Chapter 1141 The Heartless Assassin
"Oh... the evil god?"
The Lord of Scales and Feathers read Aiwass's thoughts, leaned forward slightly, and laughed heartily: "Is that what you think?"
"Just kidding, just kidding..."
Aiwass chuckled.
Because he didn't want anyone to hear him, Aiwass didn't speak a word the entire time. Instead, he relied on the Scale Feather Lord's mind reading and communicated directly with the Scale Feather Lord using his "inner thoughts".
To others, this kind of mumbling might be considered a few complaints in their minds, but to the Lord of Scales and Feathers, it was like complaining to his face—which, on reflection, was indeed a bit impolite.
"Just kidding."
The Lord of Scales and Feathers happily leaned back and lay across from the carriage. "I wouldn't get angry about something like that—is it possible that I'm actually an evil god?"
——It feels like you are angry!
But facing Aiwass's increasingly subtle gaze, the Lord of Scales and Feathers simply said calmly, "Don't worry about those details. After all, what is the difference between an evil god and a righteous god?
"Darkness will be swallowed up by greater darkness, and villains can be united by a greater villain. Just like Hawkeye's assassin.
"From the moment they were founded, they were considered unstable and a mass of uncontrollable darkness in the eyes of their rulers. No ruler in this world could allow the existence of a group of assassins so skilled that they could easily kill them while being beyond their absolute control.
"But faced with the ever-expanding power of the Moon Children, the Iris Royal Family still chose to acquiesce to and even shelter the Hawkeye Organization. During the era when the royal family still existed, even royal guards and even collateral branches of the royal family would join the organization in every generation."
The Lord of Scales and Feathers said meaningfully: "The leader of Hawkeye's generation is from here."
"...that Chancellor Pierre?"
Aiwass suddenly realized.
No wonder the three Grand Dukes were so supportive of the Hawkeyes. They weren't Transcendents who had adapted to the Dao, and to them, both Hawkeye and Moonchild were "outsiders." Yet, the Grand Dukes clearly favored Hawkeye—a stark contrast to the other nobles who leaned heavily towards Moonchild. And while the three Grand Dukes openly called themselves "Dukes," none of those "assassins pursuing freedom and equality" would try to kill them.
Aiwass had initially thought that this was because the Duke and his men had sponsored the Hawkeye Organization and received their protection. He had never expected this to be the "effect" rather than the "cause."
Despite the Hawkeye organization's enormous size, less than one-fifth of them were Transcendents. Most of them were peripheral members like the ones Yassen had met in the bar earlier. Even among the Transcendents, the vast majority were of lower rank... The few who remained at the higher rank had to take on assassination missions to support the organization, and even then, supporting so many people was incredibly difficult.
They really need money, very much.
Because they have the protection of the Moon Child, the nobles are not very afraid of them, so they are not willing to pay them protection fees... It is better to say that if Hawkeye had not killed several of their family members, the Moon Child might not trust them.
If the Son of the Moon comes to cause trouble later, he will die the same way.
The only ones willing to sponsor Hawkeye were the three grand dukes.
Although the Hawkeye Organization basically recruits new members from the bottom of society and the dregs of society, such as the homeless, orphans, prostitutes, gang members, vagrants, debtors, fugitives, etc. in order to prevent the infiltration and corruption of the Moon Children, its core is even as high as the level of "royal side branch".
...No wonder Hawkeye always sends people to secretly protect the king.
The "hot-blooded young man Louis Sauvage" who beheaded the Swan King that year was also successful by bypassing Hawkeye's control and protection.
When Aiwass heard that Hawkeye was also monitoring the situation, he just felt a little strange and didn't think much about it. Now he understands the reason behind it...
The three grand dukes are still sponsoring the Hawkeye organization today because Hawkeye is the only legitimate organization of Iris.
How ironic.
"...But if that's the case," Aiwass thought of something else, "then Mr. Speaker, taking all the blame on himself and trying to exonerate Hawkeye...that seems a bit of a waste of time."
Speaker Pierre himself has a trace of royal blood, so he was able to stand out in the election of the Giant Tree Party - and because of this, the Hawkeye Organization was able to gain tacit approval and investment.
But if he himself has reputation problems, what value will the Hawkeye organization have?
"Wait, it can't be..."
Aiwass reacted.
——Is he defiled himself to survive?
"As expected of you, you reacted so quickly."
The Lord of Scales and Feathers smiled with satisfaction.
The fact that Speaker Pierre, the leader of the Giant Tree Party, is the leader of the Hawkeye Organization can be said to be a top secret. I am afraid that apart from the top leaders of the Hawkeye Organization, only the three grand dukes and a very small number of people know about it.
