In a battle between experts with equal attributes and strength, the one that possessed higher level techniques would usually come out as victorious. However, this time, his enemy was a Realm stronger than him and even with his physical attributes alone, he could completely crush Dan under his foot.
Dan's attributes were as follows.
[Name: Dan Gabriel Longinus; Age: 16; Status: the Young Master of the Longinus Clan]
[Stats: Str: 3, Int: 8, Dex: 9, Agi: 12, Sta: 2.75]
[For Reference, one stat point equals an average human's stat.]
[Cultivation: Peak Stage of the Flesh Tempering Realm]
[System Evaluation: Still weak.]
In comparison, his enemy attributes were.
[Name: Karthus; Age: 54; Status: Second-tier Assassin of the Black Wing Gang]
[Stats: Str: 12, Int: 15, Dex, 21, Agi: 15, Sta: 13]
[For Reference, one stat point equals an average human's stat.]
[Cultivation: Peak Stage of the Organ Tempering Realm]
Dan inwardly cursed, to win this war, the Fierce Bulls Gang didn't spare any resources in recruiting this Second-tier Assassin from the Black Wing Gang, and he admits that if this monster joined in the fighting at the main battle area. Only Charlotte or Caitlyn could possibly hold him off.
'It looks like I need to hold him off as long as possible...' Dan clicked his tongue, his expression remained stoic in the face of a formidable enemy like Karthus. Taking a defensive stance, he aimed his Desert Eagle and shot.
The bullet whistled through the air and Karthus' expression frowned when he felt the sensation of the approaching danger. Narrowing his eyes, he deduced the trajectory of the attack and casually swiped at it, causing sparks as the bullet disintegrated.
However, when he turned his focus at Dan. He found that the latter was gone and was currently running towards the Tower where the Flag of the Fierce Bulls Gang was located.
"Tcch..." Inwardly cursing, his figure blurred and chased at Dan who ran madly towards the opposite direction. Against Karthus whose attributes and cultivation was higher than him, he could not afford a frontal collision against him.
For now, he had to rely on the surrounding terrain and skillfully maneuver himself so that he could avoid Karthus' needle attacks. Fortunately, their clash occurred near a residential area. And Dan only had to take advantage of this fact in avoiding his enemy.
But of course, he had to keep the enemy onto him so that his buying time tactic would work as he aimed his muzzle at the back and repeatedly shot.
Clang!
Karthus raised his dagger in the air and blocked the approaching bullet. However, his eyes widened when he realized that his blade became dull upon contact as he frowned, 'Just what kind of a weapon is that? Not only it's fast, its piercing power is strong and if not for me using my Qi in blocking, my dagger would've collapsed...' He coldly thought, 'Could it be an Artifact from his homeland? If so...'
A light of avarice shone within his expression. One of the hobbies that Karthus had was weapon collection. He collected numerous weapons that he liked, such as swords, lance, and spears. Upon witnessing Dan's strange weapon, his urge as a collector ignited and he chased Dan with even more vigor than before.
'He's actually going faster than before?' Dan's expression darkened, the rate of his Qi consumption dramatically increased in each time he hastened his pace. If this chase continued, Dan knew that within the next five minutes. He would surely run out of juice and become a lamb for the slaughter.
"There's no other choice," Dan mumbled and forming a mudra with his hand, he activated his Divine Art, Blessing of the Lightning God. Lightning crackled around Dan and his eyes shone in an azure light. Karthus expression turned solemn as he didn't expect that a lowly member of a second-tier Gang would possess a Divine Art.
The zealous light within his eyes fiercely burned and his chasing speed increased once more. However, Dan's Divine Art, Blessing of the Lightning God increased one's speed and destructive power, with a deafening boom like a thunderclap, Dan's movement surged and he zigzagged through the residential area.
Even though his distance from his enemy, lengthened. The seriousness in Dan's eyes didn't diminish. The Blessing of the Lightning God devoured Qi like water and according to the System's simulation, Dan's Qi Reserves would only last for about five minutes.
Without any other choice, he turned around, took several Frag Grenades from his Virtual Inventory and hurled it at Karthus.
Karthus who saw the Grenades flying at him, frowned for he could not detect any traces of Qi within it. However, his experience told him that there should be some trick within those balls as he willed and manifested his own defense.
