This is chapter 1/5 sponsored by mystichead. Thank you for your support.
Rudger had been waiting for this situation from the beginning. He already knew that the assassins were hiding in the crowd, waiting for them to wear out.
'If we try to break the loose siege and run away quickly, they will have no choice but to come out.'
Assassins, given the circumstances, carry out their missions in a frighteningly calm manner and since Rudger broke the situation they have created, the assassins had no choice but to show up.
Since their plan failed they had two options to step back or to complete the mission.
As Rudger climbed onto his roof, he didn't forget to watch for the enemies following him. Indeed, as he expected, the assassins quickly climbed up to the roof, revealing their true colors.
The number was three, as he initially guessed and he waited for the guy who was the first to climb up the outside stairs quickly then pierced him with the sword stick at the right time.
"Two are left."
"What are you……."
Violetta stared at Rudger in disbelief.
"How the hell did you know they would move like that?"
"That's usually the case with Southern Assassins."
The reason Rudger was certain was because the opponent was an assassin from the southern continent. To be precise, {Calsapa Assassins} led by the Fatima dynasty. They are the most famous assassination group on the continent, and they are also the most infamous.
Usually assassins retreat when things go like this, but they don't.
When a task is given, it is accomplished no matter what. Its near-indoctrination teachings, combined with the doctrines of the religion they believed in and followed, made the Calsapa Assassins very famous.
Because of strict discipline, they were able to grow and become stronger.
'But the rule that the mission must be completed binds them.'
It was impossible to point out that they were stupid when they had a bad opponent who was a mage, who knew how to engage in close combat and was armed with strange devices.
"I just poked that loophole."
"……You are also knowledgeable about Southern Assassins."
"I've been targeted a few times."
"Yes?"
Violetta asked in disbelief and Rudger suddenly recalled the past.
When he was still a kid, he was targeted by the Calsapa Assassins. At that time, he thought he was really going to die.
'If it wasn't for Master, I would have already died.'
Because of that experience, he was able to deal with them so easily now. Compared to those who chased him in the past, those who are aiming for him now are like children.
They were in Leathervelk because they were kicked out since they failed their mission or came to improve their skills. Whatever it is, if Rudger looks at them from an objective level they level was far below the real ones in the south.
"Are you coming again?"
Rudger's gaze, standing on the railing, was directed down the alleyway. The two assassins are busy moving in the darkness.
"It's because they're Calsapa Assassin, isn't it? Their comrade is dead, but they're not affected."
"What are we going to do now?"
While Rudger was troubled, the assassins who had hidden themselves in the dark moved. They popped out of the building crevices and quickly threw their daggers.
"Huh!"
But Violetta did not stand still. She opened wide the black parasol she was holding in her hand. As if proving that it was not made of ordinary material, the sharp daggers could not penetrate her parasol.
"Ah, this."
"It seems that the parasol has no resistance to poison at all."
The poison applied to the tip of the dagger corroded her parasol. Meanwhile, the assassins hid themselves.
"Hey, how have they done this……."
"It is a special poison used by the Calsapa Assassins. When it comes into contact with the skin, it seeps into the body and is quite dangerous, and it disassembles any armor."
"They can throw it with a knife?"
"It's a special dagger. To be precise, it was coated on the dagger by melting celvantium, a rare metal from the south. Celvantium is the main export product of the Fatima dynasty, and it is a special product called the metal of the gods. It is very resistant to corrosion."
"I see."
When information leaked from Rudger's mouth, Violetta decided not to ask him any further. She had accepted that what this man said was not strange.
"So how do we respond?"
"You have to hold out until they run out of daggers to throw."
"Can we?"
"Since the parasol has melted, we can't and we can't even use magic right now."
In other words, if they do not dodge the next attack, they will die.
"Then we should move first."
"Where?"
"Back down."
It was perfect to become a prey for the assassins on the open roof.
Rudger reached out to Violetta without a word. She hesitated and took his hand.
"Hold on tight."
"……."
Rudger grabbed Violetta in one of his arms and jumped from the roof.
"Huh?"
One of the members of the Red Society, who were scattered to chase after Rudger and Violetta, had his head smashed in Rudger's shoe.
Rudger got down to the alley using one person as a buffer and ran blindly without looking for the assassin's location.
'Are you trying to hide?'
The assassins did not understand Rudger's actions at the moment. He went to the roof, and they suddenly came down again.
'It is an unpredictable target. I'll have to be careful.'
One of his colleagues has already been killed.
The two Assassins exchanged glances at each other in the dark. That alone conveyed the meaning. One will chase right behind and the other will be moving from above and blocking the way.
'Catch them before they escape.'
With that thought in mind, the assassin, who was secretly chasing Rudger and Violetta, found a black shadow in front of him and stopped walking.
