"Is this the right place?" Ethan asked slowly, turning his head towards Knox.

Knox glanced quickly at his phone before shaking his head and saying:

"Yes, the target is here."

Ethan turned his gaze towards the villa less than three hundred metres away, where the party was being held.

Their target was inside.

He and Knox had joined the Execution Club at around the same time, and had decided to carry out their first mission together.

To be honest, Ethan was grateful to have Knox by his side; had he been sent alone, he would likely have got lost in the town of Sedlarm in the state of Elericum, situated in the far north near the lands of the Belforis family, one of the Four Great Families.

The influence of the four families was not limited to their names or status alone; each one was responsible for protecting one of the four quarters of the human world.

Whilst the Stateless family guarded the south, the Drak family protected the east, and the Nietzsche family guarded the west, the north was under the protection of the Belforis family.

The Four Great Families system did not exist from the very beginning.

After the Second Great War, vast swathes of the world became uninhabitable after being overrun by monsters and creatures of darkness, which constantly attacked human territories.

It was then that the Four Great Families emerged, forming the first line of defence across the four corners of the human world, whilst the Royal Family took charge of protecting the central regions.

Before that, humanity had been scattered across the globe, making the defence of their lands far more difficult.

But those thoughts did not linger long in Ethan’s mind, as he refocused his attention on the villa before him.

After all, he hadn’t come here to dwell on the past, especially as he knew so little about it.

He took several deep breaths, then glanced at Knox out of the corner of his eye.

’This isn’t fair...’

He felt a twinge of jealousy towards Knox, who seemed to have a great deal of experience using the phone.

As for him...

He’d only heard of such devices for the first time after entering the academy.

This made him hate the life he had lived more than once.

In fact, he had always felt cut off from the world.

And the truth was, he really was.

’I’ll come back for all of them.’

Ethan clenched his hand so tightly that he could feel his fingernails digging into his palm.

He closed his eyes for a moment, then took several deep breaths until he had calmed down a little.

He then turned his gaze towards Knox, who was quickly checking his phone whilst thinking of the best way to carry out the mission.

However, Ethan would have preferred to storm the villa by force and kill everyone inside.

Yes, that might be reckless...

But in his view, it was better than wasting time planning.

Especially since the person they had come for was by no means innocent.

’Execution...’

Just uttering the word felt wonderful to him.

The man to be executed was a criminal of the worst kind.

He had committed countless murders, run vast smuggling operations, and kidnapped people to sell them into slavery.

His record was as full of atrocities as his nickname was repulsive.

"The Minors’ Hunter."

And every time Ethan thought of that name, he felt something strange...

He didn’t even know why Hebis hadn’t arrested him yet.

Despite all the crimes he’d committed, Ethan thought there was only one reason he was still at large.

Either they’d deliberately let him wreak havoc to give the new generation a chance to develop and gain experience...

Or they were just a bunch of slackers.

’And what’s it got to do with me anyway?’

In the end, it was none of his business.

He sighed slightly, then looked at Knox and said:

"How long are you going to carry on like this? We don’t have the whole night."

"Oh, don’t worry. I’m almost done..."

Knox paused for a moment before adding:

"Actually, I’m already done."

"So, what’s the plan?"

Knox smiled and pointed his finger, saying:

"Just watch, and you’ll see."

Ethan frowned slightly.

He didn’t seem to understand a thing.

So he turned his gaze back towards the villa.

Several seconds passed... then several more... but the situation remained unchanged.

Music was still blaring from inside, and everything still seemed normal.

But suddenly... the music stopped.

The next moment, a group of people burst out of the villa, running as fast as they could, as if their lives depended on it.

Ethan turned to Knox and asked:

"What’s happened?" Then he narrowed his eyes slightly and added, "Why do I think this has something to do with what you were doing?"

Knox smiled.

"Because you’re right."

"Huh?"

"All I did was something very simple. I posted information about this place on the black market."

"And as you know, that man has quite a few enemies who’ve been looking for him for years. As soon as the news spreads, everyone will start moving in on him."

Then his smile widened slightly. "And that will force him to leave the place in a hurry."

Ethan blinked several times.

"The black market? What’s that?"

Nox’s smile froze for a moment.

"Huh?"

He stared at him as if he’d heard something unbelievable.

"You don’t know what the black market is?"

"No."

"Hmm..." Nox scratched his head, thinking. "How can I explain it if—"

But he stopped suddenly. His gaze had fallen on a man emerging from the villa.

He was wearing a long black coat embroidered with intertwined gold threads on the sleeves and hems, forming intricate patterns resembling vines coiling around themselves.

Beneath the coat was a crisp white shirt, its buttons fastened with meticulous care, whilst a dark silk scarf, interwoven with fine gold threads, was wrapped around his neck.

At first glance, the man looked like a nobleman who had just stepped out of a high-society party.

His head was completely bald, gleaming under the streetlights which revealed several old scars and scratches stretching across his scalp and the side of his forehead.

His fingers, meanwhile, were adorned with several gold rings set with dark red stones, catching the light with every movement of his hand.

As he strode forward with confident steps, two burly men in formal black suits walked alongside him. They were most likely his bodyguards.

The three moved swiftly towards a black car parked at the side of the street.

Ethan followed Knox’s gaze towards the target, known by the nickname ’The Minx Hunter’.

He turned to Knox, who nodded silently, signalling the start of the plan. Knox had told him earlier what they would do once the target emerged.

They split up immediately.

Ethan leapt from the building he was standing on and jumped towards a nearby lamppost.

He clung tightly to it and slid swiftly downwards, just before his feet touched the ground.

As soon as he landed, he sprinted through the dark alley at top speed.

His task was simple.

If the car took this route, he had to cut it off.

If it chose the other route, it would head straight for Knox.

Fortunately for them, the neighbourhood had only two roads suitable for cars.

The rest were nothing but narrow, dark alleys, barely wide enough for a single person, let alone a car.

Ethan approached the end of the street at speed.

Just before he reached it, he caught sight of a black shape darting past him like lightning.

It was the car.

But instead of speeding up, he deliberately slowed down.

A faint smile played on his lips.

Because, in truth... this was what he had been waiting for.

Suddenly, a smooth layer of ice spread across the road in front of the car, forming in a fraction of a second.

The tyres lost their grip instantly.

The car skidded violently.

A sharp screech echoed through the street as the vehicle slid out of control.

Then... it crashed into a building with tremendous force.

Boom!

The nearby windows rattled violently, and shards of glass scattered in all directions.

A thick cloud of dust and debris rose into the air.