us continued forming hand seals, twisting his fingers intoplex patterns. Luna and Nuna watched closely, fascinated by what he was doing.


    The seals were something taught to him by the senior, who offered him many options to choose from. He even offered to teach us how to ce a ve mark on the twins, but for some reason, us hated that idea, which surprised him.


    The thought of turning someone into his ve didn''t sit well with him, no matter how practical the idea was. So he chose to use an old-fashioned seal called trust.


    Choosing to trust the twins seemed like a foolish idea, especially since they were assassins sent to kill him, but us wanted to trust someone. They seemed like the logical choice.


    If they turned out to be like their mother, he would rather kill them than make them his ves.


    After forming hundreds of seals, a purple runic diagram appeared on the ground, radiating a powerful aura.


    "You two should step inside," us said, and the twins moved inside the diagram.


    "What I''m about to say might be hard, but can you lower the defenses around your soul and mind? And don''t resist once the process begins," us said.


    Luna and Nuna exchanged nces for a few seconds before nodding. us smiled and quickly formed another seal. Shortly after, two identical runic symbols appeared in the air. With a gesture, the runes moved and entered their foreheads.


    As soon as the runes entered their foreheads, they both fell unconscious. us sighed and changed the hand seal. From the diagram on the ground, chains with sharp tips emerged and pierced the twins'' bodies as theyy passed out.


    After a while, the diagram faded, and us dropped to his knees, gasping for air. "I should have done it one by one," he muttered.


    Once he regained his breath, he moved to sit on a broken wall, waiting for the twins to wake up. In their current state, if he wanted to kill them, even his weakened self could do it easily.


    Luna was the first to wake up after an hour. Nuna followed a couple of secondster. As soon as they woke up, they got into a battle stance, drawing their daggers. However, when their gazended on us, who was sitting with his left fist supporting his chin, they calmed down a bit.


    "Is it done?" Nuna asked.


    "Yes. Go ahead, try thinking about something negative toward your mother," us replied. The twins exchanged looks, and with heavy hearts and focused minds, ready to endure the pain, they both thought of the various ways they wanted to kill their mother.


    They closed their eyes, bracing for the pain they usually felt whenever they thought of harming her. But after a minute, when no pain hit their brains, they opened their eyes.


    They looked at each other for a few seconds before jumping into each other''s arms, tears rolling down their cheeks. After decades of being suppressed by their own mother, they were finally free.


    us, sitting a few meters away, watched them with a smile. They had suffered for so long. But seeing their tears, his heart burned.


    For a moment, he wished their vile mother was already in his hands. The pain and torture he nned to put her through... us could only sigh and wait until the day he finally got hold of her.


    After five minutes of shedding tears in each other''s arms, they turned toward us. "Thank you," Nuna said with a slight bow.


    "No need, it was just business," us replied, standing up and walking toward them.


    "Just don''t do anything stupid that will draw your mom''s attention. For now,e up with an excuse that will keep you two away from her for the next four months or so. By then, I''ll be ready to act.


    You can take my offer and pretend to try to kill me whenever you think it''s best. That will show her you''re still on her side, under her control," us added.


    "Sorry us, but I lied" Luna suddenly said, "I wasn''t the only one sent to kill you. There are seven others," She added, her face down


    us just smiled, knowing he expected something like that. They didn''t fully trust him, so despite his offer to remove their seals, they were still skeptical. It was only natural for them to hold back.


    "I figured as much. But that''s actually good. Since convincing your mother that two Great Sages like yourself failed to kill a mere Master Stage warrior won''t work, why not create a situation where she''ll believe you?" us said.


    "You want us to kill the seven others?" Nuna asked, raising an eyebrow.


    "Atta girl. Think about it: if the seven others, who I assume are also Great Sages, start dying, you can tell her I''m being protected by someone powerful. That way, you''ll need more time. If I were your mother, I''d believe that," us exined, making the twins engage in yet another nonverbal stare-off.


    After a few seconds, they nodded. "We will do it, but you should be careful too. The seven others are no weak assassins. One of them even has shape-shifting abilities," Luna warned.


    "If you had to estimate, what are your chances of killing these assassins?" us asked. It was always better to know thy enemy before striking.


    "We have an 80 percent chance of killing three of them individually and a 70 percent chance of killing thest four. But if we join forces, it''s a hundred percent guaranteed," Nuna replied confidently.


    "Then there''s nothing to worry about," us said. With Miriam staying with him, no sane assassin would dare break into their home—shape-shifter or not. Miriam was meticulous with her senses and would detect any threat long before it arrived.


    "But you should know, once these assassins start dying, they''ll send more," Luna added.


    "I know, but don''t worry. It''s only for a few months. After that, the Dark Order wille begging me to stop," us said coldly.


    For now, his target was the Dark Order. As for the people who hired them, he would deal with themter. They had picked the wrong target this time, and it would cost them dearly.


    "Still, be careful out there," Luna said.


    "I will. You two should also be careful. I wouldn''t want to lose my guides who will lead me to a great massacre," us said with a smile.


    He handed his card to Nuna. "You can contact me through this number if you need anything. See youter." With that, us disappeared into the night.


    "He really did it," Nuna whispered, holding the golden card.


    "Yes, and he didn''t ask for anything huge in return. We''re lucky this time, sister. We really are," Luna said, hugging her sister.


    "Let''s make sure none of those scum get to him. He''s our benefactor now, and we have to protect him—even if he doesn''t need it," Luna said, looking into her sister''s eyes.


    "Okay, sister," Nuna replied. With that settled, they melted into the shadows and disappeared. They were more than happy to be free from the curse ced on them by their mother.


    For years, they had tried different ways to kill their mother, but after many failed attempts, they had given up and epted their fate. Now they were free, all thanks to us.


    It was the best day of their lives, and for that, they had us to thank. And what better way to thank him than by making sure no assassin so much as touched a hair on his head?


    us had just gained two deadly assassins as shadow guards, and for the next few months, he would be protected without having to worry much about a thing.


    When he got home, us took a bath and spent some quality time with his goddess before going to bed. The next day, he entered seclusion to ess his past memories—something he couldn''t put off for much longer.