The newly formed trio reappeared a few feet away from the three arrows lodged in the concrete. Those arrows were more powerful than they had any right to be.

  The centre of the maze wasn’t far away. They could retreat there in an emergency - like if one of them became a Target - or to ambush other Marked. But this meant Marked moving towards the centre could attack them too.

  Risk and reward.

  Kai kept his focus on his spatial sense since he had spotted Rusk’s trap. Luckily, his spatial sense didn’t consume soul essence. It was a part of him - like his sight or smell.

  But it wasn’t infallible.

  Like his other senses, he could still be distracted and deceived.

  This time, he noticed the three ambushers before they could do any damage. But the fight wasn’t over yet.

  Kai’s gaze swept over their surroundings.

  They had a path in front and a path behind. The front path ended in a right turn - where they came from - and it was the only path the enemy could use to attack them.

  Only a dumbass would walk into an enclosed space toward alerted enemies with unknown abilities and teleportation.

  Running was a viable option. Kai was unarmed and had a reasonable aversion to arrows piercing him, but that would consume his soul essence - and he had two perfectly usable bodyguards.

  One bodyguard if he counted Rusk’s desire to retain his last shred of dignity.

  He needed to see what his bodyguards were capable of - and what better opportunity than a group of bastards stupid enough to fight three murderous deviants after their failed ambush?

  If they ran - he wouldn’t give chase. But if they wanted a fight…

  Kai examined his new companions. Rusk stood up slowly, shaking off the confusion of teleporting through space. Alira was focused and composed - her hand gripping her frozen sword.

  “They’ll leave if they’re smart,” Kai whispered. “But be ready for them to try something stupid.”

  Rusk nodded. Alira kept her focus locked on the path the enemies had to use. Kai and Alira peeked from behind the cover of the concrete wall. Rusk was blind to the action, but remained within arm’s reach.

  A shout reached them.

  “Nivisara! False princess! Stop hiding like a coward!”

  Relief hit Kai like a soft breeze - he wasn’t the target. But he couldn’t stand by and allow these bastards to insult and hunt his bodyguard.

  He still needed her services.

  “First you try to shoot us in the back, now you’re name-calling? What honourable gentlemen!” Kai said.

  “W-who are you? We have more honour than your entire family!”

  Kai couldn’t argue against that. Death God was a devious thief. How could anyone be honourable with a Father like that?

  What use was honour anyway?

  Kai was about to reply with something suitably witty when Alira moved into the open.

  Now she was easy to spot and pepper with arrows.

  Ashes.

  Kai had assumed the ice maiden was smart enough to ignore the honourable noble stuff. He hoped he was right, and she was only acting as a distraction. Kai grabbed Rusk’s shoulder and whispered, “We’re gonna get you some new clothes.”

  Rusk furrowed his brow - then his eyes grew wide - and he offered a stiff nod.

  Alira spoke with her usual icy demeanour. “You called me a coward. Here I am. Will you continue shouting, or will you come and die quietly?”

  A hand holding an arrow emerged from the wall the ambushing bastards hid behind. The hand opened, and the arrow flew towards Alira.

  Kai focused on the arrow. The space between Alira and the arrow increased by thirty-two feet. It lost momentum and fell so short of hitting Alira it was comical.

  Alira scoffed as though it was all going according to her master plan. “Nice try. Too scared to come out and fight a girl? Who’s the coward now?”

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  Kai could imagine how furious the ambushers were getting. He stepped through space with a barely clothed Rusk in tow.

  A voice different from the first shouted back. “W-we’re not scared! Ranged combat is a sound strategy! Let’s see how mouthy you are wh—”

  He never got to finish his sentence.

  Rusk touched the bastard’s linen shirt. Kai stood behind Rusk, his hand still on his shoulder.

  The threads in the ambusher’s linen shirt contracted in an instant. The top half of his body transformed into minced meat.

  Blood splattered everywhere, but Kai’s suit stayed clean.

  He wasn’t sure whether the suit absorbed the blood or repelled it. Either way, there were more pressing matters at hand.

  The bloody threads expanded and uncoiled, becoming thralls to their new master and thirsting for more blood.

  A metallic scent filled the air.

  Kai had been tired of waiting and saw a perfect opportunity for a surprise attack, but he had no idea how devastating Rusk’s Gift was. He made a mental note to never get on his bad side.

  The madman maintained a giddy demeanour, even while covered in blood. A little concerning, but a boon in situations like this.

  It was easy to see where this was going. Kai shouted as fast as his mouth allowed, “One alive!”

  The first meat sack’s accomplices were in a state of panic, covered in blood, their mouths wide open in fear. One of their heads dropped to the floor, a thread slicing through his neck like butter - not that Kai had ever seen or tasted the stuff. His body remained standing.

  The bastard beside him screamed, then fell to his knees. The bottoms of his legs had been severed, blood pooling around his fresh stumps.

  The thread retracted toward Rusk and Kai scolded him. “Alive, Rusk! Not half dead.”

  Rusk shrugged. “Half dead is still alive, isn’t it?”

