"What are you-" the woman beside John yelled out frantically, but her words were too late.
The mysterious person holding the dagger arrived behind John like a ghost, the dagger piercing forward with lethal intent.
John spun around instantly, a wave of anger rushing through him. He roared with power as his right hand punched sideways, slamming into the outstretched arm of the mysterious assassin before the dagger could reach him. A sickening crunch sounded out as his punch broke the assassin's arm, blood flying outwards as bone broke through skin.
A cry of pain filled the chamber, which shook violently a moment later as John rushed forward, grasped the assassin by the neck, and slammed him into the wall of the chamber. The chamber wall cracked, and a pained gasp escaped the assassin's mouths as John's hand nearly crushed his neck.
Had he not held back, it would have no doubt done so.
John stared at the assassin in his grasp. The assassin was shrouded in the same robes as the others, and had their hood up, obscuring their face. Based on the build and the cries of pain, John determined that it was a male. A quick scan with his divine sense revealed the man's cultivation to be at the Late Dao Transformation Realm.
After inspecting the man for a moment, John's divine sense flooded the chamber, making sure he kept track of each and every cultivator within. None of them had moved an inch since the attack came towards him, and he could see expressions of shock and surprise on each of their faces. Either they were surprised the stealth attack had happened, or that he had managed to detect it and stop it in time.
Still holding the neck of the assassin, John turned around and held the man by his neck, feet lifted off the ground, so that the struggling man was between him and the others. His fingers dug into the skin of the man, threatening to crush his neck with a single squeeze.
"What's the meaning of this?" John asked, his gaze snapping to the woman who had led him here.
"I did not order him to do this," the woman said, "this was not a trap. He acted on his own volition."
"Is that so?" John said, looking at the others.
"Let him go, and we can ask him why he attacked you," the woman said, gesturing to the one in John's grip. "He will be punished accordingly based on his answer."
John's gaze shifted from the woman to the man in his grip, and his arm flung outwards, sending the man crashing towards the woman. The woman's Qi flared to stop the man's fast approach, allowing him to come to a gentle stop before he crashed into her.
A gasp of pain escaped the shrouded man's mouth as he was finally free of John's grip, falling to his knees. John kept his guard raised as he watched the woman walk up to the man, ready to take action at a moment's notice if it was needed.
His narrowed gaze quickly became replaced with wide-eyed surprise as he saw the woman unleash a powerful barrage of kicks on the man, toppling him over onto the ground. Each kick was quite powerful, and shook the chamber with each kick. The others looked on with unsurprised expressions, as if they had expected such a reaction from the woman, although their gazes were slightly apologetic for the man being assaulted.
"Why…the…fuck…did…you…do…that?" the woman said angrily, a kick raining down on the man between each word. Each kick was followed with a cry of pain from the man, who curled up in a ball to protect himself.
"I'm sorry!" the man yelled out between kicks, which continued for quite some time before the woman eventually stopped, leaving the man in a much worse condition than John had left him in.
She took a step back from the crumpled man.
"Explain yourself," she barked at him.
The man groaned in pain, as if he hadn't heard her. The woman huffed with displeasure and took a step forward, her foot rising for another kick.
"I'll explain myself," the injured man hastily said, climbing to his knees. The speed and shakiness at which he did so revealed his injuries to be quite extensive, and blood was soaked into his black robes, giving the fabric a glistening sheen in the red light.
The man kneeled before her, and the woman flung back his hood, revealing his features. The man appeared to be in his early twenties, or perhaps mid-twenties. He had short blonde hair, and a rather average face, or as best as John could tell with the blood and injuries covering it.
He looked up at the woman with a pleading expression.
"I…I just wanted to make sure you weren't being tricked somehow," the man said.
"You attacking him accomplishes that how?" the woman asked furiously, lurching forward as if to attack him out of anger.
"I just couldn't believe he found this place on his own," the man hastily stammered before he was attacked again. "So I decided to attack him when he was distracted. If he truly has such abilities, he would have detected me in time. If he couldn't, then he was obviously lying, and is a spy."
The room fell silent for a short moment before the woman suddenly kicked out, the heel of her foot slamming into the man's face.
"So, you think you have better judgment than me?" she yelled as the man flew across the room, slamming into the far wall with a sickening crunch.
"No…of course not," he stammered through the pain, "I was wrong. Please forgive me."
"How do you want to deal with him," the woman asked, turning to John.
"You want me to decide?" John asked, surprised. Based on what had happened, it was clear the man had truly worked alone, and that the woman really was furious at him for his actions.
"Yes," the woman confirmed. "You may do what you want, although I would ask you to spare him. Shadow seven is an idiot, but a good man. He did this thinking he was helping the guild."
John shifted his gaze to the beaten and broken man, who trembled in pain on the ground. He shrugged.
"It seems like you've given him punishment already," John said, his voice causing the woman and the others to sigh in relief.
"But," John added, his gaze narrowing and aura growing cold. "If any of you do something like this again, I'll kill you without mercy."
The woman nodded her head.
"Fair. Now follow me," she said, walking across the chamber. John did so, the eyes of the others glued to him as if he were an exotic beast, or a dangerous predator. John entered another room, the door closing a moment later.
The room was quite large, and was furnished with everything a person would need to live in, from a bed, to furniture, to a meditation chamber. The woman sat on one of the couches in the middle of the room, and gestured for John to sit.
He did so, and his eyes went wide with surprise as the woman pushed her hood back, revealing her face. The woman had long black hair, tied in a ponytail, that fell down to the middle of her waist. Her black hair suddenly started shifting colors, and soon became blonde, which appeared to be her natural hair color.
Shock washed through John as he stared at her face, one that was strikingly familiar to another girl he had recently met.
Her bright-green eyes stared at John's surprised expression, her expression growing serious.
"What happened to my father? What happened to my siblings?"
John didn't even need to ask who she was talking about, as the woman before him appeared almost exactly like a slightly older version of Suri.
'She…she's Furi's daughter?!'
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