Instructor Killed in One Hit

Rein and Piscis were playing a game of chess, and Rein had a significant advantage from start to finish.

That advantage was "the enemy is known, but I am hidden."

He had guessed all of the enemy's cards, yet the enemy still saw him as a weakling they had completely under control.

This "underestimation" would cost the enemy their life.

At least, for the first second before his ankle was grabbed, the assassin lurking on the ceiling was incredibly confident in his stealth abilities.

In his mind, it was too easy for a seasoned assassin to hide from a rookie he himself had trained.

The fact that the kid hadn't noticed him during days of continuous surveillance was the best proof.

Moreover, Wolf believed he knew everything about Rein.

His performance in the New Recruit Training Corps assessment was at the bottom, and his professional skills were barely passing. He had only recently advanced to Extraordinary, and he had taken the Ghost Walker Gene Potion.

Overall, Rein was just a reckless kid who could probably only last two or three rounds against him.

But the incredibly confident Wolf then face-planted.

Rein recognized the assassin falling from the ceiling.

The amusement in his eyes was self-evident.

Wolf Bilge, captain of the 19th Squad of the Weasel Bandit Group and one of the instructors for the New Recruit Training Corps, was responsible for teaching the rookies skills related to stealth, tracking, and intelligence gathering. He was a Stealth Expert.

In fact, Rein had already deduced his identity from certain details a few days prior.

At this moment, he was not surprised in the slightest.

But Wolf, completely stunned, was filled with both terror and shock.

Being precisely grabbed by the ankle and pulled down from the ceiling meant that his supposedly perfect stealth had been completely within the other person's perception.

Wolf looked at Rein, whose gaze was sharp, and the hairs on his back stood on end.

Partly due to the shock of being ambushed by a rookie, but mostly due to the confusion of how he had been exposed!

Even if this 9527 had advanced to Extraordinary, Ghost Walker was clearly a potion for the stealth and assassin sequence. How could it have amplified such exaggerated strength and perception?

He thought he was a sheep that could be easily manipulated, but he never expected a wolf in sheep's clothing.

This murderous-looking 9527 was nothing like the unremarkable newcomer he remembered!

What in the world was going on?!

Rein ignored Wolf's shock. After slamming him heavily onto the floor, he flicked his wrist, and a sharp Scalpel appeared in his hand.

The assassins of the Weasel Gang were desperate men. Even though one of his legs was broken and he couldn't stand, this veteran thief, who had crawled out of piles of dead bodies, still launched a fierce counterattack in his final moments.

"Hmph! Brat, don't forget you learned how to hold a knife from me!"

As expected, although Wolf looked terrified, his reaction was not slow at all. While falling, he had already drawn the Cold Light Dagger from the sheath at his waist.

Counterattacking in a crisis was an essential skill for a veteran assassin.

The dagger whistled through the air, its angle cunning and strange, coming from his blind spot – this was Wolf's signature killing move!

He was confident that this strike would make the newcomer regret it immensely!

Meanwhile, Rein's ear twitched slightly, his expression solemn, but without a hint of panic.

He keenly captured the enemy's movements and silently recited, Next strike, left-hand knife, reverse ankle cut.

The next moment, something astonishing happened.

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

The sharp dagger made a flourish with his left hand, blocking the blade's trajectory with his own body, and then he slashed back towards Rein's ankle.

This series of exquisite movements, when explained, was precisely those seven words: left-hand knife, reverse ankle cut!

Since his movements had been predicted, how could Rein possibly fall for it?

As the knife slashed towards him, he suddenly lifted his foot and stomped down hard. A "crack" of bone breaking was heard, and Wolf clutched his left wrist in pain, dropping the dagger.

"How is this possible..."

Wolf cried out in pain, his face filled with shock!

Being repeatedly injured by a newcomer he had trained made him instantly feel the chilling sensation of the Grim Reaper's scythe at his neck, his hair standing on end.

What the hell...

How could his movements be predicted?

Once might be a coincidence, but twice was definitely suspicious.

Wolf admitted that the newcomer's strength was exaggerated, but it was only comparable to his own. Even with a broken leg from the earlier ambush, he was confident that he could hold his own for a few rounds with his seasoned combat experience. By then, Piscis should have noticed...

But now, his arm was broken in the blink of an eye?

He knew his life was hanging by a thread.

Possessing the keen senses of an Extraordinary with the "Perception Sequence," the immense strength of the "Fighter Sequence," the reaction speed of the "Assassin Sequence," and that uncanny predictive ability...

Could a newly advanced Awakened truly reach this level?

Was this really an ability an Extraordinary of the Assassin Sequence could master?

In the face of danger, countless doubts flashed through Wolf's mind.

The next moment, however, he became certain of one thing.

This 9527 hadn't advanced to Extraordinary by taking the [Ghost Walker] Potion at all; he himself had awakened to this Exquisite Black Iron Sequence!

Vaguely, Wolf guessed a possibility.

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

But at this moment, no matter what the truth was, it was too late.

As this thought popped into his head, Wolf's gaze towards Rein instantly shifted from terror to despair.

"So this was all within that kid's control..."

Heh, he thought he had "the situation under control," but in reality, the other person had been putting on a show for them the entire time?

What terrifying scheming!

Wolf wanted to struggle in his death throes, but having lost the initiative and with one hand and one foot gone, he was utterly incapable of launching any effective counterattack.

Rein said nothing, his eyes only holding indifference, and his killing blow did not cease.

In his dreams, this Instructor had trained with him for countless nights.

Left-handed, skilled at ankle-slashing backstabs, his blade flourishes would always be reversed, and his thrusts would be accompanied by subtle limb movements like retracting shoulder armor...

Rein knew all of Wolf's attack habits and the flaws in his techniques.

After stomping and shattering Wolf's wrist, Rein gave his enemy no further chance to counter. He stomped, sidestepped, and brought his Scalpel in a crescent cut along the man's neck.

This was a basic Assassin skill—[Throat Cut]!

In an instant, flesh was torn, and a large amount of blood spurted from the carotid artery.

Having studied basic anatomy, Rein had an even better grasp of Human Anatomy.

This cut left no chance of survival.

Wolf felt the intense sensation of life draining away. He wanted to stop it, but his consciousness was already receding like a tide.

In the final moments of his life, he finally realized his defeat was not unjust.

That bottom-ranking rookie had executed a perfect [Throat Cut] skill, no less inferior than his own.

With this cut, perhaps no one in the entire "Weasel Bandit Group" could have done it better than him.

Wolf thought bitterly, his eyelids falling powerlessly...

The entire ambush had gone as expected, and it had been surprisingly smooth.

"Hoo... finally got rid of him."

Rein killed Wolf and let out a long breath.

If they had fought head-on, even if he had hidden some of his strength, he was still a newly awakened Extraordinary. Killing Wolf would have been roughly a fifty-fifty chance.

But the successful ambush, followed by a fatal blow and then a killing move, meant that this veteran Assassin's skills were not even used to twenty percent before he fell into a pool of blood.

From the initial surge to the kill, the entire process took only three to four seconds.

Rein glanced at the corpse lying in the blood, not daring to linger, and turned to flee out the door.