Six of them entered through the main spectator entrance, spreading out with practiced efficiency. Kael's Void Sense painted their positions in his mind—four positioned at cardinal points around the arena, two moving through the crowd toward his location.
Assassins. Well-trained ones.
[WARNING: Hostile forces detected]
[Crimson Hand Assassins (Level 4-6) - Threat Level: HIGH]
"We need to get you out of here," Silas said, noticing Kael's distraction. "Victory lap, collect your winnings, then—"
"No time." Kael's eyes tracked the nearest assassin—a woman with short dark hair, pretending to be a regular spectator but with her hand inside her cloak where a weapon would be. "I'm about to have company."
"What are you—"
The assassin's hand emerged holding a crossbow, already aimed at Kael's head. She fired.
Void Step.
Kael vanished just as the bolt passed through where his skull had been. He reappeared behind the woman, his hand catching her wrist before she could reload. Void energy crackled, and he could feel the poison coating the bolt she'd been about to load.
"Crimson Hand?" he asked quietly.
Her answer was to draw a dagger with her free hand and slash at his throat. Fast, professional, lethal.
Kael caught her wrist with his other hand and activated Void Drain. She gasped as her strength fled, then crumpled unconscious.
[Enemy Neutralized: Crimson Hand Assassin]
[+75 EXP]
The crowd's cheering had turned to screams. Panic spread as people realized a fight was happening in the stands. The other five assassins abandoned stealth and moved openly now, weapons drawn.
"CLEAR THE ARENA!" Silas shouted, his voice magically amplified. "EVERYONE OUT! NOW!"
People stampeded for the exits. Smart. This was about to get messy.
Kael jumped from the stands back into the arena pit, landing in the sand. The five remaining assassins surrounded him, spreading out to attack from multiple angles. These weren't street thugs like Dren and Marcus. These were professionals who'd trained for years to kill.
[QUEST UPDATE: VENGEANCE BEGINS]
[Crimson Hand forces engaged: 1/12 eliminated]
[Bonus: Defeat all six assassins without killing them]
[Bonus Reward: +100 EXP, Skill: Merciful Strike]
"Vorcen sends his regards," one of the assassins said—a man with a scarred face and twin short swords. "He wants you to know it's nothing personal. Just business."
"It's personal to me," Kael replied.
They attacked as one.
Twin swords came from the front. A whip-blade from the left. Throwing knives from the right. A spear thrust from behind. And something Kael's Void Sense screamed was dangerous coming from above—a mage, floating on air currents, hands glowing with fire magic.
Five physical attackers plus one mage, all coordinating perfectly.
Kael activated Void Pulse for the first time.
[Void Energy: 50/100]
Black energy exploded outward from his body in a perfect sphere. The wave caught all five ground-based assassins, sending them tumbling backward through the sand. The attack bought him two seconds—just enough time to deal with the mage.
Void Step carried him directly upward, teleporting into the air beside the floating magic-user. The mage's eyes widened in shock—Void Step shouldn't work vertically, not for someone at Kael's apparent skill level.
But the System didn't follow normal rules.
Kael grabbed the mage's ankle and pulled him downward. Gravity did the rest. They both fell, but Kael twisted in midair, positioning the mage beneath him. They hit the sand hard, the mage taking the brunt of the impact.
[Fall Damage Negated by Void Body]
[Enemy Stunned: Crimson Hand Combat Mage]
Kael rolled off and immediately had to dodge a whip-blade that sliced through the air where his neck had been. The scarred swordsman was on him, blades moving in a deadly dance that Kael barely parried using Void energy to harden his forearms.
The spear wielder thrust from his blind spot. Kael's Void Sense warned him just in time, allowing him to sidestep. The spear point scraped against his ribs, drawing blood but not penetrating deeply.
[Health: 175/200]
This was different from fighting Crusher. The berserker had been strong but straightforward. These assassins were technical, coordinated, looking for openings rather than creating them through brute force.
Kael needed to break their coordination.
