Shen (Assassin hired by Oran Fennel) POV
The wind was sharp this high up.
Even with the concrete barrier in front of them, the occasional gust cut across the rooftop like a cold knife.
Below, the streets of Central Sector moved at a steady pace.
The sun had set an hour ago, and the sky still held a faint, dark blue tint. It was quiet now.
Two men stood near the edge of the rooftop, their coats flapping gently in the wind.
“Still can’t believe we took this one,” Rael muttered, rubbing his hands together to stay warm. “Fennel Corp’s out of its mind if they think this is worth the trouble.”
Rael was Lean, silver-haired, with a cigarette between his fingers that had been lit and forgotten.
His tone wasn’t nervous, just annoyed. He looked to be in his late fifties.
The younger assassin beside him didn’t reply.
He was crouched near the ledge, watching the street through a long-range lens fixed to his left eye.
Rael glanced at him and let out a small scoff.
“Really? Still not gonna say anything?”
Shen remained silent.
His black hair was tied back, he had an unreadable expression, and his entire body was wound like a spring waiting to release.
He didn’t look tense, just prepared.
Rael looked back toward the street and exhaled. “This is bad no matter how it goes. You do realize that, right?”
Shen didn’t move.
“If we fail, our record will take a big hit. But if we succeed…” Rael tapped the cigarette on the railing, letting ash fall onto the steel beam below. “We piss off the Calloway Conglomerate.”
Silence stretched between them.
“You’re really doing this?” Rael asked again. “For what? A perfect record?”
Shen finally spoke, but didn’t look at him. “Yes.”
Rael let out a short, humorless laugh. “Unbelievable.”
He pulled his coat tighter, leaning against the cold surface behind him.
“You could’ve chosen a better target at least.”
Their target for tonight was Isaac Hargraves.
He was a high-profile figure who was in talks among the upper echelon of society.
Rael and Shen were confident they could complete the mission easily.
Shen, in his late twenties, was Champion-rank already, and he had a perfect record in assassination mission.
He had never failed to kill his target.
Rael was different.
No one knew who he was and where he had come from. He was a vagrant explorer—awakeners who lived in wilderness and kept moving from one place to another.
He had only stayed in Fortified City 50 as Shen was here.
Years ago, Shen was still making money as a thug when Rael had come across him.
He had noticed the unimaginable talent Shen had as an assassin, and decided to raise him as his successor.
Rael turned his head, studying his student’s posture.
“You’re trying to get into [Three Colors], aren’t you?”
Shen said nothing, which was answer enough.
Rael shook his head slowly. “You’re not the first one to think about it. You know that, right? I’ve seen at least seven assassins try to build their perfect record and get in. Five are dead. One went crazy. The other one made it… and now he’s not even human anymore.”
“I don’t care,” Shen said.
There was no fire in his voice, or desperation. Just calm certainty.
Rael rubbed his temple and sighed. “You’ve always been like this. Quiet, ambitious, and reckless. I know you have talent as an assassin, but damn it, Shen…”
He trailed off, then looked back toward the street.
The tracker device in Shen’s hand gave a quiet ping. Rael didn’t need to ask what that meant.
“Isaac’s on the move?” he asked anyway.
Shen nodded. “Roughly thirty minutes before contact.”
Rael took a drag from his cigarette and let the smoke hang in the air.
“What about the guards?”
“I don’t see any.”
“I don’t understand. Didn’t he just awaken a few weeks ago? Why is he so confident in his strength.”
Shen didn’t respond.
He checked his sniper.
It was loaded with special military grade bullets that could punch a hole through peak Champion rank monsters.
These things were expensive, but Shen didn’t want to take a chance.
After all, he had heard of Isaac’s exploits during the Metavore Hive hunt.
Rael tapped the edge of the rooftop with his knuckle. “You think this’ll be easy?”
“Yes.”
“You think I came because I thought you needed help?”
Shen hesitated, then said, “No.”
“Good. Because I didn’t. I came to pull your damn body out if things went sideways. That’s all.” Rael smiled, but it wasn’t a happy smile. “I’m not going to help you complete your mission in case you fail.”
Shen finally looked at him, and Rael met his eyes.
“You want that perfect record?” Rael said, voice firm. “Then you better do this by yourself. Take him out in one shot. If you fail, we will bail out.”
“I won’t fail.”
Rael crushed the cigarette under his boot. “That’s what they all say. Learn to be humble, kid.”
He stepped beside Shen and crouched down.
…
Isaac POV
Few Hours Ago
The event venue was still buzzing in the background. Music, fans, staff running back and forth.
He gave a short nod to Celia and turned toward the exit.
By the time he stepped outside, the sun was already dipping low over the skyline.
Evening traffic had started to form, the kind that made even the air feel congested.
He didn’t linger.
