Monster

Whatever the being that had made the child assassins freeze was, it was clear it was not a human.

The first time he saw it, he had assumed that it was just some scared soldier who merely let his liege fight for herself, but the moment the monster shouted cold shiver ran through his spine.

His whole body wanted to run, his skin crawled with primal fear and his blood froze.

Loris felt insignificant, he felt smaller than he ever was, smaller than the first time he was taught the art of assassination.

'How is this possible...' He was ready to throw away the child assassins if they were killed and think of a different way to kill the Princess of Fools.

However she seemed to be living up to her nickname as she failed to kill even a single assassin, he had heard she was soft-hearted, which prompted him to borrow a fresh batch of trainees to test the theory.

'It cost me a lot to get those escorting soldiers away too...' Loris couldn't help but lament the heavy purse of gold he had to distribute to the soldiers so they would leave the carriage unattended by "accident".

It seemed to be an easy job, kids were playing around with the girl as they were able to get multiple hits with their weapons forcing the Princess of Fools to heal herself.

It was a matter of moments before she would be left without the ability to heal her wounds.

He should have known that man who was merely watching was dangerous, the moment he spoke he felt so much dread as if he stared death in the face.

His skin felt like it would split open by the mere presence of the monster.

With great strain, he activated [Appraise], a skill that served him through his long career, however this time it only flared the dread he felt, no it was more than dread it was pure horror.

<> It had never happened before.

<<[Appraise] failed...>>

He couldn't see anything, it had never happened before, he appraised the princess once again making sure he was not dreaming.

<>

[Appraise] did not reveal much except the general power of the target and their race, however, that was enough for him.

However, Appraising the monster that was casually consoling his target filled him with a kind of primal fear one might have when losing his way in the darkness.

[Appraise] never failed, not even on the bosses.

And yet.

No matter how many times he activated it same message appeared.

'DAMMIT GIVE ME INFORMATION!' Loris shouted in his mind, it felt like skill itself refused to reveal what he was seeing.

<<[Appraise] failed...>>

He attempted again.

<<[Appraise] failed...>>

And again.

<<[Appraise] failed...>>

And Again.

<<[Appraise] failed...>>

This gave two possibilities for Loris, the man is either somehow hiding from [Appraise] or what he dreaded the most was that the Monster was truly too powerful for his information-gathering skill to work.

His legs wanted to run, he had lost the batch of trainees, which wouldn't be a major loss for the organization however a loss of a trained assassin like Loris would be a major blow.

His will was not enough, no matter how much he strained his muscles he could not move.

He felt compelled to obey the command of the monster in front of him.

The armored form of the monster turned to him, his heart beat hastily, feeling like it would jump out of his chest.

His instincts forced him to run, however he couldn't move.

Monster had noticed him, despite him being hidden he was still seen, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Just as he was about to give up hope the grip around his body had lessened, letting Loris finally get a chance to run.

With a jump, he landed on the ground, and with as much force he gave a sprint.

"Where the fuck did idiotic Princess of Fools find a bodyguard that strong?!" Loris had to run, his feet blazing as he used all his power to run away.

Loris was powerful, not many assassins could ever compare to him in raw power, admittedly he lacked skill in stealth but his combat power was second to none.

However when facing this monster, what else could he do?

Not even against bosses had he felt so powerless.

"Infidels are always the same..." Cedric's footsteps were loud and heavy, deliberate to intimidate those who heard them.

"God keeps forgiving you and yet.... You throw that kindness away..." Cold fury in the monster's voice made Loris scramble to escape.

He scrambled away, his legs failing him despite his power.

"You... are unworthy of God's gift of life." Cedric's voice was mixed with both pity and cold fury.

After all, Cedric only tolerated Infidels because of demonic forces, however, if those infidels were a threat to a true Christian like Aurelia was then there was an issue.

'Unworthy, Infidel that dares raise a hand against servant of God is no better than demon.'

Loris felt it, the cold gaze under the helmet was truly inhuman.

He was in front of a beast and he was the prey.

His hands wrapped around a pair of daggers he carried with him.

[Mutilate], he activated his skill, usually capable of cutting the target and destroying the flesh so it can't easily be repaired.

Clang~

And yet his daggers did nothing, no all they did was put him in the range of the monster.

Cedric's hand gripped Assasin's skull, causing a distinct cracking sound.

"ARGH!!!" Loris struggled against the impossibly tight grip, he was not a light man and someone lifting him with such ease was a terrifying experience.

His fingers crunched and broke as he tried to push against the Monster's hand.

Cedric stared at Loris, he was about to be killed and he couldn't do anything about it.

"You, are not worthy of Equilibrium's edge, may God cleanse you, Infidel." With a crunch the skull splattered and Loris fell lifelessly to the ground.

Cedric stared at the corpse for a moment before turning to Aurelia.