Chapter 506: An Assassin Among Tents

Luke watched from the brush as he moved uphill with Franky tucked under one arm. Someone stood at the top of the stone staircase.

When he reached the ridge, the view opened. The temple grounds were no longer empty. A full encampment had been raised around it: rows of tents, makeshift barricades, banners swaying in the stagnant air.

But they weren’t the banners of Lagras. Each flag bore a crimson finger.

So the base had been taken.

If Cassandra, Peter, and the rest of the military had withdrawn with the villagers, then there was no one left to hold this place. No one to stop the other factions from moving in and claiming it for themselves. And claiming this site was more than symbolic. Controlling it meant denying everyone else a fortress, a fallback point, a foothold.

At the same time, one question refused to leave his mind. Just how many people did Miles have under his command to spread forces like this?

“Snake,” he whispered, keeping his voice low. “I need what’s inside that temple, and whatever information I can scrape from this place. So stay quiet and don’t move.”

***

After scouting the grounds and counting the sentries, Luke had his number. Forty people were stationed outside, guarding the temple.

He stepped out of the brush and crossed the courtyard with two throwing knives in hand, lazily tossing them upward and catching them again as if he were simply passing the time.

“Good evening,” Luke said.

“Evening,” the man replied.

“Cold night.”

“Yeah. This place is always like that.”

They stood there beneath the star-filled sky. The man puffed on a pipe and tilted it toward Luke. “Want some?”

“No. Thanks.”

Luke lifted one of the knives so the man could see it.

“Nice weapon. You make that yourself?”

“I think so,” Luke murmured. “So, any sign of intruders?”

“Intruders? Unless the Lagras army shows up, nobody’s dumb enough to come here,” the man laughed. “Relax. I’m watching the area.”

“Good,” Luke said, giving his shoulder a friendly pat. “I’ll head to my post.”

He walked away, turned… and flicked the knife.

[You have slain a human…]
[+1 Soul Fragment]

“I kind of wanted to see how long you’d drag that out with nothing but small talk,” Artemis muttered.

“Honestly? I’m surprised it worked this far,” Luke replied.

He kept whistling as he strolled across the courtyard. The moment he spotted another man walking past a wall, he sent a second blade spinning.

[You have slain a human…]
[+1 Soul Fragment]

Luke vaulted onto the roof of a nearby structure, gaining a full view of the camp. He drew another knife and threw it, activating [Telekinetic Impulse] mid-flight.

[You have slain a human…]
[+1 Soul Fragment]

Then another.

[You have slain a human…]
[+1 Soul Fragment]

Bodies began dropping, one after another, silent and sudden, like shadows tearing loose from the night.

He leapt down, landing beside the temple entrance. Someone stepped through the doorway just in time for a knife to bury itself in his throat.

[You have slain a human…]
[+1 Soul Fragment]

Near a bonfire, three men were eating and laughing. Luke’s knife struck the first one in the skull, dropping him face-first into the flames.

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“What the hell—?!”

A second blade lodged itself in the next man’s throat. The third barely had time to gasp before a knife punched into his eye, his hands scrambling uselessly at the hilt.

[Telekinetic Impulse activated]

The final throw tore through his skull like a sniper shot.

Luke kept walking, still whistling.

“What’s all that noise?” someone muttered, stepping out of a tent.

Two knives hit him before he could finish the sentence.

Luke entered the temple interior and found three men working at a forge. He threw a knife into the first before they even realized he was there.

[You have slain a human…]
[+1 Soul Fragment]

“Attack!” one of the others shouted, hurling a hatchet across the room.

Luke slipped behind a pillar as it shattered against the stone. He leaned out, throwing blade after blade while the two survivors dove behind cover.

He smiled, lifted a hand.

[Telekinetic Pull activated]

Five knives whipped backward through the air and punched straight into the man’s back, slamming him to the floor.

[You have slain a human…]
[+1 Soul Fragment]

“Damn it, Phil!” the last one yelled, crouched behind a worktable. “Come any closer and I swear I’ll blow us both to—”

Luke sighed and tossed another knife.

[Telekinetic Impulse activated]

The blade tore through the table. Blood pooled beneath it a heartbeat later.