<h4>Chapter 1: Lyle</h4>


    ng!


    The sound of chains clinging reverberated through the prison, stifled by the screams of the prisoners. Some screamed out in pain while others begged the guards to let them go, trying their best to exin how they were innocent of their crimes.


    Lyle sat in the corner of his cell, his clothes simple rags that the guards had thrown in the cell together with his naked and beaten body.


    A ray of sunlight passed through a small window of his cell and provided some light. The sun was slowly setting and the only light source that Lyle would have would be the moonlight.


    "Is this the guy, the assassin?" A young guard who was passing by with another, older and more experienced guard stopped and asked.


    "Yeah, the crazy bastard actually thought he could assassinate the duke, got caught by the archmage who sealed his powers and ordered for him to be kept here before his execution." The older guard answered as he looked at Lyle with pity.


    Nobody liked the duke, the man was one that simply inherited the position from his father. He was a sadist who enjoyed torturing young men and women in his chambers before disposing of them.


    Of course, that was something that nobody had clear proof of, but everybody knew it was true. Many who were sent to his castle never returned, while their families got pitiful sums of money with a clear excuse that there was an ident in the workce.


    The old guard, alongside many, wished that the young assassin was more powerful and that he was able to kill the duke. s, he failed and was scheduled for execution, his fate would be a cruel one as he was certain to be tortured by the duke profusely before the date.


    Both the young man and the old guard sighed before continuing on their way.


    "Leave your pity for others, I won''t be dying here, not yet," Lyle spoke with a low voice that nobody except for him was able to hear. His long red hair was dirty and unwashed, his skin was covered in filth and his arms and legs were shackled by mana-sealing chains that would not allow him to use mana to break out.


    Lyle didn''t give up, however. He knew that once night fell, he would have a chance to escape this prison, and perhaps even assassinate the young bastard of the duke. He was never powerful, his childhood was spent in the gutter, fighting for survival every single day.


    His magic was weak, he had no talent for it, but his control over mana was something that surprised most that saw him, even mages. With the meager amount of mana he controlled, he was able to rise through the ranks of the assassin order and reach the very top.


    The Shade


    That was the name that he was known in the underground. Rare were those that knew of his identity as most of his targets were killed without the chance to even look at him. Even now, after failing to assassinate the duke, none of them thought that he was an assassin of such caliber.


    That was of course his n. He knew that assassinating the duke would be almost impossible with the archmage guarding him. Hell, even the best assassin in the empire might have failed.


    But if he let himself be caught, then it was different.


    Nobody would suspect somebody like him to break out and make his way to the duke. The archmage would definitely not have such a powerful defense put on the duke when he was so close to him.


    During the night, Lyle was differentpared to his usual self. His power rose but his mana would almost be gone. It was almost impossible for a mage to sense him, making him confident of being able to sneak up to the duke without the archmage finding him out. And if he did?


    Screw it, it was a good life.


    Night fell and Lyle''s red hair grew longer, covering his eyes and falling all the way to his back. His fangs grew longer and his eyes turned blood red while his hair changed color. From the normal red hair, it turned pitch ck.


    Nothing else changed, his height stayed the same, and his muscles didn''t grow or be smaller. His face stayed the same as well.


    Lyle nced down at the chains before closing his eyes. Suddenly all the blood that was inside the prison moved. It slowly crept to Lyle and in a minute, a knife formed entirely out of blood was present in front of him.


    He grabbed the knife with one hand and twisted it around before starting to pry open the shackles. They proved to be tougher than he anticipated, so he changed his target, he started cutting the ground where the chain was located at.


    In about 2 minutes, he managed to cut enough and was able to stand up. The shackles and chains were still there, but he would be able to get the keys from the guard post.


    He knew that the people here all hated the duke and he doubted that they would fight against him. If they did, however, his knife was ready to draw blood.


    Lyle came to the door of his cells and turned around. He twisted his body around the small gaps between the steel bars of the cell and managed to get out. He promptly returned his shoulders and other joints back in ce before walking toward the main guard post.


    Some of the prisoners had seen him and called out to him, only to be met with the cold eyes of the assassin. Upon seeing the red eyes that red at them with no emotion, the prisoners quieted down, all afraid of him.


    It only took Lyle a couple of seconds to find the guard post. He was situated very close to it in order for the guards to have better control over him.


    He came to the door and opened it.


    "Hmm, you?!" The old guard stared at Lyle with shock.


    The young guard, alongside two more, did the same. Even though Lyle had ck hair and red eyes now, it was fairly easy for them to recognize him.


    "Mind taking these off?" Lyle asked the old guard as thetter nced at the other three guards.


    "I''m still not done with my mission, I can''t really fulfill it with these on," Lyle said as the guards still looked at him warily.


    "If you fail, hell, even if you manage to do it, we will all be killed by the higher-ups, what do y-"


    "I''ll make it look like I beat you all, I have this with me." Lyle showed his red knife before disappearing from the spot. The old guard suddenly grunted in pain as his leg was cut, there was not a lot of blooding out of the wound, but the pain was there.


    "If I cut you up and knock you out, then you won''t face any consequences, if you still don''t want to cooperate, then I will kill you all, I do promise a quick and painless death," Lyle said with a calm voice while the guards all gulped before the young guard took out a set of keys.


    "Please, make sure that the bastard dies tonight." The young guard said with clenched teeth as he unlocked the shackles that bound Lyle''s hands and feet. Lyle stretched out a bit before massaging his hands and legs, the shackles that were put on him had been mped down hard on his legs and arms, making it quite painful.


    "Alright, this will hurt, but I promise that you will have nosting injuries, they''ll just look bad since that is what the higher-ups will check."


    Lyle moved like the wind, he cut the guard''s skin and flesh apart before knocking them all out, the young guard had his arm broken as well while he stabbed his dagger deep inside the old guard''s leg. The wounds looked horrifying, but they would heal with time and all that would be left would be a scar.


    As soon as Lyle was finished with the guards, he made his way through the prison. He already knew theyout of the whole castle, what kind of assassin would he be if he didn''t do at least that much in preparation for this night after all?


    The prison was right next to the castle and it took Lyle a short 2 minutes to get inside. The guards that guarded the front gate would be hard to pass by, but Lyle didn''t need to as he simply climbed up and entered through a window.


    He had previously made contact with a maid and paid her to keep that window open. It was something that wouldn''t get her into trouble even if it was found out, so the maid agreed and kept her promise.


    He stuck to the shadows and moved past the maids and butlers, in the rare asions where he couldn''t sneak past them, he would knock them unconscious and hide their bodies. They would wake up in a matter of minutes, probably confused as to what happened to make them suddenly fall asleep.


    For some of the maids or guards, he had nopassion, however. Those that talked about torturing others with ted expressions on their faces, those that adored the duke, he simply killed them all.


    Lyle wasn''t necessarily an evil man, if he needed to, he would sacrifice the lives of the innocent to save himself or to do his mission, but if he didn''t have to, he wouldn''t. Lyle made sure to hurry, however, as it was only a matter of time before somebody found out about his disappearance.


    Even though the four guards were supposed to be the only ones working in the prison tonight, somebody mighte down to check up on them or some of the prisoners.