"Brother, we managed to get away clean. Should we head straight for the next dungeon, maybe Windy Peak?"
Vincent and Thalia, still cloaked in perfect stealth, moved swiftly through the wilderness, leaving the vicinity of Gloomy Jungle behind. Vincent shook his head firmly at her suggestion.
"Not yet. We're done running Instances for the moment."
Thalia immediately tilted her head, confused. "Then where are we going? Back to Lingtai City?"
Vincent stopped, turning slightly. His voice dropped to a low, serious tone. "Thalia, are you prepared to kill a sentient being?"
Thalia was momentarily taken aback by the bluntness of the question. "Kill people?"
But the next second, a spark of understanding ignited in her eyes, mixed with a nervous, intense anticipation. "Brother, you mean... shifting the attack?"
Vincent narrowed his eyes, a dangerous coldness settling over his face. "The Centaur Clan has openly declared war on two specific human Professionals. They are attempting to blockade every Tier 0 Instance we touch, disrupting the flow of experience and materials for every low-level human fighter. They want to prevent us from leveling up in peace."
His voice was steel. "Since that is the case, the response is simple: then no one will level up."
A faint, chilling glint flashed in Vincent's eyes. "They sent their top Professionals to hunt down two Epic Assassins who can kill a Tier 3 elite. I think they have forgotten what true terror feels like. We need to make them sober up, quickly and brutally."
He looked directly at Thalia, his expression challenging.
Thalia's initial uncertainty vanished, replaced by fierce resolve. "If it's a conflict between our races, the answer is clear. Brother, I might hesitate to kill a fellow human, but an alien race? I have never considered them 'people'!"
Vincent smiled, a predator's grin. "Excellent. Then the Paradise Boss's active counterattack begins now."
Thalia immediately became energized, pulling out her dagger and executing a few sharp, excited practice swings. "Where do we begin the slaughter?"
"Xiwa City. It's the closest Centaur Clan city to our current location. We will kill every Centaur Professional we find on the roads leading into and out of Xiwa City." Vincent's sneer was palpable. "The Centaurs believe they are safe, that their Tier 0 Professionals can afford to loiter and boast while ours panic. We will introduce chaos to their routine."
Thalia's eyes were bright with agreement. "Good. Let's make them panic a little, too."
With the target set, the two confirmed the location of Xiwa City on their map and set off immediately.
A short distance from the Instance entrance, the Combat Affairs Department had set up a makeshift command post—a heavily warded tent—while maintaining the tense standoff with the Centaurs.
Inside, the small team huddled around Lei, the young warrior leader, waiting for orders.
"Boss, what is our immediate next step?" the junior mage asked, her worry visible. "The message is clear, but the implications are terrifying."
Lei, rubbing his temples, frowned deeply. "That's the fundamental question: can we confirm that was the Paradise Boss?"
The female mage shook her head grimly. "We can't. We only have the testimony of three excited, highly suggestible Tier 0 Professionals. We know the messenger was an Assassin operating in perfect stealth, who introduced himself as the Paradise Boss. That's it."
"What if," a different officer interjected, his voice hesitant, "what if this is a classic psychological warfare tactic by the God Advent Sect?"
The mood in the tent turned instantly frigid. The God Advent Sect, a treacherous organization dedicated to undermining humanity from within, was the most difficult enemy to fight because their motives and methods were often indistinguishable from genuine events.
"The perfect trick," Lei stated, his voice hollow. "The Assassin tells us the heroes have gone, and to pull back the perimeter. We leave. Then the Centaur Clan's main force arrives, and if Boss and Hill are still inside the Instance, they exit into an empty, exposed square. It would be a catastrophic failure, sacrificing two Epic Professionals for a deceptive message."
Lei let out a ragged sigh. "Conversely, if the message is true, and we stay, we risk unnecessary casualties when the Centaur army arrives, simply because we failed to trust the very person we are trying to protect."
"Director Zheng is on the way. His decision is the only one that matters here," the communications officer reported. "He can arrive within the next twenty minutes. The Centaur primary force is also mobilizing from Xiwa City and Sate City, expected arrival in twenty to thirty minutes."
The time window was perilously tight. Lei took a deep, agonizing breath, his hand resting near the hilt of his sword.
"We cannot afford a mistake with the future of humanity. We wait for the Director. Send out two of our best Tier 1 Assassins immediately. I want intelligence gathering on all roads leading out of the Gloomy Jungle. We need to know if two cloaked figures have truly passed through. Until then, we hold the line against the Centaur sentinels. Every moment counts."
"Yes, Boss." The team immediately sprang into action.
Meanwhile, miles away, a terrifying force thundered across the open wilderness. Leading the charge was a massive Centaur warrior, his thick white mane tied back, his scarred face twisted into a mask of pure fury. This was Krell, a powerful Tier 3 Knight and the sworn protector of the deceased Vera.
Behind him, a full squadron of four-legged Centaur Clan Professionals, their polished armor gleaming, were rushing forward, their spears held ready, brimming with savage killing intent.
