The League of Assassins didn't send a message. They sent a blade.
I was hovering near the gargoyles of Old Gotham, watching the city breathe, when the air behind me shifted. There was no sound, only the sudden absence of wind. I didn't turn in time. A sword made of a strange, dark metal slid through my back and out of my chest.
It wasn't a common blade. It burned.
The Silent Execution
I fell from the sky, crashing into the roof of an old clock tower. Standing there was a woman in tactical shadows—Nyssa Raatko. Behind her, four elite assassins emerged from the darkness, their masks cold and unfeeling.
"You are a disturbance," she said, her voice like ice. "Ra's al Ghul does not tolerate variables he cannot control."
I tried to stand, but the wound was festering. The blade had been dipped in a toxin designed to kill meta-humans. My Defense was high, but my internal organs were still susceptible to mystical poisons.
"Variable?" I coughed, blood staining my lips. "I'm the solution."
The four assassins moved in a blur. They weren't like the thugs or the S.W.A.T. team. They knew exactly where the joints in my "armor" were. They struck with precision, severing tendons and plunging daggers into my pressure points.
Nyssa stepped forward and decapitated me in one fluid motion.
[DEATH REGISTERED]
Cause: Decapitation (League of Assassins Elite)
Killer Grade: B-Tier (Master Assassins)
Gains: +10 Strength, +10 Agility, +10 Defense, +10 Spirit.
[NEW SKILL AWAKENED]
Skill: Shadow Weaponry
Description: You can now manifest weapons (swords, spears, chains) made of solidified Shadow Essence.
Current Status:
Strength: 29
Agility: 29
Defense: 113
Spirit: 30
Respawning 10km away...
The Return of the Ghost
I woke up on the outskirts of Arkham, my head firmly back on my shoulders. The surge of power was intoxicating. My Strength and Agility had nearly doubled in a single death. I felt light, sharp, and incredibly dangerous.
I didn't fly back. I ran.
At 29 Agility, I was a blur to the human eye. I scaled the clock tower in seconds, leaping into the center of the roof just as Nyssa was preparing to leave.
She froze. Her eyes widened as she looked at me—whole, unharmed, and radiating a dark, suffocating aura.
"Impossible," she whispered. "I felt your life extinguish."
"It did," I said, reaching into the air. The shadows around my hand congealed, forming a six-foot long obsidian scythe. "It just didn't stick."
The Shadow War
The assassins lunged. This time, I didn't just take the hits. I parried. My new Agility allowed me to see their movements in slow motion. I swung the shadow scythe, and the blade passed through their steel swords as if they were mist, but sliced through their armor like butter.
I wasn't just fighting; I was executing.
One assassin tried to retreat into the shadows. I pointed my hand, and the shadows he tried to hide in turned against him, binding his limbs and crushing his chest.
Nyssa engaged me, her skill far surpassing mine, but it didn't matter. She sliced my arm; I didn't flinch. She stabbed my leg; I kicked her back with the force of a moving truck (29 Strength).
"Tell the Demon's Head," I said, grabbing her by the throat and lifting her off the ground. "Gotham doesn't belong to the League. It doesn't belong to the Bat. It belongs to the shadows that I command."
I didn't kill her. I needed her to carry the message. I threw her off the roof, watching her deploy a wing-suit to glide away into the night.
The New Balance
I stood alone on the clock tower, the shadow scythe dissolving back into my palm. I felt the system adjusting.
[NOTIFICATION]
Current Status:
Strength: 29
Agility: 29
Defense: 113
Spirit: 30
System Note: You have successfully engaged a Tier-B threat. Your existence is now known to the global underworld.
I looked at my hands. I was no longer a man who got lucky with a system. I was a powerhouse. If Nyssa gave me 10 points per attribute, I wondered what Ra's al Ghul or Batman would give me.
I took to the sky, my flight more stable and faster than ever. I was done being an "anti-hero" in the shadows. It was time to start taking over the big territories