"The one leading the group that just charged out—that was Lord Krell, wasn't it? The Tier 3 Knight pushing for Tier 4? He's practically invincible in the region!"
A group of Centaur Clan youths walked leisurely outside Xiwa City, heading toward a different path, away from the Gloomy Jungle.
"I wish I were heading out with the Devil's Legion," a Centaur girl sighed, her long golden hair shimmering. Her upper body, possessing delicate features, contrasted sharply with her powerful, horse-like lower half. She looked at her companions with admiration. "Lord Krell made a name for himself even in the Tier 3 Secret Realms! Humans are probably already fleeing in terror."
A Centaur youth sneered. "They are asking for death. Two human Epic Professionals from Iron Fang City are nothing. Lord Krell will crush them."
He puffed out his chest. "That's inevitable. Humans are all softies. If someone invaded our world, our clan would expel them at all costs. But when we came here, they just groveled and signed truces. I even heard they have cultists who worship us as gods. What a ridiculous, pathetic, and utterly weak race."
The surrounding Centaurs all nodded, displaying their ingrained youthful arrogance and belief in racial superiority.
"Enough of this grand war talk," a pragmatic youth interrupted, sounding helpless. "Should we hurry? The Sky Serpent Secret Realm boss's refresh time is almost here, and the teachers are likely waiting."
"Right," another responded, nodding. "The promotion quest. Honestly, our Centaur Clan makes it too easy, controlling five of the seven Secret Realm bosses. We barely have to fight! Once we hit Tier 1, we can start accumulating military merits by hunting human Professionals for real fast promotion!"
The youths' eyes lit up with predatory excitement. They accelerated, focused entirely on the easy path to power and the promise of human casualties.
"Is that so? Then I'm afraid you won't have that chance to level up."
A voice, cold and dry, suddenly cut through their confident chatter.
The Centaur Clan youths instinctively stopped, confusion warring with annoyance. Who dared speak to them?
They turned their heads.
WHOOSH!
A brilliant blade light erupted.
CRITICAL STRIKE! 5467!
The youth who had excitedly shouted about accumulating military merits by killing humans collapsed instantly, a clean wound on his forehead, his health bar emptied.
Before the shock registered, a second, slightly smaller figure struck. The beautiful golden-haired girl who had worshipped Krell died next, an expression of horrified confusion frozen on her face as blood-red numbers floated above her head!
Two figures materialized from the fading stealth: one male, one female, both masked.
The man's eyes were calm, but the woman's eyes were blazing with an uncontrollable, furious rage.
"Humans are merely 'military merits' to you?" Thalia's voice was low, laced with venom. "Very well. Then I have even less moral burden in killing every last one of you."
The surviving Centaur Clan youths finally processed the scene.
"Human Assassins?! How dare you attack right outside Xiwa City?!" a youth shrieked in terror.
Vincent's figure blurred. With a backhand strike, his blade sliced across the youth's throat, silencing the cry. The youth fell, his eyes wide in disbelief.
Vincent glanced toward the immense, imposing walls of Xiwa City. From their vantage point, two to three kilometers away, the Centaur guards on the wall were clearly witnessing the developing slaughter.
"Hurry, Thalia," Vincent urged. "The powerhouses in the city have been alerted and are mobilizing."
Thalia needed no further prompting. The two assassins moved in a perfect, synchronized storm. The Centaur Clan youths screamed, unleashing panicked, wild skills, but their movements were slow-motion compared to the blur of the Epic Professionals.
At the Xiwa City gate, Captain Hektor, a Tier 2 Guard Commander, nearly tore his thick mane out in fury as he confirmed the report.
"What did you say?! Someone is slaughtering our clan's youth three kilometers from the gate?!"
He charged onto the wall and saw the carnage with his own eyes.
"Out of the city! Now! I want those two human assassins dead and quartered! Tier 2 and above, mobilize!" he roared.
A specialized pursuit team of twenty Centaur Clan Professionals burst from the city gates, their hooves pounding the dirt as they sped toward the scene. Ordinary Centaur citizens watched from the gate in stunned, silent disbelief.
Vincent and Thalia, accelerating their execution, swiftly finished the remaining thirty Centaur youths.
The last Centaur, the arrogant one who had commented on human weakness, stared at Vincent, his body shaking uncontrollably. "Our clan's powerhouses will not let you go!!!" he spat, venom mixed with sheer terror.
"Oh, I won't let them go either," Vincent replied casually, delivering the final, merciless blow.
He glanced at the approaching pursuit team, who were now less than a kilometer away. There was just enough time. Vincent knelt and used his dagger to carve a precise, terrifying message onto the flank of the last Centaur's horse-like body.
He grabbed Thalia's hand, locked eyes with the enraged, charging Centaur Captain in the distance, and flashed a brilliant, cold smile.
They stepped back simultaneously, and both Epic Assassins vanished into the void of perfect stealth.
"DON'T YOU DARE RUN AWAY!!!" Captain Hektor screamed in furious, futile rage as he watched the space where the assassins had stood go silent and empty. The only response he received was the silence of the wilderness and the sight of forty bloody corpses. The cryptic, horrifying message carved into the final Centaur's corpse simply read: "PARADISE".