First Concert

Within a large room with a good view of the city, there were five men and women gathered around a table. They all had something in their hands, whether it be alcohol or weapons, but none of them had their guards down. While the others were watching their surroundings, two of them were looking outside the window, but not to admire the night view. No, they were watching one of the most sophisticated buildings in the city, and the inn where their target was staying.

There was no deadline for this job, but if they didn't get her by tomorrow then it would likely become much more difficult to attack her because the city would place more importance on her. They knew about the secret artifact that the target used to counterattack a sudden attack, but the five of them had excellent coordination that could allow them to kill a Sky Realm expert in an instant despite all of them only being in late Earth Realm, so they were confident in their skills. The plan was to strike her from afar and then carefully test the functions of her artifact if the first attack didn't do the job. It would be difficult to get the right timing since they weren't the only ones with the task, but they weren't discouraged. Ignorant to the shadow approaching, they believed in a victorious future.

One of the five, who was wiping his knife, thought that he heard something so he flicked his weapon in that direction, but when he moved his head towards it, he was unable to finish that motion because a portion of the wall was stretched into a spear that easily pierced his head. The four remaining assassins were quick to notice that they were under attack, but before they could even prepare a proper barrier, several more spears branched off from the original one like a tree, rushing to finish off the rest of them. Two were able to escape unscathed while one got away with a bloody hole in their leg, but the last one was skewered to the wall.

"Ugh!"

They were longtime allies so it was natural that they wanted to save her, but they were too professional to turn their backs to an unknown enemy. Unfortunately, that brief period of inaction was all that was needed for the spear that penetrated the woman to explode from inside her. The blood and body tissue that splattered across the room, was a sight that made the last three men nauseous, but they hardened their stomachs and looked towards the door that had opened while they were unaware.

The moment they saw a foot step through that door, one man shot an arrow at him. Then, a different man attacked with a fire spell, which violently exploded on impact followed by a gust of wind from the third man, which intensified the explosion. This would likely invite a ridiculous repair fee, but that wasn't even a concern at that time.

The three hoped that their combination of spells had at least done serious damage, but they were utterly disappointed by the footstep that echoed. They couldn't react immediately, even so they would surely be fine after a few seconds, but that much time would be a luxury. About the same time that they noticed a shiny blade appear in their enemy's hand, their lines of sight suddenly began falling.

'Huh? Why am I going do...'

Just like that, their bodies were bisected and the team known as Red Penta was annihilated.

"Hmm, nice. I have time to spare."

It was the night before the final round of the preliminaries, but that wasn't the only thing that people were excited for. Although it would certainly be nearly impossible to best the impact of Emily's performance, those who looked forward to this event the most could place it on the same level. Shui didn't know if he would be part of that group, but the crowd that formed at the coliseum he was in front of raised his expectations.

It wasn't far from the amphitheater where the preliminaries of the evaluation were held, but whether it was the dark sky or the high percentage of mortals and low-level cultivators in the crowd, there was a completely different atmosphere here. This was his first time encountering such an atmosphere, but if he had to compare it to something, it would be the fervour before an auction.

While these customers didn't come to buy items, there was a similarity in the way that they couldn't wait to look at what would await them on that stage. In the midst of this strange mood, Shui could feel his heart being affected by the dense anticipation in the air.

'It hasn't even started yet and I can already feel my chest pounding. I'm glad I decided to come here.'

Shui was grateful to his past self for deciding to make time for this, but it wasn't like he had left behind Emily just to have fun.

"Looks like you're blending in already, Shin."

The voice that used his alias wasn't unfamiliar, but Shui couldn't identify them immediately. As he turned towards the source, Shui noticed a young woman with two tall, expressionless men behind her. The young woman wasn't particularly beautiful, especially not by Shui's standards, and yet there was a stirring in his heart when he saw her. The men seemed slightly suspicious, but he ignored them as he tried to figure out the reason why this woman intrigued him.

"Ah! You were the idol in that town near Black Rocky Plains. Wait, you're not performing here, right?" Shui asked.

He didn't know much about concerts or Amaryllis who should be performing tonight, so there was nothing hidden in his question, but the woman thought differently.

"What's that supposed to mean? At first I was surprised that you saw me there, but what's this? You don't think what you saw back then is good enough to warrant a place on that stage?" The woman asked, seemingly offended by her own interpretation.

"Uh..."

Words he never said were pushed down his throat, but he didn't know how he could deny that he wasn't thinking them. As he was about to apologize and come up with an excuse, Shui finally remembered a crucial question that would lead to this woman's identity.

'How did she know that name?'

Once he thought about it a little, it was obvious what the answer was.

"Maha, stop playing around."

When she heard that name, the woman swiftly changed her frown to a smug smile.

"I really am surprised that you knew this disguise, but as expected of Faceless, you saw through me."

Her voice was more natural than when she wore her fox mask, but he had a feeling that her disguise still accounted for vocals as well. He was tempted to take a peek at her true face with his Sage Eyes, but she was the one with the tickets so he didn't want to risk angering her. Sure, he could probably sneak into the venue, but he wanted his first concert to be a proper experience.

"Don't act like I won or something. You saw through me too, didn't you?"

He didn't change his body proportions very much, but Shui had an older appearance that came with a beard and sharp eyebrows. Naturally, he also adjusted his aura and tone, but it seemed that wasn't enough to beat a fellow expert.

"Well, that's just because this is our meet-up spot and you looked so humorously new to this sort of thing."

Shui clicked his tongue to hide his embarrassment, but he couldn't find any good counter to her words. This amused Maha, but although she would have liked to continue teasing him, she decided to lead him inside the venue first.

"Follow me."