Sparks flew as metal vibrated.
In the arena, two shadowy figures collided with madness, their movements so fast they seemed to blur. After nearly ten minutes of intense battle, both were drained of energy.
Blank: "What kind of assassin relies on magical items like you?"
Madman: "I'm... I'm a magic assassin, alright? What's with you wearing a mask and trying to look all impressive?"
With that, Madman lunged forward, his figure flashing and aiming for Blank's back.
Cold light flashed in Blank's eyes as she scoffed, "Ignorant."
She pushed off the ground with her long legs, her body soaring like a swallow, flipping backward to avoid his close-quarters attack, fully displaying the agility and skill of a thief.
Against Madman's fierce assault, she blocked with her left hand holding a dagger while her right hand tossed a B-grade assassin skill, [Rain of Daggers].
A series of lethal, glittering crystals exploded outward, creating a chilling rain of light around Madman, a storm that would persist and damage him over time.
This skill not only confused the enemy's vision but also had area-of-effect damage, perfect for a backstab when combined with stealth.
Madman laughed wildly. "Stop playing around, this move of yours is useless, too slow! Way too slow!"
Madman grinned widely as his magical jetpack activated, shooting him forward dozens of meters, perfectly evading Blank's well-prepared move.
Blank's face flushed with anger. The enemy might not match her in skill or combat experience, but he had an annoying array of magical gadgets that were starting to drive her mad.
Madman snapped back, his eyes wide with rage. "What the hell are you talking about? Wasn't it you who spent the first minute adjusting and then kept hacking away at your mount, stacking bleeding buffs?"
Blank's face turned even redder as she glanced over at her mount—a huge, battered black turtle the size of a millstone.
This turtle had 2 million HP, but Blank had never ridden it in battle.
After all, as the King of Assassins in the Slaughter Guild, riding a turtle into battle would probably make everyone laugh to death.
Due to the presence of the Soul Seal's true damage bleeding effect, Blank would relentlessly hack the turtle before every fight to stack bleeding damage to 10,000 per second. This way, a backstab could obliterate her opponent in a flash.
Of course, Blank originally didn't have the heart to harm the turtle, but after being killed repeatedly by someone, she had come to terms with it.
Madman chuckled crazily. "Just stick to guarding the base. If you have to run up here and mess around, even though we're temporary allies, it'd only make sense for me to kill you."
Blank froze for a moment as Madman grinned at her, pulling out a long, evil-looking weapon.
"…Anti-Hulk Sniper Rifle." Blank almost turned to stone, a wave of danger instantly flooding over her.
Her face turned pale, and she cursed furiously, "You're the shame of thieves!"
"Tch, what does it mean to use a tool properly? If I have a cannon, why would I fight you in close combat? Are you serious?"
Madman laughed in triumph as he aimed the rifle, preparing to take her down.
For some reason, seeing Blank just made him angry.
He, the self-proclaimed god of assassins, would never lose to some little girl!
A tremendous magical shockwave blasted from the rifle, and Madman grinned, savoring the perfect moment.
The impact shattered the arena's outer wall, creating a hole three meters wide.
Madman's mouth dropped open, and he shouted, "It missed? What the hell?!"
"Relying on external tools, you'll never beat me."
Suddenly, Blank's voice rang out, her tone ethereal and ghostly.
Madman's hair stood on end as he looked up, feeling a chilling sense of dread.
What he saw made his heart freeze: a giant white ghost face grinning grotesquely, exuding a sinister, eerie aura.
Madman's face darkened, his reflexes quick as he raised his rifle and fired at the ghost face.
With a loud bang, the magical shockwave exploded in the air like a burst of fireworks, scattering the ghost face.
But only for a moment. The ghost face reappeared, grinning malevolently at Madman.
"It's useless. This move was meant for that bastard, but I guess I'll use it on you, useless thief."
Madman's eyes widened in shock. "S-Class Soul Shatterer Assassin's exclusive skill?"
