The Assassin's Seven Principles of Manipulation

Chapter 249: Chapter 245 — Paths

Zephyrion frowned as he walked through the silent, deserted canyon.

After deep deliberation, with the overwhelming reason being that they had no other choice, they had taken this route. Yet several minutes had passed in silence, and they hadn’t seen a single living being.

Yet all Zephyrion could see were problems.

The top was open and curved, making it impossible to see anything above the canyon from below. The path ahead was utterly exposed, and so was the one behind them. There wasn’t a single obstacle to take cover behind.

They were practically walking targets.

Zephyrion’s mind couldn’t help but play out how easy it would be to wipe out these cadets if he wanted. Flattening them beneath a boulder from above. Bombs here and there. Tearing through their ranks while slitting throats.

It would be so easy.

Unfortunately, that particular mental exercise proved detrimental, making him increasingly tense. The pressure rolling off him spread through the cadets like ripples across a pond. Whispers died away. Every gaze sharpened. Their steps unconsciously slowed until their advance became little more than a cautious march.

His companions were scattered throughout the army, with only Lumi remaining by his side. Even she seemed colder than usual, her chubby cheeks puffed out in a tiny pout.

’I should stop.’

These intrusive thoughts would only make him spiral. An ambush was coming. That much he knew for certain. The important thing was figuring out where it’d come from. Above. Below. Ahead. Behind.

Several minutes slipped by in the blink of an eye, and the expected ambush came. However, it came from the last place Zephyrion had considered, a passing thought, really.

The walls.

It all happened so fast.

Cracks raced across the canyon walls around them before they exploded outward, hurling a rain of debris onto the cadets.

"Shields."

Zephyrion’s voice remained calm, his eyes narrowed, every sense on high alert.

The outer cadets reacted instantly, metal shields forming around the army and intercepting the barrage.

Yet it was far from over.

Beyond the jagged openings in the walls, crimson eyes slowly blinked open, glowing like blood-red stars in the darkness. Then came the snarls, followed by the unsettling crackle of laughter.

"No way..."

Several cadets immediately gulped. Crimson eyes. Laughter. There wasn’t a Ferran child who hadn’t grown up hearing their stories.

’Pickers.’

The laughter grew louder, echoing from every direction until it reverberated throughout the canyon.

Then they poured from the openings in a relentless wave.

AMBUSH!"

"Holy shit! Pickers! Fuck! Fuck!"

"Protect your damn balls!"

The cadets panicked the moment the beasts came into view. They were wolf-like, though smaller, with heavily muscled limbs, vicious dark claws, gleaming fangs, and pointed teeth slick with slobber. But their most distinct feature was the unnatural number of eyes littering their bodies, each one yellow, murky, and bloodshot.

"Focus! Remember the plan. Into formation!" Zephyrion ordered immediately.

The cadets snapped out of their panic and sprang into action. The army split into several groups of thirty in an instant, each led by one of his companions, the city lord descendants, or a capable Tier One.

Within each group, the outer cadets completely encased the others in metal shields, bracing for impact.

"Brace!"

The pickers crashed into them like a tide, forcing the formations back several steps. Without pause, they threw themselves against the shields again and again, trying to break through, their laughter crackling all the while.

"Now!"

Zephyrion’s order rang out.

The next moment, metal spears shot out from within the shields, punching through the pickers. Blue blood burst into the air as the beasts collapsed limp to the ground.

"It’s working!"

"We’re actually killing them!"

The cadets stared in stunned excitement as the plan unfolded exactly as intended.

Don’t celebrate yet! Stay alert!"

Zephyrion gave a small nod as the earlier grins faded into determined expressions.

’Alright then. Now let’s end this.’

He turned his attention forward. A wave of pickers had already reached him, their fangs lunging toward his eyes.

The world seemed to slow as a blade formed in his grip.

With the cadets now actively holding their own, he’d done his job as their leader, at least by this test’s standards.

Now there was no need to hold back.

Time resumed.

The pickers’ attacks met nothing but empty air, Zephyrion already standing behind them. Thin lines traced across their bodies before they split apart into pieces.

Another wave surged in from the right, and a blur flashed past him. Streaks of silver filled the air as Lumi danced through their ranks, eviscerating them with frightening precision.

She turned toward him and gave a serious nod.

Zephyrion returned it.

The next moment, he vanished.

He tore through the picker wave like a reaper, his blade dancing through the air. Heads, limbs, bodies, everything was severed in an instant.

"He’s insane!"

"How the hell is he that fast?!"

