For generations, the assassins and Talented had been at odds with each other. But as fate would have it, the day had come when the two warring factions had to work together, united by a common enemy whose identity they were unsure of. And Conrad did not like it one bit. " Get up, you rotten bastard. I know that hardly hurt you." A moment later, a man-shaped silhouette soon appeared, standing nonchalantly in the carnage. The masked figure strolled through the rubble with almost exaggerated swagger, coming to stop just short of Conrad. Anonymous let out a low chuckle, observing the man before him. " To be honest with you, that last punch hurt quite a bit. So I’m afraid I’ll have to return the favour." Conrad shrugged, placing his hands in his pockets. A confident smirk appeared on his face, his lips curling to form a confident smirk. " Feel free to try. That is, if you can even land a single punch on me." From the shadows, Drake and Nadia quietly watched the battle unfold. True to his nickname, the Spectre moved around the battlefield like a ghost, stalking the different combatants while waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Using his intricate level of control over umbralis, the Spectre masked his and Nadia’s movements, rendering both of them invisible even to the superhuman mystic senses of their adversaries. Most of the Varas had this unique ability, but the Spectre had taken it to a whole other level, so much so that he rivalled the family head in this regard. " Make sure to stay close," he whispered. The two quietly observed the plaza in front of the giant building before them, watching intently for signs of the battle that was unfolding within. As it turned out, they didn’t need to wait for long. A short while later, a dark figure flew out through one of the reinforced walls of the Black Ink HQ, hurtling through the air with deadly force. The man flipped, then skidded to a stop, his feet dragging through the cracked asphalt of the street. Luke unsteadily rose to his feet with a dark grin, his eyes warily observing the damaged building. " Time to take things up a notch," he murmured. In the next instant, he disappeared back inside the ruined building. Drake quietly watched his retreating figure, then let out a quiet sigh. "Sanguine seems to need a bit of help," he muttered under his breath. Drake shot his niece a rare, worried look, then steeled himself. His brown eyes became eerily cold, his face becoming a blank canvas, devoid of emotion. " We’re going to split up. I’m going to help out Sanguine. You cover Darklight." Nadia silently nodded, then turned away to move. " Nadia," he quietly whispered, his tone carrying a hint of urgency. " Be careful, for both of our sakes. Don’t do anything reckless." Vincent had approved Nadia for the covert mission mostly because he trusted that with his brother’s presence, she would be safe. Nadia smirked slightly, then nodded seriously. " I’m a maestro uncle. There’s little that can pause the threat to me." Drake shook his head. " You may be a maestro, but even we aren’t immortal. We can still die. So watch your back out there. I don’t know how I’d face your father if anything happened to you." The Varas family was renowned for its medical techniques, which were among the most advanced even in the era of new technologies. From days past, the Varas assassins wielded their intricate knowledge of medicine to set themselves apart from the other great Houses in that regard. But the Varas family was also known for another obscure family technique, which had been aptly named the Ghost technique. The mysterious technique was only passed down to members of the main family and a select few members of the branch families. The Varas could completely erase their presence even without the use of umbralis; this was the essence of the Ghost technique. This legendary feat had made their fame grow throughout the ages. Adding umbralis to the mix boosted their abilities further, pushing them to the limit of what normal humans could achieve. The title of Spectre was given to the Varas able to most effectively utilise the legendary technique. Only those who had truly mastered the technique could wield it to shield others, allies, from detection. And in this generation, the only person to truly master the technique and reach the pinnacle of its perfection was Drake Varas Despite not being the family Head, Drake’s mastery over the obscure technique was uniquely profound, even in comparison to precious generations of Spectres. It was for this reason Nadia looked up to him and aspired to one day become the next Spectre and Head of the Varas. She quickly headed in the opposite direction from Drake while using her own version of the Ghost technique. On reaching the twin battlefield, what greeted her were loud booms and catastrophic shockwaves rippling through the air. A moment later, two figures burst through an apartment building next to her, locked in mortal combat. The masked figure wielded a dark blade that seemed to absorb the light every time he moved it through the air. In the next moment, Nadia’s eyes widened in disbelief. The other man, Darklight, fought with his bare hands, moving with chilling grace. The nonchalant maestro parried the blade with his bare hands. The other queer thing she quickly noted was his dark sunglasses. The man’s trade mark sunglasses remained in place even as the two men darted around the ravaged street. " Impressive, " Anonymous said, his blade whistling through the air like a guillotine, with the whispered promise of death. Darting away, Conrad threw a lazy look in her direction, then turned his focus back to the fight. Nadia froze, her eyes widening in surprise. For a brief moment, she almost swore the reckless maestro could see her. " But that’s impossible, I executed the technique flawlessly." " Don’t get distracted on me!!!" In the next moment, he darted forward, lunging with his blades in a series of complex attacks. Conrad parried them with his hands, brushing them aside with ambidextrous ease. Nadia pursed her lips, her eyes narrowing in realisation. " I see," she murmured. " His hands are coated in a layer of umbralis." She slowly checked the battlefield, looking for an opening from which to strike. In the next moment, the masked figure drew an unseen blade, his hand whipping through the air with inhuman speed. The small blade streaked through the air within the space of a blink, appearing in front of Nadia’s face. She recoiled, ducking away from the projectile, but in the next moment, the masked figure stood there, towering above her. Hs long dark blade blurred through the air, coming down at her neck with alarming finality. Her mouth fell open in surprise. " But he was standing over there a minute ago. How could he be here?" Drake’s words echoed through her mind. " Even we aren’t immortal. Maestros too can die." Nadia desperately tried to dodge the blade, but deep within her, she knew it was a futile attempt. A split second later, she heard a low groan and the sound of the blade hitting flesh. A dark silhouette stood in front of her. She almost gasped in surprise, her brows knitting together in disbelief. Conrad roughly shoved the blade out of his arm, then stumbled back, shielding her. " If you’re just going to get in the way, you might as well make yourself useful and leave," he growled. He grabbed her, sweeping her off her feet in one fluid motion, then jumped away. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by novel★fire.net A heartbeat later, Annonymous relentlessly slashed through the air. Conrad barely evaded the cut, losing his sunglasses in the process. The darkblade cleanly sliced the glasses in two before they could land on the ground. " Damn it all. Those were expensive, bastard." Anonymous paused, letting out an amused chuckle. "You almost died, and yet all you’re caring about are a pair of glasses. I think I like you." Conrad shivered slightly. "No thanks. I don’t swing that way." Nadia threw him an amused look The masked figure froze in disbelief. "What the hell?! I didn’t..." Conrad roughly tossed Nadia away, eliciting a yelp. He casually licked the blood off his forearm, examining the wound that was beginning to close. " I don’t care what you meant." In the next second, Conrad burst forward, throwing a flurry of punches. "You’re going to pay for the glasses and for ruining a perfectly nice shirt." Anonymous let out a low chuckle, parrying the attacks with the flat of his blade. The two men jumped back at the same time, squaring off. " I’ll give you credit. You’re one tough bastard," Conrad bit out. A slow grin spread across his face. " But I doubt you’re tough enough." In the next moment, he lunged forward. A moment later, the ground cracked violently beneath his feet. The force of his attacks sped up drastically. His fists flashed through the air, leaving afterimages and generating shockwaves in their wake. Nadia observed the fight in quiet shock. The ongoing fight was a rude awakening for her. "I’m also a maestro, but how come they’re so strong, so overwhelmingly fast..." She tried to follow Conrad’s movements with her eyes but failed to keep up. His figure blurred from her sight from time to time. After a while, she was quite sure of her suspicions. "He’s definitely awakened; there’s no possible explanation for his speed and power."