Zirkon arrived with a sword on his back and approached the man. He took out a cigarette from his pocket.

  “Wait?”

  Zirkon patted his pockets again, as if searching for something.

  “Need a lighter?”

  Ghost pulled a lighter from his pocket and offered it to Zirkon.

  “Ah! Thank you, I really forgot to bring one.”

  After receiving it, Zirkon lit his cigarette and began to smoke.

  “Hah... Work feels really difficult today. It seems I left it at the station.”

  “Escorting the second prince must be difficult, right?” Ghost asked.

  “It is difficult, but by the way, what is a hitman doing here?”

  Zirkon’s face remained calm, as if he was not in danger.

  Ghost’s expression slightly tightened.

  “Isn’t it obvious? To kill the second prince. What else would we be doing?”

  “No. I mean, why are you smoking here instead of going to kill the second prince?”

  Ghost immediately understood what he meant. His eyebrows lifted slightly.

  “So that’s what you mean.”

  “Just like you, work feels really difficult today.”

  “I see, yah.” Zirkon simply smiled when he heard that.

  “How about this, I’ll go back to patrol and you go back to your room.”

  “After all, we don’t have any grudge. What’s the point of killing each other?”

  “Haha, you’re right. Alright, I’ll go back and you’ll go back.” Ghost put out his cigarette and walked away.

  As he turned around, Zirkon also extinguished his cigarette and walked away.

  The two of them walked in opposite directions, heading back to their respective buildings.

  But when the distance between them reached twenty-five steps, they suddenly turned around and shot forward like bullets.

  TING!

  Their sword and knife clashed violently in the middle.

  The impact forced both of them to step back several paces.

  Now they stood facing each other.

  “What a liar,” Ghost said casually.

  “You too,” Zirkon replied.

  “Hehehe, you’re really interesting.”

  “Let me introduce myself. Winter Ghost. My matching five-star identity is No scope.”

  ‘Five stars!’

  Zirkon was startled, realizing the strength of his opponent.

  “Hahaha, in that case I should introduce myself too.”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  He smiled while taking a stance.

  His right leg bent. His left hand held the scabbard, while his right hand gripped the sword. His right elbow pointed straight toward Winter Ghost.

  “Zirkon Iskariot.”

  “My matching two-star identity is—Sword.”

  Immediately Ghost’s neck muscles tensed, and instinctively he dodged.

  ZINNG!

  As fast as light.

  A sword appeared and vanished in an instant.

  A cut mark appeared at the edge of Winter Ghost’s neck.

  Before he could even realize it, the attack had already ended.

  —

  On the 8th floor.

  Quartz encountered a dark-skinned man in the corridor.

  Their shadows were reflected in the window.

  The man held a large machete and wore a white shirt covered in bloodstains.

  His body was huge like a bear, and his gaze was sharp.

  “Aren’t you being a little too obvious?”

  Quartz smiled while staring into his eyes.

  “It doesn’t matter, because you’re going to die too.”

  The man immediately charged!

  But suddenly his body froze in place.

  ‘What’s happening? My body can’t move.’

  Quartz vanished instantly, and the next second the man’s neck was filled with warmth.

  Blood began to pour from his neck.

  Quartz simply walked away, leaving the corpse behind.

  But—

  BUK! BUK!

  Loud explosions echoed, shaking the entire building as the connecting corridor between the buildings suddenly collapsed.

  Quartz immediately peeked out the window to see what was happening below.

  —

  Below.

  Zirkon emerged from the pile of rubble and ran as fast as he could.

  From within the dust, Winter Ghost appeared and immediately rushed toward him.

  TING!

  Once again their knife and sword clashed.

  But this time Zirkon was thrown far forward. His position was unfavorable.

  Winter Ghost prepared to charge again.

  But—

  “Hahaha!”

  Quartz jumped down from the eighth floor.

  Ghost immediately turned to block the attack.

  PRANGGG!

  “What!”

  From inside the hotel’s glass wall, a whip with thousands of blade-like arrows shot toward him.

  BANG!

  Before he could react, a bullet was fired toward him from afar.

  “I’m really unlucky,” Ghost said with a faint smile.

  Behind him, Garnet appeared quickly. At this moment, he was the closest to Winter Ghost.

  But!

  The fastest one was Zirkon!

  A blade shot out from his chest and flew like light.

  As all the attacks approached him, Winter Ghost actually smiled.

  DUG!

  Everyone’s hearts pounded.

  In the blink of an eye, he vanished.

  “Killing the weakest is the most efficient way. But I am Winter Ghost, among them you—”

  “—are the strongest, right?”

