Eastern Border, Two Nights After the Siege
The fortress lay quiet under moonlight—scarred walls standing firm, the 3rd Legion bruised but alive.
To most, victory bought time.
To Achilles? It bought attention.
And attention always invited knives.
The System pulsed faintly as he stood atop the ramparts:
>>> Enemy Activity: Covert Infiltration Detected
>>> Threat Level: Lethal
>>> Estimated Assassin Units: 4 Confirmed
>>> Primary Target: Achilles Verentis
---
đź—ˇ Kael's Report
Captain Kael approached in the darkness, voice low:
> "Scouts found traces— they sabotaged our supply crates, poisoned rations intercepted."
"Ascendria sent infiltrators, not soldiers this time."
His hand hovered near his sword hilt:
> "They'll come for you tonight, Young Lord."
"We'll double the guards—"
Achilles shook his head, gaze cold, calculating:
> "They expect visible defenses."
"We set the stage, but we stay invisible."
"If they want my life—let them reach for it."
---
🩸 Setting the Trap
Throughout the fortress, Achilles manipulated the environment:
Pressure-triggered rune traps layered beneath floorboards.
Illusory decoys simulating his presence in false locations.
Silent alarms coded through mana pulses, detectable only by him.
The System overlaid his field of view:
>>> Defensive Overrides Engaged
>>> Decoy Projection: Active
>>> Real-Time Threat Monitoring: Stable
---
âš” The Assassins Strike
Just past midnight—
A shadow slipped through the officer's quarters.
Another scaled the western battlement silently.
Two more phased through weak points in the walls.
Blades drawn.
Poison ready.
Orders clear: Kill Achilles Verentis.
The decoys shimmered—false targets vanishing as knives pierced empty air.
In the command chamber, Achilles waited, calm, reading the data:
>>> Assassin Location: Tracked
>>> Engagement Probability: Favorable
---
🩸 Rewriting the Assassination
The first assassin lunged, dagger flashing—
And detonated a concealed rune, sent flying across the stone.
Another leaped from the shadows—Kael intercepted mid-air, blade severing the attacker's throat.
The final two targeted Achilles directly—
But as their blades swung—
Achilles moved with unnatural precision—
Predictive patterns dancing before his eyes like source code.
A twist—
A strike—
A pulse of energy rewrote their momentum mid-swing, collapsing them into each other.
Steel clattered to the floor.
Blood pooled in silence.
---
🌑 Aftermath: Message Delivered
The last assassin, pinned beneath Kael's blade, snarled:
> "The Ascendria Empire… never stops."
"Another wave follows. You can't rewrite fate—"
Achilles' gaze sharpened, voice quiet but cutting:
> "Fate is really a flawed algorithm and I'm here to correct it."
With a flick of Kael's sword—the threat ended.
---
đź•Ż The Soldiers Whisper
Word spread through the fortress like wildfire:
"The commander saw the assassins coming."
"He turned the fortress itself against them."
"Maybe… he's more than just another exiled noble."
The System's data confirmed:
>>> Assassination Attempt: Neutralized
>>> Enemy Response: Unknown
>>> Legion Morale: 72%
>>> Rewriting Progress: Ongoing