-" Is this man you talked about?" A man asked as he saw a carriage stop in front of Henry's shop.
-" It must be him." Marcos's eyes flashed in rage, he grabbed his injured arm as he glanced at Henry's shop. " So? Are you going to help me, Ygor?"
His arms still hurt, and his cultivation was in a fragile state, but, his resentment for Henry was too great for him to sit still.
-" Good... I won't take any of your treasures, but, his sword is mine." Ygor smiled as he saw the man leave the carriage and enter the building.
-" I just want my treasures back." Marcos gritted his teeth, losing the sword was truly a shame, but, he wasn't confident about defeating Henry any longer, so he called someone to help him.
They waited until the carriage had gone away and left the corner where they were waiting.
Henry was preparing a cup of coffee when he heard someone knocking on his shop's door. He thought that Alden had forgotten about something and rushed downstairs.
Henry only noticed that something was wrong as he opened the door, and saw that the person who was waiting for him wasn't Alden, but, a hooded man.
He jumped back as he felt the hairs on his body stand on end, just from the man's gaze Henry was sure that he was up to no good.
The mysterious man smirked as he dashed toward Henry, which didn't even have a chance to react as the man's speed was too overwhelming for him.
-" Good reflexes" The man continued to smile as he tightened his grip on Henry's throat.
Henry's eyes were bloodshot from fear, and the strength in his throat was so great that he could barely breathe.
The mysterious man found the situation amusing, Marcos had told him that the target was likely to be hiding his cultivation level, but, he found it laughable that someone so weak could even pose a threat to Marcos.
-" Marcos, did you really lose a bet to this guy?" Ygor laughed at the idea of someone at Marcos's level losing to what could only be considered a normal person.
Henry's face twitched in anger as the man mentioned Marcos's name, and he now finally understood what was happening. Henry's eyes flashed as he observed the man turn his attention to Marcos, and retrieved one of the swords in the system's inventory.
The man was surprised by the sudden appearance of the sword, but, he didn't panic and gathered a mistlike aura on his arms as he prepared himself to defend against the attack.
Henry hadn't much time to gather energy, so his strike wasn't anything too baffling, but, he still hoped that this was enough to make the man let him go.
Yet to Henry's disappointment, the man withstood the attack without any trouble and grabbed the arm he used to swing the sword. " Oh? Aren't full of tricks?"
Henry screamed as he felt the bone of his arm snap from the pressure of the man's grip, and his sword dropped to the ground as his arm had no more strength to hold it.
Ygor threw Henry on the wall of the shop as he saw the sword on the ground. He came here only to get the treasure that Marcos spoke about so much, so he had no more interest in the poor man.
Henry coughed blood as his back hit the shelf of his shop, he tried his best to stand up, yet, his body didn't move at all.
-" Tsk, if I knew that you were so pathetic I wouldn't even ask for Ygor's help." Marcos finally entered Henry's shop as he saw that the fight was over, his face was warped in anger as he gazed at Henry lying in a pool of blood. " So? Did you enjoy winning that bet, cripple?" Marcos was a bit envious as he saw Ygor caressing the blade he desperately wanted, but, he didn't have any thought about trying to steal it, he was no match for Ygor, even more, when injured.
But, he didn't care much for the sword anymore, as all he wanted was to repay the humiliation he had suffered and get back all the items he had lost.
-" This wouldn't have happened if you knew about your place." Marcos gazed at Henry's broken arm and laughed. " This looks pretty bad, if you don't treat it soon, you may become even more of a cripple." Marcos stomped on Henry's arm as he spoke.
Henry grunted as he felt the bones in his arm shatter, even more. He was in so much pain that he could barely think straight.
-' Host body condition is currently in a critical state - analyzing cautionary solution - 1% 14%...' Henry awoke from his dazed state as he heard the system's voice, he prayed for the system to have some sort of way to help him.
