Chapter 34: Lizzy’s Plan

Although Kael had already suspected that the creature before him must possess the ability to speak, when that telepathic voice actually echoed inside his head, he still couldn’t suppress his surprise.

Xavier snorted softly, his thick, bushy tail swishing back and forth on the bedroom floor. Although the wolf’s muzzle and mouth didn’t move at all, the deep, hoarse voice continued to flow clearly without the slightest obstruction.

"You probably suspected from the very beginning that I was one of the Seven Mythical Beasts, didn’t you?"

Kael stared straight at the wolf. His sharp gaze was taken as an affirmative nod by the Wolf Guardian.

"I am the guardian of the Empire’s greatest forest and the protector of nature’s balance in this region," Xavier continued through their mental connection. There was a faint note of pride in his voice, followed by a heavy sigh. "But that was my duty in the past. Now, my only priority is protecting this child. She... truly is a pitiful girl."

Although the wolf’s mental voice sounded flat and cold on the surface, Kael could clearly sense just how much genuine affection and concern Xavier harbored for Lizzy.

Kael didn’t waste any time. He shifted closer, his expression demanding an explanation.

"You know everything about Lizzy’s childhood, even before she was trained by that assassin organization, don’t you? Can you tell me about it in detail?"

Xavier lazily jumped onto the bed, turned around three times, then finally lay down beside Lizzy’s feet. Kael had just settled his wife back onto the bed. The wolf, now shrunken to the size of a puppy, opened its mouth slightly and let out a wide yawn.

"Hooaam... Of course I know everything. I was the one secretly following her and protecting her from the shadows in that cursed place. Unfortunately, I couldn’t move around as freely as I wanted because I had to avoid attracting the attention of the organization’s higher-ups. As a result, I couldn’t protect her from every bit of suffering..."

Hearing this confession, Kael’s curiosity burned even more intensely.

"Then what was Lizzy’s life like before she joined the assassin organization?"

Unexpectedly, Xavier slowly closed his eyes.

"I refuse to tell you about that."

"Why?!" Kael instinctively raised his voice, nearly waking Lizzy before hurriedly covering his own mouth. There had to be some terrible secret or dark trauma being deliberately kept hidden.

"Even if I told you, what could you possibly do with that information right now? You’re still far too weak to fight against the shadows of her past, human," Xavier replied coldly through their mental connection. "It’s better for you to uncover the truth yourself, little by little, while gathering clues along the way. I’ll only share my memories of Lizzy’s past from the moment she first became an assassin up until the day fate brought her to you."

Although Kael was deeply disappointed that his curiosity had been left unsatisfied, he had no choice but to nod in resignation.

At the very least, the fragments of her story that this guardian was willing to share would be more than enough to help him piece together the mystery of his wife’s life.

Xavier fell silent for a moment, gathering the long memories stored in his mind before transmitting them once more.

"This child has lived through unimaginable suffering ever since she was little," Xavier’s mental voice echoed again, carrying a somber tone. "She was frequently subjected to cruel treatment and physical torture there. More than a few perverted seniors and depraved instructors even tried to force themselves on her. Of course... I slaughtered every last one of them in secret in the middle of the night, without leaving a trace."

"But because of an environment that raised them on blood and hatred, this child gradually grew into someone obsessed with killing. Sometimes, even her own twisted thoughts and insane actions were enough to make me shudder."

Memories of the past unfolded like dark shadows before their mind’s eyes...

After recounting Lizzy’s childhood, Xavier continued.

Back then, she was only around sixteen years old. Lizzy had grown into a beautiful yet terrifying young girl.

Her skin was pale and immaculate, but her palms were covered in thick calluses from the friction of weapon handles. Her entire body was adorned with intersecting scars from whip lashes and sword thrusts.

Her white hair had been carelessly cut to shoulder length with a dull dagger. Her expression was as cold as ice, with not even a trace of human emotion remaining behind her empty, shattered eyes, which overflowed with murderous intent.

Two lifeless bodies lay before her: a fellow trainee who had attempted to betray her, and an instructor who had died horribly with his throat torn open. Lizzy stood upright in a pool of blood, gripping a bloodstained dagger in her right hand.

"Well done. You’ve grown very well, Little Girl."

