Unsealing Emptiness

He would not have thought much about it if it was only about killing as many could have a grudge on him for all the killings he had done for Count Oliver.

But the duo’s words suggested that it might not be someone with a grudge, and if it really was, then this someone was out to torture him to death. Though it was probably not the case as Cyril had mentioned taking him to the base instead.

“What are your orders exactly?” Ozul asked.

“There are not really any orders for us... As I said before, it was only by coincidence that Mark recognized you as The Feral...you are him, right?” Cyril explained before nervously asking at the end.

As far as he knew, if this person really was The Feral, then they might be able to get out of their situation because assassins were the most reasonable people when they were not on their job.

On the other hand, if this person in front of him was actually someone else, then they were in deep trouble, depending on the situation. Because in such a case, he wouldn’t be so sure that this person was not a Rank-9 Mage!

.....

Then again, being The Feral did not mean that he was not a Rank-9 Mage either. It was just that such a situation was too absurd in their mind.

But they would be even more unwilling to believe if they knew that Ozul could only defeat people at Rank-7 around that time. Rank-7 to Rank-9 was too big of a jump to be done only in a decade, much less in months.

Ozul did not care about it, so he just casually nodded his head at Cyril’s question, who sighed in relief. The duo already started to think of a plan to buy some more time to recover and give their best this time.

They had been too impulsive just a few moments ago, but there was no medicine for regret. Being assassins and Rank-8 Mages, they already started to formulate plans to survive in their mind.

“Oh wait, see this. It is your bingo book entry,” Mark said while taking out a small book the size of a diary. He pointed at the page which had The Feral written on the top.

Under the title, anything related to him was described in as much detail as they could have gotten their hands on. However, it wasn’t anything serious. It only described how many people he had assassinated in the record and what the rumors were about him.

At the end of the page, there was a tab that said ‘Bounty’. It contained every reward that would be given to the person who confirmed to have killed him. Most of it was just currency in Platinum Coins.

Ozul skipped this part and moved his eyes at the section with ‘Special Conditions’ written on the top. On the left side, it stated that The Feral was to be brought back alive and in good condition at the headquarters. The rewards this time could not even be compared to the previous bounty on his head.

This not only contained money, but there were tens of cultivation resources that even some Rank-8 Mages would not deny the opportunity to obtain.

“Who put forward these conditions and the reason?” Ozul asked after reading the page and not finding any such information.

“We... are not sure,” Cyril replied hesitatingly.

“We really don’t know anything. Our organization is strict in its rules, so it doesn’t matter that we are Rank-8 or not. There are departments for certain things. So, we only know things that we are supposed to know. Boss is the only person who is aware of everyone’s mission details.” Mark hurriedly added.

Ozul would have said something, but everything that duo said till now was not actually a lie. Although he could sense that their intentions were not so good, he knew that they were telling the truth.

“What is your organization’s name?” Ozul asked. He found it interesting that an organization had such discipline that even the Rank-8 Mages, who were considered the core members of any force on the entire continent, were not permitted to know certain stuff unrelated to their job.

When Ozul asked their organization’s name, the duo remembered that they had yet to use their background to try to threaten this person.

They puffed out their chests and raised their heads to try and appear as dignified and intimidating as they could before showing the side of their necks to Ozul.

Ozul had already seen that tattoo on their necks, so his expressions remained unchanged as he stared emotionlessly at the duo.

Cyril and Mark waited for some stuttering comments of apology, but all they received in return was his cold stares.

“What is this?” Ozul asked, dumbfounding both Cyril and Mark. To him, it just looked like they had matching tattoos of a setting sun.

“You... don’t know about Order of the Dusk?” Cyril and Mark asked at the same time. They found it hard to believe that an assassin as famous as The Feral had not heard of their organization!

“No?” Ozul replied, not understanding what the big deal was.

“Oh...” Cyril and Mark said, disappointed since Ozul did not know about their organization, so intimidating him with their background was almost impossible.

“Well, we are an organization where we kill people on others’ requests,” Mark gave a brief explanation.

“Hmm...” Ozul contemplated for a while before asking, “Where is the headquarters of your organization located?”

“Our main base is in the Neutral Lands,” Cyril replied.

“Oh... perfect,” Ozul said in a low voice before turning to the duo, who immediately shrank back.

“I was already heading to the Neutral Lands. You lot will lead me to your base now.” Ozul said in a commanding tone.

The duo wanted to reject immediately, but they were in no condition to deny his request at the moment.

Ozul also needed a guide until the Neutral Lands since he had not memorized all the maps and only knew the place’s general direction. Moreover, he had decided to check out why he had a special bounty placed on him to be brought alive there.

If they wanted him alive, then he was going to do just that.

Ozul did not let the duo have any rest before ordering them to stand up and follow him together with Clara, who had been watching everything from afar only.

Cyril and Mark had no choice but to follow behind Ozul while trying their best to hold back the groans because their insides all ached with each step they took forward.

Clara maintained her distance from these two since they did not pretend to be friendly at all. They were practically glaring daggers behind Ozul after walking together for only half an hour.

In the blink of an eye, they had left the city far behind and now traveled in the forest.

Ozul did not mind the hatred-filled eyes behind his back and leisurely walked at a normal pace. At this point, Cyril and Mark had already recovered enough to take the recovery pills without crying in pain.

They took the pills while trying to be secretive about it. However, Ozul just had to look behind once when he sensed them using the Mana to access their Spatial Ring to catch them red-handed.

Though contrary to what the duo had expected, Ozul did not care about it and continued walking after that. They still had the hope that once they had recovered enough, they could take revenge for their humiliation. And this time, they would not try to show off and get plummeted to the ground with one punch.

Hours passed before the sun started to set. Ozul also did not want to keep traveling, so he immediately got on top of the first tree that he saw suitable.

“What happened?” Cyril asked when he saw him climbing up the tree.

“We are stopping here for rest,” Ozul replied before closing his eyes.

“Hasn’t it only been half a day of walking?!” Cyril said. Resting only after walking for a few hours was something he could not even think of as a Rank-8 Mage.

Months without sleep was actually normal for Mages at his rank, so stopping for rest after such a short interval of time got on his nerves. He had already been boiling inside because of the beating that he had received from Ozul in the morning.

Just as he was about to shout again, Ozul opened his eyes and calmly looked at him from above. With his eyes staring right in Cyril’s, he said, “Shout one more time, and you won’t have a tongue to do so ever after that.”

Although he had said those words calmly, Cyril was scared shitless since they had yet to reach their peak of power, and Ozul sounded genuinely serious when saying that.

He did not want to lose his tongue just because of his anger, so Cyril quietly went near another tree and sat down on the ground while muttering grumpily. However, his voice was too low for anyone to understand what he was saying.

Learning from Cyril, Mark did not say anything either and picked a spot for himself near him.

Meanwhile, Clara found a tree near Ozul’s since she would rather not be alone with those two around. She had not said anything, but she wasn’t exactly comfortable with traveling with two ruthless assassins.