The Young Shark 3

+++

Ever since Doyun decided to send Luna to Elizabeth right before the Battle of Apopis Plains, she had been learning the assassin’s ways from Elizabeth for about a month.

Initially, Elizabeth had objected vehemently.

“…Duke Noir. This won’t do. You expect me to mentor that brat?”

With a stern, unyielding expression, Duke Noir drew a firm line.

“Shut it and accept it. The Apostle Han Doyun is an individual destined to become a pillar of the Alliance. You have incurred his resentment. If you wish to maintain your standing and life within the Alliance, you must improve relations with him.”

“Or I could just kill him before he becomes a ‘pillar’.”

“Then I, along with the other Paladins, shall kill you in turn.”

“Why the serious face over a joke? Kekke.”

As her supporter, Duke Noir wished for Elizabeth to continue contributing to the Alliance.

Tragically, she had descended into madness after losing her comrades, but Duke Noir and Elizabeth went way back. Above all, Elizabeth represented precious Alliance military might.

“Train that slave brat you picked up from the markets? You think that’ll impress him?”

“It shall certainly have effect, I assure you. So just do as instructed, girl.”

“Tch…”

Unable to protest further, Elizabeth grudgingly nodded in displeasure.

Ever since before her Paladin days when building her assassination squad, Duke Noir had consistently supported her. Even now, he looked out for her interests.

Her insanity tended to subside before Duke Noir.

Ultimately, Elizabeth accepted Luna as her ward.

Unsurprisingly, Elizabeth scowled upon first meeting Luna.

‘They really sent me a damn kid barely out of diapers.’

At that initial stage, Luna still bore a childlike appearance due to her incomplete growth.

“Oi.”

“…”

“You deaf, bitch?”

“…”

“You looking at me?”

However, Elizabeth’s complaints vanished the very day their training commenced.

Two weeks into the lessons – during Doyun’s period of unconsciousness from the aftereffects of war.

To prevent fostering arrogance in Luna’s talents, Elizabeth assigned an ostensibly impossible mission. Arrogance spelled doom for assassins.

Yet now, Luna stood before her holding the severed head of a Pride Knight squadmember.

“…What’s this?”

Lying in the hideout’s infirmary, Elizabeth eyed the brought head with incredulous surprise – recognizing the squad member’s face as one who had vociferously demanded her ouster from the Paladins due to her ‘twisted sense of justice’.

His expression remained serene, unaware of his death until the very end.

No blood leaked from the cleanly severed neck – shadows rippled where it had been cauterized through shadow magic, likely leaving no traces at the scene.

Expressionlessly, Luna stated:

“The mission.”

“…”

Two weeks into training, Luna had assassinated a top-tier Apostle.

Elizabeth valued ambition and proper conduct – having lost her assassination squad drove her into madness.

Mired in insanity, drifting aimlessly day by day until Luna rekindled new purpose within her life.

‘A monster.’

Luna was a monster.

For the first time in ages, Elizabeth harbored grand aspirations once more.

‘If I impart everything I know, aided by Duke Noir and the Lion King…’

This monstrous entity before her eyes could reach Paladin-tier strength within a year.

And become the Alliance’s strongest within a decade.

‘She called her a slave…’

The slave-binding seals forcing obedience. To obtain those from Han Doyun, outright murder would not suffice. Troublesome as it was, she had to negotiate their transfer properly.

Thus Elizabeth initially proposed 30,000 gold, then 40,000 – exorbitant nation-level sums unheard of for individuals.

But the negotiations ultimately failed.

Doyun’s feelings towards Luna seemed far more profound than expected. Or perhaps he too recognized her extraordinary talents.

‘I’ll kill him.’

Torture also fell within her expertise. She could force the seals’ transfer through torture before the killing blow.

And so their war commenced.

On the fourth night after the war’s declaration.

Inside a pitch-black room, Elizabeth gathered her daggers.

Clack clack.

Having finished arming herself, she closed the weapons locker.

Clang.

“Phew…”

Then, clutching her throbbing head, she addressed the darkness:

“What now?”

She turned around.

Amidst the shadows, a pair of golden eyes stared back at her.

“I taught you to conceal your presence before assassinations on the very first day, you damned bitch.”

Elizabeth drew a dagger in each hand.

Shit, their rapport extended beyond just Doyun’s side after all?

‘Or… was it just my imagination?’

She had turned, thinking Doyun stood behind her.

But the figure there was Luna, not Doyun.

‘I could have sworn I sensed his distinctive keen presence…’

Assassins never ignored their instincts, but this was a matter for later contemplation.

For now, she had to subdue this young shark one way or another.

In equal combat ability, assassins held a two-fold disadvantage against close-range fighters like swordsmasters.

But conversely, during assassinations, assassins outmatched swordsmasters by that same two-fold margin.

Four weeks into her training now, if fully prepared, this young shark could potentially target even Lei’s life.

‘Moreover, this is a battle of subjugation, not carelessness.’

