"Can anyone here tell me how long we have to wait until we get the money?"
A mook wearing a simple leather tunic and a metal breastplate said, from his build and body language it could be inferred that he was the leader in charge of this group of 18 currently guarding this area until the "negotiations" were complete.
"Relax Kyras, you know as well as I and everyone here that that Marquee isn't that easy to crack...but even the "iron hearted marquee" won't be able to hold long ESPECIALLY now that we have his daughter hehe...just relax and let the boss work his magic. He's probably making his demands through the one way seeing stone right now"
Another member of this group of kidnappers urged the bigger man named Kyras to exercise patience as they couldn't have their plans ruined now.
"Hmm..."
Kyras still grumbled a bit.
"Ky! Relax"
But a word from his trusted friend is enough to calm his nerves.
"Haha! We finally have a chance to get one over on that iron mule and it's all thanks to you Olly boy"
Another man in the group however was the opposite of impatient as he started tapping his fellow compatriot's back with a booming laugh.
"Of course! Just watch you lot! This'll be our well deserved tough break! Not only will we finally get one over on that bastard we'll be making some nice cash in the process hahahaha!"
Oleg joined his compatriots in their shared if a bit early celebration of a successful crime.
"Everyone give it up for Oleg!"
"Hurah!"
"Hurah!"
It seems despite not actually completing the job yet most of the kidnappers had the idea that they've already succeeded, a sign of how little they knew or how little they were trained.
"Don't crack out the booze just yet ya wretches! We're still in the middle of the job"
As a former lieutenant of the city guard, Kyras always hated how disorderly and undisciplined his fellow conspirators are but always kept it to himself as to not sound too pretentious, after all like it or not he was in the same boat as them, it's better to keep them close in this situation rather than unnecessarily creating rifts in the group for such stupid reasons.
In the cold silence of the night with only the sound of his fellow kidnapper's voices to break the silence Kyras could pick up on even the most insignificant of noises from his surroundings...
*Tap tap*
...A set of small childlike footsteps could be heard tip-tapping down the cobble road.
"On guard! Someone's coming!"
Kyras being the veteran that he is immediately clutched his sword still resting in the scabbard on his hip and grabbed his oil lantern to point at the direction of the sound.
"Huh? Right!"
Despite not being as disciplined as Kyras would've hoped this group of 18 was still competent enough to immediately spring into action and turned towards the direction of Kyras' lantern light.
The city at night was a labyrinth of cobblestone streets and narrow alleys, the dim glow of oil lamps casting long, ominous shadows.
And from those shifting shades...
It came...
"*Gulp*"
It was barely the height of Kyras' chest, a practical child no matter how you look at it. However, something in Kyras' stomach immediately began to twist as if to confirm to him that whatever he was seeing WASN'T what it appeared to be, whoever or whatever was standing there, there was just something inherently wrong with them.
The figure stopped walking towards them and lingered there for a moment as if he was some kind of ghost haunting the place of its untimely end.
Cloaked in an all-black coat that flowed to his knees like an ethereal, inky mist. No distinguishable features could be discerned due to the night and the equally dark clothes the "boy" was clad in, Kyras tried to use his trained senses to look closer at the face of this figure only to realize that there was a piece of black cloth covering their face up to their nose obscuring their features further except for 3 noticeable features...
...Kyras could make out in the dim light of his oil lantern that the boy had sickly white hair obscured under the hood of the coat, a pale ghoul-like skin tone...
And those...eyes...
Those crimson, ruby-like eyes that shone ominously in the night.
"What the? It's just a brat"
One of his men said relieved, loosening his grip with a sigh and a bit of a laugh.
"You got us worried over nothing Ky! Gods above you're too high-strung. Relax a little would ya?"
Other men in his group began to admonish Kyras for alerting them over nothing, they seemed completely oblivious to the obvious danger sign of a "kid" wearing such concealing dark clothes approaching their position in the dead of night.
"Shut up! Why would a kid be here in the dead of night? ESPECIALLY in those clothes? We chose this place BECAUSE of how little people frequent these parts! Something's wrong..."
Luckily one voice behind Kyras seemed to have the same thought as him urging the rest of the men to be on guard.
But Kyras neither heard nor cared about what they were saying, for some reason he just couldn't tear his eyes away from that "child".
And in response, that "child" finally made eye contact with Kyras for the first time since it appeared.
"!!!!"
