The Assassins standing in a close household were in huge trouble,
"Asuka! Are you all right!"
Asuka was spewing blood out of her mouth for a mysterious reason; the circumstances were unknown to them.
"Damn it! Do you guys carry any medicine?"
"I think I have some bandages but not something which can help us get the poison out."
The team medic Kite was on the job, but her condition was the same as Asuka and everybody. The only way to prolong their survival was to find a way to reduce the spread of poison.
"Everybody sit down and stay calm, we need to keep our breath as controlled as possible. The more we panic faster comes death."
All of them sat down and tried to calm their breath, it was essential to reduce the flow of poison before they could find a solution.
"How did this?!"
Near was the person asking the question, as it wasn't obvious enough, Rage gave him a reply.
"It's Arthur. That bastard has betrayed us. I should have killed him when we found out about the secret."
"The secret?"
"The moment I and Arthur learned about the paper with information about the King's fake death. He didn't want anyone to know it besides him, he even got angry on the idea of me telling everyone about this."
"So, you mean that Arthur betrayed us so he could get all the credit for that information alone?!"
"Ya, he made us drink poison in the wine and he is free to run anywhere while we are trapped here."
The room was quiet no one said a word. The Assasins were dying in a room betrayed by their comrade, but there was one mystery element, and Jinx had noticed it,
"Rage, You aren't sweating, are you?"
"I am not."
Rage was the only one in the room who was not seeming to sweat himself out,
"Why aren't you affected by the poison? We all are trained with the same poison training our immunity must be nearly equal but why are you unaffected?"
"Are you making me a suspect for being his ally?!"
Kite was lashing out a bit. Her words indirectly cast suspicion on Rage's condition without any external help, but Jinx came to his rescue,
"It was the vomit."
"The vomit?"
"After wasn't giving us a stomach cleaner it was the antidote to the poison in the wine, that's why he ate it himself. The antidote neutralised the poison very soon, so they both vomited."
"So, does that mean..."
"Yes, apparently, he gave us a test of trust, and it seems Rage was the only one to pass the test and survive. According to him, we will die because he did not trust him and failed."
Rage was bewildered by such an explanation. It was Rage's anger toward Arthur that saved his life.
"Wait, Leader, you are looking quite good too. You are sweating but a lot less than us, and it seems your mind is in total control. Unlike us, have you known about his poison before?"
"No..."
"Lies, you told me, that once you trusted Arthur like I did. Didn't Arthur give the same poison then too? It seems your body has known the antidote so it can resist the impacts."
"That was..."
The whole conversation moved towards history while Kite turned it back to the present.
"Currently, what we know is that all of us are slowly dying, and Rage and Leader are the only ones that can move a bit. so, we need to divide our work ."
"Aghhh!!!"
As Kite spoke, Near also began coughing out blood from his mouth, showing that time was running out for them and they needed quick action.
"Leader, go to any medical shop nearby and get any medicine you can, I see the rest of how can we use it and before that bring me some water too."
Jinx was listening patiently to Kite's instructions and remembering all the locations he could go,
"The hospital was the only source of proper medicine here but I have already burned it off."
"Don't worry. The people here need to be more stupid to protect their medical supplies. So, the patients rescued and medicine should be nearby each other. Look for the patients, and you will find something."
Jinx nodded and began preparing himself to go out and get some medicine,
"Rage, you need to get up and find Arthur. If the leader finds some medicine, we can hold on for a little longer but without the antidote, it's all over."
"I know. I will find that bastard and take the antidote out of his blood!"
Rage and Jinx were ready to leave the room and do their tasks; their group's survival was now in their hands.
Jinx slowly opened the door and whispered to Kite before getting out,
"I'll get some water first. We can find the medicine later."
Kite nodded to the idea, and Jinx opened the door and came out of the room. Rage followed but him but,
"!!!!"
"Leader!!!"
A bullet passed through Jinx's chest, creating a hole in the middle of his heart, it was sudden, and Jinx himself didn't recognise it for a second.
It was for a quick moment.
Jinx was in a flash as if time was stopped, and he felt like relived his life again, as he remembered meeting the 15 years old assassin playing with knives and thinking about playing games while their life was in danger.
"I remember very things, now. Sorry everybody my time is up, meeting that man was our call of death."
That was all he wanted to say but, his words were never heard.
But in the real world, everything happened so suddenly as Rage, Near, Albert and Kite looked in shock.
"...."
"Leader!!!"
Jinx's eyes closed as he fell to the ground; Rage held him by the chest and brought him into the house again.
"LEADER!!!!LEADER!!!!"
Rage shouted in anger holding Jinx's body unable to accept reality and denying it.
"It's over."
Kite let go of Asuka and sat beside her, it was already over for them. Arthur was watching them with the gun, the voice of the gun was covered by the crying mass and the wind.
They could not get out of the house for any search as they would expose themselves to the master sniper, known for his unbeatable aim.
"I guess, we are about too to die huh.."
"Asuka..."
It was Asuka who had spoken after a while her condition was the worst of them all, but she had a smile on her face as she had already accepted the reality, which was her death.
"I didn't think I would meet my end this way. Thought I would die fighting a final battle against Lynx or Asphodel forces but here we are."
Asuka looked at Rage, crying over the dead leader's body, as she brought out the grief in her heart.
"Don't fucking say anything!!!"
Rage spoke at the top of his lungs, his face was filled with tears, but his expression told the emotion he was feeling Rage and bloodthirst.
"I'll find and make sure that bastard dies that worst way possible-"
"Rage!!!"
Suddenly Rage fell to the ground as he was shot from the back, a bullet came right through a small hole on top of the house, but it was big enough for Arthur to see.
"Arthur, Please stop!!!!!"
Asuka cried out to Arthur in the room, but Arthur could never hear her, and even if he did, he would never stop.
"You know, Asuka the worst part of Betrayal is that it only comes from a friend or a person you trust."
The betrayal led to the end of the assassin's journey in the Lynx-Asphodel war.
While the Armies fought, the killers who moved in the shadows
All died in a house unknown to anyone, Alone. Such was their fate. Meeting Arthur.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------