Sol turned to the source of this flamboyant voice that interrupted him and saw a rather gaudily dressed man in a blue suit coming out of a nearby alley. Over his shoulder was an unconscious young woman. Instinctually, Sol used [Analysis] on the man to hopefully find out more.
Name: Sonya
Race: Goddess
Talents: [Seduction], [Sex], [Lovemaking]
Level: ∞
HP: ∞
MP: ∞
Str: ∞
Vit: ∞
Agi: ∞
Int: ∞
Wis: ∞
Talent Skills:
[Succ Succ] Lv Max, [Prostitution] Lv Max
Passive Skills:
[Bedwarming] Lv Max, [Kama Sutra] Lv Max, [Seduction] Lv Max, [Bargaining] Lv Max, [Goldigging] Lv Max
Active Skills:
[Thrust] Lv Max, [Charming Gaze] Lv Max
'D-did he really change his status page just to call the Goddess of Love a whore? Is he crazy? If the church finds out their pope might come to personally kill him…'
Sol obviously didn't believe the man was the real Goddess of Love, Sonya. He was still amazed at the fact someone had the courage to write such blasphemy on their status page. Did he have some sort of grudge against her specifically or is he just getting some kind of sick kick out of doing this?
The flamboyant man turned to Sol and asked, "So tell me, darling, how did you do it? Catch her by surprise with a rare skill? Skillfully struck when her [Sand Shift] was on cooldown?"
Sol didn't answer, not knowing how to deal with this psychopath. His first instinct was to save the unconscious girl, but if that man was anywhere near as strong as the red-cloaked person he just fought, then he was unsure if he could save her and escape. He also feared the man using her as a hostage, and Sol wasn't willing to disregard her safety or even life just to win a fight. Sol stood still, sword still hovering over the neutralized assassin on the ground, hoping it would stop the man from doing anything reckless.
The red cloaked figure, not fearing the blade to their throat, finally spoke for the first time, breaking the silence.
"Water. Fast."
Short and to the point. It was a rather androgynous voice, making it hard to tell what the gender of the cloaked figure was. Sol wasn't sure if it was their real voice or another deception from a skill or item similar to what he saw with their status page.
"Hahaha! No way you're telling me you lost in terms of speed!" The flamboyant man's arms waved around as he slapped his knee. After laughing for a few more seconds, he stopped and wiped a single tear that formed from the laughter. "Alright, alright, enough joking around. Do you want help or not?"
"High physical and poison resistance."
"Hoh? So not a good matchup for you, fair enough. I'll also take that as a yes."
Frustrated by the flamboyant man's nonchalant attitude, Sol wanted to already run him and smack him with his sword but held back because he wasn't confident in not hurting innocent woman slung over his shoulder in the process. He was expecting the man to not fight while carrying the woman so when he put her down, Sol planned to strike fast and hard the moment he did.
The flamboyant man raised his right hand towards Sol. Not knowing what the man planned to do, he got ready to dodge out of the way. The flamboyant man knew what he was thinking and let out a chuckle in response.
"Hehe, too late darling. You're already in my web." As he finished his sentence, he moved his index finger slightly.
Suspicious of the flamboyant man's confidence, Sol used [Charge] to run away and make some space between them. He wanted but couldn't use [Ground Shrink] or [Blurry Steps] as they were both still on cooldown. Sol was only able to take one step before almost imperceptible strings made of unknown materials closed in and wrapped around his body. The strings constricted as they stopped all his movements. Even his sword was wrapped in these strings holding it tightly in place.
"What the-!"
Sol struggled as he tried to use his strength to break the strings and a few did from the sheer force, but seeing this the man used more mana to reinforce the strings, becoming even harder to break.
The flamboyant man walked towards the immobilized Sol with a cocky look on his face.
"Did you really think I was talking just to make fun of Sandy over there? While I do take any chance to do so, I was also setting up my web the entire time. You're still wet behind the ears, darling, but don't worry, your new owner will teach you soon enough."
Sol stopped struggling as he couldn't break free from the strong bindings and instead decided to conserve his strength. The flamboyant man saw the still determined fighting spirit behind Sol's eyes and chuckled.
"Hehe, I truly can't wait to see what becomes of you."
"What do you mean? What do you want with us?"
"Don't worry your pretty little head about it. Speaking of which, let's keep you quiet for now."
The man then moved his fingers again, and a bundle of strings braided together to create a sort of rope. The rope moved to Sol's neck and wrapped around, choking him. Sol gasped as he struggled to breathe, but with his windpipes closed, there was nothing he could do and passed out.
"Now with that settled…"
The flamboyant man lightly kicked the red-cloaked assassin on the ground.
"Hey, how long do you plan to stay on the ground? Grab some sand and reform your leg already."
Not responding to the man's provocations, the red-cloaked assassin monotonously gathered the sand on the ground around their leg, and it slowly reformed back to normal. They also took a red potion vial from another hidden pocket and drank half and poured the other half on their injured leg, quickly closing the wound. Now with both legs fully recovered, they stood back up, their expression still unreadable under their hood.
"You just gonna stand there? Stop dwelling on the fight and pick him up, the obfuscation barrier you set up is going to dispel soon, and I'm not carrying both targets."
In an almost mechanical way, the assassin lifted Sol in a princess carry, and with both targets in their possession, they disappeared into the nearby alleyway.