Kirito reached out to stroke his chin, his sharp eyes sweeping along the long, dark corridor with over twenty tightly closed room doors designed just like a complex maze. Behind each of those doors, a critically important ruling figure was being guarded strictly by elite forces.
This was indeed an extremely wise and perilous defensive battleground. Kirito naturally understood clearly that he could not possibly have enough time and strength to break down the doors and storm into each room one by one to inspect.
But for a smart Shinobi, there are always more efficient shortcuts.
Without hesitating, Kirito quickly pulled out a small specialized wooden tube, skillfully poking a small hole through the wooden door layer and blowing a powerful stream of toxic gas deep into the first room.
He persistently repeated that operation with every single room along the corridor. Within a brief span of time, the invisible toxic gas had spread entirely into the enclosed space of all the rooms.
What surprised Kirito slightly was that after blowing the poison, absolutely not a sound or a human figure rushed out to cry for help.
He stepped up to the nearest door, using his foot to kick the door wide open. Striking his eyes was a deeply gruesome scene: inside the room, all the guarding soldiers and even the infiltrating Shinobis had all succumbed to the poison, collapsing and dying sprawled everywhere across the floor.
Kirito leisurely walked inside, advancing to a large wooden wardrobe in the corner of the room and pulling open the cabinet door. Inside was an old official huddled up, having passed out long ago from inhaling the toxic gas. Kirito did not kill him, but instead took an antidote pill from his pouch and shoved it straight into the man’s mouth to preserve his life, then coldly turned around and left to check the next room.
In Kirito’s mind at that moment, he had mapped out an extremely deep and pragmatic scheme. He needed to maintain this bloody chaos for as long as possible; if the empress’s faction were wiped out too quickly, the restored order would not benefit his subsequent moves. Only when the tug-of-war battle between the empress and the five major factions continued to drag on would the war landscape become all the more complex, creating a perfect cover for his personal calculations.
Kirito’s true purpose in venturing into this dangerous realm was not merely to complete the mission of assassinating the ruling figures, but also to thoroughly exploit that chaotic period to approach their gorgeous, high-ranking wives. Instead of bothering to search everywhere for them, these towering authorities had turned out to gather the most breathtaking women and hide them inside these mansions for him.
Running around through a series of rooms reeking of death and toxic smoke, Kirito finally reached the next room at the end of the line.
He pushed hard on the exquisitely carved wooden door. The scene inside remained identical to the previous rooms: the soldiers and Shinobi assassins had all collapsed, some dead on the spot, others dying a lingering death over pools of blood.
Kirito stepped over the corpses, marching straight to the large, magnificently and luxuriously decorated bed right in the center of the room.
Lying motionlessly on that lavish bed was a woman of peerless beauty, her charming face displaying a startled expression even though she had fainted from the toxic gas.
The woman lying unconscious on the luxurious bed wore an extremely gorgeous and haughty deep pink Kimono attire. Her long, glossy hair possessing a unique blue hue was neatly tied up behind, punctuated by a finely carved gold-inlaid hairpin, exuding an aristocratic aura matched by few.
The top-grade Kimono fabric across her chest was slightly ajar due to her reclining posture, parting deeply and drooping naturally. The soft silk fabric slipped off her slender, graceful shoulders, fully exposing both pearl-white, smooth bare shoulders under the dim light. Her full cleavage with a deep, mesmerizing valley peeked into view, alongside large, plump, alluring breasts that would make any male seeing them feel his heart race.
Not stopping there, the lower skirt hem was designed with an exceptionally deep thigh slit, revealing with each breath a large, round, spotless snow-white thigh.
"Truly beautiful..." Kirito froze in place, his gaze failing to conceal his astonishment at the worldly peerless beauty laid out before his eyes.
Though he had just passed through bloody life-or-death battles, Kirito still quickly stepped closer, took a detoxifying antidote pill from his pouch, and carefully placed it into the woman’s mouth, helping her swallow it. The moment he touched her body, unable to restrain his male instinct, he slid his hand along her inner thigh—skin unbelievably smooth and soft.
Just minutes later, thanks to the antidote’s effect, the woman slowly opened her eyes and woke up in a daze, her consciousness gradually recovering.
Contrary to her confusion, Kirito leisurely pulled a luxurious wooden chair directly opposite to sit down, crossing his arms over his chest, his tone calm as he spoke up:
"Awoken already, milady?"
The empress started violently upon seeing a masked shadow risen from the dead sitting heavily right before her. Yet, with the composure of a kingdom’s ruler, she panicked only for a brief second before quickly regaining her calmness, her sharp eyes staring straight at you:
"You... exactly which faction’s assassin sent you here?"
Kirito casually nodded in admission:
"Yes, I am indeed an assassin."
The empress narrowed her phoenix eyes, suspicion clearly etched across her charming face:
"If you’re an assassin wanting to take my life, why did you give me the antidote to save me just now? What on earth is your purpose?"
Kirito raised his index finger, signaling vaguely:
"Want to make a business deal with me, Your Majesty the Empress?"
The empress knitted her brows tightly, her voice firm: "You are not a pure assassin in the true sense."
Kirito shook his head slightly, letting out a faint smirk: "I am definitely an assassin, but naturally a smart person like me always has his own calculations and purposes."
Saying that, Kirito abruptly stood straight up, striding quickly toward the bed. He roughly reached out to grip her slender chin firmly, using forceful strength to force that exquisite, haughty visage upward to face directly into his fierce, lustful gaze.
Kirito leaned his face in close, exhaling hot breath onto her skin, speaking in a muffled, thick tone carrying both intimidation and teasing:
"I’m telling you the truth... I’m genuinely, deeply captivated by your worldly beauty and power now, Empress."
He squeezed her chin slightly, commanding: "Now, be a good girl and spell out your name."
Empress Mika, though in a weak position, still flashed the majesty of a superior in her eyes. She bit her lip, then coldly voiced her reply:
"I am Mika... The Empress of this kingdom."