At that moment, Karl El no longer cared about the chaos happening behind him.
An assassination attempt had just been carried out against him.
Worse, the assassin was very likely one of the legendary Faceless Men—and perhaps even connected to the death of Robert Baratheon.
There was only one thing Karl El intended to do now.
Catch the assassin.
Alive if possible.
Without hesitation, Karl El leaped from the third-floor corridor.
His tall body descended like a falling stone statue, crashing into the alley below with terrifying force.
Boom!
The stone pavement cracked beneath his feet, leaving two deep footprints embedded into the bricks.
Yet despite jumping from more than ten meters high, Karl El barely made a sound upon landing.
He absorbed the impact entirely through his ankles and knees, his monstrous physique enduring the pressure effortlessly.
The moment he touched the ground, he immediately moved again.
Throwing aside the cumbersome robe that restricted his movements, Karl El bent low and dashed into the narrow alley ahead.
The faint scent lingering in the air had not yet vanished.
It belonged to the girl named Scarlett.
Mixed within it was another smell—the subtle scent of Summer Red poison still clinging to her hands.
That alone was enough for Karl El to continue the hunt.
His speed was astonishing.
Sniffing the air like a beast, he rapidly distinguished Scarlett's trail while weaving through several cramped alleys of King's Landing.
Soon, he stopped in front of a black wooden door.
The scent ended there.
No…
It became stronger.
And beneath the fragrance lingered another odor.
Blood.
A large amount of blood.
Karl El's eyes narrowed.
For a brief moment, hesitation flashed across his face.
Then he lifted his leg and kicked the door without mercy.
Bang!
The thick wooden door exploded inward instantly, shattered into countless splinters by his inhuman strength.
Beyond it lay a dark and narrow room illuminated only by a tiny oil lamp.
The flame trembled weakly, barely lighting the interior.
Inside, someone was clearly startled by the sudden explosion.
But the figure reacted with frightening speed.
Before Karl El could enter fully, the shadow rolled toward the corner of the room.
A black blur flashed through the air.
Something shot directly toward Karl El's face.
An iron bell.
Small as a walnut.
Karl El tilted his head instinctively.
The hidden weapon narrowly missed him, producing a sharp ringing sound as it sliced through the air.
But immediately afterward, Karl El noticed something else.
A thin rope was tied to the bell.
Its other end remained in the assassin's hand.
The moment Karl El dodged, the assassin yanked the rope sharply.
Whoosh!
The iron bell changed direction instantly and attacked Karl El again from behind with even greater speed.
Feeling the cold wind approaching the back of his head, Karl El ducked immediately.
The exchange happened in less than a second.
At the same time, the figure hiding in the darkness finally seemed to recognize who had burst into the room.
The assassin's pupils contracted violently.
Then, without hesitation, the figure abandoned the attack entirely.
The iron bell was retracted at once.
The assassin rolled across the floor again and pried open a loose floorboard nearby.
Clearly, an escape route had already been prepared.
But Karl El would not allow the enemy to flee so easily.
Seeing the assassin about to disappear underground, Karl El flicked his wrist.
A dagger shot forward like lightning.
The assassin twisted desperately to avoid the attack, but the blade still pierced straight through one shoulder.
Blood splattered instantly.
Yet the figure never cried out.
Instead, the assassin curled into a ball and disappeared beneath the floorboards in complete silence.
Karl El stared coldly at the opening.
For a moment, he considered pursuing.
Then he stopped himself.
At almost the same instant, the oil lamp inside the room suddenly went out.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Karl El instantly held his breath and became alert.
However, darkness meant little to him.
Thanks to his enhanced vision, the room remained perfectly visible in his eyes.
Carefully, he scanned the surroundings for traps or ambushes.
Then his expression changed.
Near a large water barrel stood a motionless figure leaning forward over the rim.
The figure did not move.
Did not breathe.
Like a corpse.
Karl El slowly approached while applying a Stone Skin Potion and an antidote to himself in case poison lingered nearby.
When he finally reached the barrel, his face darkened.
The figure truly was a corpse.
And a headless one at that.
The small body leaned against the barrel awkwardly, almost as though admiring its own reflection in the water.
But the head was gone.
Only a bloody severed neck remained.
The barrel itself had filled halfway with blood flowing from the corpse.
That heavy metallic scent flooding the room originated here.
Suppressing his anger, Karl El gently lifted the body away from the barrel and placed it onto the nearby bed.
Even without a head, he recognized the clothing immediately.
This was the real Scarlett.
The innocent girl had already been murdered.
Karl El's gaze swept across the room again.
Soon, he found her head resting on a table in the corner.
Or rather…
What remained of it.
The face had been removed completely.
Seeing the faceless head, Karl El understood everything instantly.
The assassin had murdered Scarlett, stolen her appearance, and disguised himself as her to approach Karl El.
Scarlett herself had simply been an unfortunate victim.
An ordinary girl working at the Red Snake brothel just to survive.
Yet she had become nothing more than a disposable tool for a Faceless Man.
Karl El clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white.
"I won't let you escape," he growled.
"I swear it."
Carefully, he placed Scarlett's head back beside her body and covered her remains with a torn bedsheet.
Then he stood.
Cold killing intent radiated from his eyes.
A crystal egg suddenly appeared in his hand.
