In a fortress in the South of the Flavot city, a group of high-ranking soldiers and military officers were discussing amongst themselves.
THUD!
A loud thud was heard in the room as a middle-aged man donned in high quality and well-crafted white armor banged his fist on the table.
"How the hell did this happen?! There are a total of 26 bodies now. The first time could be considered luck but yesterday there were even more victims despite putting the city under surveillance. And how's that Azrael killing so many people in a single night who are far away from each other's location?" asked the fully armored man.
"Captain Nordak, we think that it's not done by one person but an entire group. Because the way these murders were committed without causing any commotion or alerting a single guard on duty.. Even if he is an assassin, it won't be easy to kill so many people in a single night. Besides, one would need to be a mage to create a silencing barrier to prohibit any noise to leak out of the scene, and an experienced assassin to land the killing blow by surprise." said one of the elderly men sitting on a chair next to the captain's table.
Suddenly, a young black and long-haired woman interjected.
"If I may Captain.. We found that there was no sign of struggle at the crime scenes. It was just one quick attack to either heart or neck and that too came from the front and not the back. All the cases indicate that the victim actually saw the killer coming in front of them and still they died without a chance to resist at all." said the woman.
"Lieutenant Beatrice.. If what you say is true then we have a problem. The killer may be someone extremely experienced at killing and also is too strong.. Maybe at the Peak Master rank. For now, he's only killing the lowlife criminals. But if this continues, everyone in the city will laugh at us. And you too know what will happen if Commander decides to intervene.." said the captain of city guards.
The Lieutenant's face turned grim and looked horrified just by the mention of their Commander.
"Yes, Captain. I'm tightening the security & adding hundred more soldiers. But I want to suggest that we put on a curfew at late night." said the black-haired woman.
"And create panic as well as mass hysteria? Doing that will only give this guy more attention & acknowledgment from the people. Pretty sure this psycho only wants reputation just like all those nutjobs we've dealt in the past." said the captain and refused firmly.
"I'm giving you the authority to control our specialized Assassin Squad and spread them in the city as you see fit. I will try to convince the upper management that everything is under control in the meantime." said the Captain.
"And issue an All out Hunt order for Azrael. Anyone offering reliable intel on him would be rewarded with 5000 gold dramus." ordered the captain.
"Understood! I will not disappoint you sir!" said the woman and saluted.
On the opposite side of the city, a man was stuffing his mouth with delicious barbecued meat and aromatic wine. The nearby people were looking at this man as if they saw a filthy beggar eating in a restaurant for the first time.
"More. Bring me your other special dishes." ordered the young man and gulped the wine.
It was none other than Kahn who was eating in a high-end restaurant without any restrain or table manners. He was now filthy rich after yesterday's transaction with Nikola. So he naturally wanted to celebrate it and hence came to this high-end restaurant which was comparable to a Five Star Hotel on Earth.
The food was beyond anything he ate in his previous life.. Everything was so perfect and well cooked while savoring the flavor of the base ingredients.. It was so delicious that Kahn forgot about holding back and ate like a hungry wolf.
After yesterday night's performance, the name of Azrael was the talk of the entire city. No matter where he went, everyone was talking about the newly committed murders. To some, Azrael was a hero while to others, he was nothing but a psychopath using the name of justice to seek attention and gain fame.
As for Kahn, the real Azrael.. he was just happy by the fact that he killed 3 more people from his contract yesterday night. 3 of them often made business deals with Stragabor's family and played a major part in the family's income source. This was like hitting a nail right in the center of your eyebrows.
To make matters worst, Kahn also looted all the fortune these people had stored up in their space rings, treasury & warehouses. His current worth was 83 thousand gold coins. And that's why Kahn was spending money in such a frivolous manner.
He was certain that his current worth would make him one of the top five hundred richest people in the city.
Since Kahn was no Robinhood.. He didn't feel guilty after looting his targets and keeping all the money to himself. Because in the near future, he would be needing a lot of money if he wanted to establish his reputation & authority among the top-ranking people in the city.
By now, according to the rumors that spread in the city.. Azrael was actually a vengeful ghost of a man who died because of such criminals & never received justice in the city. Some saying that he was a savior who was going to get rid of all the criminals one by one. Many of the common folks were already seeing him as a hero because it was the normal citizens who were affected by the crimes and oppression the most. So finally someone taking out the scum of the society gave them a lot of relief instead.
Kahn decided to visit the dungeon again today and test his strength and newly created skills. He also had to test the Hive Mind skill and raise the levels of his new army.
Kahn's main objective wasn't just to raise his levels or gain abilities anymore. What he wanted was to fight the strongest and reach a level where nobody in this city could make him feel threatened or have the ability to kill him.
By now, Kahn had the general idea that even someone as strong as Stragabor or Arkham would be at best level 55. Probably Solomon & some top ranking Military & Government officers were the only ones past that level. So he didn't have to be wary of other adventurers now. Because he could easily rekt an entire team of 20 just by himself with his current strength.
Still, he wasn't comparable to someone at Grandmaster Rank even if he had the advantage of levels and attributes. Because even a zoo lion was still a lion, it won't have a problem decimating the local dogs. The difference between Rank & Mastery signified that very aspect.
When Kahn reached the 11th floor of the Bromnir dungeon, he was welcomed with a desolate city made up of white, yellow & reddish stones. The architecture instantly reminded Kahn of the Ancient Greek Civilization and how they used to build their cities. His sight could not make the end of this city because of the tall height and wider build constructs throughout this city.
Kahn couldn't use Shadow Walk on this floor because it was daytime and the spacious roads barely connected to each other so he won't be able to use this skill efficiently.
Kahn took out the map of this floor and jumped on top of a building. Due to his abilities & now raised levels.. It was no different than making a normal jump for Kahn even if the height was 10 meters tall.
Kahn ran and jumped from one building to another without making a sound and finally came across a group of the inhabitants of this floor.
Kahn was amazed at the build of these resilient and incredibly strong creatures who had wiped out hundreds of teams in the past 3 decades and barely 10 teams were able to clear this floor.
Because the creatures in front of Kahn didn't just have giant bodies.. They also had incredibly thick hide, blunt weapons in their hands that could sweep 3 to 4 people in a single swing. The defensive abilities and physical resilience towards magic these creatures had made it incredibly hard to hunt these monsters even if you had a large number of people with you.
Every step taken by these massive monsters sent waves through the ground and shook the surrounding with their stomps. As for the description of these creatures..
7-meter tall body.. Barechested and arms as big a tree trunk.. Two sturdy and pointy horns with a head, legs and hooves of a Bull.
The creatures that stood in front of Kahn were none other than the nightmares of every adventurer..
The Minotaurs.