Chapter 27: Infiltration

this is a fictional story by realTensai

The sun descended, as if not wanting to see the dangerous city of Beqa in the night. Even the moon hid behind a veil of dark clouds. An icy breeze carrying the smell of decay cut through the evening, forcing Alvis to prepare for what was about to happen.

The night of the last day of the loop approached, and Alvis was about to infiltrate the Assassin Organization. He had spent the last two days observing their hiding and creating a plan for his infiltration.

Though no matter how often he had gone through his plan, the idea of infiltrating their hiding never warmed up to him. Alvis would not even complain if someone called him insane about this. Heck, he himself thought he was a psychopath for actually considering it.

Alvis estimated his chance of survival at under ten percent. The moment one of them caught him would be the moment of his death. There was no way for Alvis to survive if they found out his true identity. Alvis already assumed it would take him several respawns until he could get to his goal.

His goal of finding out how Lia would die.

This was his sole mission. Nothing more, nothing less. Only if he knew what happened to her, he could save her. It was the missing piece for him to complete his level.

I have to do it!

Alvis placed his hand on his chest, trying to calm down his racing heart. Deep breaths in and out helped him to relax a bit. His body was still trembling, yet his mind was ready. He had gathered the last bit of resolve he needed for executing this suicidal plan. Alvis remembered the time when he had to face the assassin even though he knew he would die. It was after the police had betrayed him and his death was inevitable. This situation now was similar.

Alvis knew it was likelier he would die than survive, but knowing that also lifted a weight off of him. He did not have to succeed in one try. Alvis could respawn, so he figured he should use this ability to its fullest. It was decisions like these that showcased his broken mentality. For him, his death was a means to an end.

After activating his mind protector spell, Alvis stepped out of his hiding. He had matched his outfit to that of the other assassins, wearing full red to blend in. With a hood, he also hid his white hair, which else would be too noticeable.

He was ready.

With a concealed aura and an inconspicuous outfit, he entered the hiding from the main entrance. From the outside, their hiding looked like a warehouse, yet Alvis had already found out that it was just a decoy. Their real hiding was actually underground. One could only enter it by entering the warehouse first.

In the last two days in which Alvis observed the hiding, he noticed that there were no guards and the assassins just entered. Alvis had found out that they had a protective system that would notify them if any intruder entered. But this was where Alvis’ new spell came in handy. His spell allowed him to fully conceal his presence. By that, the protective system would not notice him. This was why he could just enter.

However, Alvis knew their protective system was more for show than actually for protection. From whom should they even protect themselves? Within their hiding were hundreds of trained assassins. No one with a sane mind would dare to attack them.

As soon as Alvis entered, every fiber of his ordered him to get out. He could only take one step in before his body rebelled. The malice within this warehouse was so strong, Alvis’ survival instinct could not allow him to go any further.

Yet he did anyway!

Suppressing all of his fears and ignoring his body’s warning cries, Alvis stepped further into the warehouse. It was dark and he could barely see. An odd smell lay in the air, which led Alvis to grimace. He could hear voices, yet nobody was to be seen. However, Alvis knew he would have to go downstairs if he wanted to enter the real hiding.

Next to him were stairs, which could only lead him downstairs. Alvis’ body still resisted, but he closed off everything and went on his way. With every step he took, he descended closer to death. Alvis had to constantly remind himself about the fact he could respawn, or else he would not be able to move his body. When he then arrived at the end, dazzling light greeted him.

The only thing that met Alvis’ eyes upon arriving underground was a panorama of people clad in red. A second later, enormous killing intent weighed down on him. Alvis almost lost composure, as the pressure in the atmosphere was just too much for him to handle. The baffling part was the killing intent was not even directed at him and was just the result of so many murderers gathering.

T-This is insane!

Alvis tried his best to calm down his staggering breathing. If they would notice his fear, his journey would already end right there. Only because of his mind protector spell, he did not stand out.

It took him a few more seconds before he was brave enough to mix with the crowd. The surrounding people were from various races and every single one of them looked way stronger than him. He saw beast men, elves, dwarfs, vampires, demons, and even a few giants. One look at their faces was enough to see how many people they have killed.

Those assassins were casually hanging out, talking about everyday life. Though their everyday life consisted of killing people.

Alvis walked through the enormous hall as inconspicuous as humanly possible. He looked around, wanting to observe as much as possible. It was by doing that a huge hologram caught his attention. It was near the end of the hall and Alvis could see most of the assassins were there. Though Alvis did not dare to go further in that direction and just looked at it from afar.

What Alvis then saw made him take a step back, fear rippling up his back. The huge hologram displayed a multitude of missions. Missions for the assassins to complete. Every name had a picture attached to it, together with a price. One did not have to be a genius to figure out what that meant.

These were missions to kill people!

A shiver ran down his spine even though he knew they were assassins, and this was their job. However, seeing the people who they had to kill was a shocking experience. It felt like reality was hitting him in the face.

Yet Alvis could not let his fear show, or else someone would notice him.

“I have never smelled someone like you before.”

Alvis’ heart dropped as cold sweat formed on his forehead the moment he heard someone whisper in his ear. Alvis immediately turned around, facing the person who had just spoken to him. What he then saw was a werewolf with red eyes leaning his face into Alvis’. His insane glare made Alvis take a few steps back.

“I don’t know you. Who are you?”

