Isekai assassin volume 4.., p.17
Isekai Assassin: Volume 4 (A Gamelit Dark Fantasy Adventure), page 17
Aless laughed. “Then I guess we have more work ahead of us.”
I nodded and started walking forward, unsheathing the Aspect and gipping the blade tight in hand.
“That we do.”
Chapter 12- A Contract Fulfilled
As the two of us stepped into the office building, already there was a buzz of activity in the distance behind a pair of wooden doors. Aless and I looked at each other with small smiles across our faces.
“Looks like they’ve gathered a welcome party for us,” she said.
“Aw. How thoughtful of them.”
She tried to hide her chuckle as she drew her twin daggers. “How do you want to do this?”
I looked over at her and smiled. “Together.”
“I like that.”
She held her smirk as we approached the door, and I checked that it wasn’t trapped. There wasn’t anything that I could tell, but the doors were locked.
Fortunately, the wood was thin and the lock cheap, nothing more than something to ward off the occasional low-ranked thief. Certainly nothing I needed to be concerned about.
“You know, it’s quite rude of them to go through the trouble of setting up a party and then trying to lock us out of it.” I tapped the lock with my finger. “Some people are so rude.”
Aless tired very hard to fight back a laugh. “Well, we should teach them it’s not nice to exclude others.”
She stepped up and activated As Swift as the Wind, and as a pale green glow rose just off her skin and a gust of wind stirred up around her, she took a step and kicked the door with all of her considerable strength. The wood splintered and the entire housing for the lock sheared off as both doors ripped off their hinges and flew inward, coming to rest a few feet away.
We entered into what was a large office room, with plenty of wooden desks and leather chairs dotted around, as well as several mountains of papers and parchment strewn between them.
And at the very back, next to a door that led to a set of stairs, were about eight of the cheapest thugs the adventurer’s guild could muster up, all of them armed, and all of them staring straight at us.
As soon as we stepped in, one of the men wielding a heavy crossbow fired. A sharp twang sounded as the bolt whistled and flew toward Aless.
She simply stepped forward and turned, catching the quarrel just before it sailed passed her. And in the same motion, she used the momentum as she spun and launched the bolt right back at its owner. Aided by her enhanced strength and As Swift as the Wind, the bolt might as well have been launched from a crossbow for the speed at which she threw it.
The quarrel whipped right back around in a flash, and Aless’s aim was true as it buried itself into the forehead of the man who’d tried to take her life.
“Oh,” he said, and then pitched forward before leaking blood all over the stained hardwood floor.
Aless frowned. “Sorry. I hate to return gifts, but it really wasn’t my style. Death by crossbow bolt suits what’s-his-face so much better.”
At his death, the others glanced down at their mutilated colleague, in shock at the turn of events.
I just sighed.
Why are they surprised? It’s like I didn’t just take out nearly a dozen of them single-handed.
“Oh, fuck this,” I said and pulled my crossbow. As it locked into place, I fired and killed one of the thugs who held a battle axe. Though wielding such a massive weapon indoors was a terrible idea, he was the biggest among them, and I wanted him out before the chaos started.
Three of them rushed us, sliding between desks and toppling chairs in their attempt to run us through. All of them shouted as they rushed us, brandishing cheap blades and a single halberd. As they approached, I didn’t have to say anything as Aless took the one on the right while I delt with the two on the left.
My opponents were a burly man with a broadsword and a woman with a ponytail, wielding the halberd. It was a dangerous weapon, but only when it had the space to be used. For indoor fighting, it was a liability more than an asset.
The man with the broadsword lunged forward, whipping the blade at my neck in a diagonal cut. And as I slipped the strike, he followed it up with a lightning-fast step thrust, aiming for my heart.
I parried the blade at the last second and let out a huff of appreciation. At least one of the fighters had skill. The man was good with a blade, I had to give him that, but his failing wasn’t his at all.
It was his partner’s.
