Building An Empire Starting From The Labor Camp In Exile-Chapter 81: Off we go

"What is happening?" Erok shouted. He tried to lash out with darkness, but he didn’t feel his essence. It was as if he were reaching for a limb that never existed.

He knew then that something was wrong. The darkness around him ripped and surged like ink, pooling together, merging into something and when everything settled, only Tiber was standing there, his eyes locked on Erok. He said calmly. "I think we’ve played enough."

Tiber gestured, pulling his hand forward as if he was griping something and Erok flew toward him with a scream. He tried to move, to resist, but an invisible force held him, drawing him close to the man, who caught him by the neck.

Tiber looked down at him and smiled faintly, staring at him made the mind go numb. "Off we go then." He said.

Darkness covered everything like a rolling tide and Erok knew nothing more.

When Erok opened his eyes, he found himself on the first floor, bound by chains of darkness curled into his shadow. He saw the people standing in front of him and knew things had gone terribly wrong.

Atrox frowned. "You just disturbed my sleep with the stunt you pulled."

"What?" Erok asked blankly. He tried to remember how he’d ended up in the present situation, but the last thing he recalled was staring at the building. Then, he’d seen someone looking at him... their eyes met, and then... nothing.

Danger screamed in his head, and he sat up. *I’m supposed to kill these three! Just how?!*

Just then, memories flooded back—how he’d killed them, how they came back to life... and then...

Slya snickered. "I think he remembers now. What did you even do to him, Tiber? He was staring blankly when I used conjured chains to drag him inside."

"I pulled him into a dream," Tiber said calmly.

The sound of his voice made Erok tremble. Darkness crowded his vision before he regained clarity again. Then, he understood what the big man had said. *A dream? But I wasn’t sleeping! How? Was it then?! When I locked eyes with him. But that was only for an instant!*

Atrox turned to Tiber with raised brows. *So the ability I gave him was actually more useful than I thought.*

He rubbed his eyes wearily. "What dream did you give him? He looked scared just before he woke up."

"Just a small nightmare."

"Did you get any information?" Atrox asked. He wasn’t surprised an assassin had come after them; after all, it was the fastest way for the Ten to eliminate him and the others.

"Yes. He was sent by Fell, but this guy, Erok, is a member of Team 28, assassins used by the Scuffed Bones," Tiber said.

"Fell? That’s the team leader of rank three, right? That’s also the leader of the Scuffed Bones in this Layer."

"Yes," a voice answered from the stairs. Xan appeared in his nightclothes, holding a dagger. "I heard a disturbance," he explained when everyone turned to look at him.

Atrox understood what had happened. "So an assassin was sent by the Scuffed Bones, not the Ten. That means their meeting didn’t go as the Scuffed Bones wanted. Quite sneaky of him to react this fast."

"We should be getting news from the Ten then," Slya said. Essence flowed from her and into the formation holding the chains that bound Erok.

Xan nodded and grimaced. "That is if another assassin doesn’t actually finish the job."

Erok, for all the bloodlust he emitted, sat there confused. He had no intention of doing anything. It was as if he’d accepted his fate. Anytime an idea flashed through his mind—an urge to cause trouble—he felt as if he were submerged in water.

And then... he’d forget what he was about to do.

They stayed in silence, all looking at Erok. Atrox yawned. "Maybe because this one doesn’t look like an assassin, I’ll expect them to use."

"Are they feeling out the waters?" Tiber asked.

Atrox frowned. "Perhaps. We’ll take turns standing watch tonight. Slya, take care of the rat."

The chains around Erok trembled and began to constrict like a coiled serpent.

"Wait, Slya!" Tiber faced Atrox. "I’ve already taken care of it. Can you leave it to me?"

Atrox’s frown deepened, but then he shrugged. "If you say so."

Tiber nodded and gestured for Slya to release him. She hesitated but eventually did. The chains around Erok dissolved into darkness. Erok scrambled upright, moving backward with his hands raised defensively.

Tiber chuckled. "You can go."

"What?" Slya and Xan asked in unison, looking from the assassin to Tiber. Even Erok looked as if he couldn’t believe his ears. He watched them warily, waiting for a trick.

Tiber repeated, "You can go. Just don’t do it again."

Erok opened his mouth but thought better of it. He shadow-walked toward the door, still facing them. When he saw they weren’t making any moves, he used shadow steps to exit the building as fast as he could.

Atrox watched Tiber. "That was interesting, but really, why?"

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Erok ran as fast as he could, using a combination of shadow steps and natural running to get as far from the building as possible. To think he’d been caught in an illusion from the very beginning!

To be pulled into a dream... Erok shuddered. This wasn’t something he had trained against as an assassin, and now he knew better. *I must find an artifact that can protect against the mind!*

Before long, he reached the base of Team 28 and was quickly and quietly admitted into the building. Erok ignored the others as he made his way to the leader’s room.

He knocked quickly on the wooden door and received a reply. "Enter."

He stepped into the dimly lit room, illuminated only by a red lantern on the table. A man sat behind it, pale with almost too-large eyes.

Elwim, the leader, watched him and leaned back in his chair. "So, how was it?"