CHAPTER 96: ATTACK ON ASHTON CITY [3]

Kai stared at his hands for a moment, then shook off the unwanted thoughts.

His hands, still cold yet soft, had become stained with blood for the first time.

Yes, he had already planned on killing Nassar back in the dungeon with Amy, but he never went through with it since Series had killed him along with the girls he had wronged.

That meant the assassins, except the thunder and female assassin whom he had turned into mage saints for later use, were his first actual kills, at least when it came to humans.

But what unsettled Kai wasn’t the fact that he had killed another human; it was that he didn’t feel much of anything after doing it.

He sighed. There were far more important matters to attend to than pondering how monstrous he might be or whether he was still human.

And the words he had spoken before, no matter how cold, still stood as a personal code: Even if he were to kill a million times, as long as he retained even a silver of sympathy, no matter how faint, he was still human.

Perhaps because of this, he got over the feeling quickly, though the sensation of different energies flooding into his body with each kill still distorted him slightly.

He glanced at the system notification, which read: Your Saints Are Growing... Your Rank Is Advancing, then turned to his shadows, who were still harvesting cores from the fallen mana beasts.

Well, it was mostly Tank doing all the work since the saints had formed a hierarchy based on the order in which they were obtained.

The only one exempt from it was Gumiho, who referred to herself as Kai’s favorite.

After Kai had integrated his two saints, they had opened up easily, except for the female assassin, whom he had named Ivy, since she had black hair and green eyes.

Reo, on the other hand, who had blonde hair and blue eyes, was rather cooperative even before becoming a saint.

And just as Kai had anticipated, the five who attacked him were indeed mass-produced A-ranks who weren’t even close to mid-level B-rank in strength.

Kai had clicked his tongue repeatedly after learning they were still B-ranks, as it meant he didn’t truly know the gap between himself and a real A-rank, though he was certain he could take on any A-rank apart from Neko-sensei, at least when he was in his full control mode like during the fight with Deerheart.

Beyond that, he managed to piece together the true motive behind their attack.

Apparently, the assassins were part of a group called the Black Fang, a group Kai was all too familiar with.

Black Fang was a large criminal organization that hated both the awakened and demons and followed the law and creed of the Mad King, whose origins were largely unknown, even to Kai. All he knew was that this king had founded the Archaian Clan, the same clan responsible for the systems used by the people of Meltonia.

But the group had quickly collapsed after the current emperor, Reni’s father defeated the Mad King’s loyal pet with the help of Amy’s father, Cassius Reinhardt, when the two were still young. They did it alongside their original coven, which included many renowned figures, including the current empress.

After that expedition, many Black Fang believers abandoned the group, since the one they considered a god had been hopelessly defeated by mere mortals, even if it was only his beast.

Because of that, they went into hiding and only resurfaced later in the story when they attempted to kill Reni and Amy because a prophecy foretold that one of them was a chosen one, born in the Mad King’s tomb and carrying his blood.

However, after about five Chapters, Kai—or rather Cha Jin-sung—completely abandoned that plotline, since readers had found it boring.

Kai cursed internally but quickly composed himself.

According to Axis’s testament, Black Fang had only sent their group to kidnap him and Reni, whom they had identified as the chosen one.

However, by the time they arrived, they discovered that demonic humans were also present and were planning to use Reni’s awakened ’chosen one’ core or whatever it was to open a dimensional portal. This portal would begin in the city, and then expand across the continent, trapping everyone in an endless dream while buying them time to complete their plans.

Kai rubbed his temples.

The scale of what was unfolding was far worse than what had occurred at the academy.

For demonic humans to openly attack one of the academies was unheard of. That could only mean that whatever was inside Reni was something they were willing to risk their safety and immediate peace of mind to obtain.

Still, something inside Kai told him that whatever they were searching for, he had it too. It was the only logical reason Black Fang would want him.

’They need a weaver,’ he mused.

It would’ve made perfect sense if the demonic humans were after him — his father was their lord, after all, and he was still searching for him with whatever vague clues he had. But the fact that Black Fang was targeting Reni too meant one thing: it had something to do with weavers.

Kai brushed the dust off his white shirt and moved across the frozen ground toward the inn. By now, the professors had probably started coordinating efforts, so even if there was a risk of a spy being present, he needed to report the situation and his condition, with the exception of the Black Fang and weavers, of course.

After all, he still needed to extract a lot of information from them, and the leader of Black Fang was someone he needed for future plans and someone who was close to Matt.

Plus, he still didn’t understand why they hadn’t tried to kidnap Hari as well. He was certain both he and she were weavers. But since Alpha had told him there was a difference between their energies, he figured they weren’t the same type. Still, he wanted to know why.

Upon arriving near the inn, Kai immediately spotted the first-year academy students, all clad in their mage combat suits, wearing serious expressions.

Amidst them, Kai couldn’t help but stand out. He had given his combat suit to Gimli earlier, so there was nothing he could do about it, even his tether was gone.

Taking a closer look at the suits, Kai could instantly tell something was different. And as soon as his eyes met the short-statured man beside Professor Simba, he understood exactly what had happened.

’Well, it looks like my slav... no, partner decided to do a giveaway.’