A smile crept behind the attacker's mask as a sensation of flesh being pierced was transmitted through the dagger.
But before a sense of victory could be achieved, the person who was supposed to have his neck pierced through, turned around.
Anom grabbed the masked person's arm and, with a twist, the dagger was in his hand. Letting the dagger drop to the floor, he used his empty hand to grab the masked person's leg, and with a bit of force, made his assaulter fall.
"Your skill-set is good, and the timing was also quite nicely calculated." Anom started analyzing the assassin's skills. "But you are too impatient and inexperienced." His hand reached for the mask on the assassin's face while he continued speaking, "You know, information and reality might have many differences and you should act acc-"
He stopped abruptly as his hand, which was holding the mask, also froze.
Behind the mask was a pretty girl, glaring at him with her shapely brows furrowed. Her violet eyes moved as she tried to think of her next action.
Anom had no doubt that she was a great beauty, but the reason for his surprise was – he knew this girl too!
Other than the girl who was currently lying unconscious, this violet-eyed girl was the only other female among the four leading members of the mercenary party.
Although she had her face covered when he saw her before, her amethyst-like eyes were still hard to forget. Besides, he had already paid her some special attention as her skills belonged to a branch similar to his, which she further proved just now.
While lost in thoughts, his attention was still on the girl, because if he remembered clearly, she still had another dagger.
And as soon as he thought about it, the girl took out a dagger from her clothes while pointing it at him.
But Anom knew that her real aim was not him…
Swiff!
And as expected, her hand, which was holding the dagger, moved. But the direction she aimed at was the table, or more precisely, the candle which was placed upon it. The blow snuffed the flame, making darkness engulf the whole room.
"Not bad. But are you sure you are the only one who's accustomed to darkness? The candle- Crap!" Anom's expression changed as he suddenly remembered Judin's reminder regarding the candle.
Acting quickly, he took a deep breath and held it in. Although he didn't know the exact reaction the candle would have, it was better to be cautious.
The assassin-girl was not idle either. Taking advantage of the darkness, she stealthily took out something from her clothes and threw it towards the wall.
Crack!
Anom didn't like the sound of whatever it was that broke.
"What was that?" Anom asked.
The girl didn't say anything and he even saw her roll her eyes despite the darkness. Why would she tell him?
"You leave me with no choice then."
"Ah!" He moved his hand above her chest and applied some pressure. She tried to struggle free but failed to escape his grasp.
Bearing such humiliation and failing to escape, the girl glared at Anom furiously.
"Don't look at me like that. I just want to know what that was." His enhanced senses allowed him to see her expression, so he explained it to her. But the girl only clenched her teeth, having no intention of complying.
Anom sighed. Just as he was about to say something else, he heard her breathing turn erratic. She began to pant, and he could feel some heat being generated on the surface of her skin.
'Damn! I almost forgot about the candle!' Anom realized his mistake, but it was already too late. The girl had now begun to struggle again, though it was clearly a weaker attempt as compared to before.
"See. This is what happens when you do things without thinking." Anom scolded and moved his hand away from her chest, while also freeing one of her arms.
The girl was surprised, but before she could take out another troublesome thing, he grabbed it again.
"Use it to cover your mouth and nose. You have already inhaled enough of whatever that candle is made of."
The girl had also realized her weird condition, and after listening to what Anom had said, she quickly used her sleeve to cover her nose and held her breath. She then stared at Anom as she clearly couldn't stay like that for long.
"Now try to cooperate, okay? I don't want to hurt you. And, this might come as a surprise, but… I am not who you think I am. Just answer some of my questions." Anom tried to make her at ease as too much was at stake for it to end screwed up now.
The girl felt his sincerity as he was giving her a chance to speak, instead of capitalizing on his superior position.
"Alright." She replied in her cold but charming voice.
Anom nodded and asked his first question, "Have you come to save her?"
The girl thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Can you reply a bit faster? You see, we don't have much time." Anom said helplessly. The girl was trying to act calm but her rough breathing clearly described her precarious situation.
"What was that thing?" Anom asked about the thing she had thrown earlier.
"It was a kind of Muscle Contracting Drug." Surprisingly, the girl answered quite easily this time.
"Yeah. Well, muscle contraction is a normal part of how your muscles work so, not much of a threat."
"It stiffens your muscles."
"Damn!" Anom nodded. "You must already be immune to it, right?" he asked.
The girl nodded as she wasn't that surprised about Anom deducing that. He was someone who had defeated her, after all.
"Alright. Listen, we don't have to fight. As I already told you, I'm not what you think me to be. Maybe we can even work together. You just… UHH" Anom stopped mid-sentence and found his muscles starting to stiffen. He cast an incredulous gaze at the girl. "How?"
For the first time, the girl had a smile on her expressionless face. "I already told you it was a medicine that contracts your muscles, making you unable to move." She smiled with some smugness. "But who told you to assume that covering your nose would do any good? The pores all over your body are inviting enough for it to work."
Anom knew that she was right. It was his carelessness, but he had not expected something like this to happen. He circulated his energy and tried to solve this question quickly. He had to be quick because the girl had already started to move.
The girl took advantage of his immovable state and freed herself from his grasp. Rubbing her wrist, she looked at him angrily.
'Girl, don't do anything stupid.' Anom could only scream inwardly as even his mouth was shut due to the drug's effect.
The girl clearly didn't agree with his thoughts as she had already picked up her dagger. And with a forward movement, it was near his neck.
Anom quickly dodged sideways. He didn't know whether to praise or curse this girl's preference for his neck.
"How can you still move?!" The girl was surprised, as it shouldn't be possible for him to move.
Anom lifted himself up with difficulty. His muscles were still sore as it was impossible for him to dodge another strike now that she was aware. Just now he had used his fine control over internal energy to remove almost all particles of the drug from his body. But it would have been easier if he was in the Materialization realm, as his current control was still not enough to eliminate all the particles at once.
The girl was right to be surprised, as such fine control over strength was rare for anyone at their level. This drug, which should have allowed her to deal with almost everyone in this city, turned out to be a failure.
But she also had a strong mentality. Gathering her focus, she took advantage of his weak state and launched another strike.
And as predicted, he was not able to dodge this one completely. A shallow cut was left on his arm, which luckily was not fatal.
But Anom was surprised, as he clearly felt that her strength in this strike was weaker than the previous one. If the force was the same as her previous attack, the wound wouldn't have been this shallow.
Sure enough, he could hear her rough breathing, indicating that the candle smoke had also started having its effect.
'Heh, wait for a bit. The next interrogation session wouldn't be that gentle.' Anom glared at the girl for a moment before starting to focus on his situation.
But his happiness didn't last longer. He discovered that during the period when his muscles were out of control, some of the smoke had also entered his body. But the main problem was that it had somehow merged with the other drug, and now the new substance was rampaging all over his channels. This new substance was making him lose control over his emotions, making him unable to focus on expelling the drug. He was immobile once again.
And while he was thinking of a solution, he heard some slow steps coming towards him.
It was the girl, who was surprisingly, doing better than him at handling the drug. Clearly, she must have also developed immunity to similar drugs. It was common for assassins to dabble in those things after all.
She raised her dagger with some difficulty. Her rough breathing sounded just in front of him. And although the next strike might not have that much power, it could still do quite some damage as he was unable to dodge.
The dagger descended as Anom had only one thought in his mind.
'I hate drugs!'