A short, average-built, brown-skinned man with tired eyes sat in front of Ashton. His lips covered most of the lower part of his face, which did not go well with hisrge ears and chiselled jaw. He had curly, ck hair dyed with scarlet-coloured roots and wore thick circr sses.


    "H-Hello! I''m Chitaur, and you possibly haven''t heard about me. But I have heard a lot about you from the vice president." Chitaur said while extending his hand towards Ashton.


    Ashton shook his hand and immediately returned to the topic, "You had some information for me?"


    "Yeah! Just a moment..." Chitaur began rummaging through his backpack and, after a couple of minutes, remerged with an envelope, "You''ll understand everything when you read the letter, but the gist of it is... Phantom is on his way here."


    As soon as E''s mother heard Phantom''s name, her face was drained of colours. While E just sat there still processing the news.


    Chitaur wanted to say a lot more, but Ashton''s expression made him quiet. Ashton was a bit annoyed at him because he revealed such information in front of the clients whose life was on the line here. How could someone sent by Mazton act so carelessly?


    "Thest time I heard, it was impossible to gather any intel about him. Then I wonder how Mazton got such crucial information." Ashton tried to alleviate the situation, "I don''t mean to offend you, but you almost make it sound like he informed you about it himself."


    "That''s... Exactly what he did." Chitaur replied, "The letter in your hands was sent to us by Phantom himself."


    The frown on Ashton''s face was more profound than the Mariana trench when he read what was written on the envelope.


    "To Mr Reaper (Ashton Fenrir)... From Phantom."


    [Oh... The bastard knows your real name. Interesting.]


    ''His intentions are as bright as day. The fucker wants to provoke me.''


    Either the Phantom was a fool, or he was confident in his abilities. Ashton couldn''t decide what it was. But he opened the letter, and the surprises kept oning.


    It was a four-page long handwritten letter. The content of the first page was straightforward. It was an open challenge that he, the Phantom, would march into the mansion, kidnap E, and no one would be able to stop him.


    What caught Ashton''s attention was that the letter was addressed to him. Not the mercenary association, not Mazton, but him. The Phantom was openly mocking him, but at the same time, he was praising him as well.


    In the letter, The Phantom mentioned how he had no intention of getting involved between E and the Metal Sharks as he simply wasn''t interested in the bounty. However, upon hearing about Ashton, he changed his mind.


    At no point did the Phantom say he was there for E. The only person he wanted to meet was Ashton and push him to his wit''s end before ''assimting'' him into one of his countless selves.


    "Oh, and before you think I''m bluffing... Read the letter in its entirety," The letter read, "I assure you, you will not be disappointed."


    "What the hell is this..."


    Ashton thought his shock resistance was high enough for him never to get surprised again. But he was wrong, terribly wrong. So much so that he did not have the will to read the letter out loud.


    The remaining pages of the letter contained information about him that no one in space should have known. Going through the letter seemed like he was reading his biography.


    "Ashton Fenrir, born and raised in prison. You got separated from your parents at age 5 (Earth years). Then turned and raised into bing a cold-blooded killer by his ''mistress''. Little did she know she was sharpening a de that would stab her in the back.


    "Months passed, and you slowly got powerful and made strong connections. Once prepared, you denounced your mistress''s authority over you and began serving the king instead. All the while working as a mercenary on the side.


    "Your powers soon overgrew the limits ced on earth and became stronger while gathering allies. Then you proceeded to establish your estate, a little ce called Livan. Pretty name, by the way. However, even that wasn''t enough for you. After all, your hate for your... Creators was immense.


    "You fought and won a war against your so-called mistress, protected your region from an outbreak of corpsification gas, fought a battle against advanced alien species and won.


    "Then decided to explore space and ended up on Euphoria; Left the ce after sessfully capturing the fourth seat and became a mercenary.


    "You have quite a few achievements at such a young age. That''s why I will make you a part of me. It''ll be a shame to see a treasure like you, get wasted. That''s enough for now, and I''ll tell you more about yourself when we meet. Till then, try not to die, Baby Ash. Bye~"


    The fact that his enemy knew more about him than anyone else in space made Ashton slightly ufortable. But it also solidified something… the letter mentioned a pet name only his father used to call him.


    ''Ash, it''s amon pet name. I shouldn''t dwell on such small things.''


    Ashton shook his head and burned the letter to a crisp. The fire inside him was burning more fiercely than ever before.


    ''Celeste.''


    ''Yes, master?'' The sorceress replied from within his shadow.


    ''Stick to E. You''re going to be my eyes and ears around her. You know what I mean, right?''


    ''Yes, master.'' Celeste replied as she merged with E''s shadow.


    After that was taken care of, Ashton turned toward Chitaur, "Is that all?"


    "I think so." Chitaur replied, "It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr Reaper. If you don''t mind, I''ll take my leave-"


    "Ah, I''m afraid I can''t let you go." Ashton smiled as he got up.


    "What do you mean?" Chitaur smiled nervously.


    "It''ll be a shame to let the enemy walk out, wouldn''t it?"


    As soon as those words left Ashton''s mouth, he drew Balmond and severed Chitaur''s head right in front of E and her mother.


    Chitaur''s headless body fell to the floor, staining it with his blood. At the same time, his head rolled over and ended up at Ashton''s feet.


    "W-What did you do!?" E''s mother shrieked while hugging her daughter.


    "Kekeke..." The severed head sniggered upon witnessing the shock over thedies'' faces, "You are sharper than you look, Ashton. Kekeke, how amusing!"