The group of assassins walked through the dark sewer tunnels, making sure to be as quiet as possible so as to not alert the guards outside.
"We're almost there, be prepared to hide, only attack if it is needed to neutralize a witness ," Alexis warned, and the other four nodded, they were ready to fight.
And so, after a few more minutes of walking, they reached a ladder that led to a trapdoor above them.
"Ok, we open it slowly and carefully, then we get in, got it?" the leader ordered, and the others nodded.
Alexis climbed up the ladder first, then opened the trapdoor, and once he confirmed that the coast was clear, he signaled the others to follow him.
The five of them were now in the hotel's basement, which was full of food and other supplies, but they weren't interested in stealing, instead, they headed towards the stairs leading to the upper floors.
And just like that, they reached the floor where Lilia's room was located without anybody noticing, the knights that were supposed to patrol prioritized watching outside rather than actually defending the inside as it would "bother the customers".
And in less than five minutes, they were now infront of Lilia's room, ready to execute the plan.
"We have to be quick, we can't afford to lose any time," Alexis whispered, and the others nodded.
The leader then pulled out a key from his pocket, which they had stolen from one of the guards a long time ago as part of the "information gathering" process of the plan, and inserted it into the lock, opening the door.
***
Lilia was currently reading on the table, her blonde hair swaying because of the opened window and the air coming out of it, she wasn't expecting anything, instead focusing on her reading and investigation as much as she could before she would need to go to Greyburk and Iseria to meet the other heroes.
But everything came to a halt ten minutes after midnight, because a panel appeared in front of her.
[MY DEAR, ASSASSINS BEYOND THE DOOR, WATCH OUT!]
She gasped in shock, not knowing what to do, but before she could react, the door was suddenly opened by a man in a black suit, followed closely by three others who looked much like him: hiding their faces, their gender only visible by their features.
'Two men and two women', she quickly analyzed the situation and decided that it was time to fight.
[The Saintess's Staff]
She activated this skill and immediately as she did so, her main weapon, a magical staff, appeared in her hand.
"Who are you?!" she yelled, her eyes filled with anger and determination, yet the assassins didn't answer, they just stood there, each of them holding a dagger.
And just like that, the battle between the saintess and the assassins began.
***
Max had been waiting for a bit now, he had heard everything from the beginning to the end, and so he knew that it was time to intervene.
'12:14 am...' he thought, which meant it had been around ten minutes since the assassin group had taken that secret passageway.
But he honestly didn't need to take it as well, after all, Max's plan wasn't to be stealthy, it was just to kill those assassins, and then Lilia.
And so he decided to do the second best thing he thought of while looking upwards, towards room 849, which was visible from the angle he was in: jump straight inside of it from the bottom using the [Double Jump] skill.
[Your plans are getting crazier by the second, you know that?]
"Lilia and those assassins must currently be fighting, I have no other choice but to intervene directly from a spot they wouldn't expect me to appear from," the boy explained while getting up and slowly heading towards the illuminated window.
Strangely enough though, he couldn't hear any sounds from upstairs, which was weird as there should be a fight going on right now... right?
But Max ignored these thoughts and focused on his objective, he needed to kill everyone involved in this plot against the saintess.
And so, he jumped a first time high into the air, then used the skill and the wind to propulse himself, resulting in a double jump, and finally reaching the window of the room.
"This is it..." he mumbled, "time to put my plan into action!"
***
[3 minutes before Max reached the window]
The fight between Lilia and the assassins wasn't spectacular or anything of the sort, it ended in less than ten seconds: Lilia had her staff in hand and started casting a powerful magic that would grant her a protective shield and the ability to counter their blades.
Yet they were still standing still as she was casting, she couldn't see their faces but it looked like they were smiling.
And it was too late once she realized that she hadn't noticed the presence of another person behind her: one of the assassins used a stealth skill to appear behind her, then stabbed her in the back, piercing through her chest, her shield had formed a bit, which was the only reason she didn't die on the spot.
"Gah-!" she fell onto the ground, blood gushing out of her wound and her mouth, and her vision slowly fading away.
"That was easy," the assassin who had dealt the blow said before launching Lilia against the wall, "I thought it would be harder to kill her, but it looks like our client has underestimated her."
"Well, good job, let's just finish the mission now!" Alexis said, before the other four assassins approached the body of Lilia, who was still looking up to them, scared for her life.
She couldn't move her body for some strange reason.
"Don't even try," Alexis laughed, "he stabbed you with a knife enhanced with the [paralysis] effect, so you won't be able to move for a good while."
"Now, we'll make it quick, don't worry, it will be painless," he continued, then turned towards the other assassins, "do it."
And just like that, the four of them unsheathed their daggers and walked forward, ready to eliminate the target.
[My dear, I'm so sorry, I wasn't receptive enough...]
Her divination pleaded and apologized, but Lilia didn't care, instead, she smiled, knowing her end was near.
'I-It's okay... you already said it, didn't you? We can rely on our own power to save ourselves from situations like these, and I think I've enjoyed my life as the saintess...' but even though she said that, tears formed in her eyes, and she started crying silently, 'yet sniff, yet I don't wanna die, not now...'
Lilia was currently below the window leading to her room as that's where the assassin who stabbed her launched her to, and in front of her were the five villains, four of them slowly approaching, only centimeters away from killing her now.
"Thank you for everything divination... I will never forget what you did for me... I just wish I could have been stronger and found the person for me..."
[...]
'Goodbye world, goodbye everyone...' she closed her eyes, thinking it was the end.
But that's when Max appeared.