*Shing!*
Shivers ran down Kyras' spine as he immediately clutched his sword even tighter and even unsheathed it a bit.
"Uhm...Ky? You alright?"
One of the voices showed concern for Kyras, the same voice who was as alert as him about this new arrival, but he paid it no mind.
"Eh you guys worry too much! It's probably just a temple kid or something, those pilgrims were always an eyesore. Always wearing dark depressing clothes even in the light of day"
One of the men still seemed to be relaxed about this situation assuming the kid was one of those children from the local temple.
"Yo brat! What are you staring at huh?! Get lost! This is no place fo- huh?"
But before anyone could actually address the figure standing within the darkness...it was gone.
"What?!"
This put everyone on alert again but ESPECIALLY Kyras as he knew within his soul that something was about to go INCREDIBLY wrong.
"I had my eyes on him the entire time! Where did he go?! Did he even move?!"
Kyras muttered anxiously under his breath. Kyras was absolutely sure he didn't blink even once while his eyes were glued onto the child, so seeing it just disappear without any sound, sight, or indication that it was even standing in front of them to begin with began to make his well-honed instincts as a former city guard blare even louder.
The child didn't even fade out of view, neither did it disappear in a flash...
It just...
Popped out of sight...like it never even existed in the first place.
"Where'd he..."
Before anyone could say a word Kyras bellowed out!
"Everyone form groups of 3 back to back! Cover for each other! Mages use light magic to light this place up! Leave no openings! Find out whoever that was and bring them here!"
"Huh? Isn't that a bit much? It's just one brat! He probably got scared off or something..."
Oleg standing behind him started to question Kyras.
"Are you doubting me?!"
Kyras glared back at Oleg causing the latter to shrink.
"Eh-N-No! Of course not"
Seeing the group leader's intense stare Oleg shrank back and zipped his lips shut.
"What's gotten into him toda-"
Before another member of this group could question Kyras, another man interrupted, the same man who told Kyras to relax earlier and was as alert as Kyras was about the appearance of this mysterious kid.
"No Ky's right! The way that kid just...disappeared didn't look right"
A modicum of composure came back to Kyras' eyes as he looked at Sora, his long time friend from even back in his days as a city guard and a decently competent mage.
"I'll cast a protective barrier on everyone, do as Ky says!"
Sora supporting Ky's orders finally spurred the rest of the group into action.
"Ye-Yes!"
They all replied.
"O spark enlighten my path, [Light Orbs]..."
The mages in the group began to chant their incantations as orbs of light similar to little suns began orbiting the area although they were more like little torches than suns as they barely lit up the area any better than the group's oil lamps did, in return they could float around and light up places where the oil lamps couldn't reach.
Sora walked closer to Kyras as if to initiate a discussion to come up with a plan.
"What happened back there Sora? Is it some form of teleportation? An illusion spell perhaps?"
Kyras asked wondering if there was a mystical element about the way that figure in the darkness just disappeared.
"Unlikely...I didn't sense any Mana being stimulated, I was about to ask you if it was Prana techniques instead"
Sora asked Kyras in return if it was some kind of physical enhancement technique that warriors usually use instead.
"No, I didn't notice anything significant in that kid's breathing either. If it's neither Prana techniques or magic...then that means that movement just now was their natural abilities"
Sweat rolled down Kyras' forehead as he replied, this presented a horrifying reality to both Sora and Kyras.
"You're not pulling my leg right? You can't tell me that kid managed to move faster than both you and I could see WITHOUT using any magic or Prana techniques?"
Sora asked his friend again to confirm that he wasn't hearing it wrong.
"I wish I was joking but no...We need to take this seriously! Whatever that thing is...it's not JUST a "kid" there's something else going on here"
Kyras confirmed, the "kid" that appeared before them was using neither Prana techniques or any magical spells.
Mana was a force utilized predominantly by mages that was generated within a person's body and can be channeled outward through formulaic magical equations and sequences in order to manipulate and bend the forces of reality to one's desires. Mana is the force of the mind and soul, the "willpower" that creates impetuses for beings to act on and the source of all dreams and desires. Everyone can generate Mana but only 1 in 10 can use magic as the rate of mana generation varies from person to person.
