After unleashing the Sunless Sword Art: First Form, his body became so ragged that every nerve in his body screamed in pain.
The pain was so unbearable that he couldn't maintain his descending position and crashed at great speed.
Thud!
"Eguu uggh aaa..." Gray fell on his back first and then bounced a couple of times before stopping.
Gkkkk
"Damn, cough... cough..." He coughed up a lot of blood as an aftermath of using such a strong sword technique.
Right then, he tried to support his body with his right arm, but surprisingly, he wasn't able to move or feel it, as if it had become paralyzed.
Confused, he looked at his right arm, the one that had unleashed the sword technique, and quickly frowned.
His right arm had turned black, as blood had clotted inside, and a vile, rotten smell was coming from it.
'It seems the sword technique was beyond my physical capacity.' Gray thought.
He wasn't surprised. He expected this, as he had only trained his weak body for a month and was still in the lower Soul Realm.
Yet he decided to use the Sunless Sword Art because he had an Authority that could heal his wounds.
Just then, someone appeared before him in the blink of an eye and spoke,
"Are you ok?"
Gray flinched and quickly looked at the man who had appeared without him noticing.
"Ah..."
It was the unidentified masked man, who had taken Lina and the Left Guardian's disciple far away from the battlefield.
"Left Guardian," Gray said.
Hearing this the unidentified masked man eyes went wide in surprise, "What!!"
'How did he....?'
The unidentified masked man before Gray, in fact, was the Left Guardian, who had been watching the fight from afar.
While Gray was fighting the masked man, he sensed the Left Guardian's presence, ready to rush in if the situation became dire. So, Gray deduced that it was the left guidian.
"Did the Patriarch order you to test me?" Gray asked, sitting on the ground.
The Left Guardian stayed silent at his question, confirming Gray's deduction.
Gray continued, "Sending those escort warriors was fine, but don't you think you crossed the line by sending the assassin?"
At his question, the Left Guardian looked awkward, unsure how to answer
In truth, the Elder Council had assigned their faction's warriors as Gray's escort, hoping to kill him mid-journey. Although the Patriarch predicted this, he didn't interfere; rather, he ordered the Left Guardian to observe how Gray would handle this crisis.
Moreover, the Left Guardian was curious about Gray's progress but had also shown hesitation at first. However, after seeing the sword marks on the Ashborn Isolation Chamber, he became confident that Gray could kill them easily. So, as ordered, he was observing Gray kill the escort warriors, intrigued by his ruthlessness.
But suddenly, the masked man appeared.
The masked man had his face covered, so his identity was unknown, but from his rough fighting style and mana, it was clear that he wasn't from the Ashborn family.
"Why aren't you answering? Who was that masked man?" Gray demanded.
".... Young master, I don't know the masked man's identity." the Left Guardian said.
"What?" Gray became confused by his answer.
"The Elder Council had sent those 30 escort warriors to kill you and assigned an assassin to kill them to cover the situation. But after coming to this forest, I killed him before observing you, as per the Patriarch's order. However, suddenly, that masked man appeared, whom I did not know."
"....."
"And I don't think the Elder Council had sent that masked man, as the assassin I killed was strong enough to kill you in the blink of an eye, from their perspective."
"Hmm..."
'It seems my speculations were right.' Gray thought. He speculated that the masked man wasn't from the duchess faction but from a third-party organization.
And after hearing the Left Guardian's words, it became clear that he really belonged to a third party.
Moreover, while fighting, the masked man said something vague,
- Now I understand why that man sent me to kill you.
Gray frowned. From the masked man's words, it seemed someone had ordered him to kill Gray. Moreover, the masked man understood why 'that man' had sent him to kill Gray.
This meant that 'that man' he referred to knew of Gray's potential and had sent him to kill Gray.
But the question is: why? Why would someone want to kill Gray?
Before Eunuch Jang transmigrated into Gray's body, he was just a nobody.
So why would someone want to kill him and send a Transcendent Realm swordsman?
Gray pondered hard, but no answer came.
Just then, many system notifications popped up.
Ding!
[You have completed the urgent quest]
[You have avoided death]
[You have used a power beyond your limits]
[You have been given 50 credits]
[You have been rewarded an additional 1 Vitality]
The urgent quest was completed, and additionally, Gray received 1 Vitality, which he had missed previously because the masked man had killed the last survivor.
However, Gray didn't look at the rewards. As soon as he saw the system window, he got his answer about why the masked man was ordered to kill him.
'It's because of this..." Gray deduced.
That man sent the masked man, perhaps because Gray was Julius von Legolant's incarnation. Other than this, why would someone want to kill him for his potential? Thus, it was reasonable to say Julius was connected to this.
But how would someone know that I'm Julius's incarnation? .... Is this somehow connected to another celestial being?
As he was thinking hard, the Left Guardian said in a concerned voice, "Young master, we should hurry to a physician; your arm is not in good condition."
"Ah..."
Gray's right arm was a complete mess, as if a mountain had fallen on it. so, immediate treatment was necessary, but Gray wasn't worried at all.
He took out a dagger from his system inventory.
[You have taken out an F-rank Dagger]
Then he placed the sharp edge at the start of the rotten part.
"What are you doing, young mas...."
Before the Left Guardian could finish, Gray gritted his teeth and slashed at his arm.
Slash.