  Zirkon felt a touch on his back.

  Winter Ghost had appeared right behind him.

  “Damn...”

  Before he could grow a sword from his back, he was already thrown into the air.

  BUK!

  Zirkon crashed into an office building.

  Glass shattered everywhere and papers scattered through the air.

  The room was filled with papers floating in the air, illuminated only by moonlight.

  In an instant, Winter Ghost appeared again on top of a desk.

  “So you’re hiding behind these papers, huh?”

  Ghost tried to observe through the falling papers, but it was too difficult to see in the darkness.

  “You know, at times like this my junior would say, guess?”

  “The hint is—use your eyes—”

  ZINNG!

  From the darkness, a silver flash appeared as a sword shot forward at the speed of light.

  BUK! BUK!

  Ghost slammed into the pillars of the room.

  But there was no wound or scratch; he managed to block the sword.

  “Very few people can fully maximize the power of their identity. Even I can’t.”

  “You’re truly extraordinary, Zirkon Iskariot. Unfortunately, there is no identity without a weakness.”

  Taking advantage of the dark room and the moonlight, Winter Ghost managed to estimate the direction of Zirkon’s attacks.

  This was the tactic of a professional assassin controlling the battlefield.

  There was a reason he had thrown Zirkon into this building.

  Tuk.

  Realizing the terrain was unfavorable, Zirkon immediately ran.

  TING!

  Once again sword and knife clashed.

  BUK!

  Zirkon was thrown out of the building.

  Without hesitation he tore open the buttons of his uniform and grew dozens of swords from his abdomen.

  With the increase of mass, he fell quickly and landed on an empty truck.

  Tuk!

  He stood upright like a spear, gripping his sword tightly.

  His shirt was torn, revealing his abdominal muscles.

  The wind blew against him, yet he stood firm.

  His eyes turned dark, as if staring into the distant past.

  Zirkon remembered an old memory. A woman with golden hair and dark red eyes sat with him.

  At a glance she looked similar to Quartz, but her expression was much flatter.

  “Losing emotions? I don’t really understand, but if you don’t know what it feels like to be happy, sad, or angry, I can tell you.”

  Zirkon’s thoughts returned. He stared straight toward the moving street.

  “Forgive me, Calcite. I can tell you what happiness, sadness, or anger feel like. But I could never tell you how I feel.”

  He remained silent, as if waiting for something.

  Ting!

  Zirkon’s sword slashed.

  In front of him, Winter Ghost appeared again and blocked the strike with a small knife.

  Ting, ting, ting, ting, ting...

  Their weapons clashed continuously.

  Each time Zirkon’s slash nearly reached Ghost, he deflected it.

  Again and again, without stopping, they clashed as if trapped in a stalemate.

  But slowly the winner began to reveal itself.

  Ting!

  “Tch.”

  Ghost was pushed backward and lost his footing.

  In an instant he vanished again.

  But Zirkon was ready. He crossed his arms and hardened his muscles.

  This time, he was the one determining the battlefield.

  ZINNG!

  When Ghost reappeared from the side, dozens of swords burst from Zirkon’s body and spread in all directions.

  Ghost was forced to jump backward.

  But—

  Beep! Beep!

  A truck came rushing toward him.

  In an instant Ghost vanished again.

  Tuk!

  Without hesitation, Zirkon jumped off the truck.

  He remembered Lyxander’s words about the path, and he could feel his blood boiling as if it were burning.

  “I can see it. I can see it.”

  “The path!”

  The matching three-star identity is Swordmaster.

  He landed immediately, pushed his sword backward, then pulled it out.

  SLASH—

  The skyscraper split into two.

  BRUK—

  Ghost reappeared below the building, and before he realized it his body was crushed by the falling rubble.

  Dust scattered everywhere.

  Behind the dust, a man kneeling on the ground could be seen, his hand supporting himself on his sword as if he could no longer stand.

  It was Zirkon Iskariot.

  ZIRKON ISKARIOT WINS!

  Identity abilities have no usage limit, but they consume stamina.

  Leaning on his sword, Zirkon struggled to stand.

  “I never expected my three-star identity to form at a time like this.”

  Whoosh—

  His neck suddenly felt warm.

  Zirkon looked down and saw a knife that had pierced his neck.

  Buk!

  Behind him, Winter Ghost pulled his knife back.

  He looked at Zirkon’s lifeless body.

  A black liquid flowed out from Zirkon’s body and began moving to seep into his sword.

  Ghost said nothing.

  He simply walked away, leaving Zirkon’s corpse behind.

  Zirkon Iskariot was dead.