Ghost Shadow Qilos

He fired four shots without changing position; even a blind man would know there was a sniper on that high wall.

Rein did this not only to create an opportunity for President Catherine and her men to escape the ancient city, but also to better eliminate this group of professional assassins.

This tactic, like the previous assassinations of sentries, is to gradually eliminate them in batches.

Going straight in for a direct confrontation isn't a good option. No matter how confident Rein is, he's not arrogant enough to think he can simultaneously clash with more than ten seasoned Second Tier assassins. Besides, there's a high probability that Third Tier assassins are lurking among the enemy.

He used to be part of the Phantom Thieves, so he knew the Assassins' hunting tactics all too well.

Those people's target is Catherine, so the high-level combatants involved in this assassination must all be following her.

To deal with a lone sniper like Rein, at most we would send two "medium to low" combatants to eliminate the sniper position.

Just as Rein had guessed, two of them arrived.

Rein has been slit in the Throat Slash twice.

He felt that if he got infected again, he might as well just die.

The time it took him to fire four shots was just enough for Second Tier assassin to climb the city wall and get close to him.

When the assassin stepped on the "sound-causing powder" that Rein had deliberately placed on the ground, the sound, like coarse sand rubbing against fine dust, entered his ears. He'd been ambushed and caught off guard before when someone Throat Slash, but now...

Just as the black dagger approached his shoulder, Rein suddenly turned around and disarmed the blade with his bare hands, grabbing the sharp edge!

The tough material of the [Karnap's Sacred Gauntlets] prevented the dagger from advancing or retreating. Then, with a counterattack, the [Secret Technique: Ten Hands] multi-weapon combo grappling move was used. With a twist and a pinch, the assassin instantly lost control of his arm.

Just as Rein reacted with lightning speed and grabbed the blade of the dagger, another female assassin's dagger also stabbed straight at his waist.

This is a two-person coordinated attack tactic, not only for killing, but also for dealing with situations where a partner has been captured.

Under normal circumstances, if you don't back down in this situation, the other person will lose an arm, and you'll be stabbed in the waist—either dead or crippled!

The correct course of action is to abandon the assassin you have captured and then retreat to avoid the dagger.

The first round ended in a draw.

But Rein didn't want to get entangled with the two assassins any longer. He caught a glimpse of the dagger at his waist and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

Instead of dodging, he clenched his fist and punched the assassin whose arm was being held in the neck.

This punch was delivered with Monstrous Strength —the "Cannon Fist"—and there was no stopping it.

With a whoosh, the wind from the punch whistled, followed by a cracking sound of bones breaking.

The punch snapped the assassin's neck. Before the terror in his eyes could fade, his head lolled to one side, and he was dead.

At the same time, a dagger had already pierced through his skin and stabbed into Rein's waist.

The female assassin wielding the knife had just a thought in her mind: Why is this guy trying to kill his own companion instead of dodging?

The next instant, shock appeared in her cold eyes.

Because when she stabbed Rein, she encountered tremendous resistance. The moment the sharp tip of the dagger pierced his skin, the muscles squeezed in, firmly preventing her from continuing to exert force to pierce through the muscle layers.

One of the Six Forms of Combat techniques, the protective technique called "Diamond," protects the body with fighting spirit, making muscles as strong as iron, Indestructible Vajra!

The stronger your battle aura, the stronger your defense!

Rein's current fighting spirit is no less than that of an ordinary Third Tier Extraordinary. With the [Vajra] already in operation and the super toughness brought by the Bloodline Worms, it cannot be penetrated by ordinary caliber musket bullets, let alone a dagger.

"Snort!"

A cold snort.

In that instant of stiffness, Rein had already pulled his hand away. He released the corpse with its neck broken and was about to use the same trick again to grab the wrist of the assassin who had stabbed him in the waist with the dagger.

"Oops!"

But the assassin knew something was wrong and reacted very quickly.

The moment she realized the dagger wouldn't go in, she immediately let go. An instinctive sense of danger made her retreat hastily.

But there were few footholds on the broken city wall, leaving no room to retreat. The assassin then leaped backward, intending to jump off the wall to the ground. Once she landed, the darkness would conceal her, allowing her to immediately slip away.

This is an enemy we cannot defeat; we must notify the captain and have them surround and kill it!

But she was overthinking it.

Rein would never give the enemy a chance to escape!

"Smack!"

With a loud bang, a figure pushed off the wall and shot down like a cannonball.

One is free fall, the other is accelerated forward movement.

Before the assassin's body even hit the ground, Rein had already grabbed the assassin's ankle in mid-air.

