Chaotic Region of the Universe.

Venzula Empire.

Southern Continent.

Everdawn City (Largest City in the Southern Continent).

The morning air was very humid and cool. The streets stretched for as far as the eyes could see. Several skyscrapers stretched outwards. Chatter filled everywhere as individuals flew across the skies or roamed the streets.

Everdawn City was the largest city in the Southern Continent for a reason. It was where the headquarters of organisations with branches across different parts in the Southern Continent were located. Even large organisations without branches in the Southern Continent were located here.

The Insidious Assassin Syndicate HQ was located in Everdawn City. It was a very large area with several skyscrapers and buildings of different magnitudes that stretched outwards.

Several individuals in various masks could be seen heading in and out of the building. These individuals were either assassins from the syndicate or clients who personally visited the syndicate to pay for certain targets to be eliminated. It was obvious they would not want their faces to be obvious in public.

Several figures in cloaks could be seen watching a hologram in one of the large conference rooms of one of the building complexes in the syndicate at the moment. Occasionally, a pale, fair-skinned, dark-eyed, dark-haired figure with a lean, tall athletic build, wearing a black long coat, t-shirt, and white sneakers would appear in the hologram, alongside a white-haired individual with crimson eyes.

"So these are the targets who destroyed one of our branches, huh? To think one of them even killed a relative of the branch head in that city. It seems people in the Southern Continent have forgotten why we are feared as one of the most powerful organisations in the Southern Continent," a man in a white cloak seated at the head of the table spoke.

Everyone watching the holograms nodded at the man at the head of the table’s words as chatter filled the room. The president was right. These two individuals in the hologram—they didn’t know whether to call them stupid or audacious.

There was a reason why no one dared to cause trouble for the Insidious Assassin Syndicate in the Southern Continent. If anyone crossed them, they would send assassins after you till you died. It was safe to say that you would be hunted for the rest of your life. Even if you left the Southern Continent for other continents where their influence didn’t hold, they would still track you down and hunt you.

This was what made them very terrifying. To think that someone would ignore this reality and still go ahead and offend them. It seems they had to remind the Southern Continent again that they were not to be messed with.

Insidious Azurl, the Syndicate president, spoke again. "The intercity competitions of the NGU of the Southern Continent are happening soon, right?"

"Yes, sir." Everyone nodded.

"Good." A glint flashed through the eyes of Insidious as he spoke to one of the higher-ups. "Alert some of our members in the various guilds that will be participating in the intercity competitions. Kailen Darkhaven and Julian Sier—they should kill them in the most humiliating way possible."

"Yes, sir." The person nodded and disappeared to get the job done.

The other higher-ups in the room nodded in satisfaction. As expected of the president, always decisive.

"Now, let’s talk about other matters."

****

In another part of Everdawn City, a hotel restaurant was bustling at the moment. The place was very lively as several individuals could be seen engaged in either conversations or meals.

Several of these people were representatives from various guilds in different cities in the continent. There were also guild leaders among them, who came with their representatives. They had arrived two days prior to the competition and had decided to lodge in this hotel. There were several others also lodging in different hotels at the moment.

At this moment, in this hotel restaurant, a figure with void-like hair and eyes was seated across a table with a white-haired, red-eyed figure. Across them was seated a very short, feminine figure. These three were naturally Kailen, Dawnseer, and Julian.

They were currently staying in this hotel too. As the guild leader, Dawnseer naturally came with them to the intercity competition. It was a requirement for the guild leader to be present at the venue of the competitions at all levels.

A month had passed since the incident with the Insidious Assassin Syndicate in Richtchard City had occurred. During that period, Kailen made use of the artificial secret realm of Dexter to cultivate. Julian made use of the principle fragment tower of the guild too. There had not been much of a significant increase in their strengths. But, it was better than nothing.

"This city is a very large city," Julian said at this moment, as he looked through the glass windows of the city sprawled beneath him.

"Indeed. This is the largest city in the Southern Continent. This is where the head branch of the NGU in the Southern Continent is located," Dawnseer said. "Also, there are several large organizations with branches across the continents with their headquarters here. Some of the organisations also don’t have branches, but they are very large and have established a foothold for themselves in the city. The organisations in the city include guilds, assassination organisations, and mercenary organisations. Also, the Venzula National Bank’s head branch in the continent is here too. The same applies for the Venzula Law Enforcement Agency head branch in the continent."

Julian and Kailen nodded.

"The Insidious Assassin Syndicate HQ is here, I suppose?" Julian asked Dawnseer.

"Mmm," she replied.

"They will most likely send members of their organization, spread across the representatives from the various guilds, to deal with us during the competition," Julian mused.

Kailen nodded. He shared the same thoughts.

"We can handle that much," Julian said. "After the competition, we proceed as you proposed, right, Kailen?"

Kailen nodded warmly. "Yeah."

Dawnseer could only observe them. She did not know what they were planning after the competitions—that’s if they managed to make it till the end. Even after the competition, the Insidious Assassin Syndicate would come after the two of them. How were they planning to deal with them?

Naturally, she could not ask them. She had considered things from all angles and she could not help Kailen and Julian deal with them.

The Insidious Assassin Syndicate was not an organization she could antagonise. Since she made her decision to not get involved because of the risks, she didn’t have the right to ask them about their plans.

She was only here because they were her representatives in a competition, and their eventual success will bring her benefits.

Kailen and Julian understood her decision perfectly, and they were very pragmatic about it.

Suddenly, Kailen glanced in a particular direction. Someone at a different table was staring at him, and it was not a good stare.