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The Assassination House had never known fear.
We were the ones who brought fear.
The ones who whispered death into the ears of kings, the ones who turned shadows into blades and erased names from history with a single stroke.
And yet…
As I stood in the grand hall, surrounded by the best killers in the Kingdom of Blackblade, I felt it.
Something was wrong.
The dim green flames lining the walls flickered, casting eerie shadows across the hall.
The air was thick, tense, suffocating. Hundreds of assassins walked about, studying the mission board, discussing contracts, sharpening their weapons.
And then—
The heavy doors to the guild hall burst open.
A lone assassin stumbled inside, his breathing ragged, his body covered in blood—not the blood of enemies, but his own.