Renjiro, after completing the first stage of the quest, started the second part of his revenge quest.
He completed multiple quests from Xero's system over the days after the fight.
Various rewards and skills were given to him; utilizing each reward, he accumulated skills, weaponry, and experience, using the shadows to his advantage. And when the system said that he had already maxed out for the first stage of his revenge—
Renjiro started strategizing how to take on the first family.
According to Renjiro's investigation, the people who had betrayed his family were the five great families of Getsurei. Each family played a distinct role in the development of Getsurei under the royal family.
The five families are: The Takahiro Family, also known as The Silent Shadows—Royal Intelligence & Spymasters. The Fushiki Family, also known as The Masters of Craft—Royal Artisans & Weapon Makers. The Hoshinori Family—The Divine Executors, Royal Executioners & Law Enforcers. The Kenyama Family—The Sacred Protectors, Royal Guards & Protectors of the Royal Family. And finally, the strongest family out of the five: The Ishinari Family—The Silent Strategists, Royal Advisors.
These five families were the prime suspects in the Kurotani family massacre because it was rumored they feared what the Kurotani family could achieve. Which made perfect sense, since the Kurotani family served directly under the royal family despite the protests of the five great families.
Renjiro suggested attacking the Fushiki family first since they were mostly made up of craftsmen and weapon makers, making them easier to eliminate as they didn't have many fighters in their ranks. But Xero said the best family to attack right now was the Takahiro family.
The reason was because they lived on a separate island that could only be reached by one boat. Any foreign boat approaching Takahiro island would be swiftly dealt with.
Renjiro could rely on the surprise attack factor to deliver the most damage to the family swiftly.
By eliminating key figures like their main fighters and guards, the family would be pushed to the brink of extinction—and since they lived on a separate island, news of their elimination would go unnoticed for quite some time, giving Renjiro time to recover and plan his next move.
By the time the other families discovered that the Takahiro family had been eradicated, Renjiro could smoothly proceed to the next attack and still hold onto the element of surprise and confusion among the remaining four families, almost guaranteeing success in his next attack—the Fushiki family.
Xero suggested that Renjiro had to be swift in eradicating the Fushiki family so he could escape before the other families locked down the entire town to find him.
Only then could he proceed with planning how to eliminate the rest of the families. Renjiro asked how many times Xero had reset already.
Xero replied, only once—and in that one time, he had attacked the Fushiki family, which succeeded but led to his demise, as he had been too weak to deliver a finishing blow to the Fushiki family. The Takahiro, with their planted spies in each family, managed to react quickly to the attack.
Xero added that the Takahiro had also secured the most important part of Nozuro's power—the power to hide in the shadows by blending into them and becoming almost invisible. What Renjiro had learned from his adopted father using technique would pale in comparison to the original power of the Nozuro user.
After explaining all that, Xero added, "Want that power? How about a quest?"
"Rewards will include the ability to use the Nozuro technique called Kagezanmai—a secretive Kurotani art that allows the user to meld seamlessly into surrounding shadows, becoming nearly invisible to the naked eye. While immersed, the user's five senses are drastically heightened—hearing even the faintest breath, sensing nearby hostility, and reacting with razor-sharp precision. Best used for infiltration, tracking, or striking unseen."
"Quest: Eradicate the Takahiro and Fushiki families. Rewards will be granted upon completion." Renjiro read silently, staring at the glowing box floating before him.
Without hesitation, he pressed the 'Yes' button.
Before he could start his revenge, a letter was delivered to the room where he was staying.
Written in the letter: "Meet me at Hikarimori Lane, second house in 2nd District, Street 7. I'll provide assistance to get into the Takahiro estate. Dusk on the 5th Night of the Blue Moon."
It was already the 4th night. Confused how this person knew the plan before it even began, Renjiro swiftly set out to find this person. While heading to the designated location, he thought to himself, "What a perfect time to deliver the letter."
Renjiro's first thought was to quickly eliminate this person, as they might pose a problem to his mission.
Before dusk came, he camped out near the designated area, hoping to at least catch a glimpse of the mysterious person. The mysterious person had picked the most isolated abandoned house for the meeting.
Dusk arrived, and still no sign of the mysterious person. Not wanting to wait and risk losing them, he decided to go in, confident he could escape if he needed to because he had already scouted the area for signs of reinforcements or traps.
Finding none, he entered. At first, he saw no one in the room, but by focusing his eyes in the dark corner, he caught a glimpse of the mysterious person.
