The Soul Shackle still had four seconds left on its duration. There was no way Nightshade Vale would allow Kaito to slip free from the trap he had spent a fortune to set. His body blurred forward, twin daggers poised with surgical precision, aiming straight for Kaito's vital points.
But just as the blades were about to pierce flesh—Kaito's form flickered and dissolved into nothingness. The Veil of Echoes had activated, casting him into a state of complete void.
"Crap!"
Rage and disbelief twisted Nightshade Vale's face. His prey had vanished right in front of him.
He swept his gaze across the forest, scanning for the faintest distortion, a flicker of light—anything that could betray Kaito's invisible state. His eyes dropped to the ground, searching for the telltale scuff of a boot or the sway of disturbed grass.
Nothing.
The Assassin's jaw tightened. Kaito couldn't use any of his learned skills under the Soul Shackle, and yet he still had a seemingly endless arsenal of ways to evade.
"Causing me so much trouble… you should be proud of yourself," Nightshade Vale sneered, a glint of malice in his eyes. In one swift motion, he pulled a pouch from his belt and tossed a handful of Flash Powder into the air.
He had come prepared—after all, Kaito had vanished on him once before, and he wasn't about to let it happen again.
The air shimmered as the powder dispersed, revealing Kaito's form just twenty-five yards ahead.
Without hesitation, Nightshade Vale's body blurred forward. His figure flickered—and in the blink of an eye, he appeared directly behind Kaito.
Shadow Steps.
Kaito's eyes narrowed in surprise. He hadn't expected Nightshade Vale to have learned such a high-tier Assassin skill.
Shadow Steps allowed an Assassin to instantly appear behind a target, and the next strike would deal an additional 15% damage. A deadly combination in the hands of an expert.
But Kaito's situation was grim. He still couldn't move, and his learned skills were sealed. The only option left was to grit his teeth and bring his sword up in a defensive stance.
The parry skill embedded in his weapon would absorb 60% of the incoming damage—barely enough to keep him alive, but at least it would buy him a few precious seconds.
When Nightshade Vale saw Kaito deflect his attack with a well-timed sword block, he froze for half a heartbeat. The precision… the timing… it was as if Kaito's instincts and skill execution were layered one after another without a single gap. It didn't make sense.
But surprise wasn't enough to dull his killing intent. His eyes sharpened. The blade in his hand danced, and in the next instant, a fierce gale of dagger strikes descended on Kaito—rapid normal attacks seamlessly chained into Assassinate, Backstab, and other lethal skills.
Peng!
Kaito's sword shuddered under the relentless pressure and was finally knocked aside. His HP plummeted, barely holding at under 500 points.
"Die!" Nightshade Vale's voice brimmed with excitement as he sensed the kill. Without hesitation, he dumped all five of his saved skill points into his finishing skill—Eviscerate. Every ounce of power surged into the dagger as it arced toward Kaito's exposed back.
Then—
A plume of silver flame erupted in Kaito's palm.
Nightshade Vale's eyes widened in disbelief. The small, flickering flame radiated heat so intense that the moisture in his mouth vanished instantly. Even so, with his strike already committed, retreat was impossible.
In the next heartbeat, the Whisper Flame spread over Kaito's entire body, cloaking him in a blazing mantle of silver fire. The assassin's ice-cold dagger bit into Kaito's back—only for his eyes to go wide again.
"You… can move already?" Nightshade Vale's voice trembled.
As a top-tier expert, his timing was absolute; at most, his error margin was 0.1 seconds. There was no way the six-second duration of Soul Shackle had passed—yet Kaito had still managed to raise his sword and intercept the lethal Eviscerate.
Even though some HP was lost from the blow, Kaito still stood, very much alive.
"Didn't you enjoy beating me up just now?" Kaito's lips curled into a cold smile. "It's my turn now."