Alvis’ body still had not caught up to the situation, yet Alvis’ brain had already adapted. He forced his body to obey and tried his best not to seem suspicious.

“I am new here,” Alvis said, trying his best to hide the waver in his voice.

The werewolf just looked at him while Alvis played it cool. Alvis did not know if he believed him, but saying he was new was his best choice.

“You are lying. Every new person gets introduced to everybody.”

“I-I know. The boss will introduce me later,” Alvis tried to save himself.

“I was lying. There is no introduction! I knew it. You are an intruder!”

Fuck!

Alvis got outplayed. He totally fell into his trap. There was no way out for him now.

The werewolf raised his killing intent while clenching his fist so he could kill Alvis. Alvis knew he had no chance against him and would not even try fighting back. Even if he somehow managed to defeat him, there were still all the other assassins left.

Alvis knew he would die now and mentally prepared for the respawn.

Yet before the werewolf could kill him, an enormous explosion near the entrance could be heard. The werewolf and everyone else just looked at the source; their eyes widened. And it was this Alvis used to run away.

“Hey, stop right now!” the werewolf shouted, yet because of more explosions that erupted, he could not afford to follow Alvis.

Using the chaos which broke out, Alvis blended in again, escaping from the werewolf. He somehow made it.

Only after making sure the werewolf did not follow him could Alvis let out a sigh of relief. He did not know what caused the explosion, but this saved him. Everyone was in a tumult, running to the source of the explosion. Alvis, who did not know what was going on, could only assume they were under attack.

But who in their sane mind would attack an entire assassin organization?

Alvis wondered that, though when he looked at the entrance to where the explosions came from, he saw a familiar person.

It was Lia.

Lia, the girl he had to save, was slaying down multiple professional assassins as if it were nothing. Alvis rubbed his eyes to make sure he was not dreaming, but the sight did not change. One assassin after the other, she took down without them even being able to land a hit on her.

Alvis’ brain tried its best to process what he saw, though it could not. Alvis knew Lia was strong, yet he did not know she was that strong! No matter how many assassins attacked her, she easily defeated them. With her ability to hypnotize people, no one could attack her, which led to her having an easy fight. However, there were a few who could resist her magic, but those people she killed using master-rank magic.

Even Alvis, with his human brain, could not yet cast master-rank spells, yet Lia did it as if they were basic spells. Massive roots erupting from the ground devoured everyone who got near her. Plants and root creation were a type of magic elves specialized in, so seeing how Lia cast them was not something that surprised Alvis. But what surprised him was the efficiency and power with which she did it. Not only did she use unique vampire magic, but also supreme plant magic.

It was after seeing this that Alvis realized it.

Lia is a genius.

As a half-vampire and half-elf, her potential was limitless. And seeing how she fought, she knew that damn well.

Lia advanced, killing everybody that got in her way. Alvis could not explain how the lovely Lia could do something like that, yet he knew he would soon find that out. But before she would accidentally kill him too, Alvis ran to the side of the hall and played dead. With his spell that hid his presence, this was a simple task.

From there on, he just observed Lia. To his surprise, Lia got hit and injured several times. Though this was only to be expected if one fought against the entire Assassin Organization. However, Lia simply regenerated, her vampire genes taking over. So in the end, she was unscathed.

She is literally a hack.

Lia was now at the end of the hall, behind her a mountain of corpses. The few people who were still alive did not dare to attack her. They would just let her enter the massive door in front of her. Alvis did not know where the door led, yet he could guess.

It had to be the boss’ room!

Alvis stood up carefully, sneaking around to get closer to Lia. He saw how she took a deep breath in and out before she opened the door. To his luck, the door stayed open so Alvis could see everything.

Sitting on a throne made of gold was a beast man wearing all red. He was so big Alvis almost thought he was a giant, yet his lion features gave away that he was a lion beast man. Like a king, he sat there, his aura not even comparable to that of the others. His presence alone would be enough to knock out people. Alvis understood that this was not someone he could mess with. This was the leader of the Assassin Organization.

And standing before that person was Lia.

“Lia, what brings you here today?” the boss said, his voice making Alvis shiver.

“Don’t act like you don’t know! I am here to end everything! I will end this organization and wipe out the evil you cause by killing you!”

This was the last thing Alvis would have expected. He could not believe Lia just said that.

“Zehaha, I see. So this is your thanks after I took you in and cared for you when you were all on your own.”

Lia’s lips quivered as her face turned downwards for a second. Yet she clenched her fist and spoke up again.

“I can’t be egoistic any longer. Long enough have I ignored the evil you have caused. But this will change now!”

“Ha, you can’t kill me.”

Lia let out a battle cry and an explosive wind arrow flew straight at the boss. However, he did not move and got hit. Blood poured out his shoulder, yet he kept sitting on his throne, a smile on his face. Alvis did not know if he was insane, but the boss did not seem to defend himself.

Lia got a chance!

Lia, who also noticed that, created an even bigger wind arrow. A wind arrow as big as a small house hovered over her and all she had to do was send it flying. But she hesitated.

And it was this hesitation the boss used to attack her.

In the blink of an eye, the boss stood before her. With his mighty lion claws, he impaled her only, using one finger, aiming straight for her heart. Lia could not do anything to avoid the attack.

“I knew you can’t kill me.”

Alvis could not understand why Lia had hesitated, but before he could think about it, he respawned.

[YOU FAILED!]