The eastern skies were cloaked in velvet darkness as a chill breeze swept across Yuan City. The streets were quiet, save for flickers of torchlight outside Mo Han's grand estate—the fortress of a man who ruled slaves and pit fighters with an iron hand.
Inside, the air was thick with tension. Guards patrolled in rotating shifts. Formation arrays flickered faintly around the compound walls. Hidden mechanisms waited to spring upon any intruder. It was a place no common assassin dared to enter.
But Red Phoenix was already inside.
A shadow in the rafters. A breath in the dark.
Alice crouched silently on a roof beam, crimson mask gleaming faintly under the moonlight that spilled through the open skylight. Below her, Mo Han feasted with his guards, laughing cruelly, wine spilling from his cup. His thick frame radiated Qi of the 8th level. A jade pendant glimmered on his chest—a Tier 2 defensive artifact.
Alice's red eyes narrowed.
She had one shot.
She gripped the edge of the roof beam with one hand while her other slipped a small black vial from her sash—the Night Widow Venom, potent and fast. She uncorked it with her teeth, dipped the tip of her twin daggers—Dark and Flame—into the thick liquid, and vanished into the shadows.
---
Two guards stood watch outside the main hall. They never saw her.
A whisper of movement.
A flash of steel.
They collapsed wordlessly, paralyzed before they could scream.
Alice moved like smoke, her every step silent, her presence nonexistent.
Inside the hall, Mo Han laughed, oblivious.
He poured himself more wine.
Then the doors creaked open.
All heads turned.
A masked figure stood in the doorway, cloak fluttering behind her, daggers glinting under the torchlight.
"Red Phoenix!" someone screamed.
Chaos erupted.
Mo Han surged to his feet, Qi flaring like a crimson blaze. "Kill her! Kill—"
Alice was already among them.
She spun, her daggers slicing through air and bone, each move deadly and precise. The venom worked fast—within seconds, three of his elite guards were twitching on the ground, eyes wide in terror.
Another tried to strike from behind, but Alice ducked low, swept his legs, and stabbed upward through his throat.
Blood splattered the walls.
Only Mo Han remained.
He roared, drawing a heavy war axe wreathed in Qi. His artifact pulsed with light, creating a protective barrier around him.
Alice's daggers clashed against it and bounced off.
He grinned. "You're too late, girl."
But Alice didn't retreat.
She reached into her cloak, pulled out a paper talisman, and slapped it against the artifact's glow. The sigil ignited instantly.
"Anti-spirit seal," she whispered.
The jade pendant cracked.
Mo Han's smirk vanished.
Before he could react, Alice was already behind him—dagger piercing his kidney. The venom worked swiftly.
His Qi flared, then sputtered.
He dropped to one knee, gasping, trying to summon a final strike.
Alice crouched before him, red lips the only visible feature behind her mask.
"Slavers die screaming," she said coldly—and slit his throat.
Blood sprayed. His body dropped like stone.
---
Minutes later, silence reigned.
On the wall of the main hall, a red feather burned brightly—left by another paint talisman, unmarred, untraceable.
Below it, two words seared into the hearts of all who saw:
Red Phoenix
By dawn, Yuan City would wake to another corpse, another name struck from the underworld's ranks.
And a legend would continue to rise.