Chapter 3

I don’t know who said it, but I clearly remember the words: “Never underestimate the opponent in front of you.” Being too confident can sometimes drag you into the abyss of destruction itself.

A hard punch landed in the stomach of the person who had threatened me earlier. He couldn’t see the two quick steps I took. This narrow-minded person became an easy prey. However, the two people behind me were different—they quickly jumped to retaliate.

Once again, moving a little faster, I took advantage of a small opening and grabbed the sword of the person still in shock from my attack. I quickly moved to the right after seizing the sword with my left hand to avoid the attack from behind. Unfortunately, another masked man immediately swung his sword and cornered me against the wall.

Not wanting to be cornered, I swiftly exploited a small gap, kicking his leg and making him fall. Right after that, I quickly moved to a more spacious area. Although I hadn’t trained for five years, I was surprised to be able to fight back this far. However, only using skills that hadn’t been honed for a long time wouldn’t end well now.

“Sigh… Sigh ….” Damn, fighting for a short while already made me almost run out of breath. If only my condition were the same as five years ago, I could easily escape from the four of them.

“I underestimated you, Ars,” said the person whose stomach I hit with all my might, coughing. I was sure my punch earlier would at least make him nauseous!

“Huh! Even though I haven’t trained in the last five years, it doesn’t mean you four can beat me!” Lie! There’s no way I can beat them! Physically and stamina-wise, I’m already far behind. I hope they believe this bluff!

“What kind of fool would believe your words?” The masked man glanced at his three comrades. “Don’t hold back anymore. Not finishing him off will be a disgrace to us for life!”

Damn … from that sentence alone, I already knew what they were planning. The masked man who had cornered me earlier now discarded his sword, no longer needing it. Without using a sword or any other weapon, the only conclusion I could think of was only one.

Tch! They must have the ‘power’ and intend to use it right now! They indeed seriously want to kill me, but for what? It can’t just be for the severance money in my pocket, can it?

Not long after, just as I thought, their right eyes simultaneously emitted a blue light. Although the size was different from Old Man Joe’s, they also had blue-glowing Beast Tigers. I was really in big trouble. Without the Beast Tigers, they were already very troublesome, let alone with such supernatural power!

“If you surrender and hand over all the valuables you have, I might spare your life, Ars,” said the masked man who hadn’t stopped provoking me. “But if not, don’t expect to die easily.”

Nonsense! A professional assassin doesn’t talk much when attacking prey! All their actions now raise new assumptions, but the evidence is still not enough. However, now is not the time to look for that evidence. Tch!

Three Beast Tigers quickly dashed towards me. There was no other choice, I kept running in a zig-zag pattern to avoid the attacks from those three fierce monsters. Unfortunately, when I wasn’t sure how to escape from here, they let another Beast Tiger stand guard behind, narrowing my escape route.

Even so, I had no intention of surrendering. I kept dodging all the attacks, looking for an opening, and jumping high. Without hesitation, I immediately attacked the head of one of the monsters with a sword swing. Unfortunately, the sword broke from the impact. My luck was terrible. Moreover, the vibration spread from my hand to my head due to the previous attack.

This was getting worse, the three Beast Tigers immediately surrounded me when I landed. Damn! Is this the end? I didn’t even know their goal yet, but my only weapon was already unusable.

C-U-R-S-E-D

When I thought it was all over, the contents of the black book I had read earlier suddenly appeared in my head. Every word in that book filled my head until it couldn’t be ignored anymore. However, I still believed it was nothing more than false hope.

“You’re cornered, Ars!” The masked man warned again. “You’re not foolish enough to not realize your condition, right?”

“As a professional assassin, you talk too much,” I replied. “Are you really a professional assassin?”

“You’re very stubborn!”

One of the Beast Tigers lunged forward, but I deftly dodged the sudden attack. Unfortunately, two other Beast Tigers also attacked consecutively, and the third Beast’s attack couldn’t be avoided in time, so I reflexively protected my head using my crossed arms.

Like a miracle, the Beast Tiger’s claws and body that touched my arms slowly disappeared, merging with the wind. The monster vanished quickly as if burned by a raging fire.

I stood still, staring blankly ahead. I glanced at my arms that weren’t injured at all, wondering if the use of the Beast Tiger had reached its limit. But I had never heard of any time limit on the use of Beasts.

Shaking my head for a moment, I gave a thin smile as if I were in a dream. Again and again, events happened that made me unsure of what was dream and reality.

“My Beast Tiger … was obliterated …?” The masked man who talked the most unconsciously stepped back.

Seeing his reaction confirmed that what happened earlier wasn’t the time limit for using Beasts. But if it wasn’t that, then what actually happened? Whatever it was, it was time to take advantage of the situation.

“Did you all see that?” I continued to intimidate. “I wasn’t bluffing when I said I could beat you!” Hurry up and believe and leave, damn it! I didn’t have much time to figure out what had just happened.

“I’ve never heard of anyone who can obliterate a Beast!” said another masked man firmly. “Attack!”

Damn it, I reflexively protected my head with both arms again because the Beast Tiger attacked suddenly. However, the result was the same. The monster disappeared again when it touched my arm.

Once might be a coincidence, but twice is an extraordinary coincidence. If this isn’t a coincidence, then I am the ‘Cursed Man’ like the book about the Beast and Cursed Man. Is this the reason they were after me?

No. It’s impossible. Their reactions seemed to indicate they really didn’t know about this power. If they actually knew about me, did they also know about this power? Or maybe the person who hired them knew about me but didn’t provide complete information to them?

Argh! Too many assumptions were colliding with each other. I couldn’t determine which was right or wrong. The only way left was to ask Old Man Joe directly. The old man must know something. Although I might not be able to prove that he knew about this power or not. Damn, thinking about all this makes my head want to explode.