Chapter 400 Leaving the Sec
Assassination was all about planning. Careful, meticulous planning.
This was what Luther had been taught by his father, before he had had to leave the sect.
He had spent his whole life inculcating this into his every action, and now, the plan was to use that to make his father proud.
Over all these years, he had never blamed the man. He only revered him, and was eternally grateful for being taken in and cared for when he had nobody.
Now, it was his chance to pay him back.
Still, he also had an obligation to the King of Lanthanor, whom he admired greatly.
It was that obligation which had led him to listen to the man when he had requested that Luther underperform in the first few rounds, for the good of Lanthanor.
He had heard the rumors, so he knew what the king was up to, which made him feel like chuckling.
After all, he had seen the way the King had grown steadily, and he had heard of the sly manner in which he had saved the Hidden Kill Sect from being conquered. Although this plan seemed a bit disingenuous, he went with it anyway, as his loyalty towards King Daneel was unwavering.
All he needed was to win in the final round, and that was what he had intended to do in the first place anywhere.
Hence, as the bell rang to signal him to enter the final scenario, Luther walked out with a confident stride.
…
In the private booth, all five top assassins and the previous sect leader was sitting and watching the tournament with smiles on their faces.
Four of them were looking forward to the riches they hoped to win, while the last was proud to see his son show off his skills in front of so many.
So far, three contestants had come and gone, and they had performed quite well. Javvg, in particular, had exceeded expectations, making the introverted reptilian mumble to himself in joy.
Next up was Luther, and last would be Skkrag, who was the one fated to win this competition.
As the son of the sect leader, he had been given top-notch resources and he had also been born with excellent talent and a will to grow stronger. All combined, he had become eligible to be groomed as the next sect leader, and it seemed that he would be earning that place soon.
However, everything changed when Luther's performance began.
From the moment he walked out of the waiting area, the top assassins got a bad feeling.
The man who had struggled with the scenarios before, now seemed like a fish in water.
This final scenario was meant to be the hardest - a makeshift Palace had been constructed, and the target was a king who was sitting on his throne in the court that was in the center of it. There were patrols of guards and formations everywhere, and just the slightest misstep would cause an alarm to go off which would result in the failure of the assassination.
Luther moved with a grace and speed that awed everyone watching. His judgment skills were top notch - when he could disable, he disabled, and when he had to kill, he killed.
Of course, this was a simulation, so killing meant shattering the defense trinket worn by the guards.
He used a simple plan: first, he studied the mannerisms of the guards and chose one who looked similar to himself. This was an unconventional approach already, as, usually, the time given in these scenarios was never enough for a detailed analysis.
Yet, Luther seemed to be naturally gifted in this, as he managed to carry it out in a very short time.
Next, he chose the perfect opportunity to replace that guard, before repeating this action and working his way through the Palace swiftly while also using effective and quick torture techniques to get the methods to circumvent formations.
Finally, by the time he killed the king, the entire stadium was watching in silence at the brilliant performance.
As one, everyone stood up and started to clap.
It had been… Effortless. Almost as if this man was born for assassination.
Back in the private booth, all six individuals turned back to look at the sect leader with shock on their faces.
Of course, even the sect leader had an expression of surprise on his face, as if he couldn't have expected this.
Suddenly, a horrible possibility flashed through their minds.
Could this all have been his plan?
Still, there was hope.
Skrrag was up next, and if he also pulled out something surprising, they might still win the bet.
Too tensed to say anything, all of them just watched on.
Meanwhile, Daneel was trying hard not to smile, seeing his plan go well.
It was a simple rigging, but it gave him the sort of satisfaction which he couldn't get elsewhere.
After all, outsmarting someone was a really fun thing to do.
Only, it was now time for the second part of his plan.
"System, buy the mageroot less spell- Telekinesis."
[Affirmative. 10,000 EXP has been used to buy the mageroot less spell: Telekinesis. Remaining EXP: 3000.]
This was what his entire plan had been staked on: mageroot less spell casting.
This was what he had used before in the Olympic Stadium to stop those from the church, and although the cost was very high, it was worth it.