Earlier, when Kaito had finished forging in South Glade, he'd intended to store the Whisper Flame back in his bank vault for safety. But in the rush to head toward the Black Market, he had overlooked it, leaving the flickering silver ember tucked securely in his inventory. It wasn't until now—cornered and seconds from death—that he realized that forgetfulness might have been a blessing in disguise.
Wielding the Solstice Blade, now sheathed in a thin, shimmering layer of silver flame, Kaito swung with a clean, decisive motion. The moment he activated Cut, the blade blazed into a streak of light, cutting through the air toward Nightshade Vale.
"You've got less than 500 HP left—do you really think you can beat me?" Nightshade Vale sneered, meeting the strike head-on.
The instant their weapons collided, his mocking expression faltered. A jolt shot up his arm, numbing it completely, and he was forced to retreat several steps before regaining his footing. What the hell…? How can his strength be this high?
The last time they had crossed blades, Kaito's raw power hadn't been anywhere near this level. But now, after upgrading most of his gear and boosting his attributes, the gap between them had only widened—so much so that Nightshade Vale realized he couldn't hope to win a head-on fight. Killing Kaito now would require patience and another perfect opening.
Kaito didn't give him that chance. Without hesitation, he uncorked a Minor Regeneration Potion and downed it in one gulp. His HP bar surged upward, recovering over 700 points in seconds.
"Nightshade Vale, it seems you're only this much," Kaito said coolly. "Two ambushes, and you still failed to kill me. Now… it's my turn. Don't even think of escaping."
His calm tone contrasted sharply with the killing intent radiating from Nightshade Vale. After learning from Kia in the real world that this man was none other than Damon Kray, a notorious assassin outside the game, Kaito had accepted the reality—taking revenge in the real world wasn't possible. But here, in Glory, the rules were different. If fate handed him another encounter, he would settle the score in-game.
He had to admit, Nightshade Vale's assassination skills were formidable. To shadow him all the way here without being noticed, and to time the ambush for the exact moment his guard dropped—that was impressive. Without the Whisper Flame, it might have been the end.
But Nightshade Vale didn't know that the Whisper Flame had reinforced Kaito's body, slightly reducing the Soul Shackle's duration. That single effect had saved his life. Even Kaito himself hadn't expected it, and now, with the Whisper Flame's aid, every attack carried an additional 20% damage boost—a frightening advantage that he intended to use to its fullest.
"What a joke. You only survived this time because of luck," Nightshade Vale spat coldly. "Next time we meet, I will kill you. As for keeping me here—you failed last time, and you'll fail again."
Kaito's expression didn't change, but the words fanned the assassin's fury. To him, Kaito's calm confidence was nothing short of arrogance. He dares to say he can kill me? Rage burned hotter in Nightshade Vale's chest, and he silently vowed to craft a perfect plan to utterly destroy Kaito when they crossed paths again.
"And you have quite a mouth," he sneered, his face darkening. "I'd like to see you try to block my escape."
"We'll know once we try." Kaito's calm smile didn't waver.
In the next instant, his figure blurred—Wind veil Steps and Mana Steps activated simultaneously. His speed, already formidable, now reached another level entirely. This was his first real battle since becoming a Rank 1 Martial Artist, and the boost to his perception and control was immediately apparent. His movements were sharper, more precise; every shift of balance and twist of his blade flowed like instinct.
He closed the distance in a blink, six sword images flashing into existence as the Solstice Blade stabbed toward Nightshade Vale's vital points.
So fast! The assassin's eyes widened in shock, his daggers coming up just in time to deflect the first strikes. But with the added strength and burning force of the Whisper Flame, each blow carried a weight and heat that pressed him back.
Within moments, Nightshade Vale found himself on the defensive, retreating under the relentless assault. His blocks and sidesteps grew more desperate, the distance between them shrinking each time Kaito's blade came down.
After several rapid exchanges without either side activating a skill, Kaito finally slipped one strike through the assassin's guard. Steel bit into flesh, and a damage indicator flared—–312 HP.
Nightshade Vale's breath hitched. One solid hit, and nearly a third of his remaining health was gone.