The girl with the halberd took the chance and shoved her polearm toward me. It slid past the guard with the broadsword, but it was so long, and she had such a great distance to cover, that it was the easiest thing in the world for me to take a step to the side and pivot on my heel, bringing my leg up.
As the halberd narrowly missed my chest, I kicked out, and the ball of my foot connected with the wooden haft of the halberd, and physics took over. Ponytail had committed to the strike, which meant her balance was all wrong, and she was leaning forward. Her grip was precarious at best, and when I kicked the halberd, the entire front end whipped to the side.
Straight into Broadsword’s face.
The wooden shaft met his nose, and it shattered under the force, sending him stumbling back into the side of a desk. And when he hit, he dropped his blade as his eyes watered with tears and blood streamed out of his ruined nose.
Ponytail gasped and then turned to me with fury in her eyes.
I simply wrapped my hand around the halberd and yanked it from her grasp before shoving it back into her stomach. She buckled as I hit her solar plexus and doubled over, letting go of her weapon in the process.
Now that the halberd was mine, I spun it around and clipped Ponytail once more in the jaw, dislocating it before I turned to Aless, who was fighting a dagger-wielding man with thick, shaggy black hair.
She wasn’t toying with him, but she had yet to kill him. There were a myriad of shallow cuts across his body. His skin glowed a bright silver, and a metallic sheen covered his flesh. I didn’t know what skill or spell it was, but I didn’t have time to check as I was in the middle of a fight.
But whatever it was, it was able to hold off Aless and her incredible speed.
Let’s fix that.
Halberd in hand, I reared back and, using it like a spear, launched it at the man as he lunged for Aless. It took him just under the ribs and, skill or no skill, with my strength stat, it slid through his flesh with ease and lifted him off his feet, sending him careening to the side where he lay in a crumpled heap.
Aless cast one look my way and huffed before kneeling next to the man and ripping her daggers through his throat.
As she stood, she wiped a bit of blood off her cheek, and there was a hint of indignation in her eyes as she sprinted toward me and dove toward the desk. Wind whispered at her back as she left a trail of ethereal green in her wake. Aless planted her hands as she met the wood and performed a cartwheel over it just as Ponytail was getting up from having her jaw broken.
Aless was precise and timed her approach perfectly, and as soon as Ponytail stood up, Aless landed on top of her, thighs snaking around her head, and with a single savage twist, Aless snapped the girl’s neck.
Ponytail dropped like a stone, and Aless rode her to the ground and rolled as she hit the floor, coming up right in front of Broadsword. She stepped on his blade as he bent to pick it up and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying.
He went sprawling over the desk, and as he hit the floor, Aless stomped with the leg she just kicked with and lashed out with her back leg. The kick indented the desk as she shoved it forward and sent it crashing into Broadsword.
There were several snaps of bones and a long, pained groan before a single deep sigh as the man was crushed against the desk. Yet, he wasn’t dead. And as he attempted to stand, Aless glanced at me before drawing her crossbow in a single motion and putting a bolt through the side of his head, killing him instantly.
“I didn’t need your help, Elias.”
I grinned. “I know.”
With that, I turned and looked at the three others who were still in the back, not moving as we dismembered their companions in front of them.
I held my blade up and motioned to them. “Well, are you just going to stand there or are we going to have to come to you?”
One of them paled and shook his head violently as he threw down his sword. “Oh fuck. No! I’m out of here!”
He turned and bolted through the door that led to the stairs and headed deeper in the building, while the other two guards just looked at each other and threw down their weapons as they got on their hands and knees and begged for mercy.
And in all honesty, I couldn’t blame their survival instincts. When encountering overwhelming strength, begging for your life was a valid tactic.
Appealing to your opponent’s mercy is a gamble, though.
Because what if they have none to give?
I sighed as I strolled forward and shook my head. “I get the impulse. But you should never put your life in someone else’s hands. You might get lucky and they could spare you, but more often than not, you’re just asking to die on your knees instead.”
