Assassin Among Heroes Ch 29 Preview

This mission is shaping up to be the most catastrophic one I have undertaken since donning the mask.

A lunatic priest who made an organ farm and taunted me with his ‘work’ for days on end.

When I found him, he wiped the floor with me and almost ended me then and there.

Out of desperation, I brought in a skilled outsider - who I don’t know if I can fully trust.

The priest unleashed his army of experimented undead, and only thanks to my new Zabaniya, did I get the drop on him.

We finally managed to corner the priest and I snuffed out his miserable existence.

But then - this happened.

“̛͈̑𝕬̬͗͟𝕬̛͕̋𝕬̸͖̈́𝕬̵͕̂𝕬̨̥̃𝕬̦̽͠𝕬̵̗̬̈́̿̕𝕬̣̦̔͂͢͡𝕬̨ͯ͛͏̰̻𝕬̘̬̓̐͟͟𝕬̘̠͊̑͘͡𝕬̡̡͇͈͛̒𝕬̡̜̱͑ͯ́𝕬̨̼̞̠̈́ͩͦ͞͝𝕽̴̿͆̉͏̸̗̳̙𝕽̸̱͈̱̋̋̍̀͟𝕽ͤ̿̚͜҉̧͚͚͖𝕽̡͈͇͈͋ͤ͗͘͠𝕽̶̛̙̰͔̊̔̋͜𝕽̴̨̧̛̻̠͓͉̄̈́ͮ̅𝕽͆̽͌́̕҉̶̭̹̭̜̕𝕽̴̶̢̮̦͕̯̌ͧ̌ͨ͠𝕽̸̢̹̲̻̺̄̍̏́̚͡𝕽̴̵̥̦̼̳͆̿̿̊̀͠𝕽̵̨̧̨̘͈̳͍ͭ̿̄̚𝕽̷͌̂͋ͫ̕͝҉̦̰̞͔𝕽̟̝̪̹̳͒̃̉̏͋́͟͟͞͠𝕽̖̦̺̳̫̍ͥ͗̇ͨ̕͘͡͞͠𝕽̸̢̧̛̘͖͇̰̱̉͌ͬ̒̚͝𝕲̑̉ͥ̽ͥ҉̢̡̬͈̬̞̩͘͢𝕲̶̶̧̛̳̺̦̯̱̄ͥ̋̅̐͢𝕲̸̸̨̨̨̩̟̖̝̠̋̇̀ͨͤ𝕲̸̡̛̦̱̺̗̗̓ͩ̓̍͒͡͝𝕲̷̶̼͎͎̜̻̗ͥ̈̎ͤͫ͆͡͡͡͡𝕲̴̛̪͚̬͉̥̳͌̊̋̋̿̏̕͢͠͞𝕲̨̫͙̼̭̲̦͊̀͂͆ͣ̀̚̕͡͞͝𝕲̨̓ͯ͑͌͛ͨ́͝҉͡҉̠̠̹͓͔ͅ𝕲̡̛̈ͬͧ̿͑ͫ͢҉̪͉͕̝̹͔̀͢𝕲̛͌̔ͧͦͤ̆̕͘͟͏̦̦͉̜̼͓́𝕳̷̶̶̡̛͓͖̺̪̞̖̓ͤͧ̽ͫ͌̌͞͠ͅ𝕳̌ͪ͗ͦ̽̿͒̕͟͏̡̢̹̫̘͇̲̜͈́͘𝕳̫̮̪̗̼͈̹̈̎̃̽̈̃̈́́͘͘͠͡͞͠𝕳̴̡̨̢̫̠̩̝͍͎̼̀͛͊ͪͣ͑̒̀͟͡𝕳̸̵͎̪͕͕͙̪̹̂͂ͪ̏ͮ̈͌͜͜͠͠͡𝕳̨̨̨̦̠̮̰̪̱̖ͭ̾̽ͫ̎͗̃̕͟͟͠!ͩͮͬ̈́̿́̍͟͞͏̷̵̵̶͖͕̮̞̬̝̩!̷̺̖̠̩͍̜͍̇ͩ͐ͯ̈̂͌ͯ̀͢͟͢͠͠͠ͅ!̸̸̨̭̰̬̰̦̗͇͆ͤͪͦ̃͋͑ͭ̀͘͘͜͠ͅ!̵̵̨͋̈ͪ̂̏ͤ̅̏͏͠͏̷̡̯͖͉͍͙̰͓̯!͌̾̇̀̉̾͊̚҉̡҉̸̢҉̡̘͕͔̻̮͇̝̫͘”ͪ̄ͨ̐̔ͬ̀̿̀҉͡͏̨̧̺̳͇͇̪͇͔͘͜ͅ

ͤ͒͒͂ͭ̾̐̀҉̷̛̜͓̩̹̦̞͕́̀̀͘͜ͅ

I nearly keel over by the sheer volume of that roar. The Zabaniya’s effects, while rapidly fading, are still active. My skull feels like it's about to burst and pop open like a grape. I grip the floor so hard I almost feel it crack just to hold myself together and get a better look at whatever it is that bellowed that awful roar.

The figure takes a step forward, and the clang of metal echoes throughout the broken chamber. The black mist that obscures its form slightly fades away and features begin to peek out amidst the dust. Claws and arms of metal that gleam in the moonlight. A curved chest plate and pointed boots. A glow of red, shining underneath a wolf-like - no, a round? - helmet.

Is that a suit of armor? As in, a European suit of armor, the kind that I would see in the World Collection?

How I wish that was a joke.

The figure turns to me and every muscle in my body seems to freeze. The pit of dread in my stomach yawns open when the horrible realization strikes me:

My Concealment is turned off.