The ghost face split, sending out an ear-piercing laugh before charging at him.
Madman furrowed his brow. As the ghost face closed in, he realized he couldn't move. His body locked in place, rigid, and he could only turn to look behind him.
Blank coldly removed her mask, revealing a stunningly beautiful face. She extended a slender finger and poked Madman's chest.
"Sorry, I touched you. And now, you're dead."
Blank sneered proudly as Madman's face turned blank with confusion, unable to comprehend what she meant.
"Touch me and you die?"
"Warning: Soul Shatterer Assassin has activated S-Class assassination skill. The combat area has been changed to a temporary safe zone. You cannot deal any damage to her."
The prompt sounded, and Madman was completely stunned. The ghost face formed a circle around them, turning the entire area into a safe zone.
He never imagined that the S-Class Soul Shatterer Assassin would have such a broken skill mechanism!
Attempting to strike back resulted in the attack being nullified.
Blank whispered softly, "Heavenly Demon · Soul Binding."
Madman's mouth hung open as a white light poured out from his heart.
Madman: "What the hell… is this my soul?"
The next moment, Madman was left speechless as Blank grabbed his soul form with one hand.
She then moved his soul out of the combat area, while her other hand prepared to execute the killing blow.
Madman: "What the hell! This is what you call shameless! You can't win, so you resort to cheap tricks!"
"The Godslayer guild has no innocent members. Dealing with you should require unconventional methods." Blank smiled, her expression full of mockery.
"Player Blank cannot enter any dungeons/quests for the next week."
The prompt appeared, and Blank sighed. This was the reason she rarely used such skills—killing one person meant a seven-day game delay.
But Madman had top-tier 3x3 legendary gear, as well as many overpowered magical items.
Even Blank, as the vice-leader of Slaughter, couldn't help but envy him.
So she made an exception and used her S-Class assassination skill.
Just as Blank raised her legendary short dagger to obliterate Madman's soul…
The legendary short dagger flashed in an instant, but Blank's face suddenly showed shock. "This… is so strange!"
She stared at her palm in disbelief.
What? Where's my weapon?
At that moment, Madman's shocked and desperate expression disappeared, replaced by a cold smirk.
"I touched you too. In fact, I've touched you three times."
"[Master Thief] Activated!"
"Target is unprepared. Success rate of stealing increased!"
"You successfully stole the legendary weapon: [Slaughter Blade]."
"Human Soul Seal [Ancient Thief Saint] activated, stealing success rate increased!"
"You successfully stole 1500 attack power."
"You successfully stole 30% critical hit rate."
Madman couldn't help but laugh to the heavens. "Keep acting, keep acting! Let's see if I'll finish you off!"
The S-Class assassination skill's confinement effect ended.
Madman grinned, baring his teeth, and pounced on Blank, whose attack power and critical hit rate had drastically dropped.
With three deadly slashes, he aimed straight for her throat!
"Touch me? Do you even have the right?"
Madman laughed maniacally as he ruthlessly taunted her.
"Thief-type Soul Seal… I miscalculated."
Blank's eyes went blank as she collapsed to the ground, disbelief on her face.
Her equipment automatically disengaged, floating in the air, and Madman snatched it all up, stuffing it into his pocket.
"Godslayer guild vice-leader Madman has killed player Blank!"
"Victory in the Blood Rage Gladiator event!"
The guild chat exploded in disbelief:
"WTF! Madman took out Blank!"
Old Yin: "I can't believe it, Blank was taken down by Madman!"
Dancing Giant Boobs screamed: "Oh my god! Perverted man, he actually… killed a Leaderboards top-tier player!"
Madman laughed to the sky, shouting over the guild channel: "Brothers, do you see how cool I am? Just kidding, of course!"
Absolute Kid: "Vice-leader, this… this is something you really shouldn't have done."
Dancing Giant Boobs: "Psychopath! Shameless, despicable!"