Chapter 4084: Uncontrolled Variable (Part 1) ’Exactly.’ Eckor replied. ’This is a perfect opportunity to enact Oghrom’s law and remove our target. It’s a shame to leave Dripha in the hands of weaklings, but we have already invested too many resources to go after the Ernas.’ ’This is too perfect, Eckor. Too convenient.’ Jiza inwardly shook her head. ’I told you there must be a trap. It’s unlike you to fall for the obvious.’ ’I’m not falling for it. I’m calling Jirni’s bluff.’ He replied. ’If not now, when should we attack? We have all our pieces in place and a solid alibi. Our target is alone and exposed. ’There is no guarantee that if we fall back now, any of the information that we have collected will still be reliable tomorrow. For whatever reason, Jirni Ernas is stalling for time, and if we keep waiting, we’ll play in her hand.’ Jiza couldn’t deny Eckor’s cold logic, but a few things didn’t convince him. ’You said perfect alibi, but that’s not true. I do have one, but what about you? Do you really think Verhen will not seal the area after Jirni’s rune disappears?’ ’Act surprised and let him do it.’ He inwardly shrugged. ’I’ll just terminate myself and erase my equipment. Verhen will find nothing to study and no one to interrogate. One life for another is a small price to enact Oghrom’s law.’ ’And what if it is a trap?’ Jiza asked. ’Then my final report will uncover Jirni Ernas’ secret weapon.’ Eckor spoke with the same detachment of a man ordering his dinner. ’I’ll die, sure, but you’ll know the truth and the next assassin will complete the mission.’ ’Go, Eckor.’ Jiza inwardly nodded. ’Oghrom’s blood.’ ’Oghrom’s blood.’ An old and rich merchant excused himself from his date and walked through the nearest door to the bathroom. From there, it took him only a small deviation to reach the same corridor Jirni was in. He moved with calm and confidence. Eckor had learned since a tender age that the best way to go unnoticed was to act with purpose. Like someone who belonged there and knew exactly where he was going. Maids, butlers, and the other guests who had snuck out of the Ball Room to snoop around the house of the Supreme Magus of the Kingdom paid Eckor no attention when they crossed his path. The assassin kept his disguise on and reported every detail he noticed with each step he took. The tactile enchantment of the Gernoff’s clothes transmitted information through small bursts of earth magic in the form of vibrations, bypassing the seals for communication amulets and earpieces. Even if someone intercepted them, their intensity and frequency were no different from the vibrations produced by footsteps. With a dance going on, the signal was less than white noise. As he advanced deeper into the Mansion, Eckor carefully sturdied the arrays around him and held a small silver sphere in his hand that displayed their precise number. The moment a magical formation appeared, faded, or was replaced by another, a small tremor in his hand alerted him. ’Verhen really is a paranoid control freak, but we’ve taken down worse.’ Eckor thought as he slipped past detection arrays unnoticed. His tuxedo was actually an Adamant-Darwen alloy that distorted the mana lines of the magical formations enough to fool them, but not so much to trigger them. He always kept himself beyond the range of Jirni’s Life Vision thanks to the Spyglasses that enhanced his own. The moment he saw Jirni open the master bedroom, he shapeshifted his clothes into a battle uniform, and his metal rings and jewelry rearranged themselves into two poisoned stilettos. Eckor emerged from around the corner and jumped off the floor, producing no sound and closing the distance with Jirni in a single leap. Her hand was still on the doorknob, and the other held the mana crystal necessary to operate the mystical locks. She was unarmed and unaware, yet she reacted to the appearance of the assassin as if she had eyes in the back of her head. Jirni pivoted on her front foot to face the assailant and had two needles hidden in her gown fly into her hand. Eckor admired her uncanny senses and reflexes, but they changed nothing. His weapons had greater reach, and such thin needles could never stop the heavier stilettos wielded by a bright violet-cored Awakened. ’This guy is strong. I need to go all-out.’ Jirni couldn’t see the enemy mana core, but her whole body screamed danger, warning her it was an opponent she couldn’t defeat. At least until two hard-light constructs formed around her needles, using them as a framework. The longswords crumbled on impact, but thanks to the surprise effect and their momentum, the constructs stopped the assailant in his tracks. ’Light Mastery!’ Eckor’s fingers tapped the stilettos, shorthanding the message. ’Constructs. Weak.’ The moment his feet touched the ground, Eckor’s speed exceeded what a dull green core could handle. He appeared behind Jirni’s back before she could move a muscle, yet she didn’t even try. A great sword lunged out of the door she had just opened, impaling Eckor Gernoff with his own momentum. ’Orio-’ Grimlock came out of the wound with a wet crunch of bones and organs before its edge put an end to Eckor’s life and message. ’Orion?’ Jiza echoed while searching for him in the ballroom. Orion Ernas was at the center stage for the daughter-father dance. ’What about Orion?’ She asked, but Eckor’s rune disappeared from the embroidery of her evening gloves. ’He never left this room.’ Nenira Gernoff replied. ’Quylla and Morok Ernas have just reached the door. All the other targets have not moved.’ Olstar Gernoff added. ’What in Oghrom’s name just happened?’ Jiza activated Life Vision, uncaring to act rudely, and checked the energy signature of her mark. It belonged to Orion. There was no doubt about that. *** "Thanks, dear." Jirni hated seeing the corpse of Eckor Gernoff turn to ashes along with all his priceless equipment, but she had never doubted her enemies had more than one way to cover their tracks. "That went dangerously close." "You are welcome." Orion grunted. "These bastards cost me my father-daughter dance. I’m going to make them pay." "I know, and I appreciate your sacrifice." Jirni was aware that her deep green core was a small thing compared to a powerful Awakened, so she kept Orion with his bright violet core always close to her. "Just like I appreciate your help, Balkor." "No need to thank me." The god of death held the little Dripha in his arms, his eyes full of hatred. "I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing this for her." Ilyum Balkor wasn’t a friend of Jirni, and the Gernoffs had played no part in the destruction of his village, so gaining his support had not been easy. Jirni had been forced to open up to him not only about her grief about Phloria’s death, but also about her childhood training. Balkor knew loss all too well, and he understood grief better than most. Yet it was Jirni’s will to spare Dripha from the Gernoff’s indoctrination that had sealed the deal for him. What mattered to him was that the Gernoffs wanted to kill an innocent child’s parents and turn her into a puppet for their own agenda.