He found the target but something is strange.
'The woman is alone? What about the man?'
Has he left her? Certainly, looking at the battle just before, the woman looked like a burden.
"Come on, wait! How could you leave me?"
As if she had actually been abandoned, she stood up and screamed but the assassin wasn't sure if it was a trap or not.
'Maybe he never really left. Is it a trap? Are they trying to confuse me?'
The escape to the roof a while ago was also a trap. Perhaps a man named James Moriarty is hiding somewhere around him.
The assassin slowly walked towards Violetta with a poisoned dagger in his hand. His gaze turned to Violetta, who was left alone, but his ears were set high to pick up the sounds around him.
At that moment, he heard a small sound in his ear from the right.
'It's here!'
The assassin determined that this was where Rudger was hiding and immediately threw his dagger but nothing was hit.
'What?! There was definitely a sound.'
He is highly trained to handle such situations and could never have been wrong.
"It's unfortunate."
A voice came from behind him as if it suddenly popped out of the air. Rudger stood behind him.
How and when? Rather than having such a question, the assassin unconsciously moved his body based on the training he had received.
He grabbed the dagger and swung it backwards……But before the assassin could move, Rudger's sword stick pierced him from behind.
"How……."
The sound came from the right side, but he appeared from behind?
"It's that kind of magic."
Rudger said as he pulled out the sword stick from his body. The remnants of the diffusion still remain but Rudger reversed the diffusion direction.
He combined sound magic and coordinate designation magic to make the direction the sound came from difficult to distinguish.
"You got him?"
"Yes."
Violetta was embarrassed when Rudger asked her to play the role of bait but she did as she was told and he killed one more assassin.
'Well, it's magic that lets out sounds from different directions. It must be embarrassing for those who suffer.'
But when you fight for your life, there is no need to be considerate to your opponent.
'Now there is only one left.'
At times, a cool breeze blows through the alleyway.
'The diffuse scent is slowly washed away.'
In the end, it has to remain in the atmosphere to be effective, and since we're in an alleyway, it is maintained for a long time but since the wind blows, it will eventually disappear.
Now time was on Rudger's side and at that moment, a black shadow fell over his head.
"Above!"
Violetta saw it and reacted, but it was already too late.
The assassin threw something at Rudger.
"Hmm."
Rudger raised his sword stick as if he knew this, but what the Assassin's threw was not a poisoned dagger, it was a hook on a chain.
The hook caught the middle blade of the sword stick, pulled it with strong force and the sword stick slipped out of Rudger's hand. The assassin, who came down to the ground, threw the sword caught in the hook on the floor and rushed towards Rudger.
A sharp dagger was pulled from his waist.
"It's dangerous!"
Violetta exclaimed and the assassin was sure of victory. There was no time to use magic and he stole the target weapon. Two of his compatriots died, but he accomplished his mission nonetheless, the assassin thought so.
Even on the brink of death Rudger did not lose his composure.
'What? Why the hell are you looking like that…….'
He couldn't understand the situation but his thoughts didn't go any further. It was because in that moment when he ran towards him, Rudger's two hands moved faster and faster.
"Huh?"
The assassin, who had precisely cut the nape of Rudger's neck, collapsed on the ground, his body relaxed.
"You were distracted at the crucial moment."
Rudger lightly wiped his blood from the crescent-shaped karambit dagger held in his hand. The assassin in front of him revealed a gap in his conviction that got him killed. If you are going to kill your opponent, you have to be vigilant and do your best at every moment.
"That momentary complacency killed you."
Rudger picked up the sword stick that had fallen on the floor. After checking to see if the blade had been damaged, he decided that it was still intact and put it in his bag immediately.
Rudger gripped his staff and stretched his collar lightly.
"……Did you best the Southern Assassin in close combat?"
"Why? What else do you want to know?"
"Even if I'm curious, I won't ask."
It was hard to count how many times Violetta was surprised today and at this time a cry from the Red Society was heard from afar.
"It's here! The sound came from this way!"
"Come on catch them! If they run away, it's all over!"
Violetta stared at Rudger.
"What are you going to do now?"
"How are you feeling?"
Rudger shrugged his shoulders.
"All the diffuse scent is gone."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yes. So leave it to me."
In the black cotton yarn, Violetta smiled alluringly. The fact that she was able to use her magic, which had been banned for a while, means that she has an opportunity to do her own thing.
She lifted the parasol, which was almost melted. It was a weapon for her self-defense, but at the same time it was also a staff that helped her concentrate her magical powers.
"I'll take care of the rest."
The sound of footsteps getting closer and a horde of the Red Society members appeared.
"It's here! They are……!"
And what greeted them was a blade of wind that sharply cut through the darkness.