Under Atticus' onslaught, another group of assassins was forced on the defense. Their minds were constantly assaulted by the Curse Array, unable to spare even a second to answer the beeping emergency communicator on the ground.

William and Atticus were constantly sharing information between their two battlefields, so he naturally informed his Companion Beast of the emergency communicator. The moment Su Mian's group held out their communicator, Atticus was already aware of its existence on his side.

This was the benefit of having an intelligent Companion Beast, and one of the reasons why Animal Pathfinders were able to safely deliver Cultivators to their destination.

Having already killed both assassins with the communicator, Atticus only had to wait for one of the five remaining opponents to make a mistake. Had they sent a message as soon as Atticus appeared, they might have been able to reorganize with Su Mian, but at the time the Curse Array was preventing them from having such an advanced thought.

The assassins knew that making any moves towards the communicator would lead to an attack from Atticus, so both sides held a stalemate for several seconds. Sweat poured down the foreheads of the assassins, feeling a natural inferiority to the purple mole hiding underground.

Worse, they still had to watch for the purple cat, whose presence had completely dissipated. They didn't dare think the cat and mole were the same Magical Beast.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Three seconds passed.

Atticus did nothing.

The assassins did nothing.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Six seconds.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

A droplet of sweat hit the ground as it vibrated subtly. Detecting Atticus' movement, everything descended into chaos.

The Array Master, who'd been pretending to still be under the effect of the Curse Magic, slammed his hand on the ground and activated a speed-enhancing Array of the Seventh Tier.

A second Blessing Spell was layered over the first, further increasing the assassins' speed and strength while the dual Fire and Light Spell expanded its range to include the purple smoke rising from underground.

The assassins moved in unison, bringing their entire formation to surround one of the fallen communicators while the two that hadn't used Magic yet casted defensive Spells to shield their vitals.

The purple mole appeared again, ripping at the undefended Achille's heel of one of the assassins. The target of his attack smiled devilishly as icy needles protruded from his heel, piercing through the mole's body in a dozen places.

His smile faded when the purple mole dissipated into smoke. The Illusion Spell faded, revealing that the purple mole wasn't targeting him at all!

"Watch out!" he warned his Fire Mage comrade, who had just picked up the communicator.

His warning came too late, however, as that too burst into purple smoke. The communicator in question wasn't a communicator at all! Instead, the assassin was holding onto...

The mole!

Before he could react, the mole reduced in size even more until it was less than a centimeter long, burrowing under the assassin's skin and ripping its way through his internal organs until he fell lifeless to the ground.

Losing the lighting effect of the Fire Mage's twin Spells, the area quickly dimmed until the assassins were once more shrouded in darkness. The Domain of Illusion condensed on a smaller area, further reducing their vision until they could hardly keep track of their partners.

Pained grunts and horrified screams echoed through the darkness as Atticus eliminated the assassins one by one, until all that remained were lifeless corpses and three periodic beeps.

Following William's instructions, Atticus gathered all of the assassins' equipment and destroyed the corpses, storing everything inside a burrow dug several kilometers deep.

Atticus returned to Cat Form with a yawn and a big stretch, feeling satisfied after his first big fight in months. His movements in Cat Form were still very awkward, but with the help of flight Atticus was able to keep his balance quite nicely. Even better, he noticed that each form has its own advantages.

In Chameleon Form his stealth is increased, Cat Form boosts his agility, and Mole Form allows him to tunnel through the ground faster than he can run. With these abilities compared to the assassins in the same realm as he... too easy!

He was starting to like the new shapeshifting ability!

***

Su Mian gritted his teeth in frustration. He wanted nothing more than to kill this damned William and complete the Family Head's mission, but his every sense said to escape before the team takes further losses.

Me? Run? When have I ever had this thought? Su Mian mentally checked his information on William, searching for any clues that he might have missed.

The problem is, William's only allies seemed to be the Vice Principal and one of the teachers at Filem Academy! Other than them, there was a snake-type Companion Beast, but it was merely in the Ascension Realm!

He rejected the idea that this Beast could kill ten assassins without giving them the chance to communicate. William might be a genius able to fight across Realms, but was his pet the same?

Definitely not!

Whoever was helping William, it had to be a powerful backer low-key enough to avoid their Family's intelligence network. But other than the Slightwing Family, whom William seemed to have little contact with, who could have that much ability?

His pupils constricted as he had a thought. Could it be them?

If it was those people, it would explain why the Heavens were looking for this kid. When Su Mian came to this conclusion, everything started to make sense, but he was clueless about how William could come into contact with such a group.

Perhaps, he is just a pawn?

No, he couldn't be sure. Maybe this is what William wants them to think. Perhaps the others are still alive, but their communicator was taken away at some point. It could all be a trick!

He has to be low on Mana by now! We can't stop when we're this close!

Su Mian's head hurt, but he had no choice but to continue the mission as long as he had men to use. He ordered the assassins to press forward, clearing traps before they triggered and casting Seal Magic on portals whenever they appeared.

Seeing that his tricks and Spells were having little effect on Su Mian and his group, William didn't lose heart. While they were continuously using Mana to fight off his portals, William was abusing the Mana Dominator's Combat Mode to regenerate Mana many times faster than it was used.

Su Mian's group, oblivious to William's absurd tenacity, saw their Mana Reserves dwindling bit by bit as one question pervaded their minds.

How much Mana does he have?!?

"L-Leader... maybe... we should retreat and wait for another chance..." the Cultivator said nervously while consuming a Tier 8 Pill for Mana Recovery. To his left and right, the others were in similar situations, while the main defenders anxiously requested more medicine from their adjacent allies.

Other than Su Mian, who had ample resources and a treasure trove of medicinal Pills, the assassins moods were quickly deteriorating. Considering what they'd spent in defensive Artifacts and Pills, the cost of this mission already far outweighed the rewards.

The others quickly nodded their heads, "Leader... let's just forget about this kid for now..."