In the World of Sword and Magic as Space Marine

Chapter 48: Assassin of Horror and Pain

Never in his life did Prince Benton expect to see the Duchess jump high up and deliver a punch right at the giant's face. Not only is she still wearing her armor which weighed around 33 pounds (15kg), but she managed to complete this with a single motion as if she was moving with the river current. Prince Benton was confident William didn't mind or felt the punch since he was the most formidable warrior prince have ever met, but the situation became much drier and more complex than before.

Honesty, everyone saw and heard the insult from one of the priests about Rana being a 'Murderous whore' and how they came to retrieve her as if she was something they could walk in and take her away. Worst of all, that same priest said that in front of William, which is equivalent to provoking an ancient dragon while desecrating the creature's treasures.

From Prince Benton's point of view, William's action was justified. William was protecting Rana's honor which his father and many other nobles failed to do. Because those priests were representatives of the foreign nation, even the Crown Prince couldn't do much unless he wanted to start the war, this time marking Alderim as an aggressor.

Prince Benton and others who were present at that time can vouch for William's action and how noble it was to defend Rana's name and honor. As Rana was the previous hero of the war against Legellan, many of the loyal nobles will back William, but the problem lies with a large group of minor nobles who were more concerned with maintaining their current power and positions instead of supporting Alderim and the royal family.

Minor nobles were a headache for the royal family long before Prince Benton was born. Their hold on citizens of Alderim using their private military has been a mockery to the noble titles and jab on the side, slowing bleeding the Alderim from uniting as one nation.

The royal family and high nobles didn't crush the minor nobles because of their large numbers (Estimated 4 to 1 against loyal nobles) and control of the citizens within their territory. Even if the crown could remove all minor nobles from their power, there is no way the crown can replace that many nobles and maintain the stability of all of the territories. But now, with William in the picture, the problem could be solved even if Prince Benton doesn't know it right now.

After the Duchess punches William's face because he just caused an international incident by killing eight guards, assaulting one of the representatives to near death, and declaring war against Legellan, everyone returns back to the meeting room to discuss what to do next.

After hours of intense conversation between the Duchess, Prince Benton, Prime Minister Waylon, and the Queen, it is decided that William has to officially declare his war against Legellan tomorrow in front of everyone, including King Benton.

The Queen and Prime Minister did their best to change William's mind, but it was useless since William was still angry with the priests, especially that elf priest. As for Prince Benton and the Duchess, they didn't even bother to try William's mind since they knew it would be pointless to attempt it. The best they can do now is prepare for the worst-case scenario and have entire royal knights ready for an all-out blood bath tomorrow.

Near the end of the discussion, the Duchess decided that William can't stay at the palace since representatives of the Legellan and William in one location is a bad idea. So, William will be staying at a separate building within palace land with dozens of guards guarding the building for one night. The three Black Templars are to be sent back to where the rest of the troops are as punishment for disintegrating the eight Legellan guards.

Obviously, all three Black Templars strongly refused to follow that demand, with Tech Marine willing to replace eight dead guards with eight servitors (As long as Alderim supplied him with eight criminals). William eventually stepped in and ordered his battle brothers to return to camp, ensuring he will be fine and it will allow him to clear his head for tomorrow. This didn't go well with the three Black Templars, but they followed William's order and returned to camp as the champion commanded.

Both body and mind exhausted, the meeting ended with William leaving the palace with five royal guards escorting him to a separate building at the edge of the palace land. William didn't go alone since Rana followed him to make sure William wasn't up to no good (Also mixed feeling of punching him).

The building was an old royal knight commander's office with a complete training field. Even though it is an old building, the royal family's land caretakers kept it maintained with a fully working kitchen and bathroom. After checking the entire building, William was satisfied and comfortable with his new housing location. Meanwhile, Rana already had servants bring cartloads of food and drinks to the building.

When William asked Rana why she ordered so much food just for him, she answered his question by sitting down at the table as maids and butlers prepared the dinner table. That night, William had a rare opportunity to have dinner with the Duchess as both enjoyed each other's company and shared wine until late at night.

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After the Duchess left the building, William turned the light off and went to bed. Unknown to William, a dark figure emerges from the shadow and approaches the building silently with deadly weapons on both hands. The guards who were guarding William's place didn't notice the dark figure approaching as they fell one by one without making a noise. The deadly needle filled with poison massacred the guards as one little jab from the assassin quietly ended their life.

With all guards eliminated, the assassin quietly entered the building and ready his weapons to kill the Space Marine. As the assassin passes the window, the moonlight reveals the dark figure's identity, bringing terror with him.

The assassin is fully equipped with deadly weapons and dark suits, allowing him to blend in with the dark. The assassin is holding a bolt pistol equipped with a Needler that can deliver a toxic dart filled with neurotoxins from his right hand. His hand is equipped with a neuro gauntlet that can inject deadly poisons through needle fingers on the left hand. A single touch from this gauntlet can end the man's life, as this already ended a dozen guards' lives tonight.