Prana was the complete opposite, utilized by warriors, martial artists and generally just people who like to do it up close and personal, Prana was essentially lifeforce both the lifeforce of beings and the world in general. Prana techniques works by absorbing the natural energies of the world to strengthen or even alter one's body and mind through the strengthening of their lifeforce (Prana) and can also be used to sense other being's Prana among other uses, the method of absorption is predominantly breathing but eating or even skin contact works as well.
"*Gulp*...alright"
Sora's body began to tense up as a blue glow began to envelop him.
"We're ready!"
Oleg ran up to the two who were discussing and notified them that the group was ready to move out.
*Crack crack*
"Huh?"
Oleg watched in surprised as a root or something resembling it began to grow out of Sora's hands wrapping themselves together into a thick and sturdy staff looking similar to a tree branch.
"Eirama castus protectum, shield us now from all harm [physical barrier]!"
A blue light shined from Sora's staff for a moment as every member of the group began to be covered in a translucent like sheen, signifying that a barrier had been cast over them.
"Sweet!"
"Kinda excessive for just capturing one kid don't you think?"
The group took a moment to admire the new barrier cast upon them, some even tried stabbing their own hands with their daggers to test out the barrier only to be stopped by a honey comb like mesh that repelled the dagger before it reached their skin.
"Move out! One group stay here to guard the warehouse! Also report this to the boss! We may have a situation"
Kyras ordered.
"Yes sir"
They all replied, after they decided which group would stay behind at the warehouse. The big group of 18 guards began to spread out in groups of three with at least one mage in each group, scouring the area for the kid that just disappeared before their eyes. 5 of the 3 man groups went out to find the kid while the last group stayed behind to report this to the boss.
The groups of kidnappers all went into different alleys and directions, oil lamps and magical light orbs casting eerie, flickering shadows across the narrow, cobblestone alleys of the city. The air was thick with tension, every rustle of the wind or distant clatter causing them to flinch.
"Stay sharp, keep your eyes peeled"
"Roger"
"Y-yes sir!"
Kyras ordered, his voice barely above a whisper. The orbs of light from the mages illuminated the area, but it only seemed to make the shadows deeper, more menacing. His group was him, Sora and Oleg who came along with a dagger in hand. Although Kyras doubted how competent the last member of his group is, he was relieved to have his oldest friend Sora with him as he knew Sora was dependable, they had stuck together through thick and thin after all.
Kyras, Oleg, and Sora moved cautiously through the alley, their breaths coming in tense, shallow gasps. The orbs of light hovered around them, casting long, wavering shadows.
"We need to stay together and fill in for each other's blindspots"
Kyras whispered, his sword ready.
"Whoever that "child" is if we can even call it that, we can't let it pick us off one by one"
Sora agreed with his friend and kept his eyes as open as an owl.
"I'm still not quite sure why we're so tensed but I'll do what I can"
Oleg nodded, his eyes darting around nervously although he did not understand the reason for all of the tension being near these two naturally made him tense up as well.
"Stay focused. We just need to keep our heads cool and our eyes straight"
Sora held his staff tightly and repeated the same lines he and Kyras were spouting for the last minute almost as if he was conditioned to recite a military mantra as a defense mechanism, the glow from his protective barrier providing some small comfort.
From their position, they could hear the distant sounds of the other groups moving through the labyrinthine alleys. Shouts and the occasional clatter of armor echoed faintly, but then...
*Tap tap*
They heard that trademark childlike footsteps again, VERY close to them...
*Shing!*
Kyras fully unsheathed his blade this time and Sora prepared a spell as they all turned in the direction of the footsteps. Even Oleg pulled out an axe he picked up earlier in anticipation.
"..."
But as the light shone in the direction of the footsteps, nothing was seen.
"Sora?"
Kyras reflexively asked.
"I'm not picking up anything with [Mana tracing], you?"
Sora answered his friend instinctively showcasing the trust and understanding both men had for each other.
"Nothing on my [life detection], either it left my 20 meter detection radius in the time it took for all of us to turn to it's direction...or this "kid" is good at concealing their Prana"
Kyras replied.
Just as the group repositioned themselves back to back and prepared for any attack that might be coming...
*Thud*
"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!"
A scream tore through the night from the opposite direction of where the footsteps they heard were coming from, raw and desperate. Kyras tightened his grip on his sword, his heart pounding.
"That's group three. They're under attack! What? I don't sense any damage to the barrier I casted on them though..."
Sora confirmed trying to figure out what was going on, his mind running a mile per second.
