Daily Rewards! Transmigrating into a novel as a side-character!

BOOM!

Both assassins' bodies detonated simultaneously in a devastating explosion of blood, flesh, and bone fragments. The suicide attack sent a shockwave of debris and shrapnel racing toward me at lethal velocity.

Time seemed to slow as my survival instincts kicked into overdrive. Without conscious thought, I activated my Stone Armor, the Transcendent-rank Echo.

The armour materialized around my body just as the explosion's full force reached me. The armour covered every inch of my form, creating an impenetrable barrier between my flesh and the deadly blast.

The twin explosions hammered against my defences with tremendous force. I felt the impact through the armour, it would have certainly injured my unprotected body. The attack was akin to that of a transcendent rank being.

The plates absorbed the energy, dispersing the explosive force across their supernatural durability.

Smoke and debris filled the air around me as the echoes of the blast faded.

As the smoke cleared, I examined my Stone Armor carefully. The Transcendent-rank protection had held perfectly, not a single crack or chip marred its surface. The armour had completely negated what should have been a fatal attack.

I dismissed the Echo ability. The assassins' final gambit had failed, leaving only scorched earth and scattered remains where they had once stood.

My guards were still engaged with the two Transcendent leaders, but these suicide bombers had been neutralized completely.

The explosion had been deafeningly loud. I was certain the Transcendent-rank assassins knew something had gone catastrophically wrong with their plan. Without wasting time, I sprinted toward the sounds of ongoing combat approximately 500 meters from my position.

As I burst into the clearing, both the assassins and my guards showed visible surprise at my arrival. The enemy leaders' eyes widened as they processed my uninjured appearance - they had clearly expected the suicide bombers to eliminate me.

"Young Master, what are you doing here? You need to escape!" one of my guards shouted desperately.

The distraction proved costly. One of the Transcendent assassins seized the opportunity and landed a devastating blow against my guard's exposed flank before immediately pivoting toward me. He charged with incredible speed, his eye glinting with deadly intent.

I activated Blood Control, feeling the familiar surge of power as enhanced circulation flooded my system. My Stone Armor materialized around me as additional protection, the plates forming just as he closed the distance.

"I don't know how you survived their capture, but you're proving far more troublesome than we anticipated," he snarled, his weapon raised for a killing strike.

"Die!"

I shifted into the proper stance, drawing upon the technique I was given by Carmilla. The Transcendent assassin was fast, but I had advantages he couldn't anticipate.

Time seemed to slow as I channelled everything into a single, perfect technique.

[Sky's Secret Sword Art - First Form]

Null Strike!

Knight's Wrath moved with supernatural speed, cutting through the air itself as the technique activated. The blade carried the full force of my body, my weapon's Rare-rank enchantments, and the devastating power of the Sky's Secret Sword Art's first form.

The assassin's confident expression shifted to shock as he realized his attack would never reach me. My strike was already committed, aimed at the one point where his momentum would carry him directly into my blade's path.

My sword met his dagger in a clash of steel and sparks.

The Null Strike technique worked perfectly, Knight's Wrath cut through his attack like it was nothing, completely neutralizing his strike and sending vibrations up his arm. A glint of surprise flashed in my eyes as I witnessed the true power of an Overlord-rank secret art in action once again and its power never failed to amaze me.

After nullifying his offensive, I spotted my guard positioning himself behind the assassin. Seizing the tactical advantage, I channelled mana into my Blood Control skill and attempted to manipulate the circulation within the Transcendent-rank opponent.

The assassin's face contorted as he felt something wrong happening inside his body.

Controlling the blood of a Transcendent-rank being was incredibly taxing, but I managed to drastically increase the blood pressure around his eyes, causing the vessels to swell dangerously.

Unfortunately, my plan didn't achieve full success. He flared his mana defensively, protecting himself from complete incapacitation, though not before crying out in agony.

"What did you do to me! Argh!"

The pain was clearly unbearable despite his defensive measures. While I hadn't managed to blind him permanently, I had successfully stunned and disoriented him at a critical moment.

Without hesitation, I raised my leg and delivered a powerful kick to his torso, sending him flying directly toward my approaching guard.

