Chapter 87: Bloody Night
Stepping onto the courtyard stone, Kane wore only his linen trousers.
Clutching Mjoldr tightly in his right hand, he felt the familiar pulse of energy humming through the handle.
"Thora, stay inside!" Kane shouted over his shoulder.
She shrieked in sudden surprise from the bedroom but quickly agreed.
Slamming the wooden door shut, she slid the iron latch into place.
’I often forget this game is set on hell difficulty,’ Kane mused, rolling his bare shoulders to loosen the muscles.
’None of these politicians or their hired villains are ever worth sparing. They just keep sending bodies.’
Sira materialized right beside his elbow, an arrow already nocked on her composite bowstring.
"Where are they?" she whispered, her silver eyes scanning the slate rooftops.
"Hiding," Kane smirked.
"Playing hard to find. Professional assassins always prefer the shadows until the very last second."
"Hmm?" Rutheus grunted, stepping out from the guest quarters.
The old veteran had ridden back late last evening to deliver a progress report from the pass, and his timing proved immaculate.
Drawing his broadsword with his single remaining hand, he marched straight into the center of the open courtyard.
"If you’ve got balls, then face us directly, you cowards!" Rutheus roared, his gravelly voice echoing aggressively off the surrounding manors.
Walking slowly into the center of the space, Kane gripped the leather-wrapped haft of his axe.
He needed to draw them out.
Wielding the weapon in a sweeping, upward arc, he forced the crimson aura to erupt.
A blinding, blood-red light washed over the entire property, emitting a terrifying power that illuminated every hidden corner and rooftop ledge.
"What is that?"
Elven neighbors began peeking out of their elegant windows.
Doors creaked open along the cobblestone street as curious, sleepy nobles stepped outside to see what the commotion was about.
They dropped from the roof tiles like rain. Forty killers dressed entirely in midnight fabric.
[System Notification]
[Hostile Targets Engaged: Morvak’s Shadows]
[Passive: Conqueror’s Presence Active]
"Kill them all," Kane ordered.
Brak met the first wave head-on.
Bringing his iron-alloy shield up, he caught a descending assassin right in the jaw. Bone shattered instantly.
Teeth flew across the paving stones.
Brak didn’t stop there; driving his boot forward, he snapped the man’s kneecap backward before burying a hatchet deep into the killer’s skull.
"Left flank!" Sira called out.
Her bowstring hummed a lethal tune.
Three arrows took flight in rapid succession.
One pierced a shadow’s throat, sending a spray of bright arterial blood painting the white stone walls.
Another pinned a man’s foot to the roof, leaving him dangling and screaming until Lirael finished the job.
The sellsword moved with terrifying efficiency.
Ducking under a poisoned dagger thrust, Lirael spun on her heel and separated the attacker’s arm from his shoulder.
Blood geysered upward.
Kicking the severed limb out of her way, she drove her blade straight through the next man’s chest, twisting the steel to ensure a fatal wound.
Kessa didn’t bother using forged weapons.
Dropping onto all fours, the beastwoman launched herself at a cluster of three assassins trying to breach the servant’s entrance.
Her claws flashed in the red light.
She ripped the first man’s stomach wide open, spilling steaming intestines onto the pristine steps.
Pouncing on the second, her fangs sank deep into his jugular. He gurgled, thrashing wildly while she bled him dry on the pavement.
’She’s definitely enjoying this,’ Kane smiled, ducking a swinging chain weapon.
Stepping inside his attacker’s guard, Kane swung Mjoldr upward.
The crimson blade caught the assassin right under the chin.
It didn’t just cut; it cleaved cleanly through the jawbone, exiting straight through the top of the skull.
Brain matter and bone fragments splattered across the courtyard, coating Kane’s bare chest in gore.
Rutheus laughed, a sound that genuinely terrified the remaining shadows.
A killer tried to flank the old man, mistakenly thinking the missing arm offered a blind spot.
Pivoting smoothly, Rutheus caught the man’s temple with the flat pommel of his broadsword. The skull caved inward with a sickening crunch, dropping the assassin like a puppet with cut strings.
"Keep them away from the study!" Caelindra yelled from a second-story window.
Holding a loaded crossbow, the secretary looked surprisingly capable.
She fired, catching a climber right between the shoulder blades.
Firlia and Lyssel stood right behind her, tossing down anything loose and heavy to break the climbers’ grips, sending two men tumbling to the hard stones below.
Down by the courtyard fountain, Grieselda remained perfectly calm.
An assassin charged her, raising a short sword to strike.
She simply raised her pale hand.
A localized pulse of energy radiated from her elegant fingers.
The killer’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he collapsed instantly, blood leaking steadily from his ears and nose.
Only ten assassins remained standing.
Realizing their quiet infiltration had turned into an absolute butchery, they hesitated, exchanging panicked glances.
Kane refused to let them retreat.
[Berserker Rage Lv2 — Bloodlust Activated]
His muscles expanded, hot adrenaline flooding his veins. Closing the distance in a single leap, Kane threw his axe. It spun sideways, taking off a runner’s legs right at the knees.
"GAHH!"
The man collapsed into a screaming, bloody stump.
Catching Mjoldr on the rebound, Kane drove his bare fist right through another man’s ribcage.
He felt the fragile heart burst against his knuckles.
"No prisoners tonight!" Kane roared, ripping his bloody hand free from the chest cavity.
Tackling a fleeing shadow, Brak punched the man’s face repeatedly until it resembled ruined meat.
Aiming high, Sira put a feathered arrow directly through the eye socket of a shadow trying desperately to scale the perimeter wall.
Lirael and Rutheus boxed the last three into a corner.
The final assassin dropped his poisoned daggers, raising his trembling hands in surrender.
"I yield!" the man begged, sinking to his knees in the spreading pools of blood.
Walking over, Kane’s bare chest heaved.
He was bathed in blood.
’This game does not reward mercy,’ Kane conjectured, looking down at the weeping killer.
’Morvak sent these men to murder my people in their sleep. Sparing him just tells that arrogant Chancellor I am soft.’
"Denied," Kane stated flatly.
Swinging Mjoldr in a brutal downward arc, he split the man’s torso wide open from collarbone to sternum.
Ribs cracked loudly, and punctured lungs ruptured.
The ruined body slumped over, joining the mounting pile of corpses.
[Combat Concluded: Manor Defense]
[Assassins Eliminated: 40/40]
[Experience Gained!]
