"RUN, WE NEED TO RUN!"
"OH GOD, THAT FREAKY BASTARD KILLED HIM! RETREAT!"
"SHIT WE WILL GET SURROUNDED!"
"RETURN TO THE BASE!"
The Zordian Castle, the kingdom's safest and the hailed impenetrable fortress, was burning in the saffron flames.
Black smoke wafted into the air as a multitude of screams, shouts and blasts echoed throughout the palace.
On the top of the castle, one could see an array of 10 individuals dashing away while an army of Magi Knights chased them frantically. Volleys of spells, arrows and attacks were fired but they all missed their mark.
"Arlott, 5 '0 clock!" a voice said and with a quick flick of his wrist, a young man swung his spear in the 5'0 clock direction.
His spear shattered the arrow, and without a change in his expression, Arlott kept running, jumping from ceiling to ceiling till they reached the giant wall that was built around the perimeter of the great Zordian Castle.
"Formation C!" Arlott commanded and flexed his arms, his muscles bulging from the tension as he flicked his spear towards the wall, lodging it deep into the cement.
From his right, another spear shot towards the wall, much further up in the air, and then another, and then another until a ladder was built out of spears, lances and bolts.
Arlott jumped at his spear and then using it as a support, he swung on it to increase his momentum till he was fast enough to reach the next spear.
As soon as he jumped to the second spear, his comrade jumped on the first one, making the sequence appear systematic and well-trained as if they had been doing this for years.
And they indeed were.
After being caught by a man at the age of 9, Arlott and the other assassins were trained and moulded thoroughly for a single purpose.
To assassinate the Grand Duke of the Zordian Duchy.
"Did we leave them behind?" another assassin questioned, his facial cut similar to a female's but his voice rugged like a middle-aged man.
And suddenly, a spear flew into the air and Arlott caught it reflexively.
"Yes. Return to the base, they might catch up to us on the horses," he said.
As soon as the last assassin returned, the squad of 10 assassins began to head back to where they had grown up for over 10 years. The place that can contest hell in terms of misery.
Their base. The only place they could call home.
While jumping from a tree to another tree, Arlott couldn't help but feel weird.
He looked behind and as expected, the Magi Knights were chasing them on horses, but due to the difficult terrain of the forest, Arlott's crew was much faster.
'Why does my gut tell me to run away? Far, far away.' Arlott shook his head and focused back on the path, but then another thought popped in his mind.
'Why do I need to go back? Isn't it better to sell the gold I stole, buy a house, get a wife and live a nice, comfortable life? A life where I can sleep and do nothing…'
But as soon as it appeared, Arlott shook it off.
'Comfortable life? Sleeping?' He scoffed dryly, 'For the past 9 years I survived sleeping only 4 hours a day. Why do I need sleep?'
"Arlott are you excited for our freedom?" a female assassin, named Miya, questioned Arlott while skipping the tree branches along with him.
"No." He replied bluntly.
"I am not either," Miya said with a sigh, "I don't even remember the face or name of my parents anymore."
"Sorry for your loss." Arlott nodded in understanding and increased his speed to make some distance between himself and Miya.
"Ugh, jerk!" Miya pouted with a dreamy look in her eyes as she stared at Arlott's back, but understanding his cue, she didn't bother him again.
'How far is it? I just want to sleep…' Arlott complained with droopy eyes, before opening them wide in shock, 'WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?'
'Is it about what I heard after killing the Duke?!'
Arlott remembered how he briefly saw a bluish light after killing Duke Zordian, he had also heard a ringing smooth voice in his head, but he had tuned out everything and focused everything he had on escaping.
But now that he was all free to his thoughts and chased by the incapable Magi Knights, Arlott recalled the words he heard.
"You have slain the Champion of Sloth! You have received the Sin of Sloth.
Awakening the Cardinal System of Sloth.
Awakening the Idle Cultivation System."
Arlott wasn't sure if that was exactly what he heard, but he was sure that it was something along these lines.
'Slain the champion of sloth? The sin of sloth? What is that?' Arlott frowned in confusion, but he didn't get time to probe the answers any further as the front runners of his crew slowly came to a stop.
"We have reached!" a female assassin cheered.
"FINALLY! Boss can deal with the annoying Magi Knights now!" the femboy with a heavy voice commented.
Arlott also showed a slight smile when he realized their freedom was so close to their grasp. Finally, he could be free. Finally, he could rest.
"Welcome back, children." Greeted a sharp, cold voice. But Arlott and the crew were so used to it, that they found the coldness rather endearing.
"Boss Chang!" Miya bowed in respect, soon followed by the other assassins.
Boss Chang, a man with a tall height of 7 feet and a lean body, glanced at the short Miya and patted her head akin to a child.
The scene looked warm and lovely, many other comrades of the Red Flower Assassin Clan sneaked out of their hiding places and began to fight off the Magi Knights.
It appeared as if everything was going to be fine soon.
But Arlott's eyes went wide in a single second and breathless pants escaped his lips as his pupils dilated.
"Your work is done, child. You may rest in peace." Boss Chang. The man they treated as their fatherly figure, the man who patted Miya as if she was his own child, now stood with her severed head clutched in his hand and blood squirting like a fountain from her neck.
The female assassin who stood near Miya screamed at the sudden attack, but then her voice went silent when a dagger pierced her skull swiftly.
"YOU TRAITOR!" the femboy with the gruff voice, roared and lunged at Boss Chang, his eyes red in fury.
"I didn't teach you to lose yourself to the emotions during the battle." Boss Chang said before cleaving off the young man's head cleanly.
Arlott, frozen for a millisecond, gathered his wits back to him and flicked his spear at Boss Chang with impeccable accuracy.
Of course, the spear was countered easily and thrown back at another assassin, but it gave Arlott a moment he desperately needed to escape.
He channeled his mana into his legs and with a burst of speed, began to escape towards the Magi Knights.
There was no other place to go, he had to choose, either to go towards the enemies or to the traitors who pretended to be his family.
And the choice was clear. Even enemies were better than these treacherous snakes.
A volley of attacks followed Arlott's path but as if respecting his evacuation, his comrades moved in the way of Boss Chang, making him unable to chase Arlott.
Arlott felt his eyes getting teary when he heard the screams of the people he called his family, but he didn't stop. His legs continued to step upon the ground and dash towards the Magi Knights.
He sneaked into the forest once more and began to move through the bushes to avoid the knights, but suddenly, a voice slithered into his ear, sounding creepy and evil.
"Where are you going, Brat?"
A man dressed in the red-white armour of the Magi Knights drew his sword. And with a quick flash of his sword, Arlott was thrown on the floor.
A guttural scream left his lips as he looked behind, only to see his own legs lying a meter apart from him. Severed.
"You have some questions to answer, but you don't need your legs to speak, do you?"
The creepy knight giggled like a maniac, but Arlott had already passed out due to blood loss with a single thought on his mind.
Finally, I can sleep.