Read Novel Full Chapter 523: Unexpected Attacker
Chapter 523: Unexpected Attacker
Torin was slightly taken aback by Gabriel’s words.
He did not show it much, but the small pause in his breathing gave it away. Anyone who could stand in this room, kill his way through the base, and still speak so calmly was not someone he could look down on.
He had already understood that much before Gabriel even reached this chamber.
Every assassin sent ahead had died. The backup unit had also failed. Barry had vanished. Even Johnny’s aura had cut off not long ago, and Torin knew what that meant.
Johnny was dead.
That alone was enough to force caution into any sane man. Johnny was not the strongest in the base, but he was skilled and calm. For someone like that to die so quickly told Torin that the man before him was not some ordinary brute swinging heavy weapons around.
Torin’s eyes stayed shut for a moment longer before a faint smirk touched his lips.
"You speak with confidence," he said. "Since you are going to die anyway, revealing a little should not matter much."
Gabriel did not move. Torin finally opened his eyes fully and looked at him for the first time.
"The man wears a one eye spectacle."
That was all Gabriel needed. His face did not change much, but the answer struck deep enough that everything else in the room lost weight for a second. There was only one person he knew who fit that detail, and only one person who had both the means and the motive to move pieces in the shadows like this.
The head developer.
He was the one who somehow found a way to send human consciousness into this realm while fooling the entire human world into thinking this place was only a game. More than that, he was tied to Sutre. That alone was enough to make Gabriel hate him more than most enemies.
Gabriel’s fingers tightened slightly around the hilt of his blade.
"So it is really you."
Torin saw the change in his face and spoke again.
"I told you already. You should not have come down here alone."
At those words, Gabriel sensed a presence behind him.
It had approached with incredible control. The aura was hidden well enough that a weaker person would have noticed only after dying, but Gabriel’s perception was too high for that. He knew someone was there the moment he had stepped into the hall.
Behind him, the figure was already in motion.
His expression was cold and murderous as he rushed in for a sneak attack, clearly intending to strike while Gabriel’s focus stayed on Torin. One more step and the hit would land cleanly.
However, the figure suddenly looked down.
A small glowing circle had appeared beneath his feet. His face changed at once.
Torin’s expression cracked for the first time.
He had not expected that.
"How?" he said.
Gabriel did not bother answering him.
For one brief second, the dojo fell completely quiet except for the low sound of the flames on the walls. Gabriel drew in a slow breath, and that silence only made Torin’s confidence break faster.
He finally turned around and looked at the so called presence that had tried to sneak up on him.
It was none other than General Aston. There was a slight look of surprise on Gabriel’s face, but it was perfectly masked by the mask he wore.
Meanwhile, Torin’s pupils trembled, his eyes locked on the glowing mark under Aston’s boots.
The trap had been there before Aston moved in. That meant Gabriel knew. He knew Aston was behind him, and instead of turning to defend, he had simply allowed the attack to come.
"So that is what you meant," Gabriel finally spoke. "Was Aston the reason you kept saying I should not have come down here?"
Torin’s eyes narrowed sharply.
"How did you know?"
Gabriel did not bother replying and instead charged forward. The floor cracked under his first step, and his body shot toward General Aston with terrifying speed. The circle flared brighter beneath Aston at the same time, locking his movement for that brief fatal moment.
Aston reacted fast for a man of his level.
His arm rose at once to block, and power surged through his body as he tried to brace himself. Even stuck, his combat instinct was top class, and the force around his blocking arm was enough to crush weaker attackers on contact.
Gabriel’s fist still came through regardless.
Crack! BOOM!
It hit with the force of a train moving at full speed. That was not just strong. That was monstrous.
Aston’s arm did not block. It exploded upon impact.
Bone shattered first. Flesh ripped apart next. Blood burst outward in a heavy spray as the fist smashed through his guard, tore through the rest of his forearm, and kept driving forward without losing force.
Aston’s eyes widened.
"Heavens... what is this strength?"
The attack caved into the side of his upper body and launched him clear off his feet. His huge frame flew across the dojo like dead weight and slammed into the far wall with enough force to crack stone and split wood apart.
The whole chamber shook as dust fell from the ceiling. The torches bent sharply for a second from the impact, and Torin, who was watching, could only stare.
General Aston slid down the wall slowly.
His ruined arm hung in a mangled mess. Blood poured down his side and spread across the boards beneath him. His breathing turned ragged at once, and for the first time since Gabriel entered this place, the great general of the Valerian Kingdom looked pathetic and shaken.
Torin no longer looked calm either. His pupils had shrunk, and the confidence he carried moments ago was gone. The sight of Aston being broken in one clean move had destroyed whatever final assurance he still held.
Gabriel lowered his fist slowly. Blood dripped from his knuckles to the floor. His face remained calm, but killing intent now leaked out of his entire body.
Neither man in the dojo misunderstood the situation anymore.
The one who had walked into the deepest room of Black Star was not the prey, but rather the hunter.