"Oops!"

Unable to gain leverage in mid-air, the assassin could only watch helplessly as he was captured.

"What kind of Monstrous Strength is this?!"

Then a sharp pain, almost making her faint, shot through her ankle. She tried to break free, but the iron clamp remained firmly in place.

"What kind of monster is this guy?! [King Kong], [Swiftness]... that punch just now seemed to be [Cannon Fist]? My god, he's mastered three of the six ultimate techniques of a martial artist. Is this really just a Second Tier martial artist?!"

If it weren't for the fact that his fighting spirit hadn't been lacking in "momentum," the assassin would have thought he was facing a High-tier Extraordinary.

However, this was the last thought that flashed through her mind before she died.

One second later, Rein landed steadily.

The assassin felt a sharp pain, but she didn't give up struggling. Her left ankle was grabbed, and she twisted her waist, her right leg whipping down like an iron whip towards Rein's head.

But when it comes to fighting skills, how could a professional fighter Rein lose to an assassin?

He handled the situation with remarkable composure.

As the kick came, Rein blocked it with one hand, then used the momentum to deflect the force and grab the assassin's right ankle.

With his legs restrained, the assassin tried to perform a rabbit kick, but Rein's immense strength made him unmoved. He then gave the enemy no chance to retaliate. Like a windmill, he swung his hand back and slammed the assassin to the ground, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood, and his battle aura veil instantly disintegrated.

Taking advantage of the moment, Rein mercilessly punched the assassin in the head again, crushing his facial features and splattering blood everywhere.

Then he delivered a knee strike to her neck, and with a "crack," she was finally taken out of the water.

After killing two people, Rein breathed a slight sigh of relief.

The wound on my waist healed instantly.

He didn't look at the corpses on the ground, but instead looked towards the outside of the ancient city, following the direction from which the gunshots came.

Without much delay, he jumped onto the city wall, put away his sniper rifle and assassin's storage ring, and then chased after Catherine in the direction they had retreated outside the city.

Assassins can use their professional skills to "steal" and hide in the night, but that doesn't mean they are completely untraceable.

At least, they can't fly, and their footsteps will leave tracks on the ground.

Previously, the city was all compacted, hard loess soil, so there wasn't much difference. But in the desert, "stealth" became meaningless.

The continuous firing of flares illuminated the entire sandy area as if it were daytime.

In this situation, the assassin's advantage is not significant.

Assassins are so formidable because they often lurk in the shadows, able to launch surprise attacks and deliver a fatal blow to their opponents.

Lady Catherine was also extremely shrewd; she chose a huge, flat sandy area with no cover, so that if the assassins came, they would have no choice but to face them head-on.

Clearly, the shrewd and calculating president of the "Redwood Merchant Guild" had anticipated the dangers of this trip and had even planted a master assassin within the hunting party.

That was a Third Tier earth elemental mage!

"Huh?"

When Rein caught up, he happened to see the earth elemental giants, formed from several grains of mud and sand, standing around the merchants and engaging in a fierce gunfight with the assassins.

Instead of approaching, he found a small sand dune and set up his sniper rifle again.

"To be able to manage such a large business guild, one's methods are indeed extraordinary."

Through the scope, Rein saw the corner of the Third Tier earth elemental mage's robe, which was clearly a black and white nun's habit.

In his memory, there was indeed a medical-type Transcendent in the team dressed as a nun, but when she was introduced, she was just a Second Tier ordinary priest.

Previously hidden among the team without drawing attention, it was clearly a backup plan left by Catherine.

Moreover, in desert terrain, having a high-level earth elemental mage is indeed more advantageous than any other class. The three "earth giants" she conjured alone are equivalent to two Second Tier Transcendent envoys.

Rein didn't pay much attention to the Chamber of Commerce members; as long as Catherine and her son were still alive, the situation wasn't too bad.

At that moment, his gaze fell upon the assassins. Following the number of muzzle flashes, he quickly determined the enemy's numbers. "Twelve assassins, and one Third Tier captain! Oh, no, there should be two Third Tier, and one is currently engaged in fierce combat with Captain Frank."

Thinking about this, he suddenly felt that something was very wrong.

Because Frank, the Third Tier assassin hired by Catherine, discovered the enemy's night raid and immediately engaged the enemy's Third Tier Extraordinary outside the city.

But now, there's absolutely no movement!

"Were they killed? Or did they escape?"

Rein immediately sensed something was wrong.

Frank's combat strength is not weak among Third Tier assassins; if he is killed, the enemy must be ridiculously strong.