My guard welcomed this opportunity with a devastating strike of his own. As a martial artist who fought with enhanced gauntlets rather than weapons, he brought his fist around in a crushing blow aimed directly at the assassin's skull.

The timing was perfect. The assassin, still reeling from my blood manipulation and unable to properly defend himself mid-flight, took the full force of the strike.

Boom!

The sound of impact echoed through the forest as the gauntlet connected with bone and flesh.

Spurt!

The assassin's head exploded like an overripe watermelon, brain matter and blood spraying across the surrounding trees in a gruesome fountain. His headless body crumpled to the ground, twitching briefly before going still.

One Transcendent assassin remained.

The remaining assassin froze in shock, the devastating reality of their failure hitting him like a hammer blow to the head. The intelligence they had received was completely wrong, they had been deceived and sent to their deaths!

This was no normal student, how could a first year student in his first semester have the ability to not only nullify the attack of a transcendent rank being, but also send him to his death, it was bizarre!

Seeing his dead teammate's headless corpse, rage and desperation overcame him. He lashed out with a powerful punch that sent my guard staggering backward, then immediately turned to flee through the forest.

---

But my guards weren't about to let him escape. They pursued relentlessly, their Transcendent-rank speed allowing them to close the distance rapidly. The uninjured guard caught up first, delivering a devastating punch that sent the fleeing assassin hurtling through multiple trees with bone-crushing force.

As trunks splintered and crashed around him, the assassin realized his situation was hopeless. Death was approaching inevitably, and escape had become impossible.

I recognized the familiar look of desperate resolve crossing his face, it was the same expression the Elite-rank assassins had worn before their suicide attack.

"Careful! He's going to self-destruct!" I shouted urgently.

My guards immediately became alert and retreated to a safe distance, their combat experience making them react instantly to the warning.

Unfortunately for the assassin, once the self-destruction sequence had begun, there was no way to stop it.

BOOM!

The Transcendent-rank explosion was far more powerful than the previous detonations. The blast carved out a crater nearly ten meters wide, obliterating trees and scorching the earth in a perfect circle of destruction.

When the smoke cleared, nothing remained of the final assassin except the smoking crater and scattered debris.

The forest fell silent except for the crackling of burning vegetation and our own heavy breathing.

Both guards stared at the smoking crater in stunned silence before exchanging meaningful glances.

"Young Master," the senior guard said, his voice tight with urgency, "we need to leave this area immediately. There could be more of them."

"Agreed," the second guard added, scanning the treeline warily. "This was clearly a coordinated operation. We've stayed in one location too long."

The first guard shook his head grimly. "We couldn't capture anyone for questioning. These weren't amateur bandits, they were professional, ruthless assassins with absolute loyalty to their employers."

"The suicide explosions prove that," his companion replied. "They'd rather die than risk revealing information. Whoever sent them has serious resources, status and they certainly don't want to be known."

As they began moving toward the academy, the senior guard couldn't help but voice what they were both thinking. "Young Master, what happened back there... surviving eight Elite-rank assassins alone, then arriving to help us against Transcendent opponents..."

"The intelligence they had about you was completely wrong," the other guard added. "Your capabilities far exceed what anyone should expect from your age and rank."

The first guard nodded but then checked himself. "However, we can discuss this properly once we're somewhere secure. Right now, getting you to safety is our only priority."

"The duke needs to know about this attack immediately," his companion said. "This attack proves that the House Blackwood is being targeted by an evil enemy that would stoop so low as to ambush you, young master."

They formed a protective formation around me as we moved swiftly through the forest, their questions and amazement temporarily set aside in favour of ensuring our survival.

As we made our way back, I had sneakily used my blood control skill to store the transcendent rank blood in my Crimson Blood pendent. I was certainly not going to pass on some transcendent blood.

The more I thought about that attack earlier on, the more I was frustrated. I had been unable to gain any useful intel on our family's attackers and that was problematic in and of itself.

Information was worth its weight in gold during wars, and as a Blackwood, I had none of it. We were being attacked by an entity we didn't know.

But I knew one thing for sure. Our enemy had information about my power, which meant that they were very well versed on what was happening in the academy. This meant that my enemy was closer than I realised.

Well...whoever they are...they had just signed off their death penalty.