The tournament here was being carefully monitored so that there would be no external interference. If Daneel cast a spell using his mageroot to change the outcome, he would be easily found out, as anyone would be able to see with their elementary vision that he was controlling the elementary particles to do his bidding.
Hence, this was the way to go.
He felt sorry for Skrrag, but he had no other choice.
Skrrag had no idea that the outcome of a bet of millions of gold coins was now resting on his shoulders, but he had a singular determination to take back the post that had belonged to his father.
Hence, he gave it his all.
A skilled assassin himself, his forte lay in his incredible close combat technique, which allowed him to go through the guards silently and quickly.
Seeing this, Daneel actually didn't feel that sorry for this kid, as he was clearly using the inheritance.
How could it be fair for him to use something that he had gotten using his father's influence? Of course, no one questioned this, but Daneel felt better regarding what he was going to do.
The process of going through the scenario went smoothly, up until the last point where Skrrag was using a technique to hide in the shadows of the room while moving nearer to his target in the court.
Till now, everything had gone so well that he was actually ahead of Luther in time.
Although it was only by a few seconds, it was enough for him to clinch the victory.
It was always said that in assassination, luck was crucial.
This fact once again made its existence known to all, when a guard who was walking through the court just so happened to bump into a pedestal on which a vase had been kept.
The vase flew in a weird arc and impacted against something in the shadows, even though they could see nothing there.
"Intruder!"
As those watching from the private booth saw this, all of them stood up and shock.
Immediately, those who weren't mages turned towards those who were, and it was Stefan who spoke first after shaking his head for a little while.
"There were only stray movements of elementary particles, which were definitely not controlled by anyone's mageroot."
Meanwhile, Skrrag, who had been equally shocked, still managed to salvage the situation by putting his full skill on display and reaching the King and finishing the assassination anyway before the alarm sounded.
However, the struggle cost him valuable seconds of time.
Cursing at his luck, he immediately ran out and looked up at the scoreboard, which was flashing with the final results.
Looking for his name, he found it at the second place, but when he saw the difference in time between him and the one who had won, he couldn't help but stamp on the ground with frustration.
One second. One. Damn. Second.
…
"Thank you all for coming and participating! This has been a wonderful tournament! Seeing the incredible performance and how close the victory was, I've taken a decision. Luther, the winner, will take his rightful place as my representative in the Sect, but Skrrag will act as his second-in-command. He will also have a say in all crucial decisions that do not need my intervention. Together, they will make sure that you lot don't burn down the sect when I'm gone! Goodbye!"
After the tournament ended, the sect leader gave this speech before retiring to his quarters. This decision was met by favor from all, as everyone was thoroughly impressed by the performances of the two individuals.
After that, all five top assassins and the previous sect leader found themselves sitting in the sect leaders room, staring at him with loathing on their faces and trying hard not to let all pretenses go and attack due to the infuriating smile he had on his face while holding a data trinket and noting down some kind of instructions on it while humming a merry tune to himself.
When he was done with that, he looked up and said, "Well? Pay up! What are you waiting for?"
Jaggrv stepped forward and was about to speak, but he suddenly felt a hand on his mouth stopping him and pulling him back.
It was Stefan, who knew that his friend would definitely go on a tirade of curses.
All of them suspected it. This damn guy had known all along, and had probably strung them along using the same acting skills that had been on display when he saved their sect.
He wasn't the one in over his head, hopelessly addicted to gambling.
They were.
Grudgingly, they had to admit it.
They had been outsmarted, through and through.
Outsmarted, and robbed.
One thing was clear. Basilisk rider or not, their first impression of this man had been right.
He was a rascal, and they could only blame themselves for not thinking of that before throwing their money into the bet.
Seeing the anger rising in their expressions, the sect leader said, "Hmm, I'm in a happy mood, so I'll give you all some time. I'll come back in a few months to collect. Till then, take care! Ba-bye!"
Saying these words, he vanished from the Sect, leaving curses in his wake.
His final earnings: a whopping 13 million Gold coins, and 3 Warrior level trinkets.