A hoarse voice broke the silence of the underground training room.

From the darkness of the corridor emerged a stocky, middle-aged man with an elongated burn scar stretching from his temple down to his chin.

His left eye was completely blind, covered by a milky-white film. He approached Lizzy and roughly patted the girl’s shoulder.

"A true assassin has no place for compassion, empathy, or even the slightest shred of morality in their heart," the instructor continued without a hint of remorse. "Our only purpose in life is to breathe for the organization and eliminate anyone we’re ordered to kill. Return to your barracks and get some rest. The staff will clean up this blood soon."

"Yes, Instructor..." Lizzy replied flatly, her voice hollow and devoid of life.

She turned around and walked sluggishly out of the room. Yet behind the instructor’s back, despair, frustration, and burning rage crashed against Lizzy’s chest, nearly driving her insane.

All her emotions had been stripped away, completely controlled by the organization’s system, and even her own body no longer truly belonged to her.

She wanted to break free from these shackles! She wanted to slaughter every last one of those damned higher-ups and reclaim her freedom!

What’s the point of living in this world if I’m not even allowed to breathe as a human being, and am only treated as a killing machine?!

An assassin was taught to have only one purpose in life: to kill. Very well, then. She would use that very purpose to turn the tables. She would kill everyone who had stolen her life!

Lizzy slowly clutched her own stomach. She knew full well that if she wanted to make her insane dream of escaping a reality, there was one deadly obstacle she had to overcome first: the Soul-Binding Poison.

This deadly poison had been embedded in her bloodstream. It was designed to activate once every twenty-four hours, forcing the members to regularly consume a special antidote on schedule under the strict supervision of the higher-ups.

Through this cruel method, the organization had successfully brainwashed and imprisoned hundreds of children, forcing them into absolute obedience.

Lizzy knew she had to act carefully. Whenever the daily antidote was distributed, she pretended to swallow it obediently.

But in secret, she held the liquid inside her mouth, then gradually spat it into a small glass bottle that she carefully concealed in the folds of her sleeping clothes every night.

Sometimes, to deceive the overseers, she even had to force herself to vomit up some of the liquid she had already swallowed, until her throat burned from the stomach acid.

She endured all of this for the sake of one word: Freedom.

Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years. Through terrifying patience and consistency, Lizzy managed to accumulate enough of the pure antidote.

Although deep down, she was often haunted by the fear that this reckless plan might ultimately end in failure and a painful execution...

Trying to escape and failing is still far better than slowly dying as a chained-up dog in this wretched place.

Until the night of the full moon arrived, in a pitch-black training barracks with no windows...

Lizzy sat cross-legged on the cold stone floor, sharpening her beloved dagger until its blade gleamed brightly, reflecting the faint moonlight. Around the room lay several fellow assassins of her age, who had been her rivals as well as witnesses to her suffering all this time.

Tonight, Lizzy had spread a special anesthetic powder throughout the barracks’ ventilation system. It was a nerve-paralyzing poison that would cause anyone who inhaled it to fall unconscious within seconds, without feeling any pain. Of course, Lizzy had already taken precautions to ensure she wouldn’t be affected by it.

Where had Lizzy obtained that anesthetic powder?

The answer was simple: she had collected it from the remnants of dangerous chemical substances she found in the poison-mixing room whenever she was assigned assassination missions outside the headquarters.

Little by little, over the course of several years, she had stockpiled it without ever arousing the slightest suspicion from the higher-ups.

Lizzy stood upright in the middle of the room, surrounded by her comrades, who lay unconscious on their beds. She moved slowly, drawing the gleaming silver dagger in her right hand.

She gazed at their sleeping faces with an expression that was difficult to decipher. There was a trace of pity in her eyes, but it was concealed beneath her cold determination.

"I’m truly grateful that you were willing to talk to me and keep me company as we struggled to survive in this hell..." Lizzy whispered softly, her voice trembling slightly in the silence of the night. "As my final act of gratitude to you as fellow slaves... I’ll free you from this cursed place forever, without making you feel even the slightest pain."

Without a moment’s hesitation, without a trembling hand, and without shedding a single tear... Lizzy swung her dagger, bringing their dark fates to an end one by one in the silence.