Chương 146: Chapter 145: The S-Rank Assassin and the Death Benefit Contract

On the rooftop of a skyscraper exactly three thousand meters from Lotte World Tower. Autumn night wind hissed through the metal ventilation grates. A man in a gray-black optical camouflage suit - American S-Rank Hunter, code name "Death Shadow" Viper, world rank 28 - lay prone on the concrete. In front of him sat a heavy magitech sniper rifle, its high-grade anti-magic barrel glowing a muted violet.

Through a hundred-times-magnified thermal-quantum scope, the red laser dot locked onto the temple of the ten-year-old sitting at a desk on the 120th floor, signing checks through the office glass. Viper let out a slow breath and squeezed the trigger. FWMP! No deafening bang. A compact anti-magic penetrator crossed the Seoul night in a hard, nearly invisible line toward the office window. Inside the office on the 120th floor. Lucian's left hand was still carefully signing a land-purchase check with a fountain pen.

As the anti-magic round closed on the office window— Click. Lucian didn't even bother looking up. His right hand drifted lazily to the side, index and middle fingers closing together. Layered Focus and a nearby local sensor cue let Lucian throw up a narrow containment plane around the round before it reached the glass. The projectile lost its force and dropped harmlessly onto the exterior ledge, where Lucian recovered it without letting it damage the office. Whoosh. Silent Displacement.

Lucian vanished from his chair. On the rooftop three thousand meters away. Viper had just released the trigger and was reaching to pack up his gear for extraction when a small hand suddenly patted him twice on the shoulder from behind. A flat, childlike voice spoke right by his ear.

"Buddy. Your gun is using an anti-magic round with no Korean safety clearance." Lucian stood behind the assassin, holding the round out in front of him.

"Under the applicable weapons and property-damage rules, trying to fire that into a tower is going to be expensive. I suggest we begin with the evidence." Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. Clunk! The five-million-dollar magitech rifle slipped from Viper's hands, hitting the concrete. The world's 28th-ranked assassin's eyes went wide, his whole body seizing up like he'd been struck by lightning, cold sweat soaking through his camouflage suit. FWOOSH!

A streak of golden holy light burst across the rooftop. Eleanor appeared in midair, Royal Holy Sword swinging, its blazing blade leveled straight at Viper's throat, blue eyes burning with killing intent.

"An assassin! You dare—" Lucian caught her silk-gloved wrist and gently pulled the blade down.

"Don't kill him, don't kill him. If he's dead, who's going to pay the fifty million won administrative fine?" Eleanor lowered her sword, looked at Lucian holding his citation form, and let out a helpless sigh.

"You genuinely don't have a concept of 'mortal danger' in that head of yours, do you?" [UNIFIED SYSTEM V2. 0: EVIDENCE REVIEW] [READ THE FINE PRINT: reviewing the captured device and signed contract] Name: Viper (World Rank #28). Assassination contract: $5, 000, 000 USD, recovered from the device (Status: unpaid). The contract identifies an overseas consortium as the client. Legal trap: if the assassin dies or is captured, the document voids the bounty and pays no death benefit to the family.

[HOST'S PROJECTILE RESPONSE: based on established skills and a local threat cue.] Lucian picked the magitech rifle up off the ground and looked down at Viper, who sat braced against the concrete after being disarmed.

"The captured contract says the people who hired you built a clause to cheat your family if you died." He pulled a printed Employment and Career-Transition Contract from his coat.

"You can take a legitimate courier and security-transition contract with Vance Earth Holdings, subject to screening and local law. Fixed salary: fifty thousand dollars a month, with full life insurance. Job description: use your precision and stealth skills for legal, tracked deliveries after training." Lucian held out a quill.

"Or cooperate, take protection, and provide the employer evidence to the proper authorities. Either choice is better than a contract that treats your family as a write-off." Viper looked from the recovered contract to the ordinary employment paperwork. The world-notorious assassin made his own choice, accepting the protection offer and signing the transition paperwork with shaking hands.

"I'll sign! I swear the bread will be delivered on time!" Viper reached into his chest rig and pulled out an encrypted storage device, offering it up with both hands.

"This is the full list of foreign magnates and Guild presidents who pooled funds to have you assassinated..." Lucian took the drive and tucked it into his coat.

"Excellent. Report at six a. m. tomorrow." Buzz... buzz... The phone in Lucian's pocket rang. He answered. Sylvia's clear voice came through the speaker.

"Lucian. Incheon International Airport reports that representatives from several major guilds have requested a meeting." Sylvia paused for a moment, her voice turning serious.

"They want a limited discussion about Vance Earth Holdings' pilot model and the attempted hit."