172 The Clown (1/2)

”Are you going to answer my question now?”

Ice Empress asked. This time the assassin didn't immediately dismiss her but instead fell silent and began to consider his option before replying to her. Now that he had lost one of his arms, he started to fear her for a logical reason. After all, she DID tear his arm apart rather than cutting it with a knife or something, which goes to show how frightening her strength is. Most importantly, he didn't want to sacrifice his life to his mission like the other professional assassin. To him, being an assassin is just another way of gaining freedom. Despite having a fearsome nickname like 'God of Death,' he's actually an assassin with an obvious flaw.

For the professional assassin, the moment they were captured, they would kill themselves soon after by either biting their tongue or poison themselves to death. To them, their priority is their mission. If it's a failure, they might as well call themselves incompetent and suicide. That's the code of conduct for an assassin. There's no need to compare the two as the answer is obvious; he cares more about his life than them, who was manipulated by the organization. At first, he was also like them but, after accepting mission after mission, he started to realize that the organization that adopted him was nothing but a crazy manipulator.

Looking at the assassin he hired from his seat, Frederic started to have a bad feeling. 'Is he really going to expose our deal with his organization's reputation in line? No, wait. I remember hearing a rumor about him somewhere...I think something to do with his weakness. But I thought that was a lie since among all the assassin one can hire, he was the best of all. Of course the better one is, the more expensive they are. But strangely, this man's cost is considered as cheap, so that was true all along? God damn it! Just as I thought I couldn't kill him because of that woman, I expect him to kill himself so that the deal won't get leaked.'

”I am—”

But before he could continue his word, he was interrupted by someone. It was very sudden, which is why everyone in the room was surprised when a stranger suddenly intrudes in their meeting. The staff has been ordered not to interrupt them for an hour by the Ice Empress herself. Yet, someone actually has the guts to go against her, that person must have been crazy in their mind.

Bang!

A gunshot resounds.

”..Who let you in?”

”Guh!”

Ice Empress asked while her hand is gripping hard onto the neck of the intruder. If one looks down on the ground, they can see a single crushed up bullet with a pistol next to it. In the blink of an eye, the man finds himself strangled by her right after firing his gun. The intruder didn't just feel that his breathing becoming harder, he also felt very fearful toward her as at this very moment, there's a scary aura erupting around her. It was clear to everyone in the room that she's definitely angry. Although her aura isn't as scary as that split second when she's making her move, it still visibly affected most of the people in the room as with just a single look—one can tell they are having a problem breathing for a different reason from the intruder.

Sheila was also visibly affected even for a moment. At that very moment, she suddenly finds herself submerged deep in the seas while surrounded by a group of shark, swimming around her. She had thought she got transported into a new floor forcefully by the system, but it was actually an illusion caused by a scary aura. It was the first time for her to experience something like that. Usually, she's the one to frighten people, never the opposite.

”Tell me, who order you to do this?”

”!!!”

From her monotone voice alone, one might not be able to tell she's angry. The Ice Empress asked while slowly tightens up her grip around his neck until his face turned pale, it was only then that she pulled her hands away as he dropped to the ground. 'Shit. I knew that she's fast and all, but I didn't expect her reaction speed to be fast too. The further I go, the more she shows me what a monstrosity she is. Is she even human? No, the real question is, what is she? Some kind of alien, perhaps? ...This is not the time for me to fool around! If that assassin revealed the deal, I'm dead. Seriously dead. Damn it, do I have no choice but to do it myself?'

”Now that I give you enough time to get your breathing back to normal, tell me. Who gives you the order? Is it one of us?”

'!!! She knows! But how is it possible? When I left the house, I make sure to cover up my track so that no one would be able to follow me. Was it as I thought, a betrayal? But who would betray when all of them are as corrupted as they could get? Or did one of them got caught in the act? There's a possibility of that, for sure. As the saying goes, without smoke, there won't be rain. That has to be it. And here I thought of continuing with this act for a few more years...'

”...yes. It's F—”

Swosh!

Without even knowing his killer's identity was actually his boss, the man died of having beheaded by an invisible wind.