Like a clap of thunder, he lunges at me and brings his arm down. I roll to the side just as the sword - yes, that is a Western sword - cuts down at my spot and strikes so hard that it leaves a scar—a scar on the concrete floor.

I glimpse the blade that was seconds away from bisecting me. As wide as my torso and just as long…shit.

“RUN!”

I snap my Concealment on and dash to the exit. The pitter-patter of Shiki’s sandals reaches my ears so I don’t look back and just keep going. There’s the exit, just gotta get to the exit-

“̨͔̔𝕬̮̽͟𝕬̈͆͏͍̰̕𝕬̨͓̩̋̂̀𝕽̶̡̡̰̬̠ͪ̍ͯ𝕽̸̡̻̼͎̿ͥͩ͞𝕲̢̨͎̜͚̰̔ͬ̂͒͘͠𝕳̷̴̗̳̙͎̬̓̾ͦ̑́̚͝͞𝕳͊̒ͧ͋͋҉̡̢̡̛̳̞̦͇͉!̴̧̡̱̮̠̼̗͙̇ͬͦ͐̇ͣ́͞͡!̴̸̖̭̜̳͙͚ͦͩ̔ͥ̿̾̀̕͢͝”̓̂̀̏ͫ͊͋͘҉̧̢̻̤̩̹̝͖̦͜͠͠ ̵̷̨͐̐̉͆ͯ̅̂͠҉͖͍̤̖͔͍͈͟͞

̸̸̡̢̢̥͕̭͓̣̱̰̣͒ͯͤͭ̒̔ͧ̈̕͟͢

With a crack of thunder, I hear the brute dash right at us. I throw myself to the side and avoid another slash. Goddamn it, it's like thunder in my ears!

My hand pulls out a knife without thinking and it flies in a blur until -

CLANG!

…what the fuck?

While not always accurate, my knife-throwing was always strong enough to pierce and shatter bone, even concrete. If what he’s wearing really is Western plate armor, then it should have gone through with no problem.

Not a scratch. The force of the attack didn’t even seem to move him. Instead, the helmeted head snaps in my direction and I duck under a gauntleted fist that shatters the concrete behind me. I try to bolt out, but my thought process is interrupted by a kick that sends me flying to the edge of the hallway.

The wall greets my back violently as I hack up blood through my mask. A hacking gasp escapes my throat as I clutch my chest, feeling my sides violently protesting with every breath I take. Fuck…that could’ve caved in my ribcage. Maybe it did, and the adrenaline of the fight is catching up to me. I pull my gaze upwards and see the glowing visor pierce the darkness.

The armored man…the knight…slowly steps in my direction. Each step seems to shake the very earth around me, the echoes reverberating through my very bones. As I watch him approach, something primal comes over me and my muscles lock up.

Every instinct I have is screaming at me to run. Not once has this happened, not with any of the scumbags I’ve killed.

I want to, desperately. The pain, I can ignore, at least until I’m away. But I can’t.

Like the earth is swallowing me whole, I can only sink.

Move goddamn it, move!

He drags his sword along the floor, filling the air with a horrid screeching that’s melting my ears - damn you, move!

What the fuck is happening!?

Through the mist, I see glimpses of faint features - a mark here, a few scratches. I swear I even see the remains of a sigil - but it’s too damaged for me to make out.

The armored boots crack the very concrete underneath them. The ragged breathing of the knight grows louder and louder as he approaches, like a twisted mix of grinding gears and rattling chains, all masked under a flimsy aura of humanity. I instinctively latch onto the ground and feel my entire being brace itself when he finally, finally, stops.

I stare into the glowing visor as he looms over me. Not even a hint of facial features makes it past that phosphorescence. His breathing echoes throughout the ruined hall, battering my sensitive ears.

Move fucking damn it!!!!

Heh. Is this what my victims feel like? Prisoners in their own bodies while death looms over them?

Fuck this is terrifying.

A hacked wheeze escapes from his helm and his armored shoulders heave. Looking back at it, I realized he was snorting.

He raises his sword high, and I feel my wound spike in pain, perhaps in anticipation of what’s to come. No, I won’t end like this I won’t end like this IwontendlikethisIwontend-

His arm moves -

Fuckingmoveyourworthlessidiotyoulldiealone-

The air screams as the sword cleaves through it-

OvalleyOMawlaaidmet̸͇̘̺̹̞̍̈́͌h̵̥̋̕y̵̧̢̨̦͙̣͇͎̹̗̻̲̱͔͒͆̅̂ş̵̫̼̪͓̖̫͉̯̟̺͍͚͊̏̋̀͋͊͑ṕ̶̢̢̙̒̄̿̚í̴͍̻̼͓̫̲̇̍̌̇̒̊͐͘̕̕̕r̶̛̛̲͚͚̺͈̰͔̬̀̈́͑̇̍͂̈i̸̱͔̠̩̖͒̇͛̅͐͊͆͛̋̈́̆̀ť̴̡̧̼̺̖͓̲̳̹͙̯͈͜͜ͅḯ̵̠̝̠ś̴̢̳̝̩̱͙͓̘̽̌͆͋̐̍̒̇͛i̴̧̝̟̦̎͘ǹ̵͍̤̔̂t̷̤͓̯̞̝̐̓̕͜͠h̶̨͉̭̳͙̟̟̤̠͉̞͚́̓͆̆̈͊̾̕͘͜͠ẻ̸̫͈̕h̴̢͔̱̞̱͍͎̣̅̈́͑̌̐͌̌̇̃̽̂͑͝͠a̶̼̖͉̩̔̓̀͆͘n̷̡̼̩͉̞̳̥̭̱̹̭̆͜d̴̡̺̰̟̦̘͎̯̪͍̉̈̀̃̿̾͊̈́͝s̵̺̳̩͎͎̻͆͜-