Wolf felt his life force draining away violently. He wanted to stop it, but his consciousness had already receded like the tide.

Only at the final moment of his life did he realize that his loss had not been unjust.

That bottom-ranked new recruit had executed a perfect Throat Cut skill that was not inferior to his own in the slightest.

Throughout the entire Weasel Gang, there was probably no one who could have done that cut better than him.

Wolf thought bitterly as his eyelids drooped weakly.

The entire ambush had gone as expected. It had been dangerous, but without incident.

"Phew... I finally got him."

After killing Wolf, Rein let out a long breath.

Had they fought head-on, even with some of his strength concealed, he had only just awakened as a Transcendent. Killing Wolf would probably have been a fifty-fifty proposition.

But the ambush had succeeded. After crippling him with one blow and following it with a chain of killing moves, the seasoned assassin had been unable to use even twenty percent of his abilities before collapsing in a pool of blood.

From his sudden attack to the killing, the entire process had taken only three or four breaths.

Rein glanced at the corpse lying in the blood pool. Not daring to linger, he turned and rushed out the door.