After he was done talking to his son, the Mad Doctor walked to all the pools and dipped his fingers inside each before smelling the green liquid.

Each time, he would take out some vials from thin air and dump their contents in the pools, making the people inside bite their lips even harder so that they wouldn't cry out due to the increased pain.

Each of them had been told that their severed organs would be rejuvenated, but they would never have expected that they would also receive the Mad Doctor's 'boon' of having their power upgraded in the process.

They didn't even want that! But none of them had the courage to say so.

So, they suffered, day in and day out, wis.h.i.+ng that they weren't also paralyzed from the neck down so that they could strangle themselves to make it end.

The sensations of pain were all magnified, but they just couldn't move.

Only, asking the Mad Doctor to let them go wasn't an option, as they knew that he hated weak people. Most probably, he would just subject them to more torture before ending their lives.

After finis.h.i.+ng the examination of all the pools, the Mad Doctor returned to the middle of the room and let our a booming laughter.

While all 9 individuals watched, he stretched his arms out and said, "If you feel like giving up, just think of the Warrior Level Fighter Strength you all will have after this is done! Or, just think about bathing in the blood of the King of Lanthanor! Have fun!"

Leaving these words in a weird, cheery voice, the Mad Doctor left, making the moans and screams of pain resume in the chamber.

...

In the Hidden Kill Sect which was usually a quiet place with everyone calmly going about their work, there was now a hustle and bustle which was very uncharacteristic of a.s.sa.s.sins, in general.

Well, it couldn't really be helped, as today was the day when the subst.i.tute sect leader would be chosen to represent the Basilisk Rider who had saved the sect from calamity and also given them a huge victory.

The battle royale would be taking place in the indoor stadium that was usually used for the entertainment of the auxiliary sect members. With more than enough seats to accommodate the whole sect, this was the perfect location for such an event.

The rules were that partic.i.p.ants could not be over 30 years of age, as the Basilisk Rider had said that he wanted someone young who could be groomed.

Power-limiting trinkets would be used, so the contest was all about pure skill.

However, magic was also allowed, as the Hidden Kill Sect was in possession of some very rare mageroot-limiting trinkets that decreased the overall power output of a mage.

In an a.s.sa.s.sination, the idea was that an individual would use everything at their disposal to get the job done. So, it wouldn't be fair if mage a.s.sa.s.sins had the disadvantage of not being able to use their training.

As for the compet.i.tion itself, it wasn't a straight fight, as that would be just dumb.

a.s.sa.s.sins didn't even focus much on head-on engagements. Ideally, a single attack would suffice, so the true skill that differentiated the great a.s.sa.s.sins from the good ones was the ability to make quick judgment calls to take the best route to kill a target.

So, this battle royale was designed to test these crucial skills of the members of the Hidden Kill Sect.

The format was simple: first, all partic.i.p.ants would be placed in an isolated room, so that they would have no chance of finding out what was going on outside.

Then, the ground of the stadium would be remodeled into a certain scenario of a.s.sa.s.sination.

With magic, this was simple.

After that, display trinkets and communication eyes would be set up so that the crowd could clearly see what was going in.

This scenario would be populated with guards and a target, and there might also be certain environmental variables to test the partic.i.p.ant's reaction.

The goal was to kill the target, and the judging would be based on the time taken, number of targets unnecessarily killed and whether the a.s.sa.s.sin was able to get away scot-free.

Such a format was unprecedented, but when one thought about it, it made sense.

Hence, on the day of the tournament, almost the entire sect headed to the stadium and was awed when they saw a 3 story building standing in the ground.

After they were seated, a display trinket popped up in the middle, showing the names of all the partic.i.p.ants.

Many were names that hadn't been heard before, probably because of the reclusive nature of most who chose a.s.sa.s.sination as their life's work. So, the name "Luther" didn't raise many red flags among the crowd.

There were still 10 minutes till the time when all the partic.i.p.ants were supposed to be isolated, and Luther was currently standing in the quarters of the sect leader along with Agmar.

"Sect leader, thank you so much for allowing my son to take part. He deserves to return to the sect, and I can think of no better way for that to happen."

"You've already said that three times, Agmar. Now, leave. I need to talk to Luther alone."

Nodding, the top a.s.sa.s.sin left the room with a smile.

This was actually the first time that Daneel had gotten this man alone. So, after making sure that there was no one listening, he said through the oathstone, "Luther, I am Daneel. The Big 4 mostly know this anyway, so I see no point in disguising myself in front of those whom I trust. Just relax."

Out loud, Luther said, "My Lord, mannerisms. I was already aware of that a few seconds after I walked into this room."

Oh. Yes.

Daneel had forgotten that this was one man whom he couldn't fool with a disguise. Even before, he had been caught in barely a few seconds.

So, putting all pretenses aside, Daneel said, "All right. Luther, I'll be frank. I want you to take control of the sect. I was going to do that directly, but it would raise too much suspicion. So, I set up this tournament. You need to win. Now, I have some plans here to make that happen. What you should do is-"

"My King. That is not necessary. I will win. Please believe in me. I believe that they are calling for us. Permission to leave?"

As Daneel was interrupted in this way, he just smiled and waved his hand, in response to which Luther bowed down low and walked out the door.

Leaning on his desk, Daneel felt glad to see that his commander was so confident.

For a moment, he considered whether to discard the plan to rig the event.

However, he couldn't take any chances.

So, deciding that he would only help if necessary, Daneel walked out of the room with his smile widening.

"System, stand by to a.n.a.lyze all a.s.sa.s.sination methods. Begin the development of the a.s.sa.s.sination technique as soon as you have enough data."

[Acknowledged.]

Of course, as always, there was no way that Daneel would waste this opportunity and not wring this tournament dry for all it was worth.

Also, he was rigging it anyway, so why not earn a few bucks in the process?

"Heyo, top a.s.sa.s.sins. You must have stashed away a lot of wealth, right? It's time to gamble! Your sect leader is accepting all bets!", he sent through the oathstone, chuckling to himself.