-" Hey cripple? Why don't you answer me?" Marcos continued to stomp Henry's body as he got no answer. " Do you remember what you said that night?" Marcos laughed hysterically as he remembered how Henry kept insulting and mocking him even when he was almost passed out.
-" Hey! Don't faint now? What about our bet?" Marcos spat on Henry's face, and kicked him once more. " Tell me? Who really won in the end?"
Ygor wasn't a merciful or good person, but, Marcos unhinged state bothered him, especially when they were committing a crime in the middle of the city. " Get this over with, we need to go."
-" Wait a bit more, I want to make sure that he was a painful death." Marcos smiled as he looked at the spatial bag tied to Henry's pants and snatched it, but, his eyes widened as he didn't find anything inside it. " Fucking cripple! Where are my treasures!" Marcos could see that Henry was wearing one of his boots and the Beamcloth Shirt, but, all the rest were missing.
Henry smiled weakly as he gazed at the items inside his system inventory, he wanted to answer Marcos, but, he knew that staying silent was the right choice after all. he was still waiting for the system to finish its analysis process.
-" My treasures! Where are my treasures?!" Marcos kicked Henry again, he was worried that Henry had already sold the treasures he had gained." Did you sell them?!"
A group of three people was hiding on the street of Henry's shop, they all had curious faces as they watched what happened earlier.
-" Shouldn't we stop them?" One of them was confused, he didn't expect another group to come looking for their target; " Rick told us that he need the man alive."
-" Tsk, what did this bastard do to attack so many enemies?" One of the men spoke as he heard the screams of pain that their target kept letting out. "We should stop this now or he will die."
Ygor was engrossed in his new weapon when he noticed the three men exiting the corner of the street and approaching the shop. -" Marcos... We have company." He let out a sigh as his fears came true.
Marcos was so engrossed in recuperating his treasures that he didn't even pay attention to his companion's words. " My Treasures! Where are they?!!"
Ygor took a deep breath as he activated the sword he just gained, he wanted to avoid more trouble, but, he wouldn't let an opportunity to test his new weapon go to waste.
-" Excuse me... but, we have something that we need from that man." One of the three men spoke as the new group entered Henry's shop, his eyes shone as he looked at the sword, they had no idea that this was exactly what Rick was looking for.
-" Something that you need from him?" Ygor smiled as he looked at the group, he couldn't see through their cultivation, so he was a bit apprehensive about fighting them.
-" Yes..." Another of them entered the shop and watched as Marcos kept hitting Henry without stopping. " Why don't you take your friend out of here? And don't forget to leave this weapon here."
At first, Henry thought that the guards had finally arrived, but, just from the casual way that they were acting, he knew that they didn't come to help him. He wallowed in misery and watched as the progress bar of the system analysis slowly went up.
-' Host body entered an extremely critical state, in hopes of saving energy some features will be deactivated' Henry watched in terror as the furnace and character index symbols in the system interface suddenly blacked out.
His entire body ached, and he could barely stay awake, the only hope he had left was waiting for the system analysis to end.
-' Analyzing cautionary solution - 88% 92% 97% 99%' Henry swallowed the blood in his mouth as he watched the analysis finally end.
-' Cautionary solution analysis is finished... Cautionary plan was formulated..... The following treasures will be consumed in the cautionary plan: Monk's Fern x2 - Low Grade; Monk's Fern x1 - Medium Grade; Silent Lilac x2 - Low Grade; Crimson Ivy x3 - Low Grade; Fever Rantipole x2 - Low Grade; Putrid Root x1 - Medium Grade... System energy reserves are insufficient for executing the cautionary plan... The system will consume treasures currently in the inventory as an energy reserve for the cautionary plan... The system will lower Host body functions to the lowest possible in hopes of saving energy.' Henry's vision darkened as the system voice faded.
Marcos's face twitched in anger as he realized that Henry's breathing had stopped, he couldn't believe that he had died without even telling where he had hidden the treasures from the bet. " Fuck! Don't tell me that this fucker died already." Marcos spat one more time on Henry's corpse and only then he noticed the new group.
