Annan had just broken free from the siege of those three men, and his first action was to dash at full strength towards the two mercenaries with rifled guns.
The battle had just begun, and they still harbored the "perhaps we can escape" mentality, so they hesitated to shoot Annan given his status.
They had switched to swords, hoping to topple Annan and then retreat... After all, a lead bullet was far too likely to be fatal.
However, they hadn't paid attention to the initial fight on Annan's side, so they were completely unaware of the severity of the situation and even resorted to wielding their swords one-handed.
Annan didn't hesitate at all and used the quickest speed and greatest force to knock the long swords out of the gun-wielding mercenaries' hands, then swiftly executed them.
[Killing a rankless enemy in combat, you have gained 21 points of public experience]
[Killing a rankless enemy in combat, you have gained 14 points of public experience]
From the moment Annan charged to when the experience notification popped up, the whole process took less than ten seconds.
What remained was merely a slaughter.
After the two gun-wielding mercenaries were brutally killed by Annan, the militia were no longer afraid and their morale soared instantly.
The mercenaries then realized something was wrong and dispatched several of the older, more skilled swordsmen to attack Annan together, no longer holding back.
But by then, it was already too late.
Annan was actually only afraid of those two guns.
The Guardsman Swordsmanship he mastered was a type of swordsmanship that could perform better in small-scale combat, especially good at close-range static battles involving one against many or many against one.
When four people surrounded him, they could only match Annan evenly. But at that moment, Annan would lean in, suddenly switch his sword to his left hand, and strike with his right hand.
Wherever he hit on the opponent's body, it would immediately create a glaring opening, allowing a counterattack to take one down or kill them. After felling two this way, Annan simply switched his sword back and forth between his hands, forcing the opponents to focus on his close combat, which resulted in them exposing even greater weaknesses.
After a few exchanges, they were all taken down by Annan.
Then Annan took a deep breath.
He turned around and saw that the militia had also taken down two. This immediately gave Annan a sense of urgency—
Don't steal my kills!
Annan immediately gave an order.
A tender yet authoritative voice rang out, "Prioritize taking over the enemies I've defeated! Subdue them all!
"Spook the horses, don't let them escape!"
Upon receiving Annan's command, the group of militia snapped out of their initial confusion and quickly reacted.
Their first response was to pick up the two guns.
Seeing that they understood his tactical intentions, Annan nodded in satisfaction.
He didn't hesitate, charging once more—
Clang!
After a sharp piercing sound, the long sword in a young mercenary's hand was knocked aside. He also staggered forward, off-balance.
In just one exchange, Annan swiftly drew him into a state of imbalance by deflecting his attack, then thrust his sword through the young man's chest.
It looked as though the opponent had willingly delivered himself to Annan.
Each remaining mercenary was brought to the ground nearly within a few exchanges by Annan's full-force attacks.
As soon as someone was slain or temporarily incapacitated, Annan immediately left them for the militia to handle and went to face the remaining enemies.
Soon, only one young mercenary remained alive.
While fighting him, Annan casually asked, "Do you know the specifics of what Joel mentioned earlier?"
"...I don't know, I don't know..."
The mercenary, sweating profusely, replied tremblingly as he backed away, "I was just captured by them..."
Before the man could finish his answer, Annan suddenly stepped forward forcefully and swung his sword horizontally, knocking the opponent's weapon away.
Then he delivered a thrust that pierced the young man's abdomen.
"What a pity."
Annan sighed, "How good it would have been if you knew something?"
As he spoke, he withdrew the short sword that had pierced the young mercenary's belly. The man's body also slumped forward powerlessly, kneeling down to Annan.
After the mercenary fell to the ground, Annan cleanly thrust out his sword, piercing through the man's eye socket.
Promptly, a notification appeared before Annan:
[Killing a rankless enemy in combat, you have gained 7 points of public experience]
The battle was over.
Annan exhaled a satisfied breath of relief and revealed a pleasant, bright smile as he slowly pulled out the short sword.
He had killed many in the instance before without gaining any experience. This had misled Annan, making him think he could only gain public experience by clearing the instance.
Turns out, killing monsters outside the instance does grant experience, why didn't you say so earlier...
Annan, holding the first half of the short sword reflecting the red light, approached the survivors with a smile.
Including Leon, who was initially frostbitten by Annan, there were only five survivors left.
Watching Annan draw closer and closer to them, the mercenaries and militiamen became instantly quiet, watching him with fear and awe.
"Speak, friends."
Ignoring the militiamen, Annan spoke to them in a gentle, soothing voice, "Who can tell me the Viscount of Roth Fort's secret?"
The mercenaries just trembled, saying nothing.
So, Annan revealed a sad smile.
He walked up to the mercenary at the forefront, laid the sword gently on his shoulder, and asked as calmly as if knighting a rider, "Friend, do you know?"
"I... I don't really..."
The man only stared blankly at Annan.
After the gaze, Annan quickly confirmed that the other party knew nothing.
He didn't hesitate any longer and decapitated him with a single stroke.
The warm blood splashed directly onto the mercenary next to him, whose pupils dilated to their limits in an instant.
"Don't be like this, it was you guys who came to attack my subjects. Why is it as if I am the villain?"
Annan complained softly, revealing a professional smile, and asked the second person, "How about you, friend, do you know?"
"I..."
A brief silence of three seconds.
Then another head rolled to the ground.
After Annan had asked around, he regrettably discovered that indeed, someone did know a clue...
Leon, still trembling from the frostbite, shouted, "I know! I am the man Alvin Barber planted, I know everything!"
He had already wet his pants, shivering so much that he could hardly speak clearly. He didn't even entertain the thought of living on, his eyes filled only with intense despair.
But Annan's actions had stopped.
The chilling, bone-piercing killing intent, like the worst of winter, suddenly vanished, dissolving as completely as ice and snow under a rising sun.
Annan's smile remained gentle.
He simply patted Leon on the shoulder and softly advised, "You should address him as Viscount Barber, it's rude otherwise."
"Yes, yes…"
"Don't be a robber anymore, it can get you killed."
"Yes..."
Leon shivered, and his trembling intensified with Annan's pat on the shoulder.
However, Annan truly didn't intend to kill him anymore.
Since you're willing to provide clues, then you're a good NPC, and we are now partners.
Partners can be spared.
But as for the price of daring to pillage my subjects, attempting to deceive and threaten me...
"Someone, chop off his right thumb," Annan ordered in a clear and calm voice, "then treat his wounds, give him a bath, change his clothes, and bring him to see me."
Seeing there was no one left to kill, Annan checked his character panel once more and revealed a satisfied smile.
Although the experience given by these mercenaries varied with their strength, and those killed after the battle gave less experience... the least of them still contributed three points of experience to him.
Now his shared experience had returned to 84 points once more.
When he came out from the first dungeon, he only had 76 points of shared experience.
This experience should be almost enough to promote a Wizard apprentice to level ten, right?
He closed the panel and smiled gently at Leon, "You can live now, friend.
"Now, are you happy?"
"Hap… happy…"
Leon shivered, not knowing how to respond. He could only force a smile and stammer out his reply.
He feared that this might be a sign that Annan was about to torture him further.
But seeing his response, Annan nodded in satisfaction, "It's good that you're happy."
Then he left. Surrounded by the reverent and silent militia, he walked towards the city.
...I, I actually survived?
Watching Annan's retreating young figure get further away, Leon's heart relaxed, and he finally passed out.