Brushstroke and company found the situation extremely strange.

Several of his men outside the surrounding vicinity of the airship had just reported to him that they had not sited any assassins so far. What was going on? Could it be that the assassins were so skilled at hiding themselves that no matter how well his men scouted the place, they could not see the assassins?

That was not entirely possible. His men were not amateurs. Although the count’s situation was special, they had dealt with situations like this on several occasions. This was why they had been assigned for this task.

So why were they not coming across any assassins?

One of the men spoke. "Could it be that Mr. Darkhaven has been intercepting them from the shadows and getting rid of them before we even reach where assassins could be hiding?"

Brushstroke nodded. "That could be the case. No, that is most likely the case."

"As expected of Mr. Darkhaven. He’s very terrifying. To think he’d be more skilled than even the assassins themselves. It looks like this person is far more dangerous than he lets on," Count Cristo said.

Everyone in the spaceship nodded. If this Kailen Darkhaven wanted to get rid of all of them, he would have done so without any effort. The assassins that were sent by those who were after the count would definitely not be weak.

Since The Engineer had most likely dealt with all of them and left no traces of them, it meant he was too terrifying that eliminating them was effortless for him. They literally felt chills crawling up their spines.

"Good thing I left a good first impression on him when we first met," Brushstroke thought inwardly. However, they realized this would be a good thing for them.

Brushstroke ordered his men, "Return to your stations."

"Yes, sir."

Each of them returned to their stations, playing their roles to guard the count. As for Brushstroke, he remained inside the airship. His duty was to guard the count by staying very close to him in case someone managed to infiltrate the airship to launch an attack on the count.

*****

Kailen moved to another mountain peak in the mountain range. Like a statue covered in snow, he blended with the environment. He quietly deleted several assassins that showed up, leaving no traces of them.

However, he was currently in thought.

"Something seems off. The assassins are no longer coming." A glint of realization flashed through Kailen’s eyes. "It seems those who sent them have realized they have been killed. They are most likely reassessing their plans. They will most likely send stronger assassins here. Perhaps rank 4 novice stage Transcendents. Let’s see if I can find a solution to this before I think of abandoning the mission. What do I do?"

Kailen thought, mind calm.

"The count is a target of several powers in Solmaria City. The reason why they are sending assassins after him is most likely due to one of these two reasons: They don’t really want him dead. They want to kill everyone transporting him to the Caravan Transport Agency HQ, and capture him to force the information they need out of him.

Or...

They are being vindictive, thinking that if they cannot have the information on the location of the place naturally having principle fragments, no other power should have access to it, and therefore he has to be killed. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

What about this can I use to my advantage to remedy the situation..."

Kailen kept thinking, mind calm.

"Does that not mean that if the count goes missing, they will stop sending assassins after him?" A glint of realization flashed through his mind. "Those after him definitely are not stupid. They may have predicted that an unknown variable has appeared, eliminating the assassins they are sending after him. However, they don’t know my current location, or who I am, due to my covert operation. Also, they are not working together.

If we fake the destruction of the airship, and the death of the count, they won’t be able to confirm whether or not the count is alive. These powers will most likely think one of them may have succeeded in eliminating the count. Since they are most likely reevaluating their plan, and the rank 4 novice stage transcendents they will definitely send after the airship is yet to arrive, we can use this opportunity to execute this plan.

It would not have been a bad idea to use my principle of space to shorten the distance of travel. However, the seventh continent is very large. The distance from here to Veyrath City is quite long. There will be enough time for the assassins to catch up if I use that method. I can only resort to the death faking method," Kailen decided.

He sent a thought transmission to Brushstroke and the count. When they heard his reasoning, they could not help but be surprised. How did he even come up with something like this? But from everything he had just said, they could not help but admit that this was the best course of action. There was no way they could deal with the next batch of assassins which would come.

Kailen was relieved that they agreed. If they decided not to cooperate, he would have just returned back to the academy to take on another mission. His life was more important to him than a mission. But since they agreed, things would proceed smoothly.

Kailen scanned the vicinity and let them know that no assassins were in hiding to observe them.

They left the airship. Brushstroke destroyed the airship. However, through Kailen’s directions, he made the airship look like a serious battle had broken out here and it had been destroyed. Also, several of Brushstroke’s men left traces of their blood at the place as an indication that they had been wounded and killed.

"Let’s spread out and head towards different directions, leading to Veyrath City. That way, it will be easier to be covert," Kailen said. "The count will be travelling with me," Kailen added.

Brushstroke, his men, and Count Cristo nodded.

"Alright. Keep the count safe, Mr. Darkhaven. See you in Veyrath City. I am contacting HQ to make arrangements to receive us. Just show some fellows at the edge of the Bronbree district of Veyrath City this badge when you arrive." Brushstroke handed a badge over to Kailen.

"Noted," Kailen replied and placed the badge in his secret realm.

Brushstroke and his team split up. Each of them headed towards different directions in the mountain range, moving like swift shadows covertly.

Kailen and the Count also disappeared through another route of the mountain range.