He activated Void Step rapidly, burning through energy to appear in different locations around the arena, forcing the assassins to constantly reposition. Each teleport brought him behind a different attacker, allowing him to land quick strikes before moving again.
[Void Energy: 20/100]
But he was running low on resources. His Void Energy couldn't sustain this pace much longer.
The knife thrower saw his chance. While Kael was engaged with the swordsman, three poisoned daggers flew toward his back.
Kael spun, bringing up his hand wreathed in Void energy. The daggers hit the barrier and... stuck, suspended in the dark energy.
[New Technique Discovered: Void Grasp]
[Void Energy: 10/100]
With a gesture, Kael sent the daggers flying back at their thrower. The assassin dodged two, but the third caught him in the shoulder. His own poison went to work immediately, and he collapsed.
[Enemy Neutralized: Crimson Hand Blade Dancer]
[+75 EXP]
Four left, and Kael was nearly empty. His Void Energy was critical, his body was accumulating small wounds, and the assassins were adapting to his tactics.
Time to change strategies.
Instead of teleporting away from the next attack, Kael stood his ground. The whip-blade came at his throat. The swordsman's twin blades aimed for his gut. The spear thrust toward his back.
Kael activated Void Drain on all three simultaneously, his hands spreading wide.
Black tendrils erupted from his palms, splitting and seeking all three attackers. The Void energy latched onto them like parasitic vines, draining their strength and feeding it back to Kael.
[Void Drain - Multiple Targets]
[+30 Health per second]
[+15 Void Energy per second]
[WARNING: Advanced technique - Extreme concentration required]
The three assassins struggled, trying to pull away, but Kael held firm. His Void markings blazed with light as power flowed into him. Five seconds. Ten. They weakened visibly, their movements becoming sluggish.
Then the mage recovered.
Fire exploded from the combat mage's hands—a lance of flame aimed directly at Kael's head. At this range, even his Void Body wouldn't fully protect him.
Kael was forced to release his drain and dodge. The fireball passed close enough that he felt his hair singe. The three weakened assassins collapsed, unconscious from energy depletion.
[3 Enemies Neutralized]
[+225 EXP total]
Just the mage left.
"Impressive," the combat mage said, rising to his feet. His hands glowed with building magical energy. "But parlor tricks won't save you from true magic. I am Aldric, third-circle mage of the Crimson Hand. Prepare to—"
Kael threw the unconscious knife-thrower's dagger, enhanced with the last dregs of his Void energy.
It took Aldric in the chest before he could finish his dramatic speech. The mage looked down at the blade in shock, then toppled backward.
[Enemy Neutralized: Aldric the Flame]
[+100 EXP]
[QUEST PROGRESS: 6/12 Crimson Hand forces eliminated]
[BONUS COMPLETE: All enemies defeated non-lethally]
[Rewards: +100 EXP, New Skill: Merciful Strike]
[LEVEL UP! You are now Level 5]
Kael stood among the unconscious assassins, breathing heavily. His Void Energy was nearly depleted, and his body ached from a dozen minor wounds. But he'd won.
The arena was empty now except for Silas, who emerged from behind a pillar where he'd been hiding.
"That was..." the promoter struggled for words. "I've been running fights for twenty years. Never seen anything like that."
Kael walked over to collect his winnings from the Crusher fight—twenty gold coins that Silas handed over with shaking fingers.
"The Crimson Hand won't stop," Silas said. "They sent six tonight. Next time it'll be twelve. Then twenty-four."
"Good," Kael replied coldly. "Saves me the trouble of hunting them down."
"You're insane."
"Probably." Kael headed for the exit, then paused. "Silas, do you know where the Crimson Hand's headquarters is located?"
"The Silk Serpent brothel, three blocks east of the merchant quarter. But you can't just walk in there. Vorcen has forty men, including a dozen trained fighters and at least three mages. It's a fortress."
"Thanks for the information."
"Kid, wait—"
But Kael was already gone, disappearing into the night-darkened streets of Valdris.
[Time Until Vorcen Flees: 6 days, 18 hours]