At first, there was only a faint, dull thud, followed by a short, strange whimper.
Rather than a scream or a groan, it sounded more like an instinctive reaction, something akin to a knee-jerk reflex.
One member of Tohno's private force fell without a sound.
Like the countless animals that had died in these mountains over the ages, his corpse was stained and buried by the damp earth. In the end, it would rot away and return to nature without ever being discovered.
Unlike animals that died naturally or were left half-eaten by beasts, however, this fully armed mixed-blood soldier had only one wound. Someone had avoided the protection of his helmet and shattered his skull from the front. He struggled for several seconds before finally dying completely.
In those final seconds, he had tried to use the consciousness remaining in his brain to control his body and warn his companions. But the attacker had clearly anticipated that possibility, and he had now lost even that ability.
The dead man's companions had noticed nothing unusual about the death of their teammate, who had been too far away due to their scattered encirclement tactic.
Or rather, this silent method of killing was exactly the result deliberately created by the assassin lurking in these mountains.
The dull thud sounded again. This time, the companion the first victim had wanted to call out to suffered the same fate.
He died as meaninglessly and silently as a rat stepping into a mousetrap.
A shadow landed soundlessly beside the corpse of the mixed-blood who had been so overbearing only moments ago. He wore a bright smile and had neat, easy-to-manage short hair.
He was undoubtedly human—a human who had killed two fully armed mixed-bloods in an instant.
The human held only a cold weapon: a