If Moonchild knew about this, he would have been dead long ago.
Although the Hawkeye Organization was ostensibly composed of mercenaries from the Black Hawk Principality, the fact was that the Hawkeye Organization's assassination had brought hostility from both Avalon and the Theocracy to Iris, which was advantageous for the Son of the Moon to launch an attack—and the Healthy Party, controlled by the Son of the Moon, and the Giant Tree Party were in a hostile relationship.
If the Moon Child seizes the opportunity to launch a purge, then with the Health Party dominating, Speaker Pierre could be in grave danger, potentially both physically and politically.
But if he defames himself and puts all the blame on himself, making the people obviously dissatisfied with him and the Giant Tree Party... then he can actually buy time.
Because of these continuous scandals, he will definitely lose the next election, and the Healthy Party will not do anything unnecessary or risky.
After all, the Children of the Moon have almost infinite lifespans, and time is on their side.
They have become accustomed to this style of fighting, which uses lifespan to wear down the enemy's strength and slowly erode the opponent's power.
"But this isn't thorough at all."
Aiwass also immediately realized another shortcoming of this idea - that it did not actually solve any problems, but only postponed them, and even made the problems more serious.
The Hawkeye Organization is still burdened with dirty charges, and even the originally high-ranking Speaker Pierre was exposed for defending Hawkeye.
Now with the sudden demise of the Son of the Moon, the Healthy Party has completely lost its ability to resist.
At this golden moment of internal strife, it would be impossible for no one to drag Hawkeye into it.
——You know, the real name of Iris is “The Land of Love and Beauty”.
What about the United States?
The four irises on the Fleur-de-Lys flag represent the path of beauty. The path of beauty is the original orthodoxy. This is because the nobles who formed the Fleur-de-Lys flag came from the Art Guild of the Hellas Empire.
They were the same people who had chosen to go to war with the Alchemist Guild because of the painting "The Alchemist." They had the most orthodox and ancient artistic heritage, no less than the necromancy tradition of the Ziggurat.
The reason why Hawkeye and Son of the Moon are now the only two in power is because they are tacitly working together to encircle and suppress the extraordinary people on the path of beauty.
If it weren't for the assassinations and corruption against artists, the Path of Beauty would definitely be the one with the highest number of upper-level transcendents in Iris.
With the Path of Love becoming extinct and the Path of Adaptation revealing flaws, they must try to turn the tables - if they don't try hard at this time, they will have no chance once those Hawkeye scum take over.
Hawkeye was certainly no fool. If they wanted to ascend to power, they would have to crush these people first. Compared to artists, assassins skilled in assassination clearly had a much greater advantage in the realm of "physical destruction."
——How ridiculous.
When the Sons of the Moon, who were the enemy of mankind, became extinct, humans began to fight each other to the death - if they had had the courage to fight to the death, the weak Sons of the Moon would have been expelled or imprisoned long ago.
"Isn't it interesting? And in this case, the top management of Hawkeye chose an even more interesting path—"
The Lord of Scales and Feathers laughed heartily: "That's why I'm here, telling you all this! If you don't even know why I'm here, it would be too boring!"
Aiwas's mind buzzed and he understood everything.
Chloe's grandfather probably never thought the assassination would succeed. Or rather, regardless of whether the assassination succeeded or not, his plan was realized.
——He wanted to stop this internal strife that would inevitably destroy everything.
In the name of Hawkeye... do your best to assassinate Aiwass.
If he succeeds, he will get his revenge at the same time.
They will soon face the wrath of New Herasil and the Theocracy. In the chaos, Iris will be easily defeated and incorporated into New Herasil's system. The Hawkeye Organization, which successfully assassinated them, will also be purged.
If he fails, then Speaker Pierre can also take the opportunity to launch a large-scale purge of Hawkeye, thereby gaining the favor and support of the Theocracy and New Herasil, and successfully cut ties with the Hawkeye organization.
Even if Aiwass guessed this, he would not forgive Hawkeye.
Whether it succeeds or not, Hawkeye will be destroyed.
Before this, Hawkeye had already integrated almost all the dregs of Iris in the long battle with Moonson.
With the destruction of Hawkeye, these people will all be destroyed in one go.
The country is at peace again, the scum have been destroyed, and the monsters have been destroyed...
—and the irises will be reborn.
"The assassin's determination..."
Aiwass murmured.
This doesn't seem to be a principle of adaptation to the Tao... but rather comes from the Twilight Tao.
Is it because of old age that it has become slanted to dusk?
He was already extinct, and his bloodline could not continue. However, his strong desire to be remembered, and his repentance for wanting his life to have meaning... led him to choose this path.
