12 First Kill

"Yes!! Our shots were perfect, weren't they?"

"They were. We just need confirmation that-"

The curved Jade Bracelets around their wrists suddenly started shaking.

"What? They're...?"

"We missed?"

"Huh? There wasn't anyone in the back...?" 

***

The Young Master took three steps to the right.

"Stand back, Young Master!" The Disciples shouted as they placed themselves in front of him.

'Alright...?'

Ui Feng stood by the Young Master's side, which surprised the latter. Shouldn't he be at the front with the Disciples?

All were facing the direction from which the arrows had been shot.

Right behind the Young Master was Lyu, still seated on the wooden platform, unsure whether to stand or not.

"Fui! Bring our Weapons!" Ui Feng shouted with a swing of his arm.

'So they do use weapons!'

The Disciple hurriedly moved towards the rear part of the carriage while keeping an eye on the forest.

They could come from any direction, and there was no way to know how many there were.

Fui hopped back onto the wooden carriage.

Without taking his eyes away from the trees and the darkness separating them, Fui passed the weapons.

'None for her, huh? Sucks to be you, I guess.' Lei shrugged, before slightly raising the weapon he had been handed. 'Swords... Are so fucking cool, aren't they? There's just something about them. But fuck, it's heavy.'

[Ten-Ringed Saber: A single-edged, curved Saber of reinforced Steel. An Earth-Qi Enchantment has been engraved on the weapon's blade, adding to its weight.]

'Earth-Qi...? I'll think about that later. They gave me this one without thinking, so it must be Zhao'. Lei raised and lowered the Ten-Ringed Saber repeatedly. 'Doesn't surprise me that he would choose this, even though I know little about him.'

The heaviness wasn't pleasant, but it must make cutting through things easier. As long as the weapon can be swung properly. 

Every time it was moved, the ten Rings on the weapon clinked.

'Oho...'

Lei immediately thought of a way to use those Rings but,

'That's a bit too villainous, isn't it?'

Three arrows pierced through the air and started their descent suddenly.

All three hit and,

ROARRR-

'Argh...!' The whole carriage shook, but Lyu somehow managed to it downcalm down. 'Are they scared of us running away? It'll take way more than that to take down this Beast.'

The next second, they left the darkness and appeared.

"Leave this to us, Young Master!" The Disciples shouted as they hopped off the carriage.

'Oh, believe me, I'd like to. I doubt it'll go that way though.' 

It was only after Zhao Laohu stared intently at his Personal Instructor, Ui Feng, for a couple of seconds, that the latter moved towards the enemies, a Shortsword in hand.

'I've not even been here for 24 hours and...'

The Young Master sighed as he directed his gaze upwards.

'I already have to get my first kill? I don't think I'm ready for that...'

There were nine of them.

Three Disciples and a Personal Instructor can only hold them off for so long.

They were currently hopping from one enemy to the next, simply making sure that none could go beyond them and approach the carriage.

In a 9 versus 4 situation, not much more than that could be expected.

"Who sent you?! Which Sect are you affiliated with?!" The Disciples asked repeatedly.

The assassins remained silent, their bodies covered by completely black clothes.

'Guess there's no Sect that wears all black, huh?'

The Young Master turned around.

"Lie down."

"Hm?"

"Hide." Lei ordered as he pushed Lyu's head down.

She lay on her side, and remained unmoving.

'I do need you alive for this to work.'

Zhao Laohu turned towards the assassins sent for his neck.

He scratched his head with the hilt of his Saber.

'I hate this long untied hair... And this weapon is way too heavy.'

Sigh-

The Young Master hopped off the carriage.

'Am I seriously about to kill someone?'

It was a deciding moment, wasn't it? For the one holding the Villain System.

'Not really. Even Heroes kill, don't they? Not like I'm trying to be one. In any case, I shouldn't feel bad about it. I'm just defending myself.' Lei thought to himself as he walked forward.

"Young Master...!"

It was embarrassing. For the Young Master to feel the need to step into the battlefield even after spending 40 days without water or food... The Disciples cursed internally, while Ui Feng let out a sigh.

That moment of inattention led to an assassin passing by Ui Feng!

He quickly approached, running as fast as he could while keeping his Sword raised up high!

'Since it's so heavy, I'll hold it with both hands and-'

Surprising.

It truly was surprising.

The Sword was swung down vertically.

With a sidestep, Lei had dodged the hit.

It was surprising to him, but not to any of those surrounding him.

'I can see the blade so clearly... And I can move so fast...!' The corners of his lips curled upwards. 'That tea really did wonders, huh?'

Another reason to keep her by his side. Though less important than the primary reason.

Using the momentum of his downward swing, the assassin's blade took a sharp turn.

A horizontal swing aimed to behead the Young Master!

But before it could reach him,

Swoosh-

An upward diagonal swing of the Ten-Ringed Saber cut through the assassin's clothes and flesh.

A stream of steaming blood sullied the Young Master's robe as the Rings of his weapon screeched under the moonlight.

"With one hit...?"

"That...?!"

"Wasn't he supposed to be beyond fatigued?"

The assassin fell to his knees. His hands immediately went to his neck.

The Ten-Ringed Saber was incredibly sharp, but also heavy. Flesh and bones had been cut and shattered respectively.

Indeed, the right and frontal side of the assassin's ribcage had been broken. His lung, slashed.

Lei's first kill.

The assassin squeezed his own neck harder and harder. The pain was unbearable. The inability to breathe, the blood bubbling and foaming at the mouth, the stream that had stained both the Young Master's face and his robe...

A dying man. Suffering. In pain.

The Young Master's eyes narrowed as he looked down on that dying man.

The man's hands moved away from his neck, now reaching towards every direction, as if searching for something. Searching for help. For someone willing to help.

"Pathetic." Lei whispered without meaning to.

The word had immediately sent a shiver down the spine of every present assassin.