Chapter 60: Infiltration

Merry, the King of Assassins, was a name renowned across all the Celtic realms. Logically speaking, once an assassin became famous, they were practically at death's door. Yet Merry was an exception; this Black veteran not only remained alive, but he seemed to grow younger with each passing year.

There was only one reason for this: the man was truly, immensely formidable. The title of King of Assassins was never something he proclaimed himself; it was a crown bestowed upon him by others. As the saying goes, a name might be given in error, but a nickname is never undeserved.

The secret to how this Black brother could roam the martial world for so many years and still remain hale and hearty lay in his peerless, supernatural art of concealment! To put it simply, as long as it was nighttime, provided he did not open his mouth to flash his pearly white teeth, people could stand right in front of him and still be utterly unable to see his form!

For an assassin, sheer combat prowess was never the most important thing. After all, what good is being able to fight if you get surrounded and hacked to pieces by a mob? Merry was different. As long as night fell, no one could find him. Consequently, over the years, his reputation grew ever grander, yet he lived a life of absolute ease and comfort.

It was precisely because of this confidence that Merry dared to accept this contract.

One had to bear in mind that Kay was by no means a nobody. As early as ten years ago, at the age of eighteen, Kay had already earned the title of Champion Knight. Back then, almost everyone believed that this young man was destined for extraordinary greatness in the future. After Kay returned from a ten-year journey around the world, his reputation became even more resounding. During the period since his return, numerous knights had challenged Kay, hoping to use his renown to achieve instant fame in a single day.

As a result, not a single challenger managed to last three minutes against Kay. Because of this, in recent times, the title of the First Knight of the Celtic Realms had grown increasingly illustrious.

Ordinary assassins would never touch a contract involving such a ruthless powerhouse. After all, people assassinate for wealth; who would willingly walk to their deaths?

Furthermore, Kay was a member of the royal family of Camelot. The assassin's trade was, by any measure, a shadow-dwelling existence. Therefore, they approached targets of such noble royal status with extreme caution, because once an incident occurred, the entire Celtic confederation of realms would hunt them down relentlessly. No kingdom could tolerate an assassin who murdered royalty, as it constituted a direct provocation against the entire ruling class.

Only Merry, the King of Assassins, possessed the audacity for this, because Merry had absolute confidence in his own abilities! He believed he could kill Kay and successfully handle whatever consequences followed!

It was precisely this mad self-assurance that drove Merry to accept King Odin's commission. Odin's commission could unquestionably be described as utterly deranged: he not only wanted to eliminate Kay, but he also intended to kill Uther Pendragon's only son, Arthur. This was a deliberate plot to cut off the royal lineage of Camelot entirely! Arthur was the first in line to the throne of Camelot; although Camelot had never officially designated a second in line, Kay was the undisputed choice in terms of both capability and character. Should something genuinely befall Arthur, Kay would most likely become the heir.

In truth, many people understood this implicitly, yet King Odin intended to sweep away both heirs in one fell swoop! By doing so, there would be no universally respected successor left within the royal family of Camelot, plunging the entire realm into chaos.

This tactic could unreservedly be called vicious and ruthless, crossing a major taboo, and it was the sort of behavior that all royal families vehemently condemned and loathed. Everyone present was a king; who would want to be left without descendants due to assassinations on a whim?

Therefore, this contract was destined to be extraordinary from the very beginning. Once successful, it would undoubtedly send shockwaves through all the realms, plunging Merry himself into the predicament of being hunted by a coalition of kingdoms. Without a measure of supreme confidence, Merry truly would not have dared to take on this job.

...

Throughout this war, Kay had consistently operated on the front lines, so his command post had been established at Katrinburg, a border castle originally constructed as a fortified stronghold for the war between Camelot and the Kingdom of Sendryth. However, after ascending the throne, King Uther dedicated himself to maintaining peace with Sendryth. Through years of effort, Camelot and Sendryth finally reached a peace treaty, and as a result, this fortress originally intended for war was eventually abandoned, transforming into a small border town.

Yet unexpectedly, today, due to Arthur's momentary impulsiveness, this small border town that had embraced peaceful living was once again converted into a military fortress.

Because this castle had been built for warfare from the outset, the entire stronghold was exceptionally easy to defend and difficult to attack. Coupled with Kay leading his troops into garrison it, this moderately sized fortress became heavily fortified. Guard posts were stationed every few paces, patrolling soldiers marched almost ceaselessly day and night, and a web of hidden sentries was woven throughout. To call it impregnable would be no exaggeration at all.

However, in the eyes of Merry, the King of Assassins, this amounted to very little. He was an assassin, and his livelihood relied on infiltration and assassination; ordinary guards meant virtually nothing to him.

He concealed himself at the base of the city wall, waiting for the moment when the garrison forces atop the wall would change shifts, while simultaneously memorizing the patrol frequency of the roving sentries overhead. He needed to initiate his action at a time when everyone's vigilance was at its lowest.

He crouched at the foot of the wall, motionless like a breathlessness stone. Even as soldiers marched back and forth on patrol directly above his head, not a single one of them discovered him.

As the clock struck three or four in the morning, Merry suddenly opened his eyes.

The time had come!

With a sudden burst of movement, Merry leapt straight up the wall from the shadows where he had been concealed. Yes, he sprinted right up it. He pushed off the masonry a few times, utilizing the friction between his specially crafted shoes and the stonework to propel himself four meters high in an instant. Ordinarily, a person would plunge back down at this point due to a lack of upward momentum, but Merry directly clamped his bare hands onto the face of the wall! Like a gecko.

His fingers locked tightly into the narrow crevices between the stone blocks. Relying solely on these minuscule purchase points, Merry climbed the sheer wall with the ease of walking on flat ground.

Meanwhile, the shift change was taking place atop the ramparts. This was the deepest part of the night, when human vigilance was at its nadir. The night-watch soldiers were already overwhelmed with exhaustion, and with the shift change underway, their attention had long since drifted to their warm tents; they had no inclination whatsoever to notice surrounding disturbances.

Seizing this exact opportunity, Merry slipped silently and swiftly past the battlements. His speed was not only blindingly fast, but entirely devoid of footfall. The sleep-deprived soldiers, lacking focus, stood no chance of detecting that someone had just sprinted past right beneath their noses.

Once inside the city, following the intelligence provided by King Odin, Merry moved at lightning speed toward Kay's location.

Although he encountered several patrolling squads along the way, relying on his miraculous concealment techniques, Merry eluded them all without a hitch. Very soon, Merry arrived at the highest level of the castle—Kay's temporary quarters!