Path To Godhood Begins With Marrying Wife And Gaining SSS Rank Skill Chapter 455: Assassination During Party

The festivities within Frostvele intensified as darkness fully enveloped the night.

Massive bonfires blazed throughout the courtyard, their fiery orange glows flickering wildly against the fortress's sturdy stone walls. The aroma of sizzling roasted meat blended with the scent of spilled ale and thick smoke, permeating the frigid atmosphere.

Ethan had already descended from the wall and merged into the throng of soldiers in the yard.

Unlike typical nobles who kept their distance, he navigated the crowd with effortless grace. One instant, he was with a bunch of young troops heatedly debating which spear felled the initial demon. The next, he shared hearty laughs with battle-hardened veterans who had endured three wars side by side.

Someone thrust yet another tankard of beer into his grasp.

"Lord Ethan! That speech earns you a round on us!"

Without pause, Ethan lifted the tankard high.

"Alright. But don't expect me to haul you to the barracks if you collapse before midnight."

Laughter exploded from the soldiers.

A fellow clapped his shoulder with force.

"Talk big now, but you lugged Captain Joran back last time!"

"That was a different story," Ethan shot back mid-sip of his deep gulp. "He owed me coin."

The group erupted in even wilder guffaws.

Ethan's movements carried no trace of rigidity. He chatted freely, chuckled boldly, and dove into several rowdy drinking games. The troops warmed to him instantly, seeing him as a fellow warrior instead of a remote superior.

Nearby a bonfire, a handful of musicians struck up gritty war tunes. Soldiers stamped their feet in sync while others slapped their hands with vigor.

For that fleeting instant, the horrors of war seemed distant.

Ethan set down his tankard and brushed foam from his mouth, his gaze sweeping the vibrant courtyard.

All appeared in order.

Even amid the revelry, his instincts kept vigil over the area.

Yet the assault came so abruptly that it startled even him.

From the shadows behind a hefty supply wagon at the courtyard's fringe, a silhouette stirred without a sound.

Perfectly camouflaged amid the stacked barrels and crates in the gloom, the intruder had lurked there for minutes, motionless and breathing shallowly, letting the party's din mask any tiniest shift.

Not even Ethan's keen awareness had pinpointed him.

The tunes.

The yells.

The boisterous chuckles.

They formed flawless concealment.

Swiftly, the shadow darted forth.

In two hushed strides, he wove through the masses. Intoxicated fighters obscured sightlines as raucous chants drowned his steps.

The dagger he clutched was slim and shadowy, coated to devour light and shun any fire's gleam.

The gap narrowed.

One step.

Two steps.

His arm lashed out. The knife targeted Ethan's vulnerable flank beneath the ribs.

A lethal thrust designed to drive upward into the heart. Yet right as the edge neared, Ethan's reflexes blared in warning.

SHHK!

His frame responded prior to his thoughts grasping the peril.

He spun aside with fierce abruptness.

The dagger veered off by mere inches.

Rather than burrowing into his torso, it grazed his armor and sliced the coat's edge.

SHHK!

Metal rasping over leather pierced the party's clamor.

"What?"

Pandemonium ignited.

In the turmoil, Ethan's gaze sharpened, his left hand snapping forward.

He seized the killer's wrist before withdrawal and bellowed.

"Who are you?"

His hold clamped like steel vise on prey.

Shock widened the assassin's stare upon capture.

Ethan's tankard tumbled from his right grip, smashing on the cobblestones.

"What the hell?" a nearby soldier yelled as the merriment halted abruptly.

Ethan ignored all else, fixated on his foe. The assassin wrenched to escape and lash with his free hand.

Too sluggish.

Ethan advanced, driving his elbow into the man's torso.

BOOM!

The blow expelled the breath from the attacker's chest.

Reeling back, the assassin fought Ethan's unyielding wrist lock.

"Reveal your identity and your mission," Ethan commanded icily.

As Ethan prepared full subdual, the assassin whipped a second concealed blade from his cuff.

It gleamed in the fire's glow.

"It's your death… Ethan…" the man snarled.

Ethan pivoted to evade the fresh lunge and scoffed.

"Futile attempt!"

He lunged to counter, but the unforeseen twist followed. The knife sliced rapidly through the air.

Yet it bypassed his heart entirely.

SLASH!

Blood erupted skyward, with droplets spraying across his face.

Ethan's eyes bulged in shock.

The blade hadn't missed; instead, it sliced straight across the shoulder.

Not his own—the assassin had slashed his shoulder, severing his arm clean off.

Agony raced up his arm as the razor-sharp edge shredded cloth and flesh below.

"The fuck?"

In that fleeting instant, his grasp slackened, letting the assassin's hand slip free and granting him escape.

One moment was all it took.

The assassin tore his arm loose, abandoning it in Ethan's hold, and retreated with blinding speed.

Then he whirled around and bolted like a specter into the shadows. In a blink, his silhouette soared upward, vaulting over the courtyard wall.

The whirlwind of sudden events left him utterly stunned.

This marked his first encounter with an assassin, and he never imagined their ruthless decisiveness could prove so awe-inspiring.

At that moment, several soldiers bellowed out.

"ETHAN! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!"

"LORD!"

"LORD ETHAN!"

Guards charged toward him while others jabbed fingers at the vanishing figure.

Ethan swiftly flung aside the mangled limb and shook his head.

"I am alright," he stated resolutely.

Next, his gaze locked onto the assassin's escape route.

His features tightened.

"But I need to chase him."

Before replies could come, Ethan's form shimmered.

In the very next instant, he rocketed into the sky like a streak of darkness, vanishing beyond the fortress wall in hot pursuit of the fleeing assassin.