“What?” The man looked up and held his hands up. “It’s just a job! We’re sorry─”
My blade caught him under the chin, splitting open his throat and spilling blood down the front of his armor. In the same motion, I whipped my knife over and shoved it through the skull of the second man who didn’t even have time to register that he was dead before I broke open his skull.
The two men hit the floor at roughly the same time and then lay still as blood and brains leaked from their wounds.
“Yes, and so was this. Just a job.”
3 Killed: 300 Exp!
Life Leech: 236 Exp!
Your Archery skill has increased by 1! [Archery: 18 (Novice)] +25 Exp!
Your Hand-to-Hand skill has increased by 1! [Hand-to-Hand: 43 (Journeyman)] +50 Exp!
Your Small Blades skill has increased by 1! [Small Blades: 38 (Journeyman)] +50 Exp!
Your Polearms skill has increased by 1! [Polearms: 1 (Novice)] +25 Exp!
Aless shook her head as she approached and was careful not to get any more blood or vileness on her boots. She’d cancelled her magic, and a light sheen of sweat glistened on her skin. She reached into her ring and pulled out a small vial of crystal blue liquid and took a swig.
Almost at once, the color returned to her skin, and she smiled.
“Much better.” Aless wiped her mouth and pointed to the corpses. “Damn, but Cora is going to have a hell of a mess to clean up when this is over.”
I nodded. “We’ll help. I’m not putting all this on her.”
“Agreed. We should at least pick up after ourselves. After all, even kids know to put away their toys when they’re done playing with them.”
“Toys, human corpses. Same thing, right?”
Aless and I looked at each other and burst out laughing.
“Oh, we’re so fucked up it’s almost funny.”
“Sorry. My bad.”
She just grinned and pointed to the stairs. “Let’s finish this.”
“Let’s.”
I started up the stairs with Aless right behind me. The two of us made it up the first flight and found a second office room, this time sans the rent-a-thugs that the bottom had, although there was a clear trail of panic across the floor. Scattered papers and pushed-over furniture.
It was clear that our fleeing guard went this way, to the second set of stairs on the opposite side of the room.
Only one floor left to run to. Means our target is upstairs. And there isn’t an exit. I checked.
Normally, I wouldn’t have taken so much risk with this contract, but after scouting things out, I found the entire building had been built like a fortress, which made it hard to get to the top. But it also limited escape routes, and I doubted my target had the endurance or the agility to survive a three-story freefall unscathed.
Which meant he had effectively trapped himself.
And, that I could take my time working through his goons.
But now, the hunt was on, and my heart raced as we crossed the room and headed up one final flight of stairs to the third floor.
At the top, instead of an entire floor of offices, it was a single extravagant one, with elegant wood paneling, plush carpet, and expensive hand-carved wooden furniture.
There were only two men in the room, the guard who’d run and the man who I presumed was my target.
I cast Weilin’s Judgment just to make sure.
Name: James Buchanan
Age: 38
Race: Human
Job: Businessman
Level: 2
Exp: 1345/12376
Stats
Strength: 19
Constitution: 22
Endurance: 20
Wisdom: 18
Perception: 30
Agility: 21
Charisma: 32
Luck: 27
Skills
Merchant, An Eye for Business
Spells
Healing, Pebble
It was him alright, and from his skills, he was a businessman through and through. Though, he’d taken to arming himself with a sword and he’d also strapped a bit of armor over his expensive clothes as well, looking like the spitting image of a child playing pretend with his daddy’s armor.
I ignored him for a time and instead focused on the remaining thug.
The guard was pale and sweat ran off him in droves as he backed up right against the desk, sword out as his hand trembled in fear.
“Stay back! Please don’t hurt me!”
I didn’t say a word as Aless rushed forward and efficiently ended the man’s life with a single flick of her blade. His head rolled to the ground as his body slipped down the side of the desk and spewed crimson all across the floor.
