"In regards to that..." M began. "That brings us to the fourth constraint; the anti-synergy between all of you."
The Thunder Viper narrowed his eyes as he understood what she meant.
He turned to the Maneater and the Suffocator with wary eyes. "I definitely cannot operate near them, that much I can tell you."
He glanced around at each of them with sharp eyes. Each of them had elements that conflicted with his manner of going about things.
A smile flashed atop his face. "A gauntlet, if I remember correctly."
"That's right," M nodded. "We will have a series of assassins in place, ready to take the place of the one that failed. Of course, if there are those of you who think they can work with each other without getting in each other's way, then that is acceptable, too. Aside from the twins, are there any pairs who would be able to work without impeding each other significantly?"
Nobody raised their hands. Although this was the first time that some of them had met each other face-to-face, they knew that their styles would definitely compete with and impede each other.
"...In that case, a series it is," M announced. "We have informed you of the payment structure, but I shall take a moment to go over it again."
The screen on the board changed, featuring a flowchart.
"Each of you will be paid your standard premium commission for simply partaking in the assassination," She informed them. "The one to land the final blow will receive two to the power of whatever their numeric turn is. Thus, if the person going first succeeds in the assassination, they will get twice as much, but if the person going second succeeds, then they get four times as much. The person going thrice would get eight times as much for killing him, and so on and so forth."
This was why so many of them had decided to accept the commission. The price for actually succeeding was incredibly high.
Whoever was employing these assassins to kill Rui was simply giving away gold as it grew on trees.
It also incentivized them to participate even if they didn't get to first due to the additional gold they would get if they succeeded where the ones prior failed.
"I'm going first," The Thunder Viper declared.
His words earned the ire of those around him.
"I'm afraid not," The Maneater's seductive tone grew cold.
"If anyone is going first," A deep voice emerged from within the Suffocator's mask. "It's me."
"We will draw lots for the disputed numbers," M informed them.
Suddenly, Rui raised his hand, drawing everybody's attention. "I'll be going last."
His words took the entire room by surprise.
The probability that the target would be able to get to the last was minimal. It would take an extraordinary Martial Senior to accomplish such a feat.
"Hah," The Thunder Viper snorted. "Did you come here just to get a freebie and avoid working?"
"…If nobody disputes his claim, then it will go to him," M calmly remarked.
A brief silence overtook the entire room.
"Let us proceed with the drawing of lots," M remarked as a box with a hole came about. "Let us begin from the left. Please come in and reach for a chit. Show it to nobody else except me."
That was less desirable for Rui, knowing the order of his assassins was definitely desirable, but alas, he didn't have any valid claim to ask for them. Doing so would simply draw more attention to him. On top of that, he didn't have any justification for it, so it would make him suspicious.
One by one, they drew their number. Most did not exhibit any reaction; the Thunder Viper tutted, and the Maneater smiled seductively.
"Ensure that you do not enter the fray at anything other than your turn," M stated. "If you do, then you shall be denied your pay even if you succeed in killing him. That will be a term in the contract."
None of the assassins voiced any complaints against this.
"Let us get back to the target itself," M said after they had each drawn their turn. "Rui Quarrier. I would suspect most of you know nothing about him."
"I heard he was the new youngest Martial Senior in history," Thunder Viper snorted, raising an eyebrow. "Hehehe, he should have waited. It was stupid to break through that young. He's drawn more attention than he can handle, and he's going to die for it."
The Voidreaper was silent, but inwardly, Rui snorted contemptuously at his words.
"He is indeed the youngest Martial Senior in history," M remarked. "His age of breakthrough thoroughly confirmed by multiple parties, including the Beggar's Sect, the Martial Union, and the Ministry of Martial Art to be twenty-three."
"So young…I bet he tastes wonderful," The Maneater giggled.
"His age of breakthrough is not relevant to the difficulty of the operation," M remarked. "An information package will be provided to each of you featuring everything there is to know about his strengths and weaknesses. You may read through them while I go over the important points."
She turned back to the board as the screens changed to one featuring all of Rui's combat feats and Martial Art intelligence while books filled with intelligence on him.
"There is much to be said in regards to Rui Quarrier as a Martial Artist," M remarked. "However, according to Martial Master sources, there are two things that truly need to be paid attention to."
The screen changed, featuring a brain symbol beside the words 'adaptive evolution.'
"His Martial Path and his capacity for thought are the most important things," M remarked. "In regards to the latter, there are many reasons and testaments. For one, it is confirmed that he learned how to speak fluently by the age of one and how to read by the age of three, demonstrating an astonishingly prodigious rate of growth. In the mental evaluation in the Martial Academy, he scored above two hundred on an IQ test, the highest score in the history of the Martial Union…"