He debated whether he should attack first and question them after apprehending them, but decided not to. He didn't know what kind of skills this person possessed.
"Who are you, and how do you know about me?" Renjiro asked.
"That doesn't matter here. All you need to know is that I can help you get in and out of the Takahiro estate fast," the mysterious woman said vehemently.
'A woman?' Renjiro thought. Now that he could see the mysterious person properly, she was covered from head to toe in black clothes. Despite all the clothing, her slim body was still outlined when a small light shone on her.
"Are you in or out?" The woman's question snapped him out of his contemplation.
"How can I even trust you when you mysteriously know so much?"
"…"
"Do you really expect me to trust you just like that?"
'Why would she do this, though? If she wanted me dead… with her knowing my plans, she could've just informed the Takahiro family to set a trap and get me killed. But instead, she came here, risking her life against me,' Renjiro thought.
"If I wanted to kill you, you wouldn't even have made it out of that room where you set up your plan."
'She knows way too much,' Renjiro thought, drawing his blade, intending to kill her now. Renjiro knew this might be a bad idea—a helper right now would significantly raise his chances of succeeding. But what about his next mission or next quest? Could he still be certain that this woman wouldn't sabotage his plans? He couldn't take that risk now.
"The only thing you need to know is that I've got a power in me that lets me see a glimpse of certain people's futures—just by looking them straight in the eyes."
'What?' Renjiro froze.
"You needed to eat in that room too, right?"
'That's when she did it.' He remembered the time food was delivered to his room—one of the servants had looked straight into his eyes.
"Are you in or out?
"…Okay. What should I do?"
"I've got access to the house trading food. That kind of estate needs to trade food every 10th day of the First Harvest. You can hide inside one sheaf of rice."
'She even knows about my newly acquired skill… Kagetonsei?' A rudimentary shadow technique developed by Kurotani initiates. The user can momentarily conceal their presence by blending into the shadows, but only while keeping their eyes shut and holding their breath. Any movement, sound, or even a single breath breaks the concealment—making it ideal only for short bursts of stealth or evasive hiding.
"You can do that, right?"
"Yes."
The mission started right away.
Renjiro hid just beneath the sheaf of rice. Inside the shadows of the rice sheaf lay a pair of eyes and a silhouette, revealing the imperfection of the skill.
"I'll tap my foot once if you need to completely erase your existence, and tap twice if we're clear," the stranger said, shocking Renjiro.
To know the name of his newly acquired skill was bizarre enough—but to even know the details was unnerving. He wanted to ask how, but he heard a tap of the stranger's foot.
They were at the small port—away from prying eyes of the public, known only to a select few because of the secretive lifestyle of the Takahiro family.
"Stop and identify yourself, or we'll shoot you!" one of the three soldiers shouted at the stranger and Renjiro while the others pointed their bows, arrows nocked.
"Relax, I'm here for the scheduled food rations," the stranger said, pointing to the wagon of goods.
"It's not time yet for the schedule—" The soldier wanted to refute, but one look from the stranger stopped him. 'Must be an emergency,' the soldier thought.
TAP TAP.
Renjiro continued breathing again. It seemed they had managed to board a small boat.
"I'm going to deliver you as deep as I can into their base, but after that, you're on your own. Wait exactly 6 hours before you start attacking them," the stranger said, offering no further explanation.
TAP.
The stranger continued the infiltration mission without much difficulty.
'This person must be pretty significant for the guards to let her in without questions,' Renjiro thought.
TAP TAP.
"You're currently in the basement. You remembered the map I showed you, right?"
"You need to kill every soldier within the lower ground swiftly and cleanly. One wrong move could end this mission."
"Good luck."
After almost 6 hours of waiting—exactly at midnight—Renjiro slowly, silently emerged from the basement, recalling all the quest details. He began, slowly but surely, taking out each soldier he encountered on the ground floor.
All the guards, pacing their patrol routes unaware, were swiftly stabbed in the throat or beheaded—silenced before a single sound could escape.
Just as he was about to move to the last and highest floor, he took a deep breath and calmed himself. The hardest part of the quest was coming.
'One of the soldiers above has the essence of the Kurotani family. It's clear now… they stole the power after killing your family,' Xero claimed.
Renjiro, barely calming himself, was burning with fury. Finally, he was about to take the first step in his revenge.
'Be careful, though, as the stranger said—this enemy you're about to face is the second strongest within the five families,' Xero added.
