2026-01-07 23:01:20
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Chapter 138. The Assassin’s Pact
The knife stopped one finger-width from Rick’s throat. It hovered there, steady, unmoving, its edge clean and narrow. Rain slid down the blade and dripped from the tip. Rick did not flinch. He kept his hands open at his sides. His coat hung loose. His breathing stayed even.The alley smelled of wet stone and old blood. A second presence stood behind him. Rick heard the soft scrape of a boot shifting weight. He felt Qi brush his back like cold air.A voice spoke close to his ear. “You walk like a healer,” the voice said. “But you listen like a killer.”Rick did not turn. “If you plan to stab me,” he said, “do it clean. That hand is shaking.”The knife did not move. The rain thickened. Somewhere far off, metal rang as a gate closed. Another voice spoke, this one calm and distant. “Enough.”The knife withdrew. Rick turned slowly. Three figures stood in the narrow alley. All wore dark cloaks that broke their outlines. Their faces were half-hidden behind cloth masks, stitched with thin w
Chapter 137. Luna’s Shadow
The rain stopped without warning. Water slid off the broken tiles and dripped from the eaves of the abandoned watchtower. The night stayed still after that, as if holding its breath. A single lantern burned inside the tower. Its light flickered once, then steadied.Rick sat at the low table, sleeves rolled to his elbows. His hands moved with exact control. He cleaned a thin blade with a cloth, wiped it once more, then placed it back into a leather case. He did not look up.Across the room, Luna stood near the doorway. She watched him without speaking. Her boots were still wet from the road. She did not take them off.Rick closed the case. He opened a small ledger and added a line. The brush scratched softly against the paper.Name. Age. Condition. Outcome.He paused for half a breath, then finished the last character. He closed the book and tied it shut with string.Luna shifted her weight. Rick stood and moved toward the wash basin. He poured water over his hands. The water ran cle
Chapter 136. The Oathbreaker
The vial shattered before it hit the ground. Blue liquid sprayed across the dirt. It hissed and smoked where it landed. A man screamed and scrambled backward, palms digging into mud.Rick stood at the edge of the clearing. He had thrown the stone without breaking stride. His cloak hung open. Dust clung to his boots.The man on the ground clutched his chest. His breath came in sharp pulls. His pupils were wide and glassy. His lips were cracked and stained blue. “Don’t,” the man said. “Please. I paid for it.”Rick did not answer. He stepped closer and knelt. He picked up a shard of glass and sniffed it. His jaw tightened. He dropped it. “Where did you get this?” Rick asked.The man shook his head hard. “It works. Just… not like yours.”Rick reached out and pressed two fingers under the man’s collarbone. The man gasped and went still. His arms locked. Foam gathered at the corner of his mouth.Rick held the pressure until the spasms eased. He released and stood. Footsteps rustled at the t
Chapter 135. The Silent Cure
The first scream never came. The guard at the outer wall stiffened. His breath caught. His eyes widened. Then his knees buckled, slow and careful, as if guided down by invisible hands. He folded against the stone and did not make a sound.Rick eased him flat and pressed two fingers to the man’s neck. He counted three heartbeats. Then he moved on.The fortress loomed above him, all black stone and narrow windows. Torchlight crawled along the walls.Wind dragged sand across the ground in thin lines. Rick wore dark cloth. No sigil. No blade at his hip. Only a small roll at his belt, wrapped in gray cloth.Luna waited beyond the ridge. She did not move. Her eyes followed the towers.Rick crossed the open ground and reached the service door. A second guard leaned against it, half-asleep. Rick stepped close. His hand flashed once. The man slumped, eyes rolling back, breath shallow and steady.Rick lowered him to the ground and opened the door. Inside, the air smelled of oil and metal. Fo
Chapter 134. The Rescue Ledger
The dawn air smelled of dust and scorched wood. Rick crouched behind the remnants of a collapsed bridge, the sun cutting jagged lines across the ruined riverbanks. Luna stood a few paces away, scanning the horizon, crystalline arm catching the first light of morning.Rick’s fingers traced lines across a leather-bound ledger, pages filled with names written in careful script. Some names had small marks beside them: a check for those saved, a cross for those lost. He added a new name: a young boy, thin and feverish, pulled from the rubble of a burned-out village.Luna shifted, brushing dirt from her cloak. “You’re doing it again,” she said. Her voice was soft, not accusing, but sharp in its clarity. “You’re writing names instead of seeing people.”Rick didn’t look up. He flipped the page, scanning quickly for duplicates, making notations about the severity of injuries and the type of treatment administered. Each entry was precise: location, wound type, Qi stabilization needed, recov
Chapter 133. The Butcher Surgeon
The alley reeked of metal and oil. Smoke curled from overturned braziers, carrying the sharp tang of burned Qi cores. Rick moved through the narrow passage with measured steps, eyes scanning the shadows. Luna followed, her blade sheathed but ready, her crystalline arm catching faint glimmers of light from the broken lanterns. “They’ve been experimenting with grafts,” she murmured. “Reports say limbs, organs… some things that shouldn’t even exist.”Rick didn’t answer. His hand brushed the satchel at his hip, fingers resting on the edge of the instruments inside. Every step he took sent subtle pulses through the air, probing, testing. The system flagged the energy ahead: [High Corruption Detected: Life Force Misalignment].At the end of the alley, a dim light glowed against the walls, illuminating a crude operating table. Havel stood over it, hunched, hands smeared with a mixture of blood and alchemical residue. His limbs were augmented, metal grafts, grafted flesh twitching unna
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