The gas had also affected Richard, and Wilder, who was already suffering from the silver and wolfsbane poisoning. As soon as Richard took notice, he tore out a part of his dress and handed it to Wilder to cover the lower half of his face while he did the same for himself.
With the assassins still struggling to run away but too weak to even move, Wilder took the chance, racing into the poisonous smoke with his sword, and Richard followed with his sword too.
He didn't care that it was a dishonourable thing to do since his opponents were down since they had started it first with 15 men attacking two of them.
When they both succeeded in killing all of them, they escaped from the smoke and saw a sight that made them pause.
One of the assassins was holding Anne captive. She was quite tiny, so she was effortlessly squeezed into his body with a hand holding her around her lower body and a knife to her throat, which had made a small cut in her chin.
"Drop your swords," he threatened Richard and Wilder, trying to sound intimidating, but it was obvious he was scared from how shaky his voice was.
The poisonous smoke had dissipated and he could clearly see the dismembered bodies of all his partners.
"Why should we?" Wilder asked the man calmly.
"I will kill her if you don't!" He warned and pressed the knife higher against her throat.
"Then... go ahead," Wilder said with disinterest and gestured for him to carry out the act.
Richard wasn't sure what to do in this case. He looked at Anne, who looked scared as she eyed the knife inching closer to her throat with each passing second.
"I told you, tiny girl," Wilder started as he looked at Anne. "The next time you show up in front of me, I won't hesitate to strike you with my sword. Thankfully, I have someone to help me get rid of you." He said to her while Richard just stood there, still confused.
"I WILL REALLY KILL HER!" The assassin yelled in confusion and frustration.
"You are really not going to save me?" Anne asked Wilder with a pitiful look.
He shook his head at her and crossed his arms across his chest and just stared at them.
"Hurry up and get rid of her so I can get rid of you."
Richard looked between Wilder and Anne, as did the assassin, who obviously had no idea what to do at this point.
Anne pursed her lips and muttered, "Annoying," at Wilder before she slowly reached for the inside of her sleeve to take out a small knife she had hidden there.
The foolish assassin had realized something was wrong with these people and decided to flee, but it seemed he thought Wilder was bluffing about not caring about what he decided to do with the girl because if he hadn't, he would have attacked him and not just stood there. So he decided to use her for his escape as he tightened his hand around her and began to step back.
With his attention on escaping, he didn't realize she had a weapon on her. Quickly, she bit the hand he was using to point the knife at her neck and angled it perfectly for his neck before she stabbed the knife right there, even though he was still standing behind her.
His blood spilled on her as he let go of her and staggered backwards before falling to his knees with his hand touching the part of the neck she had stabbed where he still had the knife.
While Richard stared with wide eyes filled with shock, he turned to Wilder and saw how he grinned brightly like a maniac at the scene.
As soon as the assassin fell to his death, Anne looked at the corpse with wide eyes.
"You killed him," Wilder said with pride as if to answer the question she was asking herself in her head.
Richard had already been overthinking whether the girl had actually been a good fighter but had been lying because she had secret plans, but her reaction made him begin to rethink.
She looked pale, frightened, and still in disbelief, and as soon as Wilder affirmed it to her, she burst into tears and knelt beside the man's corpse, crying and apologizing.
"He would have killed you if you had not killed him," Wilder said quietly.
"I don't want to be a murderer!" She cried and her sobs grew louder.
"I... didn't know this... was what they meant when they said we were blessed with survival skills. I don't want to survive like this!" She said more to herself than to any of them as she kept crying.
Richard wondered who the "we" she was talking about was, but he obviously could not ask her.
"Then why did you stab him? What were you thinking? That he would fly away?" Wilder asked her.
His weird sarcasm almost made Richard laugh, but they had a bigger issue.
"I... I don't know!" Anne cried.
Wilder went to pick up the familiar cloak from where Anne had dropped it and wear it. As he tied the ropes, he said, "You also helped us kill all these people. You should embrace your talent with an open mind."
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Anne yelled at Wilder and gave him a dangerous glare. "You dare call this talent?!"
Richard's jaw dropped.
"I only wanted to save you. I came to return your stupid cloak and let you know I have been training so hard, but I killed people because of you!"
"Stop looking at it!" Wilder said sternly before he went to where she was and pulled her from the ground, then he began to drag her along with him while she yelled for him to let her go.
He took her to the stream and pointed at it.
"Wash the blood off your body and return home."
"That is what you say to someone who saved your life?" She asked as she pulled her hand away from his hold while looking up at him angrily.
"You hate it so much. I cannot thank you for it then."
"You are so arrogant. I don't even know why... I like you." She sniffled and used the back of her hand to wipe away her tears.
"Is this... really the kind... of person you are?" She asked while looking up at him with sad eyes.
"Is that why..." she stopped talking and looked at the stream.
"Why what?" he asked.
She slowly shook her head, and without looking at him, she answered, "It's nothing."
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l