"AAH-"
The scream was abruptly cut off, replaced by an unsettling silence. The night seemed to close in around them, the air heavy with foreboding.
"Gods, they're supposed to be in the alley Northeast of us"
Oleg muttered, his knuckles white as he gripped his axe.
*Tap tap*
The sound of footsteps once again echoed through the alley, this time far away, slow and deliberate. Kyras turned sharply in it's direction, his lantern casting a feeble light that barely penetrated the darkness and once again only the cold silence of the night greeted him, the situation was quickly growing out of control.
"Come on! We gotta go reinforce group 3!"
Sora pulled on Kyras' shoulders urging him to move.
"Yeah... Let's go!"
Despite his rising panic, Kyras managed to hold it all down and followed his friend towards group 3 while still making sure to keep his [life detection] on and keep an eye behind him, Oleg followed suit.
They ran for a while through the winding alleyway until they came across a horrifying sight.
"Wait! That's Jorin's broadsword!"
Sora spotted one of their compatriot's weapons lying on the floor unattended for, the ONLY trace of their comrade in this empty alleyway, there was no sign of a struggle, no sign Jorin was even here to begin with except for his sword lying on the ground.
"Group 3 report! Group 3 where are you?!"
With them back to back Kyras, Sora and Oleg tried to search for any remnants of group three.
And they didn't have to search for long...
"Kyras! Sora! HELP!"
From the distance one of the men who was in group three ran towards them, his face drained of all blood from the sheer terror, his eyes erratically darting from left to right as he ran.
"Guh!"
The men slammed into Kyras clutching him, refusing to let go.
"Please Kyras you gotta help me! It...IT TOOK JORIN AND GEESE! I don't know what happened they all got pulled into the darkness so fast! I-I couldn't do anything..."
*Smack!*
"Ack!"
"Pull yourself together! I can't understand anything if you speak that loudly"
Kyras in response slapped the man across the cheek to get him off of his hide and ordered him to calm down and explain things clearly.
But before he could get a coherent answer out of the man...
*Splat!*
Something fell down behind all of them causing them all to reflexively turn back bearing their weapons.
And what they saw was truly a gruesome sight...
A corpse, freshly killed with a pool of it's own blood forming beneath it and a trail of that same blood pointed towards the road they were just coming from, suggesting it was intentionally thrown in their direction for a purpose.
The most horrifying sight however was it's face...or lack thereof, with it's reddened, bloody facial muscle exposed and permanently grimaced into a horrified expression of pure unfiltered terror, a macabre painting of agony and fear permanently fixtured on it's features as well as the minds of all who see it.
*Thud!*
"Oh shlt! It's Jorin! H-he...t-the-they cut off his face!"
The man behind them screamed in fear stumbling backwards on his behind.
"That sick fu-!"
Realizing the same thing as the terrified man Kyras angrily set his sights into the darkness trying to use both the light from his lantern and the [light orbs] to ascertain the whereabouts of the killer, and once again nothing, not even a trace except for the corpse in front of him.
"Bastard! By crackling skies and thunder's might, unleash now the lightning's strike, [lightning bolt]!"
*Crackle! Boom!*
Despite the horrifying sight Sora the mage managed to steel his mind, forcefully tear his eyes away from the corpse, and fire a [lightning bolt] spell in the rough direction where the corpse came from.
*Slam!*
The arcs of electricity lit up the area and traveled down the alleyway, some hitting the buildings around them causing a bit of dust to kick up and debris to fall off from these old, unused building but none of the bolts seemed to have connected with a target as they only hit the sides of the building or the cobble road producing miniature explosions of sparks and leaving small craters.
"Drat! I don't think I've hit anything!"
Sora knew he was firing blindly but he still would've hoped to at least scare the killer into revealing their location due to the wild, loud and unpredictable patterns of lightning attacks.
"Ah-!"
But before they could process the situation further, another muffled scream was heard from right behind them...
They snapped back around just fast enough for the light from their lanterns and [light orbs] to catch the sight of their terrified comrade from earlier being pulled into the darkness at unnatural speed, his very being consumed by the shadows. Before it all went silent again.
"Damn it! They're toying with us!"
Kyras' apprehension and horror slowly turned to anger as he wanted nothing more than to drive his sword through this kid...no this MONSTER! But composed himself as getting angry will only cause him to lose his cool and unnecessarily waste his energy here.
The monster had somehow gotten behind the group at blinding speed after he threw Jorin's mutilated corpse in their direction as a distraction.