Lastly, the assassin's suit was equipped with two additional arsenals, a powerful sword that was strong enough to cut his victim in atomic level and a melta bomb powerful enough to destroy armored vehicles and buildings. This bomb is only used as a last resort to kill the targets and the assassin's life in extreme circumstances.

Wearing a skeleton helmet, the Eversor Temple Assassin quietly entered William's room with his bolter pistol aimed at the bed. The room was dark, but the Eversor saw clear as day and observed the surroundings using his helmet. The assassin's target was sleeping in the bed with a blanket covering it, and the armor of the Emperor's Champion was standing next to the bed with a black sword on both hands pointing down as if it was protecting the target sleeping in the bed.

Without any hesitation, the Eversor assassin fired multiple toxic darts, enough to put Space Marine in a coma. The toxic darts filled with neurotoxin hit the target, sleeping in the bed but before Eversor had a chance to approach the bed and see his target, the armor of the Emperor's Champion moved with a sword striking the assassin's head.

Eversor quickly dodges backward before the black sword could remove his head. Unfortunately for the assassin, his bolter pistol got destroyed during his escape as he was still aiming at the bed. With the assassin's pistol done, the Eversor drew his power sword to face the Emperor's champion as the Dark Templar Champion stepped forward and flipped the bed with one hand, making room for their duel.

"I knew someone was aiming for my life, but I didn't expect to meet one of the Imperial Assassin to do the deed. Who is your master? Did that elf send you? How ironic that Eversor Assassin is doing Xenos's bidding." William asks with curiosity since he knows Eversor Assassins are known for their insane method to kill multiple targets.

One thing for sure, they do NOT sneak around and be subtle during their assassination as they are filled with all kinds of combat drugs, chemicals, and psychotic rage enough to slaughter everyone, including friendly. The only way Imperium managed to utilize Eversor is to freeze them and drop a drop pod directly at the target, all drugged up and filled with rage.

For their insane reputation, this Eversor approached very differently to kill William. Lucky for the Emperor's Champion, he planted a decoy on the bed using a mountain of pillows and stayed alert inside of his armor, expecting one of the priests to seek revenge. The appearance of Imperium Assassin was one thing, but to aim for his life was unexpected beyond his imagination. Once again, William thought, 'It must be Tzeentch' as he prepared his blade.

The Eversor didn't answer William, but instead, he screeched and attacked William like a mad man. With incredible speed and reflex, the assassin swung his power sword aiming at William's head while using his left hand to strike needle fingers at gaps between the shoulder and main body of the power armor.

Already expecting a berserker attack, William deflected the power sword with his black sword and immediately countered the neuro gauntlet needles by hitting the assassin with the pommel of the sword.

The decisive strike from the pommel didn't stop the assassin for a second as he quickly recovered and moved to the side to hit William's blind side with his power sword. The Eversor's power sword was much more potent as the assassin's enhanced body, and strength carried the strike more deadly. Sensing the deadly strike once more, William moves quickly and pulls out his storm shield from the inventory.

The storm shield's gravitic energy field generator made Eversor's sword ineffective as it bounced back before it could touch the shield surface. Seeing the perfect opportunity to counter, William charged at the assassin using a storm shield as a battering ram. The superhuman speed and strength of the Space Marine rammed the Eversor like a ragdoll as William pushed through multiple walls and furniture as they ended up outside of the building.

Now, standing in the middle of the training field, William returns to his battle stance while Eversor quickly gets back up even though half of his body, including his right arm and skeleton helmet, is broken. Filled with combat drugs and countless unknown chemicals, the Eversor didn't seem bothered or feel any pain, but after realizing his power sword is missing from his hand, he immediately pulled out a melta bomb to activate self-destruction.

Seeing Eversor going full Predator, William rushed forward with incredible speed and slashed Eversor's arm before it could detonate. At the exact moment, the black sword decapitated the assassin's hand, and William dropped his shield and pulled out his chainsword from his inventory, and stabbed the assassin. The chainsword's engine cranked up as the weapon's cutter teeth mutilated the assassin's internal organ painfully and bloody.

William immediately finishes the assassin's life by cutting his head using a black sword and goes to where the melta bomb is to retrieve it before it goes off prematurely. Luckily, the assassin couldn't activate the bomb in time so William put it away into his inventory for safety's sake.

'Now, who sent you?' William thought to himself as he grabbed the dead man's head and the body to examine it. To his surprise, he found his answer as a piece of broken machinery dropped from the assassin's back of the head. Guessing the impact of his shield push damaged the machine, William picked it up to scan it using his helmet. Before the helmet completes its scan, William realizes the true identity of the machinery as he once saw a similar type before in his previous life. The only one word came out from the Emperor's Champion's mouth as he realized who sent the Eversor.

"Fuck."