Horus released his compression on the [Crescent Slash], and it instantly accelerated beyond human perception; he controlled the direction of the slash by focusing on feeling the Twilight mana with his left hand. With a flick of his fingers rubbing against the silky energy, the slash turned mid-air and accurately struck a specific point in the wall.
The wall exploded with dust and light, a huge gash dug through the stone. Everyone shielded themselves as the dust rushed past them. When they dropped their hands, a ten-metre tunnel shaped like a pen was carved into the wall.
June's eyes were wide with shock. "Ok, now I understand what you meant by the other time it was a flop."
"That's way too fast," John muttered with a sour look, brushing dust off himself. "Epic classes are so unfair." Wally had lied to him about Horus' Title, saying the system had glitched, but he actually had [Crescent Swordsman].
Meanwhile, Wally was focused on what June had said. "Wait, Horus, you did this before?"
"It wasn't like this before," June explained. "It was way louder and slower."
Instead of answering, Horus immediately got back into Deimos form and began using the attack again. This time the slash came out faster and he didn't compress the time of its flight, only focusing on making it accurate.
The silver crescent sword light sank into the already opened hole and dug deeper. Horus listened deeply to the trembling of the earth and how far it went.
[Crescent Slash] was smooth and deadly, silent and soft. It was not only a life-threatening attack; it was a killing blow that you might not even hear coming.
But the stone still shook from the impact, so he kept his senses sharp in case any Firespitters were on the way, also using Life sense to keep an eye on the tunnels.
Using the two sub-skills at once required immense focus. He moved Twilight mana to his sword and compressed it, while also moving his natural mana to the crown of his skull and projected it behind him.
The grainy black-and-white world overlapped with his normal vision in pulses, empty aside from his friends and some blackened stones.
Until it wasn't. He was mid-stance, gathering mana for his third and final slash, when something appeared in his black-and-white world.
A white patch of distinctly human life, hanging from the room of the cavern. Horus' [Lifesight] revealed a new sub-skill when he focused his mana on this patch.
He sensed killing intent and saw it projected right at the back of Wally's neck. Horus' blood grew cold immediately.
An assassin class.
He pulled more mana from [Full Capture], using the only sub-skill he knew for the ability. The skill required him to fully sense an attack and its direction—[Lifesight] just did for him with its new predictive sub-skill.
So the sub-skill, [Speed Multiplication], activated immediately.
To Wally and the others, Horus suddenly turned to them so fast his body flickered, then he sent a [Crescent Slash] at them.
"What the—" John yelled, falling on his back, pulling Wally and June down with him.
The slash wouldn't have hit them though. White flashed past them before they even moved, flying over their heads, curving up to the roof at deadly speed.
By the time they registered what just happened, the roof had been destroyed with a thunderous bang and Horus had disappeared.
June jumped to her feet. "Horus! What's happen—"
Her eyes widened as she turned back. Through the dust two people appeared; Horus with a slash vicious enough to behead a man, and a black-robed man ducking under it.
"Assassin! Stay back, Wally, June!" John muttered before pulling his invisibility cloak on and disappearing.
Meanwhile, Horus pressed on, giving the man no chance to even breathe. His sword carved silver arcs into the air. He swung his body to dodge a thrown dagger before flowing into a vicious slash.
But the assassin's [Physicality] and [Reflexes] must have been in the high thirties. It wasn't Elite because Horus was blocking the kicks without being thrown back. But both skills must have evolved into Adept skills specialising in dodging.
The assassin glided over the ground like he was a shadow. He flipped over one of Horus' slashes and balanced on the blade before slashing at his throat.
Horus wouldn't go down easily though. With [Lifesight] and [Full Capture], he could predict an attack and then get temporarily faster because of that.
The assassin's deadly attack transformed into Horus dodging and slashing up at a man tuck mid-air. It was a definite kill as there was no leverage to use.
But then the man folded his body mid-air to dodge the strike and spun to land.
Horus gritted his teeth. His flexibility and reaction speed are unreal.
The next moment the assassin proved he hadn't slacked in [Perception] either. John had been sneaking up behind the man, fully visible to Horus' [Lifesight] and struck with a sharp jab from his red spear.
The assassin's eyes briefly widened before John struck; then the man twisted his body to dodge the spear and turned to kill John. But Horus was there, forcing the man to move with a downward slash.
"Wait for your opportunity!" Horus warned John before chasing the man.
They exchanged strikes a few more times before the man finally spoke.
"The light of your sword is a bit annoying," the man stated, ducking under a slash. "We, assassins, prefer the dark."
Horus watched as the man twisted the handle of his dagger. A magic tool?
The next moment answered his question as the darkness of the cavern grew stronger, pressing down on his sword's light and consuming the assassin.
The man's presence faded with his body. Footsteps dulled, his scent faded and even his life force disappeared.
Horus turned around frantically. He drew the sword the system had given him, holding it in a forward grip while he held his Celestial steel in a reverse grip. He had to fight defensively for now.
A voice laughed from the dark. "The great son of Twilight is scared of the dark?"
Horus spun towards the voice, but was then kicked hard in the back. Pain shot through his body as he was sent sprawling to the ground, but he quickly rolled up.
"I'm going to enjoy this, you blood traitor," the voice hissed. Horus felt like the entire world was speaking to him at that moment.
"What happened to protecting your homeland? Have you forgotten the people that died for you? Let me list some famous ones: Gregor, Frances, Anhur, your own cradle brother. Did their lives mean so little to you? Did the monkeys trick you so easily? To side with treasonous animals over those who have ascended from petty humanity. Truly foolish."
Every name was punctuated with a punch. Each accusation ended with a kick. His final words ended with a stab to the back.
"Arrrgh!" Anger and pain made his jaw clamp down on the cry of pain. His grip tightened over the sword as he waited.
"I won't let you die, traitor," the assassin promised. "It's the Curse of Servitude for you."