"Kyras! Just what the hell is going on?! This was supposed to be an easy job! You promised that I just had to bring you the girl! You worked with the marquee long in the past before I came! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US HE HAD A MONSTER LIKE THIS WORKING FOR HIM?!"
Oleg's voice was laced with terror, whatever vestige of his earlier confidence gone.
In response Kyras shouted:
"Put yourself back together! This isn't the time to be falling apart!"
This angry shout should've been more than sufficient to shut up Oleg but right now the terror this new threat invoked in Oleg was stronger than the terror he felt towards Kyras.
"Fvck that! I was promised some easy coins not a death sentence!..."
With his hand shakily clutching the axe Oleg's eyes darted to the opposite direction from the group.
Realizing what Oleg was thinking Kyras sternly reminded Oleg of their situation.
"Turn tail and run if you like but if you abandon us don't forget that you'll be on your own as well"
Truthfully speaking Kyras doubted Oleg's presence would help much but having more bodies to throw at the problem is better than nothing in this case.
"Tsk! DAMN IT! I just wanted to make a quick buck..."
Oleg cried out pathetically.
"Quit your bltching and watch our backs!"
Sora shouted as he positioned himself back to back with Kyras and Oleg scanning the darkness for ANY movement at all.
"Why isn't any of the other groups here yet? They should be close enough to hear group 3's screaming, not to mention that loud lightning spell we just fired"
Back to back with his group Kyras wondered why reinforcements aren't here yet as he specifically told all groups to at least stay close enough to hear each other when they first spread out in case of emergency.
Kyras scanned the shadows, trying to steady his breathing.
That was when...
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!""
Another blood curdling scream, another life snuffed out. Group two, their cries echoing through the streets before they too fell silent.
"It's thinning us out! We have to stay together. Don't let him separate us. Try to reconvene with the other groups!"
Kyras had the horrifying realization that he had severely underestimated this monster, it was picking them off despite his orders to put three people in each group to cover for each other. Kyras attempted to remedy the situation by ordering his group to reconvene with other groups.
As they moved, the remaining groups were picked off one by one, each attack swift and merciless.
"Gyaaaaahhh!"
*Thud!*
Group four's screams were brief, the sound of bodies hitting the ground echoing in the dark. Kyras, Oleg, and Sora could only listen, powerless to help as by the time they got there no traces of the group except for the occasional blood, maybe a few dropped weapons and lanterns here and there.
"Aiiieeeeee!"
*Thud!*
Group five fell into the same deadly pattern. Their terrified cries were quickly silenced, leaving the three men standing alone in the oppressive silence.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Although they couldn't confirm it, all three men knew that they were the last group standing...
*Clatter clatter*
"Fvck! FVCK! Why did this have to happen?!"
This caused Oleg the weakest member of the group to start shaking like a cat, it was evident he was one step away from pissing his own pants.
"He's coming for us next..."
Sora said, his voice barely above a whisper.
"This is bad, we can't beat this!"
Sora finally realized just how outclassed they truly were, if this really was JUST one person, then their chances of making this out alive was nearly null to begin with.
"We need to—"
*Tap tap*
The footsteps were incoming from Oleg's direction now. All three turned in said direction while still keeping one eye behind them, weapons ready, but the killer was still nowhere to be found, leaving only the chilling echo of those deliberate steps...
"Eeeeeeeeeek!"
*Clatter*
Oleg screamed as he was yanked backwards into the shadows with blinding speed, his lantern clattering to the ground, the flame extinguishing with a final, desperate flicker. His screams echoed briefly before silence reclaimed the night.
"Oleg!"
Kyras shouted, but it was too late. His comrade was gone, taken by the darkness.
Sora raised his staff, the light from his spell casting a harsh glow.
"[Magic arrow!]"
Arrows made from solid blue light formed in the air and started firing rapidly in the direction Oleg was pulled into but nothing connected.
Knowing that he couldn't win as it is, Sora casted a simple spell that didn't require a long chant just to buy him and Kyras enough time to possibly escape.
"Kyras, we need to go-"
Sora pulled on Kyras' arm but before they could take another step...
**Tap tap!**
That signature tapping of feet came again from they were about to run towards and this time...
""...""
Their tormentor finally appeared for the second time tonight...only closer this time...