After half an hour, he arrived in Central Sector.
The buildings here were different—glass, steel, old wealth hiding under fresh renovations.
Calloway Conglomerate’s main tower was hard to miss.
It loomed over everything, lined with glowing strips of light that pulsed softly with the hour.
Isaac moved past the towers and went towards the Calloway estate.
Entering the estate, he didn’t find Alice anywhere, and had to ask a maid about her.
“She’s in the archive wing,” the maid answered without looking up.
That meant the library.
Isaac nodded and turned down the hallway.
He found her seated near one of the digital consoles, a thick record cube glowing dimly beside her.
Her coat was draped on the chair behind her, and a soft light hung above her table.
She didn’t notice him at first.
Her brows were drawn tight, and her lips pressed into a small line.
“What’s up?” Isaac asked, stepping closer.
Alice blinked and looked up. Her eyes were clouded with something he couldn’t quite name—concern, maybe. Or hesitation.
“I found something strange,” she said. “In my ancestor’s records.”
He took the seat next to her. “The ones you mentioned yesterday?”
She nodded. “Yeah. You remember how I told you she left behind several messages, right? Well, I decrypted a new section today. It took some time. But the moment I did, I saw this.”
She tapped the cube.
A glowing panel of text opened on the console beside them.
Her voice was quiet when she read it aloud.
“Beware of the [Three Heavens] and the [False God].”
Isaac leaned back in his chair.
“That’s all it said?”
“That’s all.”
“And you’re not sure what it means?”
“Exactly. It’s vague. It’s like… a warning, but one I don’t know how to react to. I’ve never heard of a False God in any official records. And the Three Heavens… I’ve only heard that they are some sort of organization that is on the same level as high rank species.”
She leaned on him as he spoke, “Your ancestor lived over centuries ago. If she left something like that, it was probably meant for her time.”
“But what if it wasn’t?” Alice asked.
He gave her a small shrug. “Even if it was, we don’t have enough context to worry about it now. Don’t let one message throw you off.”
Alice’s head pressed on his shoulder.
She exhaled slowly.
“I guess you’re right. It just felt personal somehow. Like she wanted someone down the line to see it.”
“Then we’ll keep it in mind. But no need to stress over it today.” Isaac stood up and extended a hand. “Come on. Let’s head back. Emily’s waiting.”
Just as they exited the archive wing, a voice called from behind.
“Isaac. Alice.”
It was Selene.
She walked over, dressed in a charcoal evening gown. She was with Marien. Her presence was as poised as always.
“Have dinner with us tonight,” she said, her tone polite but expectant. “I heard something happened during the event. I wanted to know if it was something interesting.”
’So, she wants gossips,’ he thought.
Isaac gave her a small smile, but he shook his head in the end.
“I’ll pass today. I promised Emily I’d eat at home. She gets sulky if I skip again.”
Selene’s eyes flickered with disappointment for a second. But then she smiled, nodding.
“Of course. Another time, then.”
He gave a parting wave and continued toward the parking bay with Alice in tow.
The car was already waiting. Alice climbed into the passenger seat. Isaac slid behind the wheel.
The city lights flickered past them as they drove.
About ten minutes in, Alice turned toward him slightly, nose crinkling. She took a quiet sniff, then leaned a little closer.
Isaac raised a brow.
Alice narrowed her eyes. “Who was in this car?”
Isaac’s smile froze for half a second.
He wasn’t trying to hide it exactly. But did she really had to ask about it as if she was an investigator pressing a suspect?
He chuckled and said, “I didn’t know dragons had a sharp sense of smell.”
“That’s not the answer.” Her eyes narrowed. She recalled Selene’s words about Isaac having done something ’interesting’ today. “Where you with a woman?”
Isaac nodded.
He about to tell her it was Celia, just to see how she’d react, when it happened.
A sharp sound rang.
It was like the crack of distant thunder or the snap of thick glass under pressure.
The crystalline reinforced glass of the car had broken.
His head turned instinctively, eyes snapping upward toward the roof of the vehicle.
In the air, moving fast and aimed perfectly, was a bullet. Sleek. Silver. Shaped more like a dart than a conventional round.
He saw it coming.
His left hand moved, easily following bullet’s trajectory with his speed.
It grabbed the bullet between two fingers.
The moment he made contact—
BOOM.
The bullet exploded in his hand.
Before the explosion could engulf the car, he clenched his hand, and sealed the bullet inside his fist.
A bright flare of light lit the inside of the vehicle for less than a second.
Smoke burst out around his fingers.
But the explosion failed to escape his closed fist.
“Hmm, that was surprising. The bullet must’ve been special if it had that much force after breaking through the military-grade reinforced glass—”
Before Isaac could complete his words, he heard the sound of the door opening.
Alice stepped out.
Her expression was as cold as ice.