Chapter 407 Ashton’s Army (1)

"T-The head talked!" Eula's mother shrieked, "How is something like this even possible?"

Even Ashton was a bit surprised. Although he expected something to happen, the situation in front of him was unlike anything he had expected. While reading the letter, Ashton used [Detection] on Chitaur.

It was a routine for Ashton to use [Detection] on any person he met. However, he wasn't expecting to see something weird, but he did. Chitaur did not have a name, and a blinking icon could be seen in place of his name that said <None>.

At that moment, Ashton knew something was off about Chitaur. The man wasn't what he was claiming to be. But that suspicion alone wasn't enough for Ashton to kill the man on the spot.

"Shut it, woman! Let the men have a chat!" The head barked before excitedly turning toward Ashton, "Now, where was I? Oh, yes, Ashton, how did you know something was off? Hm, hm, tell me, tell me. I made sure to leave no stone unturned when I took the form of the messenger."

Three strikes. That's what Ashton was waiting for. He would strike him down if he found three things wrong about Chitaur. He already got one, and now he only needed to find two more suspicious details about the person.

The second strike came in the form of Chitaur's expressions. As Ashton went through the letter, he couldn't help but notice how Chitaur was reading his face.

It was almost as if he wrote the letter himself and was gauging Ashton's response and drawing some satisfaction from Ashton's panicked expression.

The third and final strike was... Chitaur's failure to produce the required password.

As usual, Mazton and the mercenaries had set passwords for various scenarios. Sharing of intel was one such scenario where a password was required.

That was why Ashton asked Chitaur if there was something else he had to say. Ashton knew it was time to strike the messenger down when he failed to produce a password.

Even if he was wrong, the association wouldn't blame him because the messenger failed to produce a password, which was more than enough for him to act the way he did.

"Let's just say you're a fool." Ashton lifted the severed head and whispered, "What did you expect? You'll walk into the lion's den and then walk away without any harm?"

Suddenly the messenger began laughing and said, "You're sharp. It's good... excellent. It'll be fun to play games with you. But I must go now, and I'll meet you soon. That's my word, Ashton."

Having said that, the body, along with the severed head, turned into dust, leaving no clues behind.

The entire scene left Eula and her mother in shock. The Phantom... He was right before them, and no one could even recognise him. After all the security measures they took, he was able to invade the property and make a fool out of everyone.

Had it not been for Ashton's quick thinking, who knows what might have happened? Eula could have been killed or, worse, kidnapped under false pretence.

"Thank you for helping us out, Mr Reaper." Eula finally said something, "I-I don't know what else I should say."

"You don't need to say anything." Ashton mumbled, trying to pretend everything was fine when he himself was a bit shaken, "It's our fault for not being able to recognise him first."

He continued, "That said, we need to tighten the security right now. Please stay indoors till I make sure something like this does not happen again."

Eula nodded, and Ashton left the mansion after ensuring that Phantom wasn't hiding amongst the staff. Rather than returning to the workshop, he headed towards the training grounds where the guards were being trained.

[What are you planning next?]

'I can't do this by myself. My summons might be strong, but I cannot reveal that strength just yet. Otherwise, Phantom might get cautious.'

[And...?]

'His overconfidence is the greatest weapon that I can use against him. Just like I did it inside, I don't want to lose that advantage yet.'

[So you're trying to say since he isn't afraid of the guards or the mercenaries, you're going to use them and bait Phantom into thinking you have tightened Eula's security. But when he strikes, you'll use the summons to get rid of him?]

'Exactly. But I don't think Phantom will use his main body to attack us. At least not at first. He'll most likely use another clone or whatever that strange ability is in order to gather intel and attack only when he is sure of his win.'

[You sure know a lot about him just after one meeting.]

'Call it a hunch.'

Nove l B(in).C OM

[Your hunches are always correct. Well, most of the time.]

As soon as Ashton reached the makeshift training grounds, the guards immediately noticed him. Within moments, roughly seventy guards had surrounded him.

All of them wanted to know why he was there, but none of them was prepared for the response they got.

"A few of you wanted to join me," Ashton mumbled, "Do you still want it?"

The guards stared at each other, not knowing how to respond. But one after another, they nodded. All of them wanted to follow Ashton and get to the point where they could challenge him.

"Alright, but I'm not going to blindly take all of you in like the rest of the mercs did." Ashton declared, "You must prove to me that you're worth my time."

"How do we do that?" One of the guards asked.

"It's pretty simple." Ashton said thoughtfully, "Are you willing to die for me?"

"What?"

"I asked, are you willing to give up on your life for me? If yes, then we'll proceed to the next test. Or else, you can go back to training like you were. You have a minute to decide."

The crowd began whispering amongst themselves. The guards had not expected Ashton to take them in as apprentices like the rest of the mercenaries did. But they weren't expecting that Ashton would ask them to give up their lives, and it was something they had not thought about.

A minute passed and roughly half of the guards left. Although they wanted to get close to Ashton and learn more from him, they loved their lives more.

Ashton stared at the ones left and smiled, "Now that we have weeded out the cowards, let's begin the tests."