Renjiro nodded, his fury burning beneath his skin like molten steel—hot, but forged into a blade of perfect focus.
Before proceeding with the attack, keeping distance in the corridor, Renjiro cast Kagetonsei to silently observe his enemies.
'Four guards. The one in the middle seems to be the target. And behind the door is the family head who started my family's massacre.' Renjiro could barely contain his anger.
"It's way too quiet. Contact the men below and check if something's wrong," the man in the middle ordered one of the soldiers.
Renjiro threw three daggers—one for each soldier—and two Kagezutsu aimed at the man in the middle. Two of the soldiers died on the spot, the daggers piercing their skulls. The other soldier, who was farther away, managed to react in time, deflecting the dagger after seeing the others fall. Meanwhile, the man in the middle easily slashed the two Kagezutsu.
"It's an ambush!" the leader shouted.
Renjiro, pouring mana into his feet, dashed forward to deliver a killing blow to the remaining soldier.
"What!" the man behind the door shouted in fear. "What do you mean, Shinkuro?" the man behind the door added.
"Don't come out, Master Takahiro! Stay close to the door in case this assassin has an ally," Shinkuro ordered while Renjiro fought the soldier.
The soldier couldn't even make a sound before his head went flying.
"Who are you?" Shinkuro asked calmly.
To Shinkuro, it didn't make sense for an assassin to appear out of nowhere. Most assassins in Getsurei were either under surveillance or under the Takahiro family's control. For an assassin of this caliber to wipe out the house's guards was unbelievable.
Without answering, Renjiro continued his attack. Dashing forward, Renjiro threw three Kagezutsu as a distraction while drawing his blade to cut off Shinkuro's head.
Shinkuro easily dispelled the Kagezutsu and blocked Renjiro's blade.
The two exchanged blows before Renjiro backed away and threw a dagger. He couldn't afford to waste too much mana by casting another Kagezutsu.
Shinkuro slashed the blade again, and Renjiro noticed it.
'He's not deflecting—he's using slashes instead of a defensive stance.'
Renjiro concocted a plan right away and threw another dagger. He knew Shinkuro couldn't step away from the door, fearing Renjiro might slip past and kill the Takahiro head.
Shinkuro slashed the dagger once more, as if warning the assassin not to even think of getting past him—all offense.
Renjiro threw another set of Kagezutsu: one in front, and another two behind it, the last two thrown almost simultaneously.
Shinkuro was confused. No matter how many projectiles the enemy threw, it shouldn't matter—he could just deflect them.
Shinkuro slashed the first and second Kagezutsu, then grabbed the last one with his bare hand.
Renjiro saw it—and proceeded with his plan.
Renjiro gathered mana into his feet and cast Kageko and Kagehaba, boosting Kagehaba with extra mana.
Shinkuro, sensing a presence behind him, turned his head and caught a glimpse of a robe's edge in his peripheral vision. Using the momentum from his previous deflection, he spun and delivered what he hoped would be the death blow to the assassin.
'You really think that kind of tactic will work against an assassin like me?'
Shinkuro felt his sword connect with something—but his smile faded as he realized something was wrong. What he struck was just a tendril of shadow, a robe wrapped around it. He had mistaken the presence for mana.
Shinkuro realized it too late.
A stab from behind, piercing through his chest, was the price of his mistake. He turned his head and saw Renjiro, eyes closed, pushing the blade deeper.
'Shit… he got me.'
'Damn it… he dodged at the last second by shifting his body, avoiding my attack that would've crushed his heart.'
At the start of his plan, Renjiro had cast a boosted Kagehaba, grabbed a robe from one of the dying soldiers, and used Kageko to make it seem like he traveled a distance.
Renjiro then cast Kagetonsei, holding his breath and closing his eyes—rendering himself nearly undetectable to any detection.
Shinkuro, familiar with the Kurotani family's power, assumed the assassin would strike from behind.
Renjiro grabbed another blade from a dying soldier and slashed again to deliver the finishing blow to Shinkuro. But despite his injuries, Shinkuro managed to block the attack to his neck, narrowly escaping death.
Shinkuro slammed against the wall, stunned for a moment. Renjiro, not wanting to waste time, dashed toward the door.
BOOM.
The smashing sound of the door echoed through the room—and what Renjiro saw was the man who was one of his targets.
"No!" the Takahiro head shouted, panicking.
