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Illumi lay flat against the wall, looking up intently at the two bodyguards.
He needed to strike and kill them the instant their bodies brushed past each other, while also ensuring he wasn't discovered by other bodyguards.
Of course, even if he were discovered, it wouldn't matter. He just needed to kill them all.
However, that didn't align with his cautious style. An assassin should act like an assassin: wait for the opportunity, act without hesitation, clean and efficient.
Charging straight through wasn't an assassin; that was a berserker.
On the balcony, after the two bodyguards reached the end, they turned and walked towards each other. As their shoulders intersected...
"Shua!"
Illumi vanished from the wall.
Illumi appeared behind the two men. The index fingers of his left and right hands, tipped with sharp nails, pierced into the carotid arteries¹ in their necks respectively.
"Pfft pfft..."
Two extremely subtle sounds of flesh being pierced overlapped. Illumi instantly withdrew both index fingers, spread his palms, and covered the mouths of the two bodyguards, preventing them from making a sound.
"Mmph... mmph..."
The two bodyguards convulsed, muffled sounds escaping their mouths, their eyes bloodshot. Illumi gently lowered their bodies to the ground.
By the time he laid them down, the two had finally lost consciousness due to blood loss and suffocation.
At this point, blood poured continuously from their carotid arteries. The sheer volume quickly formed a pool of blood.
"Not much time. Kill Fitz Gerald within one minute, leave here within three minutes."
The bodyguards' patrol schedule was very tight, changing shifts every three minutes. If someone discovered the bodyguards on the balcony were missing, they would quickly realize there was an intruder.
"Click..."
Illumi gently slid open the floor-to-ceiling window and, using Silent Step, entered Fitz Gerald's bedroom without a sound.
"Fitz Gerald."
He looked at the middle-aged man lying on the large white bed – wrinkles crow's-footed his eyes, flat-top hairstyle, temples greyed. Judging by his features, he seemed like a kindly person.
"But, it's over."
Illumi stood beside Fitz Gerald's bed, extending his right index finger. The bloodstained fingertip bore an incomparably sharp nail.
"Pfft..."
The same technique: using his finger to pierce the opponent's carotid artery, left hand spread to cover his mouth, preventing him from breathing or crying out.
"Mmph... mmph... mmph..."
The moment his index finger pierced Fitz Gerald's artery, the man's eyes shot open, staring at Illumi, whose face was covered, revealing only his eyes.
"Mmph... mmph... mmph..."
Fitz Gerald's struggles intensified, his eye sockets seeming about to tear open. His pupils first showed shock, then fear, regret, nostalgia, reluctance, and other emotions.
No one faces death without regret; everyone regrets something when they die.
If someone says they died peacefully, they must be lying.
There are always some things one only realizes right before death.
Fitz Gerald's eyes stared wide, gradually losing their luster. Blood slowly flowed from his artery, staining the pure white sheets and duvet red.
From Illumi entering the room to his death, no more than ten seconds passed.
"Woof woof woof!!!"
Suddenly, the five hunting dogs in the villa began barking furiously.
The bodyguards inside and outside the villa reacted quickly, rapidly converging towards the villa. The one who had previously detected Illumi's faint breeze looked up towards the second floor, his pupils instantly shrinking.
The bodyguards on the second-floor balcony were gone! This meant the intruder had likely already entered their boss's bedroom!
"Intruder!"
"Protect the boss!"
The bodyguard immediately roared, rushing into the villa, heading up to the second floor via the main staircase, straight towards Fitz Gerald's bedroom.
"Scent of blood."
Illumi quickly reacted. It was the metallic scent of blood that the five hunting dogs had smelled.
"While they are in chaos is precisely my time to leave."
Hearing the sounds of footsteps approaching from outside the door, Illumi quickly got up and took a photo of Fitz Gerald.
With a shua sound, his figure flickered and vanished without a trace.
"Boss!"
That young bodyguard kicked open the bedroom door with a "bang!" The first thing he saw was the curtain swaying in the breeze. He frowned – there was no wind right now.
The second thing he saw was Fitz Gerald, already dead from excessive blood loss and suffocation.
"Something major has happened."
The young bodyguard looked at Fitz Gerald lying on the bed, eyes wide open in death, his heart extremely heavy.
"Pfft..."
Shoes made soft sounds stepping on the soft lawn.
At this moment, Illumi was running rapidly through the bushes and across the lawn. The surroundings blurred past; his speed was comparable to a car.
"Shua! Shua!"
Two sounds of something cutting through the air arose. Illumi, expression unchanging, glanced left and right out of the corner of his eye.
"Hoh hoh hoh, Master Illumi truly is a natural-born assassin."
Tsubone's figure suddenly appeared to his left, running alongside him.
"Clean and efficient."
Gotoh's figure also abruptly appeared to his right, commenting with an indifferent expression.
"You think I needed you to tell me?"
Illumi said expressionlessly. He didn't need to think to know that Tsubone and Gotoh were definitely near him at all times.
In front of a villa gate, a Labrador lay sprawled, panting with its tongue out.
"Whoosh~"
A sudden gust of wind blew past, making its fur stand on end. It blinked, looking utterly bewildered.
Viewed from above, the three figures ran side-by-side, transforming into three streaks of black light, rushing out of the Loren Bay Villa Area at extreme speed.
At this time, the Kosser family mansion.
Adkins Kosser² sat in the rooftop open-air dining area of the mansion, smoking a cigar, feeling the cool breeze.
"Not sleeping so late, is there something special today?"
A middle-aged beauty with flaxen curly hair, wearing pajamas, came to Adkins' side, pulled over a chair, and sat down.
"Mm, something very important."
Adkins removed the cigar from his mouth, stubbed it out in the ashtray on the table, then turned to look at his wife, smiling.
"If it's not handled properly, I won't sleep well tonight."
"Let me accompany you."
The middle-aged beauty looked at Adkins' face, covered in wrinkles, her expression pained.
He was clearly only in his forties, yet the wrinkles on his face made him look like an old man in his sixties.
"Buzz buzz..."
Just as she finished speaking, Adkins' phone beside him suddenly vibrated.
Adkins picked up the phone, unlocked it, and tapped the incoming message notification. A photo appeared inside.
It was precisely Fitz Gerald, lying in a pool of blood, eyes wide open in death. A smile lifted the corners of Adkins' mouth. He turned off the phone.
"No need anymore. The matter has been resolved."
Adkins stood up, helped his wife towards the house, and said with a smile.
"Let's go, let's go, time for bed, time for bed. Women shouldn't stay up late."
Adkins' wife looked at his suddenly cheerful appearance, her expression helpless.
"Really now, don't keep doing things that make me worry in the future."
"Yes~ yes, the madam is right."
Arm in arm, they pushed open the sliding glass doors and entered the mansion's interior. The bodyguard standing guard in the open-air dining area glanced left and right, then turned off the lights.