“It doesn’t matter whether they flee or not. This forest is so small, how far can they run?” The assassin named Lumina said calmly as he carefully removed the mask he wore. It was at that time I realized that this Lumina was actually a female, and a unique one at that. Beautiful was the word furthest to her appearance, but she wasn’t ugly. In fact, she didn’t even look remotely like a human.

She had a slender and angular face, no different than that of a human’s. However, that’s where the similarity ends. Her nose was crooked and upside down. Her eyes were vertically aligned, not horizontal. She had green snakes for hair, wreathing and hissing the moment she removed her mask.

She looked a bit like legendary Medusa, but with some obvious differences. The most glaring difference was that she had legs, not a snake-like lower body. Orcs, goblins, and even that hobgoblin were still within my limit of tolerance. However, this exotic beauty was just not my cup of tea at all.

That face… I doubt even a mother would love it. A…thing like her should only belong to Stephen King’s books, not in reality at all.

My thoughts derailed for a few seconds before I managed to pull myself back together. I went through a grotesque creature, death, reborn, and many more things in just a month. A deformed human was far from enough to scare me. I was just a bit surprised, that’s all.

“Yeah, you are right.” Suddenly, one of the assassins, a man, agreed. I looked at his direction and found him to be the one who attempted to stab through the blond knight’s leg. Among all the assassins besieging them, he was one of the fastest to attack and retreat.

A truly devious one.

For my safety’s sake, I reminded myself to put extra attention on him all the time.

“Urt, inform all the juvenile goblins to be on the lookout for two humans that just entered.” Hearing my order, Urt nodded and retreated back before using his skill Hive Mind to connect the goblins. In the meantime, I signaled Logier to prepare for combat at a moment’s notice.

As a pure combat-type monster and a Chief classed one at that, Logier was powerful even without one of his arms. He was always battle-ready in one way or another. After my reminder, his countenance changed as I vaguely felt a threatening aura from him. Of course, I knew he might not be a match for those assassins, but he wasn’t alone.

Urt will be with him, and I will provide support from the shadows.

Although my physical strength improved by a lot due to absorbing stats of my victims, I was still a novice when actual combat was concerned. As such, I decided to stay in the shadows and provide support. Until I completely understood how humans of this world fought with magic and weapons, I would never fight head-on. It was the safest choice for now.

At that time, an assassin came closer to the strange woman and began to talk in a hushed voice, “Sir Lumina, how about we leave them be to the monsters?” Then he chuckled lightly before saying, “I am pretty sure those goblins will be more than willing to thank us for this sumptuous meal. Hahaha!!”

The rest of the assassins also nodded in approval while chuckling.

However, to my, as well as those assassins’ surprise, that thing didn’t agree at all. Repositioning the mask back to her face, she sighed before speaking in a distorted voice, “The fifth princess wanted us to make it look like the work of Blood Legions. If we leave it to the monsters, then not even their corpses would remain. Frankly, this job was so troublesome.”

“Yeah, it's way harder than simply killing them off. We shouldn’t accept business from royal families in the future.” The assassin whom I targeted to be careful of complained. “We even lost Andy and Amber.”

“You are right.” Another assassin commented while stroking the mask of one of the fallen ones, “These twins helped us a lot these days. And now we lost them like that!”

So they are hired-guns. I concluded this from their talks. Moreover, it was clear that the one who hired them was the same princess these knights serve. This drama-like plot took me by surprise.

“Quick, let’s find them and leave this place before the morning. Tomorrow will be a bloody day. We shouldn’t get entangled in that mess.” Lumina urged the rest of the assassins to follow her and find the two escapees.

“Yes sir Lumina. Damn, now that I think about it, the small army had already gathered at the outer periphery of the mountain. We must hurry.”

“That’s right, but I really don’t understand those Owl Bandits. Is there a need to make so much noise just because they saw an orc here?”

What?

My mind and thoughts came into a halt after hearing that man’s statement. The assassins gradually entered the forest, Logier was waiting for my orders and Urt was still communicating with the goblins. However, I was not in the mood to care about that.

Army!

Owl Bandits?

My thoughts swirled as I came into a frightening conclusion. Disregarding everything, I looked at Logier and shouted:

“Let’s go and kill them. Urt, come, help us.” After that, I stepped into the darkness, making my presence obscure.

“Okay.”

“Yes, master.”

Logier activated his racial ability Orc’s Might, a skill that doubled all his physical stats temporarily. On the other hand, Urt pulled out a crudely made spear with a sharpened rock tip and took on a fighting stance.

This spear was the product of my ‘Comprehensive Development Plan,’ which involves teaching the monsters the arts of war. I started this project immediately after our fight against the Hobgoblin. Orcs and goblins were my force, and I will certainly need them in future campaigns. Increasing their abilities was very beneficial to my future plans.

In the blink of an eye, I dried up my MP to cast Nightmare Manifest four times. That was limit. But, I have managed to trap all the important ones in my illusions. Soon, the notifications came out one after another.

Nightmare Manifest Succeeded.

Since your existence hasn’t been discovered by the target, they will be under your effect for 30 seconds.

Lumina (Modified Human)

Lv 3 Magus/Assassin

HP: 378/500 MP: 270/300

Clarke (Modified Human)

Lv 2 Assassin

HP: 240/400 MP: 10/150

Sulphur (Human)

Lv 2 Assassin

HP: 140/350 MP: 1/150

Simmy (Human)

Lv 2 Hunter/Assassin

HP: 600/600 MP: 60/100

Warning!!

Your MP has fallen below 30%. Kindly rest and replenish your energy.

While the notifications flashed back to back, I couldn’t be bothered with them as my mind was fully occupied with the burst of memories.

It was an old human male.

The name of this old man was Ciffer, a researcher as well as a formidable magician. Twenty years ago, he kidnapped a bunch of orphans from an orphanage and did inhuman experiments on them. Lumina and the other three were the lucky survivors of that experiment.

No wonder they treat this old man as their worst nightmare.

With a click of my fingers, a small enclosed room manifested into existence. In the middle of the room was a bed with belts to secure arms and legs. A little girl laid on the bed, with her eyes closed and hands and legs secured with the belts. From the memories I gained, I could tell she was the weird woman, Lumina.

Without my interference, the scene continued on. The old man came into the room, holding a syringe and a vial filled with some kind of glowing liquid. The little girl opened her eyes and saw the old man with the vial. What followed after that was a very familiar scene. Accompanied by a look of abject horror, the little girl screamed at the top of her lungs. She tried to get away from the old man but was unable to do so.

With a swipe of my hands, I came out of the nightmare world.

On the outside, Logier and Urt had locked into deadly combat with the remaining assassin. Pointing my index finger in his direction, I condensed my magic and formed a small toothpick of pure mana.

It was the manifestation of my newly improved Cast Illusion skill.

The toothpick flew through the air and penetrated the man’s forehead.

“Wha-” it was all he could say before his eyes rolled back. At the same time, Logier’s punch and Urt’s spear thrust came together, killing the man in an instant.

“Finish them off!” I ordered with narrowed eyes.

Your involvement has resulted in the death of three targets stronger than you. You gained 90 Eps and an additional 20 Eps.

Total EP: 144/1000