Because of this, the master assassin is more dangerous than any assassin of the same level—
He didn't care whether the assassination was successful or not, because even failure would be a victory;
He did not care whether he would die or not, for he was certain of death;
He didn't care if he would implicate others, because his goal was to drag them into hell together;
He didn't even care whether the iris could survive - because if he didn't, the iris would be completely destroyed by himself.
There is no intention to kill, no intention to retreat, no business, no hesitation.
No mind, no object, no self——
At this moment, Aiwass suddenly felt his heart tighten and his scalp exploded instantly!
The dim light flowed by, and the whole world seemed to be frozen in an instant.
——Can’t move.
Can't move at all!
It wasn't that his body was overwhelmed by the killing intent, but rather that the sense of time was stretched infinitely in that instant. Because external time hadn't even passed a tenth of a second, his body couldn't move no matter how hard he tried.
The next moment, the carriage, which was slowing down while turning, was instantly penetrated from the side.
Two pitch-black arrows hit Aiwas's left and right chest respectively.
The third shot directly cut off one of Aiwas's antlers that was hidden by the illusion, and pierced his forehead perfectly.
The arrow had exited from the back of his head, and the shaft was still lodged in his brain. Regardless, this was clearly a fatal injury...
Then time began to flow normally.
The carriage continued to move forward, and the driver in front didn't even realize that Aiwass had been assassinated. The three arrows that pierced Aiwass were silent, leaving only little finger-sized holes in the carriage, and the carriage didn't even vibrate.
It was an assassination in an instant.
Only five hundredths of a second passed from the time he sensed the danger until the third arrow hit him.
He didn't even know where the other party launched the sneak attack, but the fatal injury had already been caused.
The arrow seemed to have some special power that could seal extraordinary powers just by touching the body.
Generally speaking, upper-level transcendents are basically completely immune to physical attacks such as arrows and bullets, and at least only heavy artillery can cause some damage.
But this special arrow easily broke through this defense. It even completely suppressed Aiwass the moment it struck, preventing him from using his extraordinary abilities—whether it was healing, casting a shield on Don Quixote, or summoning other sin beasts. His mana rapidly burned, wreaking havoc on his body.
If it were a normal person... even a fifth-level transcendent would have been seriously injured by this blow.
But then...
Aiwass, with a black, curved, matte arrow like a thorn stuck in his head, turned around and looked at the Lord of Scales and Feathers in surprise.
He is not dead.
It's not even painful at all.
Instead... I felt an intense, intoxicating pleasure.
Aiwass finally understood why the Lord of Scales and Feathers was happily watching the fun here and was not in a hurry at all.
The reason is very simple——
"This is the Hawkeye Organization's most valuable artifact, a set of only nine God-killing arrows. These bolts are capable of assassinating the Eternal Pope... but when he chose to use them, he was doomed to failure."
The Lord of Scales and Feathers said leisurely, "Because this is an arrow forged from concentrated and refined Sinthorn. Sinthorn cannot accept any extraordinary abilities from the Source River, but it cannot be refined without extraordinary power. Therefore, this is an arrow that can only be forged by a 'Magic Craftsman' above the fourth energy level, at the cost of giving up their own abilities and souls.
"One life for one arrow. The power of nothingness contained within the Sinthorn is indeed a threat to gods... After all, even the Pillar Gods can be infected by the nothingness. But against you, it has absolutely no effect."
"In the past, his granddaughter was proud of her ability to control shadows, but she died at the hands of your Shadow Fiend. Now, he is proud of his ability to wield this Sinthorn Crossbow... This is a cycle of fate, isn't it?
"—You don't need me at all, Aiwass. Your life is much tougher than you think. You should be more confident. If you can't bear it, why would I bring you into this world?
"Now, transform into a sin-monger... and put an end to him."
Even the Lord of Scales and Feathers doesn't need to say anything.
Under the catalysis of the power of the sin thorn, Aiwas's body began to deform uncontrollably.
The arrow of sin that had been ingested began to melt, dripping into Aiwas's brain like chocolate being burned by a blowtorch.
The mana that Aiwas had burned due to the Sin Thorn was replenished at several times the speed, and had even recovered to the point of complete overflow.
The concentrated sinthorns made Aiwas's conversion rate increase rapidly. In the blink of an eye, it exceeded 60%, and it was still increasing!
Update completed, two in one!
I didn't arrive at the hotel until almost 3am yesterday, and I woke up at 8:30am to eat. I felt like I was going to die...
After a short nap for an hour, I have to go out again. It seems that there are not many authors writing in the hotel today, but I don’t have any leave notes (sad)
Uhhh—
(End of this chapter)
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