Ten minutes. That's all the time that Quinlan had to prepare before the enemies started their attack. Furthermore, given the size of the estate, it would be hard for them to find his location. If, along the way, they found the dining hall...
"Everyone's in danger!"
Even though it was a situation where it wouldn't be weird for him to begin panicking, Quinlan remained calm and began to think.
He was clueless about the Kang Sect, so he couldn't begin to guess how powerful their assassins were. Furthermore, within the entire Meng family estate, other than the few guards who were still on duty, everyone else was asleep from drinking. In short, he can't even hope for backup. Quinlan was literally alone in this fight!
Quinlan closed his eyes, letting his mind run several simulations at the same time. However, he quickly gave up. "No matter what I do, if the enemy is as powerful as that fatty before, then I'm doomed!"
There's one plan that could work, saving everyone else, but it would instead increase the risk to his own life. "I need to use myself as bait!"
But before that, he needed to reduce the enemy's number at least. For that, Quinlan grabbed the crossbow that he had with him and picked up all the bolts that he made alongside it.
After hanging the crossbow on his back and placing the few bolts between the garters of his thigh-high socks, he then began running. From the moment the system alerted him to the moment he moved, only 30 seconds had passed.
Quinlan kept running along the dark and quiet corridors, reaching the garden after a short while. From there, he climbed over the wall and peeked ahead. The scenery outside was dark, as expected, but with his heightened senses after reaching the 2nd Stage, he could still see even through the dark of night.
He narrowed his eyes, not letting his head go too high over the walls, and observed. The outside of the walls was a wide road, with a large house directly opposite. If the assassins were coming, then they would probably use the roof of that building to cross the road and reach the Meng family's garden.
"I probably can't win in a straight fight, but who said I need to face them within arm's reach?"
Quinlan looked around, searching for a hidden vantage point, and saw the top of a bushy tree near one corner of the garden. It was perfect, as it provided vision over two sides of the walls while the foliage was hiding him from view.
Quinlan wasn't an adept climber, but he still managed to reach a pretty thick branch after two jumps. He didn't sit on it but rather kneeled on one knee, keeping his balance while observing the surroundings.
Time passed, and when it was roughly three minutes before the predicted time, Quinlan's eyes caught signs of movement.
"...!"
Ahead of him, on the roof of a house about three hundred meters away, about a dozen figures stopped. They were too far, and the surroundings were too dark, to see their faces, but Quinlan was convinced that they were the ones that the system mentioned. The assassins of the Kang Sect.
'The first to attack gets the advantage!'
Quinlan thought, loading a bolt into his crossbow. He then aimed it forward and accurately estimated the drop of the bolt before adjusting the firing angle. After a good look, Quinlan pulled the trigger without hesitation.
*PSHEW!*
A silent release was followed by the bolt flying in the wind, crossing the dark void of the night.
The target was too far away, so the bolt took a full three seconds before it landed. It pierced through the assassin's neck and went right through, before hitting another one right in the chest. A lucky shot!
Of course, Quinlan had no time to watch each of his shots land. Before it could even reach the other side, Quinlan had already finished reloading the crossbow and aiming before pulling the trigger. Each shot was spaced by roughly a second, meaning it only took Quinlan five seconds to fire all the bolts he had on hand.
"I should've made more," he lamented before observing the other side and watching the result of his attacks.
The first bolt killed two immediately. The second one only managed to kill one. The third missed, while the fourth couldn't land a fatal blow. Lastly, the fifth got caught in an assassin's hand before turning toward the tree where Quinlan was hiding.
'Crap, they found me!'
Quinlan jumped down the tree, landing at the wall's top, before running along and jumping down to the main road. He made sure that the assassins saw him move and even made sure to let light hit his face to ensure them that he was their target.
As soon as that was done, Quinlan ran as fast as he could, with no particular plan in mind. "As long as I run far from the Meng Family Residence, the others should be safe!"
As if mocking his effort, a total of nine shadows began to pursue right behind him. They were moving faster than Quinlan was, causing the distance between them to shorten rapidly. At that instant, another window popped before Quinlan.
[Timed Quest: Reach the Garrison or Survive for 5 minutes!]
[Success Reward: ???]
[Failure Punishment: ???]
"...!"
As if to help him, the System even marked the location of the Garrison within his view. A large red 3D arrow appeared, pointing at a large building that was roughly 500 meters ahead of him. The road was also the one he passed through when heading to the city center!
'This makes things a little easier for my heart.' Quinlan grinned. The despair that almost swallowed his sense of reason dissipated like smoke.
*SCHING!*
The sound of something cutting through the air reached Quinlan's ears, causing him to duck down in panic. As soon as he did, a blade, glinting from the lights of the surrounding buildings, flew over his head. If he had dodged even a moment later, then that blade would've pierced right through the back of his head!
Just as Quinlan thought he was safe, something weird happened. The blade suddenly changed directions, returning the way it came! Quinlan was still in a lowered stance, so he couldn't move immediately. Having no choice, he raised the crossbow in his hand to block it.
*THUNK!*
The blade struck right through the crossbow's body before stopping just as it reached midway. Cold sweat fell from Quinlan's forehead as he stared at the blade's tip, an inch away from his eyes.
'Damn quest! I doubt I'd last five minutes against these psychos!'
Quinlan could only curse in his head.