Elizabeth marshaled every ounce of her available mana.

Her shadows dominated the room’s darkness.

Yet the instant Luna, whose golden irises alone shone amidst that shadow, closed her eyes:

“…!”

Elizabeth’s senses completely lost track of her.

An absolute concealment detectable only through the [Seventh Sense] mastered by the peerless Paladin Enoch Răzvolnic himself – a true supernatural ability worthy of being called a ‘Supernal Prowess’.

“You damned monster!”

So she had deliberately suppressed her strength all along.

Honing one’s senses represented the very essence of the assassin profession, exceeding even rangers in that aspect.

In assassin-to-assassin combat, losing track of the opponent spelled utter defeat. Against an equally skilled assassin, one would never relocate them until the fatal throat-slitting strike.

Amidst the instantaneous terror of encroaching death, Elizabeth meticulously swept the room’s shadows with her own.

‘Shit shit shit…!’

But the monster remained nowhere to be seen.

Then, a subtle movement behind her.

“…!”

Elizabeth leapt forward to evade.

Even as she jumped, landed, turned and readied her stance, Luna remained motionless.

“…Wh-, What is this?”

“…”

No response came.

Had she fled?

In any case, Elizabeth couldn’t help but laugh in relief.

“…Kek, kek.”

The Level 5 skill she had intended to teach – [Ringing the Mouse’s Neck Bell] – had activated.

A B-Rate tracking technique. That monster could never escape her senses now, regardless of any tricks.

Against swordsmasters in direct combat, assassins held a two-fold disadvantage.

When assassinating swordsmasters, assassins held a two-fold advantage.

Assassin-to-assassin direct combat? The stronger one simply won.

She tightened her grip on the twin daggers.

“This…”

Having brushed the precipice of death once already, any further ambitions of inheritances paled beside her.

That existence represented a true, uncontrollable monster beyond her abilities.

“Aaaargh you damned bitch!”

Elizabeth charged, aiming to slit Luna’s throat.

Yet upon meeting those eyes mid-lunge, she instantly regretted her decision.

‘Ah…’

Those twin golden orbs.

In that fleeting instant, Elizabeth sensed it.

The eyes of the Death God recorded in mythology itself.

A soft, chilling whisper brushed Elizabeth’s ears.

“Don’t touch my father.”

Elizabeth’s gaze turned towards Luna’s dagger.

Răzvolnic Style Swordsmanship – Golden Radiant Blade

Trailing golden afterimages, the dagger vanished from sight.

And Elizabeth never saw that dagger again.

‘Ah…’

The final sight she witnessed – her backwards somersaulting vision as her body flung sideways from her lunge’s inertia, crashing upside-down on the floor.

Staring down at her prone, the Death God’s eyes.

+++

“…”

Unconsciously, Doyun’s hand rose to grip his sword hilt.

Even as he stood up, he remained utterly bewildered.

Ever prioritizing composure, he found it immensely difficult to maintain after those words.

‘How?’

‘Why’ hardly mattered – the paramount question was ‘how’.

Luna had killed Elizabeth.

‘She grew powerful enough to reach Paladin-tier?’

An unfathomably rapid growth rate far exceeding expectations.

Unaware of the full circumstances, Doyun had assumed Luna gradually trained from the start to attain Paladin strength.

Luna’s twin bloodlines bestowed innate talents. One aspect matured through Elizabeth’s tutelage, but the other had already reached completion.

Yet none in the world knew this truth, for Elizabeth now lay dead.

‘I must kill her.’

Displaying uncontrolled, unforeseeable growth while defying oversight to slay an allied Paladin.

An unforgivable situation – she could not be spared under any circumstances.

Perhaps tomorrow, this very monster could surpass Doyun himself before massacring the entire Alliance’s forces on a whim.

‘I must kill her.’

The most obvious, rational judgement.

Yet his sword refused to unsheathe, his hand unmoving.

‘…Why?’

Just what was this feeling he had harbored towards the girl from the very start?

What feeling shackled him so, even at this pivotal juncture risking the Alliance’s very fate?

Silently, he gazed down at Luna as she met his wavering eyes unflinchingly.

As always, they sensed each other’s emotions.

As always, the expressionless Luna spoke:

“Are you afraid of me?”

“…”

Unable to respond, Doyun agonized endlessly – striving to subdue his emotions with logic.

‘I must kill her.’

He stoked his willpower to save the Alliance.

Gradually, his eyes began shimmering golden as his willpower finally overpowered those conflicting emotions.

Yet the instant before that victory, Luna embraced him tightly.

“…!”

Caught off guard by the sudden approach amid his inner turmoil, Doyun failed to react.

Luna hugged Doyun closely.

Whoomp.

“…”

“…”

A completely unanticipated situation.

Unable to process it, Doyun’s body froze rigidly.

Experiencing warmth for the first time, Luna whispered softly with closed eyes:

“Father.”

“…”

The hand gripping his sword slowly unclenched.