If he is defeated and flees, it is because his enemy is stronger than him.

Catherine and her group might be able to handle one Third Tier assassin if they keep a close eye on them, but if there are two, it will be a big problem.

Although that Third Tier earth mage was powerful, in the eyes of an assassin of the same tier, once she was brought into close combat, she had almost no chance to fight back. The assassin's sharp dagger would not give her any chance to cast spells.

Now Catherine and her team have a clear strategy: everyone is protecting the earth mage in the very center.

Rein didn't see the other Third Tier assassin, but he was already mentally analyzing the enemy's tactics. "If I were that Third Tier assassin, I would be trying to kill the people protecting the mages first."

But he hadn't considered how the assassins would operate with three "earth giants" protecting them.

Even a Third Tier assassin wouldn't fare well under the hail of bullets. After all, it wasn't just Catherine; the Redwood Merchant Guild guards were also armed with high-powered, high-quality firearms. A single concentrated barrage could severely damage even Third Tier Extraordinary.

And suddenly, reality showed Rein what that stealthy being would do!

Just as everyone was focused on shooting, unexpectedly, a semi-transparent figure slowly appeared near the blind spot of the sand giant.

Before the members of the Chamber of Commerce could react, a short knife with an iron chain suddenly stabbed in like a venomous snake hunting its prey, piercing the neck of the nearest lightly armored swordsman. Blood gushed out the moment the skin was broken.

Upon closer inspection, it was clear that the blood flowing from the wound was still green!

The knife is poisoned!

The wound wasn't originally fatal, but the poison instantly caused the lightly armored swordsman to lose consciousness, his face turned bluish-purple and black, and he collapsed to the ground.

Moreover, after the stealthy murder, his body transformed into a transparent state again, disappearing in a few flashes.

On the sand, only tiny footprints, resembling those of a small lizard, were left. No wonder it could sneak up so close; its stealthy Movement Technique were so unpredictable that it was impossible to spot it without close inspection!

Seeing someone being ambushed and fall to the ground, Catherine's expression hardened, and she quickly fired several shots in the direction of the footprints, but she didn't even touch the guy's clothes.

Just then, someone shouted, "Arthur has been poisoned! Quick, he needs an antidote!"

Catherine's face darkened when she saw the blackened wound on the lightly armored swordsman named Catherine. Without hesitation, she took out a valuable, Advanced Antidote Potion and injected it into his neck.

After taking this medicine, although it seemed that Kaiser's life was saved, he also fell into a coma and completely lost his fighting ability.

Worse still, the others also recognized the assassin who had appeared like a ghost, killing and then calmly retreating. A deathly palpable look of panic crossed the faces of the hunters.

"It's him! It's Black Skull's 'Ghost Shadow'!"

"We're doomed this time, that guy's here."

"It's over, everything's over. That guy won't leave any survivors."

"."

It's as if just mentioning that name instantly extinguishes any desire to resist.

That name means death, even to High-tier Extraordinary!

Upon hearing the name "Ghost Shadow," even Catherine, who had remained calm throughout, turned extremely pale.

That guy actually came to intercept and kill us himself?!

"Such superb stealth skills. This is definitely not an ordinary Third Tier assassin!"

On the distant sand dunes, Rein naturally saw the scene through his binoculars and immediately realized something. "It was that guy. It seems Captain Frank has been taken down."

Chain-blade, deadly poison, and ghostly Movement Technique.

The bounty posters for all the famous members of the "Black Skull Phantom Thieves" are in the Mind Core's database. By combining these key criteria and filtering them, the Mind Core immediately identified a person.

That's the captain of the Black Skull Sixteenth Squad, [Ghost Shadow] Qilos, with a bounty of 13 million lisos!

The "Black Skull Phantom Thieves" is a top-tier phantom thief group whose strength is comparable to Bazel's original "White Wolf Gang," and the group is full of experts.

In a brutal place like the Phantom Thieves, there's little regard for seniority. To become a squad leader, one must have the strength to command respect from others.

The reason why this Qilos was able to become the captain of the "Black Skull" with the rank of Third Tier Extraordinary is because he has absolute strength!

Although he was only at the Third Tier, he had assassinated so many Fourth Tier Transcendent that he couldn't count them on one hand.

This is a very troublesome assassin!

Thanks to 'Colinnnn' for 2000 coins, 'Jin Taiyi' for 500 coins, 'Yifengxi' and 'Jin Ming' from Bookstore for their rewards. There is only one update at noon, and another update later in the evening. My schedule has been a bit messy recently, and the update rhythm has been disrupted.