“It seems Aimi Sitan is indeed quite unpopular; we’re not the only ones who want her dead.” Dean narrowed his eyes, observing the hollow, then clapped Riven on the shoulder. “This makes your task much easier.”

“But you’ll be in trouble,” Riven said, her brows furrowed. “Even if everyone wants Aimi Sitan dead, the first to act will surely alert her, or even make her flee directly—she’s very cunning, not easy to catch.”

“If Aimi Sitan wants to run, I’ll save myself some effort,” Dean said, his purple eyes gleaming with a dangerous light. “Believe me, she absolutely won’t escape.”

Considering Dean’s familiarity with certain assassination methods, Riven nodded decisively: “So, I’ll cover you as planned?”

“Be ready for backup, and wait for my signal,” Dean said, pulling up his mask. “This battle group might just go for broke.”

The next moment, he turned, his figure silently vanishing into the vast night.

… … … … … … … …

Meanwhile, the camp in the hollow was already in utter chaos.

Those who acted first were quite professional; whether it was assassinating sentries, burning supplies, or creating a ruckus, they did it cleanly and efficiently. After all the commotion, Aimi Sitan’s battle group soldiers were completely bewildered.

Tonight, the moonlight was hazy. Noxus soldiers, just having fallen asleep, were startled awake from their dreams. In the dark, they only heard shouts of killing, the air thick with the smell of blood. But when they opened their eyes, they could only vaguely see a raging fire at the supply camp—they didn’t know where the enemy was, nor how many there were. They only knew someone was attacking the battle group under the cover of night.

Many junior officers tried to organize the soldiers to fight back, but the experienced attackers immediately targeted them.

Before these officers could establish any order, their throats were slit by blades in the darkness, and they slumped to the ground.

For a Noxus battle group, losing its junior officers was like losing its skeleton. The awakened soldiers were at a loss, not knowing what to do. Some fled aimlessly, while others simply brandished their weapons, attacking anyone who came near them, regardless of friend or foe.

And this situation is usually called… camp panic.

Ironically, under normal circumstances, a Noxus battle group with ample supplies and strict discipline rarely experienced camp panic. However, this particular battle group, due to severe corruption in logistics and Aimi Sitan’s embezzlement of funds, had its food rations maintained at a substandard level. The result was that a battle group originally capable of night combat now suffered widespread night blindness, directly leading to the outbreak of camp panic.

The soldiers, unable to see, were under prolonged mental stress. After falling into chaos, they were filled with various paranoid delusions. As the smell of blood began to spread, a battle of indiscriminate fratricide began to unfold within the hollow.

When Aimi Sitan was startled awake from her sleep and heard the chaotic commotion of the battle group, she immediately realized the seriousness of the situation. She decisively called her personal guards and prepared to slip away.

At this moment, she knew clearly in her heart: the battle group was finished!

As the battle group commander, the annihilation of her subordinate battle group was an absolutely heavy loss for her. But in fact, Aimi Sitan had already made contingency plans when she urged the battle group to depart.

For her, this make-or-break “victorious advance” was a huge gamble. She was betting on whether she could seize the Noxus Empire’s last wave of offensive during the window after Swain’s downfall, and acquire more capital within the military.

Whether it was embezzling supply funds to purchase alchemical gas, or using battlefield unspoken rules to trick allied forces into escorting the gas and providing cover for her, these were all part of Aimi Sitan’s big gamble—a straightforward battle no longer held any chance of victory. The First Land itself was helping the Ionian, and only indiscriminate destruction, regardless of friend or foe, could achieve the results she desired!

If she won, she would achieve “results that Swain couldn’t achieve” with “a cobbled-together small-scale unit.” If she lost, the outcome would merely be “loyally serving the Noxus Empire” and losing a detached battle group.

Aimi Sitan, from a top Noxus family… could absolutely afford to gamble.

So far, the outcome of this big gamble was neither good nor bad.

Although the battle group was probably finished, at least Aimi Sitan had once again opened the path to Placidium; and when she sold off the Rune Swordsman battle group earlier, she had also gained considerable results, which was perfectly justifiable to the Noxus Empire.

Considering the subsequent battle situation, most of the battle group’s soldiers could not be proven dead, allowing her to save a large sum in compensation.

Missing and dead, the Noxus Empire’s compensation standards were worlds apart.

The only regrettable thing was that the cunning Ionian chose to launch a night attack. At this time, even releasing the gas on the spot would not yield much gain.

“Initiate the final protocol.” After a deep look at the camp in the night, Aimi Sitan decisively issued her final order before retreating: “Detonate all gas canisters! Let these Ionian bumpkins taste alchemical gas!”

Two personal guards donned their gas masks, bowed, and turned to leave.

However, before they could take a few steps, a dark shadow emerged from the night. Two throwing darts flew towards them, aimed directly at their unprotected throats.

The two guards immediately raised their weapons to defend.

But to their utter surprise, as the darts flew midway, they briefly transformed into shadows, effortlessly passing through their raised weapons, then solidified again, precisely piercing their throats and leaving a terrifying void.

“Thud.” x2

As the bodies fell to the ground, Aimi Sitan, who had just turned and left the tent, also realized something was wrong. She shouted loudly, demanding her family guards for support, while decisively heading towards the more crowded areas to hide.

There was no time to wait for the guards to clear a path; avoiding this ionian assassin was paramount!

The personal guards from her family were not ordinary individuals. Among the five guards, four actively confronted the assassin, who was cloaked in all black, while the remaining one shielded Aimi Sitan and retreated first.

“Don’t even think about coming any closer!” the only one of the four guards who spoke ionian shouted at the assassin. “Four against one, you’re doomed to lose!”

“Hehehe, that’s not necessarily true,” a low, hoarse laugh came from beneath the assassin’s mask, and he replied in equally awkward Noxus Language, “Now… it’s four against four.”

To the astonished gazes of the guards, the eerie assassin’s figure flickered, splitting into three seemingly solid shadows. Together with the original, they picked up their weapons and flew towards them!

“Taste the Shadow Kill Array, you Noxus scum!”

The guards tried to respond, but they were powerless.

When they opened their mouths again, they could only make a gasping “ho-ho” sound—the dark shadows had swept across their necks, completely taking their lives.

In their final moments, they heard the shadow calmly count: “Thirty-one.”