Interlude - One for All, All for Naught (I)
"..."
Minutes prior, Assassin was busy delivering the finishing touches to his network of traps. Of course, that's not all he was doing. He might had agreed to cooperate with Yamashita Hiro and the rest out of sheer necessity, but he was not stupid enough to believe the alliance would last forever. Much like the Magus didn't trust him because of what he represented, the masked Heroic Spirit held some distaste towards his companions hidden somewhere within his heart. Not because of their backgrounds or their personalities, their goals or their possessions... If anything, it was in Assassin's core nature to dislike them, even if it was for seemingly no reason. As such, he had distanced himself enough to operate with freedom while being able to overhear their conversation from afar through rudimentary yet crafty tools. This Assassin was, after all, more of a builder, an inventor, rather than an actual fighter.
"..."
A coward only needs to follow two rules.
The first one is always put oneself above others. A coward does not have the luxury to be anything but selfish. One has to conquer the rest of the world by turning it into an inanimate object that can be utilized to meet one's own desires. In that sense, a kill that does not bring one some sort of benefit is nothing but a mechanical action that brings absolutely no satisfaction. Someone cold and distanced from the society that surrounds them, someone only preoccupied with their own well-being, that's Hassan's own definition of Assassin.
The second rule ties with the first and is very simple and straight-forward, as well. A coward does everything for the sake of victory. No tactic is underhanded or off-limits. Things like pride and honor, truth, past connections and personal debts are nothing but a burden to be discarded if it means success or survival. How many times had he seen others fall prey to those delusions? How many times he turned those lies into killing tools to get the job done? At that point, Assassin had already lost count.
So, when Hassan of the Mountain heard what Hiro and her new friend Luna were about to do, he clicked his tongue in disapproval. It was only natural, in the Servant's head there was no better version of learning -or getting any sort of task done- than to grasp it yourself. The idea of outside help was a taboo, and perhaps that was why he wasn't entirely content with his current assignment. If his Master's leash had been any looser...
Swoosh.
Assassin's train of thought was interrupted by the sudden shift in the air around him, brought about by the leap of a wild, untamed beast. Danger coming for his blind spot, the masked heroic spirit's reaction was on the nick of time, avoiding sure death by a hair's breadth by lowering his stance and then quickly creating distance between him and his attacker. Underneath his mask, confusion and anxiety had already taken over. Someone had managed to slip past his defenses completely unnoticed, and it was only a similar past experience what had allowed him to escape that exchange alive. There had been no real technique in that swipe...
And yet, as he stared at this new enemy that had manifested before him ahead of time, Assassin inadvertedly allowed his humanity to reveal itself in his current stance. Well, he was a coward, so it was perhaps to be expected for him to display fear.
Before him was a creature of shadows. A wielder of a crown. A king of beasts who had appointed this entire park as his kingdom on a whim. There were no facial features within that mass of darkness that was its face. Only two, glowing golden eyes, their gaze sharp enough to cut through the mask that he wore like it was nothing.
For a moment, the two did nothing but to stare at one another, aware that the slightest movement from any of the parts involved would immediately trigger the beginning of an all-out-war.
To any but the two of them, it must have lasted only an instant.
But within that small window of time... Assassin was able to figure it out; the worth of that crown. Perhaps, the silent beast managed to realize it as well; the worth of that mask. How many usurpers had there been to the throne? How many had tossed away their identities for a chance wear that cursed mask of leadership...?
"...!"
The beast made the first move, reducing the distance Assassin had so proudly created to nothing in the blink of an eye. He's hopeless... In a physical fight, the Servant who had never been more than an ordinary human stood no chance against the creature that had never been human to begin with.
The first swipe had been a warning.
The second swipe descended to take his life.
Interlude Out