Moon controlled the wolf mentally, guiding it after the retreating assassin as he rushed forward himself. The two threats came at the assassin from converging angles, sword closing from the front, wolf closing from the flank.

The assassin’s eyes darted sideways, his armless teammate was still very much alive just ahead.

Without hesitation, he rushed towards his teammate, whose eyes widened in shock. "Don’t bring it here!"

It was too late.

The second assassin grabbed the armless one by the collar of his ruined gear and hauled him upright with a burst of strength. His body twisted, positioning the armless man between himself and the incoming wolf.

Moon saw it happen in real time. Despite having the ability to control the wolf and move it away from the armless assassin, Moon chose not to.

’Betraying your teammate when death approaches... I couldn’t ask for a better ending for such scum.’

The wolf struck the still shocked armless assassin, and the impact it had was nothing short of tremendous.

Purple lightning devoured his body at point blank range, current flooding through every nerve and vessel in an instant.

His body convulsed greatly, unable to bear the current travelling through it. His head snapped backward and his mouth opened, gushing out white foam and blood.

During his last moments, the assassin managed to let out his final curse, "Yohaa...waiting...hell"

Then the lightning finished its work. The armless assassin’s body convulsed once more for the final time and went limp forever.

[You have killed level 60 5-Star Surpasser Human]

[You have gained 20,525 Lives]

Moon’s brows rose at the notification. The assassin he had killed was not only level 60 but also a five-star. Yet despite sharing the same star rating as the previous opponent, the difference between them was like night and day.

’Indeed... being a Surpasser is different. Even though they’re both five-stars, the system recognizes the gap. That’s why it calls this one a Surpasser,’ Moon thought as he watched the spectral wolf pass through the dead man’s body before dissipating.

Yoha stood behind the dead corpse of his partner, his expression deathly calm. There wasn’t the faintest hint of guilt or remorse on his face. To him, betraying a teammate was no different from any other mundane act that he did without any hesitation

Moon slowed his charge and came to a stop thirty meters from Yoha.

His sword lowered slightly, "Well.... That was a beautiful piece of teamwork."

Yoha’s expression didn’t change.

"He wasn’t my teammate."

"I could tell, two dogs served under different masters. Different chains of command. Which means when it came down to your life or his, there was never really a question, was there?"

Yoha didn’t answer, his eyes fixed on Moon, wondering when his transformation will end.

"Trying to buy time? You are the smartest one in the family...huh?" Moon smirked as he took another step forward. His sword hung loose at his side.

"You really made this fight much more entertaining. Watching him die knowing that you betrayed him... you done a good job. You didn’t hesitate to use him as a scapegoat. You picked him up and put him in the way. Really efficient and well executed." Moon’s smirk widened.

Yoha’s fingers tightened on his sword.

Moon raised his own blade.

"Now let’s finish this."

A hundred meters away, Emma smiled as she parried a strike from a Surpasser warrior and drove her dagger through his ribs in the same motion which he managed to deflect at the last moment.

She had been watching Moon’s fight out of the corner of her eye between engagements. The first assassin was down.

Only one was left remained. If Moon’s transformation held for another minute, and every indication said it would, the second Surpasser was going to end up on the rubble alongside his partner.

"Keep holding!" She shouted to her teammates across the perimeter. "We’re almost through the worst of it! Moon takes down the last one and he’ll be free to help us clean up. Just another minute!"

Her teammates responded with quick confirmations between their own strikes. The four of them were holding a perimeter meters across, blocking every dark organization member who tried to break through toward Moon.

The pressure had been intense for the first three minutes. It had grown more manageable in the last minute as Moon’s frost pillars had dealt with a few of them already, catching enemies from the flank they couldn’t cover.

But the enemies weren’t stopping. They were getting more restless and desperate. Those remaining understood exactly what was happening as clearly as Emma did. If they didn’t reach Moon before his transformation ended, they were going to lose their last real chance at killing him today.

Emma sold that understanding back to them in every exchange. She kept her position aggressive, her strikes brutal, her presence loud enough to keep the pressure coming at her instead of drifting past her. If the enemies focused on her, they weren’t focused on Moon.

Every second she bought was a second Moon didn’t have to worry about his back.

On the other side of the arena, Baaron received the update. Ian’s assassin had died. Although he didn’t care about his life since it wasn’t his pupils, it was still a terrible thing to happen, especially since his own was bound to follow at this rate.

Moon was still standing without any indication of stopping and Alaric’s team were locking the perimeter. The reinforcements were failing to break through.

His goal to strip Moon of his golden egg was failing.

Baaron’s face darkened. His grip on his cleaver tightened, and his eyes flicked toward Tom, who was maintaining a comfortable distance across a broken section of the arena floor.

The old fox was smiling.

He had been smiling for the last ten minutes.

Baaron’s frustration built with every second of it. Fighting Tom Glassy was one of the most miserable experiences he had ever had.