The faces of the three men were completely white as they watched Henry's lifeless body.
-" D-D-Don't tell me that he died?" One of them spoke as he approached Henry's body and felt his pulse. " Fuck! I can't feel his pulse..."
-" Mathias! Get to work! Try to save him."
Marcos's watched as another man began to cast a spell on Henry's body. " Hey? Are you all stupid?" Marcos didn't believe that the group wanted to save Henry in front of him.
-" Stupid? Are you calling us stupid?" Ferdinand, the man who had approached Henry's body first, shook in rage as he looked at Marcos. " O-O-Our mission... Reynald, What will we tell Rick now?"
-" What more can we say?" Reynald, the last person in the group, and the one who remained at the door's shop spoke in a serious tone. " Our only hope is taking them to Rick."
Ygor tried his best to remain calm, the mysterious group didn't seem to be a bunch of robbers. He gave Marcos one last look and swung his sword towards the man standing at the shop's door.
He wanted to take advantage of that the rest of the group was trying to save Henry and tried to escape.
Reynald's smirked as he saw the attack, and with a stomp of his feet, a wall of stone was erected and blocked the man's attack. " It's too late to run now..." Reynald bit his lips as he knew that he couldn't let the man escape, after all, he needed someone to blame for the mission's failure.
Ygor's eyes wavered as he saw the stone wall, he began to gather energy once more, however, even before he could attack again, a small layer of ice began to envelop his arms.
Ygor shook the ice off his arms and turned around to face the man who had cast his spell, only to find Marcus completely covered by ice.
-" Useless idiot!" Ygor cursed as he found himself completely cornered, his chances of escaping were slim, but, he nonetheless had to try.
Ygor's skin began to let out a red mist, and it slowly began to dissolve the icy mist that his opponent's spell had created.
Ygor greeted his teeth as he urged the sword's maximum power, he wanted to give his all in one last bout.
The blue aura of the sword began to mix with Ygor's red-colored mana, and he hastily began to conjure runes with his left hand. " Acid Tornado." A gale of wind suddenly blew inside the shop, and the aura mixture soon became a small tornado.
Ygor was happy with the power of his spell, while the arcane element of the sword wasn't that useful for him, a sword of this level still boosted the power of his spell greatly.
Tables, bottles, and everything else in the shop began to fly around as the tornado rocketed through the shop, yet, Ygor's spell had little to no effect as Ferdinand and Reynald followed his steps, and each of them prepared a defensive spell.
Reynald had made a small earth dome, while Reynald created an icy wall that made the violent winds of the tornado turn to gentle snow.
Ygor swallowed as his last, and strongest card was completely useless. He was about to turn in the sword to the group when he felt something hitting his back.
Ygor's face was pale as he looked down and saw an ice spike rising out of his chest, he tilted his head back and collapsed on the ground.
-" The one who kills, gets the loot, right?" Ferdinand smiled as he approached the man and grabbed the sword.
-" Are you crazy? This is only for strong opponents." Reynald's face twitched as he saw his partner taking the sword. " Even Mathias could end this inset in a move."
-" Tsk! Rules are rules! The sword is mine." Ferdinand already suspected that Reynald would object to it.
-" What rules? This is simply a gentleman's agreement!"
-" Gentleman's agreement is a rule, at least if you are a real man."
Mathias sighed as he listened to the two fight. " Guys, I don't think that we have time to worry about this." He tried his best to heal the man, but, no matter how much he tried, his body showed no reaction. " He is really dead."
Mathias's word's made the entire shop deathly silent, Rick only gave them one order: bring this man alive, and they still were able to fail.
-" Bring the three bodies, we will say that when we arrived he was already dead." Reynald tried his best to make a sound story. " A Robbery turned homicide is a good excuse, no?"
-" Let's just hope that Rick accepts this..." Ferdinand bit his lips as he began to prepare himself for what was to come.