The cadets gawked at Zephyrion’s display of strength, unable to believe their eyes. Even the elites of the group, Kaelion, Nedra, Draven, and several others carving through the picker ranks, paled in comparison. None of them could help but stare at Zephyrion, each wearing a different expression.

"The Prime’s carrying us!"

"Then quit staring and keep up!"

Their expressions hardened with even greater resolve, and they immediately attacked with renewed fervor.

Moving through the carnage, Zephyrion gave himself an inward nod.

Everything was going well, even better than he’d hoped. At this rate, the picker army would be wiped out and the ambush brought to an end. Then they could continue their journey.

Of course, not before settling... that.

’It’s over.’

If he had known what was about to happen, he wouldn’t have thought it.

Suddenly, the sound of battle was drowned out by crackling laughter.

A flicker of apprehension crossed his mind.

He snapped toward the rear, frowning at the wave of pickers surging in from behind, clearly hoping to catch them off guard. Zephyrion could only assume they’d emerged from some hidden opening in the canyon, but none of that mattered now.

"From behind!"

One of the cadets spotted them, and several immediately panicked. However, Zephyrion had already accounted for something like this.

"We got it!"

Kaiden declared, rushing forward with twenty-nine other cadets.

A moment later, they clashed with the wave, and several pickers fell in rapid succession. While the other twenty-nine maintained their formation, Kaiden took the front line, tearing through their ranks with his broadsword, teeth gritted, his expression complicated.

Though his behavior was something to keep an eye on, the problem had been taken care of. Zephyrion released an inward sigh, about to turn back to his own fight, when the crackle of laughter came from above.

Zephyrion’s eyes snapped upward.

Above, wave after wave of pickers leapt from the open top toward Kaiden and the others, their crazed eyes fixed on the group.

"Above!"

The cadets reacted instantly, raising their shields overhead, barely managing to withstand the impact.

Realizing the situation, Kaiden immediately began making his way back toward the group, but the next instant, cracks raced across the canyon wall above.

The pickers were violently hurling themselves from the curved top, weakening it with every impact. The cracks spread farther and farther. Then a large section broke away, triggering even more of the wall to collapse in an avalanche of stone.

Zephyrion’s eyes narrowed as it crashed into the space between Kaiden’s group and the other cadets, separating them entirely.

...

"Shit!" Kaiden cursed as their path was cut off.

The next moment, several pickers lunged at him.

Clicking his tongue, he swept his broadsword in a wide arc, slicing them apart before hastily retreating toward the other cadets, who were already panicking.

"Oh fuck! We’re trapped!"

"What do we do?!"

"There’re too many of them!"

It wasn’t long before several began trembling in fear. They didn’t seem to care that Kaiden was there with them. If it were Zephyrion... it would be different. He knew that.

Kaiden gritted his teeth.

"Are you all iron heads seriously giving up already?!"

"T-then what do we do...?"

Kaiden fell silent, but his blade never stopped moving. Fighting would’ve been his first answer, yet the wave was too much. They were coming from above, behind, and ahead. They wouldn’t last.

Kaiden gripped his broadsword tighter as he suddenly remembered that night. Zephyrion had effortlessly dispatched the three cadets while he’d ended up getting beaten bloody. He remembered those calm purple eyes. Everything.

Kaiden slowly frowned.

’What would he do?’

Zephyrion would think of another way. Fighting the beasts head-on would only end in defeat, so he would never do something so reckless.

’Then...’

Kaiden’s gaze darted around before stopping on the dark caves the pickers had emerged from.

"That’s it! There! Move! We’ll break through to those caves!"

The cadets instantly paled.

"But that’s... that’s..."

"Or you can stay here and let them gouge your eyes out. Your choice."

"..."

That did the trick.

Moments later, they fought their way through the wave and rushed into the caves. The pickers followed close behind, but with only a single passage, they were able to hold them back.

They pushed deeper and deeper into the cave, weaving through branching tunnels in an attempt to avoid being attacked from both sides.

However, it proved futile.

It happened in less than a minute. The crackle of laughter echoed through the darkness. Kaiden immediately felt the cadets tense, several beginning to tremble.

Without a word, they slipped into another tunnel, hiding in silence as the laughing pickers passed by.

A moment later, Kaiden rose to move. Then he froze again. The laughter had returned, and this time, it didn’t move, lingering nearby.

It didn’t take a genius to realize the pickers were waiting.

Kaiden silently clenched his fists.

’We have to fight.’

But they were in utter darkness, unable to see, while the pickers could both see and smell in the dark.

A tremendous disadvantage.

Yet the image of Zephyrion’s purple eyes soon surfaced in his mind.

’What would he do?’