Fantasy Assassin in a modern world

Chapter 78 - One By One

The nine martial artists finally found the trail left by John and the others. At first, they were confused as to why they couldn't find any, but as they continued searching they finally found some traces of them. They quickly followed the trail, but as they got deeper into the forest they reached a dead end and lost the trail. 

"They must be somewhere close by hiding. Let's split into three groups to search." One of them suggested and the others agreed. After forming their three groups they split up to search. 

...

Yui Hirohito was part of the nine martial artists who were ordered to escort Milly to the outside base. He thought that such a simple task would be easily handled, but one thing after another happened which led them to their current situation.. 

Hirohito alongside his two companions dashed through the forest. As they have gotten deeper into the forest, Hirohito decided to stop. 

"Hey, this is pointless. So how about we just stop chasing them. Even if we do find them, if the girl is dead then there's no point retrieving her... Why aren't you guys responding?" 

Hirohito turned his head and finally noticed that his two companions were no longer there. He quickly took out his two knives and got into a defensive posture. Hirohito was feeling a tinge of fear creeping into him. He and his companions were close in skill and power, with only slight differences. So knowing that the opponent could take them down like this without making a sound, frightened him. 

Seeing that no attack was coming, Hirohito took this chance and started running, he decided to converge with the other groups. As he retraced his steps he finally found one of his two companions, but this companion of his was on the ground unmoving

He was already expecting this to some extent but seeing it in person was different. Hirohito approached the body and checked it. He looked around and saw no visible wounds, and based on the surrounding area that seem undisturbed his companion was killed without being able to fight back. 

Hirohito felt a chill down his spine, he quickly moved back and raised his weapons near his head. He gathered his inner energy waiting for the invisible opponent to strike. The moment the opponent strikes was the only chance he had to counter. Even though he could not see the enemy, his instincts were telling him that the enemy was there looking at him. 

He closed his eyes, and listened to his surroundings, after a while, he heard a whistling sound coming towards him. He quickly slashed towards the sound and he felt something hitting his blades. He had thought that he had successfully blocked the attack, but then he felt something piercing through his chest. He desperately tried to use his inner energy to strengthen that area, but it was too late, the object had pierced fully into his ribs and hit his heart. He then felt something bursting out of the unknown object destroying him from the inside. He opened his eyes and he saw nothing in his chest. He could not understand what weapon had killed him. 

As he was dying, he finally caught a glimpse of his killer, there was someone wearing a black trench coat and a white mask standing on a tree branch. 

'Fade...' Those were his final thoughts as everything turned dark. 

...

Yui Ling was running through the forest with a look of fear on his face. Just moments ago he had witnessed the deaths of his companions. After they had split up, he noticed that one of the two he was with had suddenly disappeared. 

They then spotted their comrade lying on the ground a few meters away. They approached the body and saw that he was already dead. The most mysterious thing was there were no wounds on his body. They couldn't understand how he died. At first, they thought it might have been a biological weapon, but then why weren't they affected? Also based on the complexion of their companion it doesn't seem like he was poisoned. 

Feeling a little bit fearful the two of them headed back to the place they had been before they split up. Upon returning they saw that the others had also come back. Yet unlike before they were missing quite a few people. Among the three groups that separated only two returned, and between two groups two members were gone. There were now only four of them left. Seeing this sight Yui Ling could no longer hold it in. 

"What the f*ck is happening?!" 

The others did not respond and simply frowned. The four of them then turned quiet for a moment as they tried to calm themselves down. This wasn't the first time they had seen comrades die, but the way they died was too bizarre. They checked their bodies and they could not understand how they died, not to mention they still haven't seen any traces of the enemy. 

"Let's just go back, I-" He wasn't able to finish his sentence as he fell to the ground. Yui Ling and the remaining two quickly stood back to back with each other covering their blind spots. Their companion died just like that, there was no blood, no sound, no struggle, just instantaneous death.

The enemy was killing them so easily, and not once were they able to spot him. They couldn't even detect the incoming attack, it felt like they were fighting in the darkness. 

...

Yui Fang felt extremely nervous as he stood back to back with his companions. His breathing was getting rough as the fear grip his heart tightly. It was at that moment he felt something wrap around his neck. He wanted to scream at his companions for help, but before he could do so the thing around his neck got tighter. He wanted to pull whatever it was that was tightening around his neck, but then even his hands were unable to move as they were wrapped by the same thing. He moaned which finally alerted his companions, they looked at him unable to understand what was happening. 

After they strengthened their sight by using inner energy they finally saw the thin wire that was wrapped around Yui Fang's body. Yui Ling was going to cut the wire away but then he too was wrapped in the same thing and was now being strangled as well. 

Seeing what was happening to his companions Yui Shin knew that if he stayed he too would suffer the same fate. So without any hesitation, he started running away, yet the moment he did so he felt something wrapped around his entire body. He knew that he was also caught, and death was the only fate left for him and his companions. 

The three of them who were losing oxygen as they were slowly dying, tried their hardest to escape. It was at that moment they decided to burn their potential for a burst of inner energy. Even though it would weaken them greatly afterward making them forever stuck as rank one martial artists, they didn't want to die. At least if they stay alive there was still hope, but in death there was none. 

As if they had planned it all along, the three burned their potential at the exact same time. Their inner energy exploded, and they felt great strength flow through them. The three were then able to forcefully tear through the wires that were strangling them. 

The three started coughing, but they had no time to be relieved that they escape the wires, since they knew the enemy was still there. The three were decisive and started running in different directions. 

Yui Ling and Yui Shin suddenly heard Yui Fang's scream, but they did not turn around and continued running away. After a few moments, Yui Ling suddenly heard Yui Shin's scream as well.

When Yui Ling heard the screams of his dying companions he started running faster than he ever did. He didn't care if his legs would start breaking, as he used all of his inner energy and gathered them into his feet giving him a huge speed boost. 

The power he released that was beyond what his body could handle, made his legs scream in agony, yet Yui Ling didn't dare slow down. As he could finally see the walls of the Yui Clan's estate, he felt relieved, he thought that he was safe, yet fate was cruel. 

Yui Ling suddenly felt a wave of killing intent that was like no other. It felt like he was prey being eyed by the most dangerous predator. It was like a primordial being was staring down at him. As the killing intent was suffocating him, his legs finally gave in and he dropped to the ground unable to move. 

Yui Ling tried to crawl his way towards the Yui Clan, but then someone blocked his path. Yui Ling finally saw the person who hunted him and his companions down. A black trench coat and a white mask, seeing this Yui Ling knew that this was the end. 

"Why?" He knew that death was coming, so Yui Ling just wanted to know why the assassin was here. 

"Isn't it obvious?" Those were the last words Yui Ling heard as he saw Fade's hand descend towards him.