  Kai sighed. “Can’t you use your threads to tie people up?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  Kai held back his frustration as Alira walked over at a steady pace.

  “Alira, freeze his legs or he’ll bleed out before we can get any information out of him.” Alira narrowed her eyes at Kai, then bent down, placing her hands near the dying man’s bleeding stumps. The air around her gauntleted fingers chilled. Ice blossomed around the wounds.

  I knew it - she can create ice!

  Kai abandoned his fascination with Alira’s Gift for the moment and looked down at the crying, pitiful would-be assassin. “You saw what happened to your friends, right?”

  He gestured to the pile of bloody limbs and unrecognisable chunks. The failed assassin continued to wail. Kai squatted down and gave him a soft but firm slap. He repeated this until the man stopped crying.

  “Look.” Kai pointed at the minced meat and the severed head locked in a permanent state of shock. The standing body without a head toppled - the aspiring assassin would’ve jumped in fright if he still had feet.

  The timing was so perfect, Kai suspected Rusk had puppeteered the body to fall on cue.

  Here’s a man who understands the theatrics of fear.

  Kai continued his interrogation. “Answer my questions and we won’t torture you. Mess us about and…” he gestured to the body parts surrounding the incapable assassin once more. “Do you understand?”

  The formerly two-legged assassin gave Kai a trembling nod.

  A thread wrapped itself around the man’s fingers. Kai didn’t mention it. He was thankful for the help. He could explore Rusk’s familiarity and comfort with torture another time.

  Right now, an experienced torturer was a solution, not a problem.

  “What’s your Gift?” Kai asked.

  “I—I can control wood.”

  That was a relief. There was no wood nearby except the arrows from earlier. They didn’t have to worry about a sudden attack from the assassin’s Gift…if he wasn’t lying.

  In fact, didn’t the man give up his answer too easily?

  Kai nodded at Rusk. The thread still looped around the man’s little finger contracted. It sliced through without resistance. The finger fell to the ground with a spurt of blood and an accompanying scream.

  The bloody thread looped around the screaming man’s ring finger.

  “Are you sure that’s your Gift?” Kai asked.

  The footless and little fingerless assassin grit his teeth, muffling his screams. Kai gave him a moment to compose himself.

  “Yes! I’m sure.” His eyes burned with hatred. “I’ll tell you what you want, don’t torture me!”

  Kai looked to Alira; she shrugged.

  “You’re awfully enthusiastic to tell us what we want to know.” Kai mirrored Alira’s shrug. “How can we trust you?”

  The man’s mouth hung open, blood dripping from the stump where his finger had once been.

  “Th—that’s unfair! If I refuse, you’ll torture me? If I tell you everything, you’ll torture me too?”

  Kai scoffed, and Alira mirrored him. A duet of scoffs filled the air.

  “You tried to stick arrows in us from the shadows.” Kai wagged a finger in the man’s face. “You don’t get to complain about unfair treatment.”

  The failed assassin grimaced.

  “I’ll tell you anything.” He whimpered. “I promise!”

  Kai shook his head. “Promises from a cowardly assassin aren’t worth much.”

  The man’s lips trembled while Kai glanced at Rusk.

  Kai turned his head back to the man and offered a cruel smile. “But I’ll give you a chance.”

  The man’s tearful eyes gleamed with a flicker of hope. He was as primed for honesty as he was gonna get.

  “Why did you attack Lady Nivisara?” Kai asked.

  Alira’s gaze sharpened as she focused on the half-dead corpse-to-be.

  “Gideon…Gideon said he’d help us pass the trial. I—if we…” He swallowed. “Took care of her.”

  Alira grit her teeth. “Ashvale, that filthy scoundrel. I knew it.”

  “Ashvale?” Kai asked.

  “Gideon Ashvale, his family and mine have…history.”

  Kai didn’t need to know Alira’s history. He wasn’t about to reveal his own secrets - and it wasn’t relevant.

  All he needed to know was Gideon tried to kill them - so they had to deal with him.

  Kai returned to the trembling, naively hopeful man. “Where is Gideon now?”

  “He’s…staying near the centre. Waiting for Targets to ambush.”

  Perfect. They’d run into Gideon soon enough.

  Kai turned to Alira. “Anything else you wanna know?” She shook her head and gripped her icy sword.

  The man’s eyes widened. “Wai—”

  Alira’s blade arced through the air without hesitation. The corpse-to-be became a corpse; his head rolled along the concrete floor, the blood in his neck freezing.

  The cut was clean, the mess minimal - a beautiful strike.

  Growing up in the mob desensitised Kai to violence and more - he neither revelled in it nor shied away.

  It seemed his new companions weren’t strangers to violence either. They reacted to the macabre bloodbath in front of them as though this were a regular Tuesday.

  “That was fun!” Rusk said.

  Kai glanced at him but didn’t comment. He hesitated before asking a risky and potentially deadly question.

  “Since we’re gonna be working together…and you already know mine, how about you tell me your Curses?”

  Thank you for taking the time to read this chapter.

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