Renjiro slashed downward to kill him, but the man managed to grab a sword and deflect the death blow—only losing part of his shoulder as the blade cut through. The Takahiro head screamed in pain.
"What's your name?" Renjiro asked coldly.
"Huh?" The Takahiro, grabbing his shoulder, replied in pain.
"WHAT'S. YOUR. NAME?"
"Wa—wa—wait! I'll tell you my name, just spare me!"
Renjiro glanced back at the door, searching for Shinkuro.
'I need to finish him now, before that assassin recovers.'
Renjiro dashed forward to deliver the killing blow—but before he could take another step, he froze.
'He disappeared.' Renjiro realized, referring to Shinkuro's disappearance.
Renjiro twisted his body—and felt a sharp pain in his stomach.
A surprise attack had just been delivered.
'I forgot… he has the essence of Nozuro. He can use Kagezanmai—the upgraded version of my Kagetonsei.'
Kagezanmai — A secretive Kurotani art that allows the user to meld seamlessly into surrounding shadows, becoming nearly invisible to the naked eye. While immersed, the user's five senses are drastically heightened—hearing even the faintest breath, sensing nearby hostility, and reacting with razor-sharp precision. Best used for infiltration, tracking, or striking unseen.
"He's alone, Master—get out of here. I can buy you some time," Shinkuro shouted to his master.
The Takahiro head, terrified out of his mind, immediately ran and threw himself out the window, sustaining serious injuries in the process. A retired assassin for over 15 years, he endured the pain and crawled as far away as he could.
BANG.
Something flew out of the window he escaped from—landing just below his feet.
It was Shinkuro's dead body.
Terrified beyond reason, the Takahiro head screamed loudly.
"AAAHHHHH! HELP ME! PLEASE, SOMEBODY!" he cried while crawling away.
THUD.
Renjiro landed.
He got up and kicked Shinkuro's dead body to face him, placed his hand on his chest, and extracted Nozuro's essence.
The Takahiro head was still crawling, his face wet with tears and snot from the pain he endured. And then—everything turned dark.
Shadows crawled across everything he could see.
"YOUR. NAME."
"Wait, please… spare me."
The darkness subsided—and he realized he was at the edge of a cliff, raging ocean waves crashing far below.
STEP.
"NAME!" The Takahiro head looked behind him—and saw a man standing just a reach away.
"WAIT, WAIT! Why are you doing this?"
"Are you… hired by that Renjiro brat?"
The Renjiro he knew wasn't a fighter. The best that brat could do after losing his family was run to the royal family—but even that wouldn't work. Who would believe a traitor's word?
"I'll double his pay."
"NAME."
"Okay… it's Takahiro Enzai. Please, spare me! I'll give you everything you want."
"Takahiro Enzai… I'll burn that name as a sacrifice in the afterlife for my family."
"Your family? Wait—"
"I'm the ghost of the Kurotani family, with a sole purpose: to burn as a sacrifice those who killed them."
"Goddamn you, Renji—!"
Renjiro severed Enzai's head—and kicked his body into the ocean.
Not wasting a moment, Renjiro jumped into the ocean and swam back to the port to proceed with his next plan.
An hour after the attack, Renjiro managed to swim back to the port.
What he saw there shocked him.
Lifeless bodies were scattered everywhere—and beside them sat a woman, eating food like everything was normal.
"Finally done?" The stranger who had helped him was waiting.
"Go—proceed with your next plan. You need to be fast; news of the attack might reach them soon. I trust you can deliver the finishing blow against a family of strong fighters."
Renjiro couldn't even respond, his chest heaving from swimming two kilometers.
"I'll handle your pursuers, so don't worry."
Without a minute of rest, Renjiro proceeded toward his next target.
The news of the massacre of the Takahiro family and the Fushiki family—also known as the Royal Artisans & Weapon Makers—shook the entire Getsurei kingdom.
Renjiro, still not fully rested, lay in his room. The fatigue from continuous fighting had finally caught up to him. The wounds he sustained were no joke either.
"Congrats, kid—you managed to get two essences this time, upgrading all four of your skills," Xero congratulated Renjiro.
"Congrats on completing the quest. Now, rewards are as follows: gold coins, an epic weapon, or free stats."
Renjiro, staring at the box in front of him, responded to Xero, "Should I just press this 'free stats' to get it?"
"Yes."
"Congratulations! You gained some free stats!" the system announced.
Renjiro closed his eyes to finally rest.