His blackened clothes had the thick smell of blood on them, his crimson eyes gleaming with cold malevolence as streaks of blood dotted his forehead and sickly white hair.
"Fvck! O light blind unworthy eyes [Flash bang]!
Sora unleashed his spell, a burst of light aimed directly at the figure, it was a spell not meant to cause damage but at the very least disorient the killer for just one critical moment.
"You monster! DIIIIIIIEEE!!!""
Kyras took advantage of Sora's spell to finally fight back against their enemy for the first time, he knew that he HAD to make this a killing blow as this was definitely their last chance.
*Swoosh!*
But his steel only cut through empty air as, once again, the figure vanished as if he had never been there. There was no sound, no gust of wind, nor any observable change in the environment. One moment, the figure stood under the direct, intense light of Sora's spell, and in the next, he was gone, seamlessly leaving zero traces behind.
(Fvcker was intentionally tapping his feet to mess with us!)
Although he had a feeling that was the case, seeing it now just confirmed Kyras' suspicions.
"Aaaaarggghh!"
"Sora?!"
Sora's scream was cut short as he was dragged into the shadows, his protective barrier did nothing as the figure's hands phased through it and grabbed him like some sort of Ghost. Kyras could only turn back and watch in horror as his closest and oldest friend disappeared, the darkness swallowing him whole.
Kyras was alone now, his heart pounding in his chest, his sword trembling in his hand. The footsteps came again, slow and deliberate, echoing through the alley.
He backed away, his eyes darting around frantically.
"Damn it! DAMN IT!"
Kyras cursed
"Show yourself you coward! Face me like a man!...You think hiding in the shadows and picking us off makes you better than us?! You're just too much of a chicken to face me directly!"
He demanded in one last desperate cry, his voice cracking.
But there was no response, only the oppressive silence and the creeping shadows.
*Tap tap*
The footsteps were right behind him. Kyras spun around, sword raised, but he saw nothing. The figure was a ghost, a phantom moving through the night with terrifying ease, and what was most disorienting is that their footsteps seem to be so random, with the tapping sometimes being in the opposite direction from where the killer would attack from and other times they would appear exactly from where the tapping of their feet was heard.
*Tap tap!*
It felt like the killer was all around Kyras yet nowhere at all with those accursed footsteps
*Swoosh! Swoosh!*
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do! I'll tear your fvcking throat out!"
Desperation clawed at him. He swung his sword wildly, slashing at the darkness, but it was futile, he was only tiring himself out.
*tap tap!*
(Those goddamn fvcking footsteps again!)
Kyras turned towards the direction of the footsteps but kept one eye in the opposite direction to see if the monster would appear from the opposite side of where it's footsteps were coming from again.
But no just like last time the figure appeared in the direction of those tapping footsteps, those crimson eyes locking onto his body.
"You!..."
Kyras began, but his words were cut off as the figure disappeared again but this time instead of going back into the shadows...
*Thud*
"Aaaaahhhh!!!"
Kyras felt a cold hand on his shoulder, the blade at his throat. His last thought was of the terror he's feeling, the helplessness as he was dragged into the darkness, his scream joining the chorus of the dead.
...
The pale figure stood alone in the alley, the silence of the night once again reclaiming the streets. The last of the kidnappers were gone, their bodies lost to the shadows, their cries lingering in the air like a haunting memory.
""Haah...well that was easy...didn't even need any Magic or Prana techniques"
The child like figure finally spoke as he let out a sigh and wiped the blood from his face.
""Ok now I just need to take care of that final group guarding the warehouse and secure the target...although I suppose I've already done my ACTUAL job here so is it really necessary?""
The rather small framed assassin wondered as he reflected on today's events.
((This wasn't a rescue mission at all...all of these conspirators had the same grudge against this "marquee" according to what they were saying. I wasn't sent here to resolve a kidnapping, this smells of a strategic purge. I'm only here because for some agenda or another the Maestro wanted to help this "marquee" person eliminate the traitors from their ranks...))
He realized this as before he killed some of the kidnappers some of them defiantly asked if this "marquee" person sent him.
((Also I've been sensing the Prana of some troops approaching this area for a while now…Judging by the way they're moving tho, it seems they don't know exactly where they're going, they were probably just told to look in the general scope of this area))
""Eh forget it, let's just get this over with""
The city was quiet once more, with the assassin's work here done. He vanished into the night, leaving nothing but fear and death in his wake.
.....
Next chapter: fated meeting