Empire of Souls 35 A night to remember 2

The Church of Murder was a religious organization of assassins, cutthroats and a variety of other notorious individuals. They reveled in chaos, destruction, and death. The larger the scale, the better. Their god Cyric was among the most powerful of gods within the God Nexus of worlds and even existed in multiple pantheons. There were quite a few gods like this and they would even sometimes have different names or their names may be spelled differently depending on the pantheon they belonged to.

However, on this particular continent of Erlithan, the Church of Murder was relatively weak and didn't have considerable influence. They had attempted to entrench themselves into the Imperium but because of their chaotic evil nature, it was difficult to grow the church significantly. So in order to obtain power for the god they worshipped, they would often contract themselves out to various powers. The more they killed, the more powerful their god would become because Cyric could siphon part of the Soul Potential in living beings killed by his followers along with the Soul Potential he gained from those who worshipped him.

The only problem was, because of the weak presence of the Church of Murder within Erlithan, they didn't have many powerful individuals at their disposal. As a matter of fact, the highest class being within the Church of Murder on the Erlithan continent was of master class and that particular individual was responsible for defending their main underground church within the Imperium. So even though the assassination mission within Andor's Edge was of utmost importance, they could only afford to send their best advanced class assassin, Lirsan.

"Lirsan, the target is still in the warehouse and does not appear to be leaving any time soon. This is quite strange though, why would he come here and kill the criminals that were protecting him? Something feels off about this."

Lirsan along with his ten subordinates had surrounded the warehouse where they had followed Aleks and Lenia to. They didn't make a move immediately and had spent some time observing the warehouse for any hidden traps or an ambush but found nothing out of the ordinary despite searching wholeheartedly.

"That one Aleksandros is a strange one but what could those two possibly do? That girl beside him was only a Knight and the target doesn't seem to possess much strength at all."

"Do you think he is aware of our presence?"

"That's impossible. We specialize in stealth, how could they possibly detect us? When last I met with them I assessed them, neither of them has power that could oppose us."

Only one of Lirsan's subordinates was currently visible, the others were already well hidden and waiting for the signal to begin the attack. They each wore black assassin outfits which covered their entire bodies and even without any special skills would be difficult to see in the dark. Their ability to stealth only made it even more difficult to be aware of their presence.

"Should we move in then?"

Lirsan observed one last time and considered whether they should wait for the two to come out or move into the warehouse before finally deciding.

"Let's move in, but carefully. If you notice anything out of the ordinary, give the signal to retreat. Have number three and four be the first to attack. They will be a distraction, and then I will make my move. If we can kill the target quickly then we can leave this shithole for good. We don't have much time before that Paladin locates our presence. He is a Nephilim and if close enough will be able to sense our god's mark on our souls. As long as we kill the target quickly, we can escape without any worries. Alright, give the signal."

Lirsan's subordinate lifted up his veil completely covering his face and made a few hand gestures before swiftly moving through the dark towards the warehouse. All of the assassin approached with utmost haste, some entering from windows along the roof of the warehouse while others found different entrances. They were skilled and their movements were swift and silent.
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If their target had been a normal enemy, there would have been no way to detect the assassins but Aleks was observing the entire area with his 'Astral Projection' and had even heard the conversation between Lirsan and his subordinate.

In the limited light, Lenia leaned against one of the half empty crates not far from where Aleks sat. Lirsan found the scene to be rather strange. Weren't they being a little bit too indifferent about their situation? Even if he thought they weren't expecting him to target them, they were still being hunted by the Paladin and his knights. Lirsan began to feel a little hesitant and was considering whether he should call the attack off or not.

'I'm under strict orders to clean up all loose ends but this situation is too strange. No, if we don't take care of this now things will become difficult.'

Lirsan made his decision to attack and made the signal to begin the operation.

Suddenly, two precise swift movements flashed out of the shadows near where Aleks was sitting. Two assassins entirely garbed in black made their move bearing down on Aleks and attempting to cut him down. They both struck, their daggers glistening in the little light that was present and a dark glow abruptly illuminated the surface of the daggers. This was intended to be a fatal strike with deadly accuracy and speed.

However, the two who were expecting to feel their daggers entering the target strangely met no resistance and the two quickly jumped back in surprise once more entering into the shadows of the warehouse. Aleks who was sitting patiently in his seat had a bored expression and appeared almost as if he hadn't even noticed the sudden attack on his life.

Lenia was shocked by the sudden movement and though she hadn't detected the assassins who stealthily attacked, once they made their move she quickly became aware of them. She removed her longsword from her sheathe and rushed towards Aleks's side but remained silent.

"Why hide in the shadows? Can't you see I'm sitting here patiently waiting for you. Come on out, no need to fear someone weak such as me."

Aleks's words were lazily spoken and he motioned towards a darkened corner of the warehouse where Lirsan had been hiding while preparing to make his move. Aleks was looking directly at his hiding spot which sent chills down his back.

'Is he able to see me? How!? That's impossible.'

"I know you're there, no point hiding now."

With those words, Lirsan was now certain that his target could detect him and had probably detected his subordinates when they attacked as well. He couldn't understand how the target had avoided their attack though. He couldn't feel any power emanating from Aleks and he couldn't sense any movement or ability used. The only guesses he could make was that either the assassins missed or Aleks had some special magical item in his possession.

"Hmph.. since you found me out, I suppose there is no need to remain hidden here. Have you accepted your death then?"

Lirsan moved away from his hiding place and entered the very outskirts of the torch light. He was barely visible but both Aleks and Lenia could now make out his shadowy form with the little light that was present.

"I accepted my death long ago. Unfortunately, I'm still alive but now that you are here why not stay a while? I will have Lenia entertain you."

"Hah, that girl? Do you think just because you put a sword in her hand and steel on her body that she poses a threat to me? I am a Shadow assassin, a knight might as well be butter before my knives."

Aleks chuckled while continuing to remain seated. Lenia had moved carefully in front of Aleks and stood in her battle stance with a shield in one hand and her longsword in the other. She had a vicious expression on her face but she was still suppressing her aura in order to fool the enemy. There wasn't much difference between the two in terms of level and both were an advanced class but the assassin was still under the impression that Lenia was just a knight. She was only able to suppress her natural aura because she hadn't yet entered combat with the enemy and they had been too fixated on targeting Aleks.

"Lenia, you haven't yet had an opportunity to test your new strength. Kill him."

"Yes master!" Shouted Lenia before activating her abilities, "Warlord's Aura! Knight's Aura!"

Two powerful aura's blasted outwards from Lenia's body releasing a bit of pressure which shocked Lirsan. He could feel that she had power on par with him and she was not as weak as he initially thought.

"What!? How could this be? She was only a Knight mere days ago!? Dammit, it doesn't matter! Kill them, now!"

Chapter end