"Paradise... you cowardly, inferior humans... you will not escape the price of blood!" Krell roared, his voice thick with bone-deep, personal hatred. The life of Vera, his young protégé and beloved, demanded vengeance. He would not stop until the blood of Boss and Hill stained the dirt.
Time seemed to crawl for the human officials, but for the two assassins, the minutes were spent closing the distance to their target.
After nearly twenty minutes of silent, forced march, Thalia whispered sharply, "Brother, Centaur Clan ahead! About three dozen."
They had reached the border of the forest, placing them midway along the main path leading from Xiwa City to the Gloomy Jungle. Ahead, the path was filled with Tier 0 Centaur Clan Professionals hurrying toward the Instance.
The contrast between the atmosphere here and the panic at the Gloomy Jungle town was stark. The human Tier 0s had fled in fear; the Centaurs marched with arrogant confidence.
"The so-called Paradise team is as good as dead," a hulking Centaur Archer scoffed to his companions. "Our Tier 3 and Tier 4 powerhouses from Xiwa City and Sate City have mobilized this time. The human Combat Affairs Department won't even dare to intervene, much less save them."
"It's a shame I'm confined to Tier 0 Instances right now," another said, his hooves scraping impatiently on the dirt. "Otherwise, I'd join the hunt and slaughter a few dozen more humans for sport."
The collective contempt was palpable. "How can an inferior, fragile race like humans possibly compare to the strength of the Centaur Empire?" a Centaur Shaman sneered. "Our true might is currently restrained by the World Barrier. When it fully weakens? Wiping out their entire species will take less time than clearing a Hell Instance."
"Well said!" the group roared in agreement.
This open display of malice and deep-seated racial hatred froze Thalia's excited grin. Her expression stiffened, her eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. Her own killing intent, initially a cold strategic tool, now burned with genuine fury.
"Brother," she breathed, her voice a low snarl, "shall we begin? This arrogance must be punished."
Vincent made no reply, simply pulling his dagger into a reverse grip. The edge of the blade caught the dim light, throwing a faint, lethal shimmer.
"Yes," he said, the single word an absolute declaration of war. "Let's act."
"And what about the so-called Epic Professionals?"
The Centaur Clan warrior Professional leading the arrogant conversation scoffed, spitting on the ground. "They are nothing but humans. Even an Epic Professional is vastly inferior to a common Centaur of equivalent Tier. Their kind are weak."
"Is that what you truly believe?"
The words were spoken softly, yet they sliced through the group's laughter. They resonated from directly behind the warrior.
"That's a matter of co—" He began to answer instinctively, then froze, a sudden, chilling dread washing over him. There was no one behind me.
He whipped his massive head around in confusion, attempting to locate the source of the voice.
WHOOSH!
He never completed the motion. A dazzling flash of blade-light erupted from the empty air, piercing his forehead with impossible force and speed.
CRITICAL STRIKE! -5849!
The gigantic red damage number, large enough to indicate damage reduction was utterly ignored, floated above his head. The Centaur Clan warrior Professional—the one who had just scorned human talent—didn't even have time to gasp. His eyes widened in a silent scream of disbelief as his health bar instantly emptied. He collapsed, dead before he hit the ground.
A neat, deep blood hole marked his forehead. Thick blood instantly pooled around the twitching body. He died with a look of bewildered grievance, the very definition of a kill performed by an overwhelmingly superior force.
The sudden, silent kill paralyzed the surrounding Centaur Clan Professionals. They stared in stunned, uncomprehending silence.
From the shimmering void where the attack originated, a cloaked male figure materialized. He wore a simple black mask that obscured his features, leaving only a pair of clear, utterly calm eyes visible.
"Human?!"
"Assassin! It's an Assassin!"
The forty or so Tier 0 Centaur Professionals instantly erupted in alarm. They had been rushing to the Gloomy Jungle for a hunt, only to find the hunter had come to them.
"You... you humans!" A panic-stricken female Centaur Shaman screamed, lifting her staff defensively. "You are going to violate the truce agreement! We will report this! The agre—"
BANG! -2497!
Before she could finish the word, a second, equally lethal blade appeared from her blind spot, slicing through her defenses and striking her skull. The damage number was lower than the first, yet still catastrophic. The Shaman fell silently, her staff clattering uselessly on the dirt.
A second, smaller figure emerged from the void near the fallen Shaman. She was clearly a human female, also masked, with sharp, cold eyes.
"Yes, we broke it," she said, her clear voice ringing with defiant finality. "So what?"
The two kills finally jolted the Centaur Clan Professionals out of their shock.
"It's them! One male, one female... two Assassins! It's the Paradise Boss and Hill!"
Recognition turned instantly into terror. They had spent the last hour boastfully discussing the weakness of human Epic Professionals. Now, standing before the real thing, feeling the crushing, absolute pressure of two Epic talents, they understood the horrifying mistake they had made.
Vincent and Thalia ignored the screams of panic, their figures already moving with ghost-like speed, disappearing and reappearing to strike again. A slaughter, cold, efficient, and utterly one-sided, had just begun on the road to Xiwa City.