“Oh gods!” Buchanan said as he threw himself back out of his chair. It crashed to the floor, and as he stood, he drew a blade out from under the desk. His expensive armor was too new and flashy for it to have seen actual combat, and over his suit, he just looked like a fool.
“I’m warning you, you don’t want to do this! Do you know who I am? What I could do to you? I’m not someone you want to fuck with!” He brandished his sword in front of him. “I’m telling you I’m connected! I’ve got the Foxes and Crescent Thorn in the palm of my hand. I could have you killed with a snap of my fingers.”
As he spoke, his voice grew more and more desperate. Sweat poured down his forehead as his hands continuously shook so much I thought his sword would vibrate right out of his grasp.
I chuckled and shook my head. “Considering the Foxes are the ones who put the contract on your head, I highly doubt they’re going to leap to your rescue.”
“The Foxes?” He shook his head. “Fuck!...well, I’ve still got friends in Thorn’s guild. I’ve given them plenty of business! You don’t want to mess with one of their best clients!”
I had to fight not to shake my head in disbelief at the guy who was actively giving me everything I needed to justify killing him. But the Foxes wanted fear, and he was certainly fearful, so I let him continue as I took a single step forward.
“Tell me. You know why I’m here. But I want you to confess to me your crimes. Do that, and perhaps I’ll show mercy.”
“You─what?” he breathed out and licked his lips, nodding his head. “Yeah. Yeah. Work with me. I can pay you, I’ve got lots of vahn. I’ve been skimming from the Foxes for years. Little bits here and there whenever we do a deal. Vahn flows through here like an ocean, and the Foxes need me to keep things running smoothly. I cook the books, bribe officials, look the other way on certain things, and help facilitate arrangements between them and Thorn’s guild.” He grinned. “Even thieves and assassins need a middleman.
“They paid me good, but after seeing how much they were dealing, it was nothing but a fucking pittance. So yeah. I took a little off the top here and there, so what? I earned it for everything I’ve done for them.”
He looked at me and waved his sword at me once more. “And I can give you some of it. Eighty thousand vahn in your pockets tonight if you let me live. Tell ‘em you killed me and I’ll escape, never see me again. I’ve got enough to live well somewhere far away. I swear. It’s a good deal, eh?”
I nodded. “A very good deal…for anyone but me.”
The slimy smile he had on his face fell into a look of rage as he lunged for me. “Well, fuck you then!”
I smiled at his words, already in motion.
“Ever-Reaching Abyss,” I said, casting with my right hand, while I aimed my left hand at the same time and spoke, “Silence.”
Whatever he was about to say was cut off by Silence activating. Darkness sprung from my feet and stretched over the ground, spreading out until it was a sea of oil that bubbled and hissed as it reached the target.
It latched onto his legs and slithered around him, wrapping around his ankles as it held him in place.
A look of utter outrage appeared on his face, but without the use of his vocal cords, it was nothing but bluster. Realizing what trouble he was in, he turned, rearing back as he prepared to chuck his sword at me.
It was time to use my newest acquired skill.
“Come, Night’s Children.”
Almost at once, the shadows at our feet churned and writhed in chaos. He snagged his sword and just managed to draw it when several thin skeletal hands coated in shadow burst from the darkness and clawed their way up from the void.
Three blobs of ooze rose, one even appearing underneath the desk, and easily burst through the wood, shattering it in two.
When I’d seen them up close as Thorn used them against me, they were different. His looked almost like actual children, just without flesh. Just bones and darkness.
Mine were much different.
They rose from the ever-reaching abyss, nothing but piles of ooze made manifest, shadows given form. Their bodies were dark masses of dripping shade with wicked faces and long arms with dagger sharp claws at the ends. Their lower halves were concentrated pools of shadow that collected any dropped darkness and fed it back into themselves.
