The assassins dismounted their horses and hid in the woods. They didn’t make a sound, and they blended in with the environment, making them impossible to find with the naked eye. They didn’t communicate with each other, they were so disciplined that they stayed still like a statue until the target was visible.

They waited longer than they should since they had calculated the time or arrival of Anastasha’s carriage. However, they didn’t move a muscle, still hidden in the woods without making a sound.

The breeze and wind was so calming and the shades that blocked the sunlight made them feel safe. Until they heard a thud sound coming from behind them. They slowly turned their heads and saw a headless body, one of their own.

Rasmus stood in the middle of the path with a head hanging from his left hand. All the assassins didn’t feel any presence at all, and they knew if someone that capable could find them without being noticed, they were no match for him.

The assassins scattered and were ready to abandon their mission, but that was when roots appeared from the ground and created a dome. The assassins were trapped inside the dome of roots, and they realized that they were fighting someone beyond their expectations.

All of them pulled out their swords and immediately cut off their own heads. Unfortunately, one of them was unable to move his hands when the blade was right on his throat. No matter how hard he tried to move his hands, they wouldn’t budge. He immediately tilted his head back, to swallow a poison pill that he had hid in the buccal vestibule, a pocket between his gum and inner cheek.

Before the assassin could crush the pill to let the poison out, a hand grabbed his jaw from behind. When he glanced to the side, Rullein was standing behind him with a smirk on her face. She put her fingers into his mouth and pulled out the pill, staring at it for a moment before she threw it away.

Rasmus approached the assassin and grabbed the dagger that the assassin was holding. He stared at the dagger for a moment before he glanced at the assassin in the eyes as he tossed the dagger. He didn’t see any fear or panic in the assassin’s eyes, knowing that no torture could make him open his mouth.

"He’s all yours," Rasmus looked at Rullein and then he turned around to look at all the corpses of the assassins.

Rullein placed her hand on the assassin’s head and began to read his memories from the moment he was born into this world until this day. On the other hand, Rasmus checked each of the assassin’s mouths. Out of all the assassins that he checked, there were two assassins who had no tongues and there was engraving on the crown of their teeth.

"I got everything," Rullein said as she looked at Rasmus.

"Show them to me," Rasmus offered his hand to Rullein.

Rullein chuckled and glanced at the assassin with a mischievous smirk on her face. She sucked the life out of the assassin until his body became skinny with nothing but bone and skin. She spread her arms and did the same to the corpses, taking all the remaining energy from the bodies.

Rullein held Rasmus’ hand and shared what she got from the assassin, but only the important things.

Rasmus could see how the assassins were raised. They were orphans and they were brought by an old man with a long white beard and long white hair. The assassins didn’t know his name, but they called him as Great Teacher.

Thousands of orphans were trained for ten years in a secluded area in the middle of the forest. The first test was to hunt each other down until there were only a hundred of them left. Once they passed the first test, they trained for another year, a life and death training. The training was so hard that on average, there were only a dozen that survived. The third test was survival in the middle of nowhere while being hunted by real assassins. Only a handful survived the third test, and the final test was to assassinate a target, and if they failed, they would be killed for failure.

The assassins who passed the final test were brought into a pavilion hidden deep inside the mountain. The assassins spent the rest of their lives there unless they were assigned to gather information or to assassinate someone. They spent most of their time cultivating the martial arts that they were taught by the Great Teacher. Once they became masters in their field, that was when the Great Teacher brought them to meet with their true master, Zayn Asghar, the eldest son of Zechariah Asghar, the current patriarch of the Asghar family, Anastasha’s father.

The memories of the assassin that Rullein took, he was an elite assassin that had dozens of successful assassinations. The assassin had no name, he was given a number as a name since he had no identity to begin with. However, there was one thing that made Rasmus curious, and that was the fact Zechariah’s assassins could infiltrate the assassins that Zayn had raised in secret.

Finally, the most important part was the fact that Zayn had sent hundreds of the best assassins he had to behead Anastasha. Not only that, the assassin got information related to the assassins that belonged to the brothers of Zayn, Zeke Asghar and Zoran Asghar. Both Zeke and Zoran also sent their best assassins with the same numbers to hunt Anastasha.

"That’s a lot of information," Rasmus let go of Rullein’s hand. "And a lot of assassins," he muttered and looked at the dried dead bodies around him while the roots slowly untangled themselves from each other and disappeared into the ground.

"Yes, but unfortunately it’s not enough, right? We want to know about the situation in East Neva. It would be nice to know the people that this man had killed and their backgrounds to understand Zayn’s plans and schemes," Rullein replied with her arms crossed.

"That’s the life of an assassin. It doesn’t matter who the target is as long as they do their job, that’s all that matter. The less they care, the easier it is for them to do their job," Rasmus nodded in agreement. "Let’s head back," he looked at Rullein and tilted his head toward the path.

Rullein turned into a puff of black smoke while Rasmus dashed from one tree to another without making a sound or creating any vibration. On his way back to meet with the others, a faint smile appeared on his face because he felt nostalgic when he saw the assassin’s memories. He remembered when he was still a mercenary back on Earth, and East Neva reminded him of the world where moral didn’t exist, only desire, a world where people killed each other because they wanted to.

Anastasha was deep in thought when suddenly Rasmus appeared out of the woods without making a noise.

"Which brother of mine who sent those assassins, Count?" Anastasha asked with her brows raised.

"Your eldest brother, Zayn Asghar," Rasmus answered.

Anastasha took a deep breath before she exhaled deeply as she closed her eyes.

"So, it truly has begun... the hunt..." Anastasha muttered.

"Yes, and you will meet hundreds of them from now on. Not only from your eldest brother, but also your other brothers. They all planning to take your head," Rasmus answered and nodded. "Do you want to handle it on your own?" He stared into Anastasha’s eyes.

"How can a powerless woman like me do against them? But I will surely repay anyone who helps me deal with it," Anastasha answered and stared back at Rasmus with a playful smile on her face.