On a cold rainy night, a young man slumped against a dead body.
Kieran had decided to stay.
Ever since he betrayed The Pale Oath, he knew that he would have no choice but to live a life of fighting and running away. If he hadn't just received the reward from the system, he would have risked it and ran away immediately.
Afterall, while his previous self had committed many assassination missions it was usually against ordinary people who had some training. Trying to fight two killers of the organisation at the same time while he was already weakened was just a fool's game.
But it was different now. Kieran looked down at the longsword in his hand.
"With this skill I still have a chance to fight."
But he still needed to use his head. Kieran glanced at the two bodies on the ground and began hatching a plan.
Half an hour later.
Two figures dressed in all black stealthy approached the clearing in the woods. They surveyed the scene. Their cold, emotionless eyes running over the small potholes, the broken trees and weapons strewn across the ground.
Seeing the three lifeless bodies lying in small pools of blood that were constantly being washed by the heavy rain the two figures glanced at each other.
One of them, it seemed the leader amongst the two, made a signal and the two of them retreated back into the woods. Under a tall tree the figures crouched down, and began whispering to each other.
"It seems No.60 is dead."
The voice was emotionless but if you listened closely you could feel the heaviness.
No.60, codenamed Broken Spear, was originally leader of their group of five and now he was dead. Even though the two figures faced things like this on a daily basis, they couldn't help but feel somewhat anxious.
"How could No.111 kill Broken Spear?" The other voice was incredulous. He was also a killer numbered below one hundred, but he could never imagine facing a codename in the 60s. How was it possible that their target could defeat let alone kill their leader?
"He must have been hiding his strength. He probably took Broken Spear by surprise and died together with him." The first figure analysed with a calm voice. Even though he was initially shaken up, his mind soon returned to calm.
He glanced at his companion and motioned toward the clearing, "We have to check either way. And retrieve the letter."
Without making another sound the two killers carefully approached the battle scene once more. Even though they were just checking the bodies, both of them were still tense, their minds ready for any possibility.
They approached the first body that had a long sword stuck in the throat. The heavy wind had torn away the mask allowing them to see that it was their companion.
One of the killers motioned to the sword and nodded his head. He recognised this weapon. Of the three bodies here only their target wielded a longsword.
Then the experienced assassin stood at a distance and threw a dagger accurately at the head of the dead body, while his companion guarded him closely.
Seeing the sharp blade pierce through the eyes of the corpse, he shook his head and removed the dagger and moved on.
Then the two figures approached the second body. Looking at the familiar clothes and the bloodied spear dug into the chest, the assassins nodded to each other.
They went through the same motion as before and after making sure the body really was lifeless, they walked forward.
"Cut off his head first. We need to bring it back as proof. Then let's get the thing." The leading figure glanced toward the last body that was lying in the mud a little further ahead.
The second killer walked toward the head of the body slowly. As he bent down and removed the black mask, he saw something glistening in the faint moonlight. A string?
Before the thought could form in his mind, a small dart quickly pierced the right side of his chest. The man grunted in pain but was about to quickly jump back when he staggered and fell to the ground.
"Poison?" This was the last word he uttered before his heart started to slow and unconsciousness took over.
As soon as the small dart flew out, the other killer was already tense. He turned around immediately and threw out a dagger at the third corpse which had suddenly sprung to life.
Anticipating the attack, Kieran rolled to the side while throwing out a handful things from his hand. It was a mixture of the same darts as well as just small stones he had found nearby.
The killer could see that Kieran had abandoned his longsword, so he evaded the first group of hidden weapons and took out the short sword from his waist and rushed towards him to engage in close combat.
Kieran seemed flustered as he began backing away while throwing things out haphazardly.
"I have him." The assassin was confident in heart but he didn't become proud.
He steadily approached the retreating figure, while raising his blade to slap the dart in front of his chest away, then he stepped forward and used his sword to rush towards Kieran.
This time Kieran had no way to retreat, his back was already coming up against the broken tree, so in a quick moment he threw out everything in hands directly and then ran forwards in a desperate attempt.
The assassin dodged the last dart and looked at the enemy who was rushing towards him with empty hands. Even though he knew this was a moment of life and death, he couldn't help but feel distracted.
That moment of hesitation was enough for Kieran to get very close to him. The assassin watched as Kieran's empty hands approached his neck while his own short blade was about to plunge into Kieran's heart.
It's over!
Swish!
A familiar sound rang out again in the clearing. Looking at the dagger that was plunged into his throat the killer's mind was full of confusion.
How?
The assassin's eyes widened and he wanted to speak, but only a "ho ho" sound came out of his mouth, and he couldn't utter a single word clearly.
Kieran watched as the light left the man's eyes before letting the assassin's body fall back on the ground. His body was swaying but he didn't relax and instead went quickly toward the other killer who was begging to wake up. He took out the short sword that was attached to the unconscious man's waist and quickly stabbed him in the throat.
Finally he surveyed the silent clearing, and then took a deep breath and sat back on the ground.
"It's over. These guys should be the last ones for a while." He heaved a sigh of relief.
After all, he was seriously injured. Although the fierce fight just now seemed easy, and it seemed that everything was within his plan, it was actually extremely exhausting.