BOOM!
The earth quaked and the houses around him crumbled as the shockwave alone, staggered him backward. His expression distorted in shock and anger. He didn't know that an explosive with such power existed. Scanning the area of ruins around him, his eyes narrowed when he realized that he couldn't find his enemy anymore.
When Dan threw the Grenades earlier, he didn't hope that it would damage his enemy. Instead, he intended to make a distraction that would create an opening for him to activate Stealth. Sneaking past Karthus' perception, he ran towards the Flag as beaded sweats formed on his forehead.
Glancing at the countdown on his peripheral vision. His Stealth would only last for about two minutes before going on cooldown, and he had to decide and move fast. Else, his entire plan would fail, resulting in the annihilation of the Tyrannical Jollibee Gang.
Karthus frantically searched the area, and when he didn't find any traces of the young man, his expression distorted into humiliation and utmost anger. It was the first time that someone escaped his grasp. It was a stain on his perfect record.
Clenching his fists, he calmed down and started thinking. Since the young man took the effort in entering the barrier stealthily, that only means that he had an objective that requires stealth to accomplish. And when someone extinguishes his presence and sneakily entered an area. That could only mean one thing.
Either he would steal something or he had someone to assassinate.
However, the young man's low cultivation should not be enough to silently eliminate someone like him and obviously, he wouldn't care about the cannon fodders down below, so that could only mean that his objective was to steal something, right under their eyes.
Connecting the dots together, Karthus expression shone in excitement as his figure turned around and dashed towards the direction of the tower.
Meanwhile, Dan, who marked his enemy's location all this while realized that the latter was approaching his vicinity in high speed. Under the System's calculations, Karthus would catch up to him in under thirty seconds.
Sweat furiously dripped down his body and his expression looked pale. HIs Qi Reserve stood at only ten percent and his arsenal of weapons could obviously not defeat his enemy because of his low cultivation. Regret filled his expression when he thought about the times where he didn't improve his cultivation and he inwardly swore that once he survived this ordeal, he would surely cultivate like a madman.
Time trickled like a bomb as Dan promptly decided. Taking a sharp turn towards a dark alleyway, Dan recalled the faces of the men that he just killed as he mumbled under his breath, "Absolute Disguise." Using up half of his remaining Qi, Dan's figure crackled as his height, shortened along with his figure that now looked completely different from before.
Suffusing an indifferent expression, he took a nearby weapon on the ground and rushed to the main battle area. When he ran, Karthus' figure swept past him as he heaved a sigh of relief. But soon, a vicious smile lifted on his lips as he entered a three-story residential area.
There, he opened the System Menu and glanced at his remaining Assassination Points.
[ASP: 1261]
A holographic keyboard manifested in the air as Dan's hands danced above it.
[Karabiner98k; Price: 875]
[Arctic Warfare Magnum; Price: 2075]
[Barret M82; Price: 3750]
Smiling to himself, Dan bought a Karabiner98k along with an 8x Scope and after all of this, he was left with 136 ASP that he used in buying Frag and Flash Grenades.
Carrying the rifle on his shoulder, Dan took an angle where he could completely see the main battle area. Extinguishing his presence, Dan took a deep breath and scoped in. Finding his target, a small smile lifted on his face as his hand, moved and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
Dan's scopes kept dancing around and in each time he pulled his trigger, the members of the Fierce Bulls Gang would tumble down on the ground with a bloody hole at the back of their heads. Dan continued his onslaught and he realized how foolish he was for sneaking up the enemy's territory and aiming for their flag when he could just take cover and snipe them from a safe distance.
He chuckled when he saw that the bastards didn't even realize their comrades dying one after another as they kept throwing explosives at Caitlyn's crew.
As Dan continuously pulled the trigger, system notifications incessantly rang along with semi-transparent screens flickering on his peripheral vision.
[You have successfully Assassinated a member of the Fierce Bulls Gang! Obtained, 3 ASP!]
[You have successfully Assassinated a member of the Fierce Bulls Gang! Obtained, 3 ASP!]
[You have successfully Assassinated a member of the Fierce Bulls Gang! Obtained, 3 ASP!]
By the time that they noticed that there was something wrong. It was too late. For Dan's rifle already reaped a hundred lives from their ranks.