The moment it flashed with strange light, Karl El's body began to melt and twist unnaturally, like black glass heated in a furnace.
His limbs shrank.
Bones shifted.
Dark matter writhed across his skin.
Finally, the transformation stabilized.
Karl El disappeared.
In his place stood a gray wolf roughly the size of a large hunting dog.
Its fur was dark gray with black streaks, while its eyes glowed blood-red in the darkness.
This was the transformation spell known as Wither.
Karl El had learned it from a Dark Elf Witch during his experiences within the game world.
The spell consumed mana and required a Harpy Crystal Egg as a catalyst to stabilize the transformation process.
Without the egg, the magic could become dangerously unstable.
Fortunately, Karl El had already mastered its proper use.
This was also the first time he had used the spell openly since the game system upgraded.
As the wolf stood silently within the dark room, its crimson eyes flickered.
Then its nose twitched rapidly.
The scent trail still remained.
Karl El had no intention of chasing the assassin through the underground tunnel.
That would be foolish.
A Faceless Man would undoubtedly fill such escape routes with traps, poison, or collapse mechanisms.
Instead, Karl El relied on another ability.
Bloody Tracking.
As he sniffed the air, strange blood-red trails seemed to appear before his vision like drifting streams of invisible smoke.
The scent formed an unmistakable path.
Following it, the wolf slipped silently out of the room.
Outside, curious civilians had already begun gathering after hearing the explosion.
But Karl El avoided them effortlessly, blending into the streets like an ordinary stray dog.
The room he left behind was obviously a prepared safehouse.
The escape tunnel.
The disguise materials.
Scarlett's corpse.
Everything had been arranged beforehand.
The assassin had planned this operation carefully.
But Karl El had no intention of letting preparation save the killer.
After searching for several hundred meters, he finally discovered the continuation of the scent trail near a filthy sewer.
The blood-red traces drifted outward from it before fading into the city streets.
A vicious grin appeared on the wolf's face.
He had found his prey again.
Moving swiftly through alleys and crowds, Karl El finally stopped behind a sailor carrying a dead fish and two loaves of bread.
The bloody scent was strongest around him.
So was the faint trace of Summer Red poison.
At first glance, the sailor appeared completely ordinary.
He wore rough linen clothes and bargained casually with street vendors while walking through the crowd.
No normal person would suspect anything unusual about him.
But Karl El's senses told a different story.
The sailor was the assassin.
Stepping into a nearby shadow, Karl El transformed back into human form.
Then, using the remaining power of Wither once again, he altered his appearance into that of a stable groom passing nearby.
Within seconds, his face became completely different.
Now disguised, Karl El calmly approached the sailor from behind.
The crowded street concealed his movements perfectly.
A flash of light appeared in his hand.
A Valyrian steel dagger with a dragon bone hilt materialized silently.
Karl El pressed the blade against the sailor's waist.
"Stop walking," he whispered coldly.
"Faceless Man."
The sailor froze instantly.
His body trembled slightly.
Yet his reaction remained incredibly fast.
Feigning panic, he whispered nervously, "Sir, I'm just a sailor from the Pikeman."
"If you rob me, my captain won't forgive you."
"And King's Landing now enforces strict public order laws established by Duke Karl El."
"Robbery carries ten lashes and prison time."
His performance was flawless.
Too flawless.
Karl El sneered behind him.
"Excellent acting."
"But no real sailor buys dead fish for dinner."
"They spend their spare coins on ale and prostitutes."
"You panicked and grabbed the wrong disguise prop."
The sailor glanced unconsciously at the fish in his hand.
That tiny reaction exposed everything.
Then the man chuckled softly.
"How interesting," he murmured.
"Who exactly are you?"
Before Karl El could answer, the sailor suddenly twisted sideways with terrifying flexibility.
The dagger slipped past him harmlessly.
At the same time, the sailor hurled the bread and dead fish directly at Karl El's face before leaping backward toward the crowd.
He intended to escape again.
Unfortunately for him, Karl El was finished playing games.
The Valyrian dagger flashed twice.
The fish and bread split apart instantly.
Then Karl El raised his left hand toward the fleeing assassin.
A faint magical light flickered.
"Wither."
An invisible wave struck the assassin immediately.
Thud!
The fleeing sailor collapsed onto the street like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
His muscles lost all strength instantly.
Pedestrians screamed and stumbled away in fear.
The assassin struggled desperately, horror filling his eyes.
"Magic?!"
Karl El smiled cruelly.
"Yes."
"Now take another one."
Blue light crackled across the air.
Lightning erupted from Karl El's hand and struck the helpless assassin directly.
Crack!
The Faceless Man's body convulsed violently.
Smoke rose from his clothes.
Every hair on his body stood upright from the electricity.
After confirming the assassin could no longer resist, Karl El walked over slowly.
Looking down at the paralyzed killer, he sneered coldly.
"So this is what they call a Faceless Man?"
Despite the agony, the assassin still glared defiantly upward.
Karl El snorted.
Then he snapped his fingers.
Another invisible wave struck the assassin's mind instantly.
Daze.
A perfect spell for capturing prisoners alive.
The Faceless Man's eyes rolled backward.
His body went limp.
And finally, he lost consciousness completely.
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)
75% offer are going on my patreon for limited time only. Claim yours as soon as possible.