He pulled out the dagger to stab Horus again, but this was the moment he had been waiting for.
Horus immediately used [Twin Scar], using his life sense to navigate sharing damage with the assassin. The man hid from all his senses, but he couldn't hide from the targeting of [Twin Scar].
Horus' wound closed as the man behind him hissed. While the assassin was distracted by the injury carving into his body, John struck, stabbing the man in the back again.
Following the sound of John's attack, Horus spun and slashed.
A wet thud filled the darkness, which faded not long after. The assassin came into view staring at the severed stub of his hand. The magical dagger that Horus suspected was buffing all the assassin's abilities was on the ground still grasped in the severed hand.
John disappeared back under his cloak, as the assassin raised his eyes to Horus' murderous gaze.
"No—"The assassin managed to stammer before Horus attacked.
The loss of a limb and his magic tool made the assassin slower and easier to follow, but just off footspeed the man was much faster than him
"No, no, no," the man kept mumbling as he ran. "Three times, he can only do it three times."
They reached the wall and the assassin jumped and started running up the wall. His shoes were apparently special too, because he ran up the wall like it was flat ground.
Horus grimaced up at the fleeing assassin. He could jump and climb after him but that would be far slower, so he only had one choice.
He whipped his sword back and slashed upward, releasing a [Crescent slash]. The white sword light shot after the assassin, slicing stone apart.
The man turned back, eyes widening as white light enveloped him. Then he frantically jumped out of the way of the slash.
Horus flicked his left hand and the sword light turned, following him and surging in speed. Before the assassin could turn his body, the light cleaved through him like paper.
The body fell with a rain of blood before hitting the ground with a stomach wrenching splat. The great killer died unceremoniously, face still stretched in disbelief. The hurried breaths of everyone in the cavern rushed into Horus' ears.
[Endurance] > 18 > 19 (Common)
[Twin Scar]> 21 > 22 (Adept)
[Lifesight]> 22 > 24 (Adept)
[Full Capture] > 21 > 22 (Adept)
[Twilight Swordsmanship] > 21 > 22 (Adept)
[Twilight Body] > 22 > 23 (Adept)
He ignored the flood of notification, scanning the world with growing terror. Why wasn't anything coming at them? All that noise but no Firespitters sensed it?
Something is wrong.
He quickly took off his armor and took out some bandages and disinfectant, throwing them to Wally, who was running to him with June. She stopped when he threw the first aid, but Wally understood immediately and started treating the stab wound in Horus' back.
"He's d-dead…" June mumbled, eyes widening as the two halves of the assassin's body came into view.
"he was going to kill Wally."
June shook her hands. "No, I'm not saying anything, it's just…" her face turned green.
Wally pulled her face away from it as he finished the first aid. "Don't look at that." He turned to Horus.
"Can you still use Crescent slash?"
Using it three times was already hard for most Crescent swordsmen, the strain of drawing Twilight mana on the soul would become painful. But Horus felt strong enough to pull it off once more.
John had pried the assassin's dagger from his cold dead fingers and pulled the shoes off his severed torso. As he walked towards them, June sneered at him.
"What's wrong with you?"
John shrugged. "We'll need it more than him."
Before June could bite back, Horus placed a hand on her shoulder. "He's right. I was just about to say we should do that."
She already hated John, but staring into Horus' eyes her condemnation faded into a frown.
"Horus, you have to open the exit now," John hurried. "That guy was probably with Urchin."
Horus ignored the ache in his soul and grew more Twilight mana, but before he could take a step, people entered his life sense, five of them.
"We're out of time." Horus felt his breath catch. "All of you get out. I'll stop them."
June grabbed his arm tightly, her silver eyes hardening. "No way, they'll kill you."
"They can try."
John shook his head. "They can still track them. They won't get far."
"Then you go with them and protect them, I'll make it harder to follow, " Horus promised.
Wally watched silently from the side, trying to decide what to do. "We can hold them while you open the exit."
Horus and John shook their heads, saying at the same time. "You can't."
There was no more time to argue. Five people jumped into the cavern from one of the holes. Horus reserved himself from attacking, because he sensed they would be ready for it. He needed to preserve his Twilight mana for a sure hit.
Each of the five held burning flares that illuminated their faces. Horus quickly dismissed two people as threats; he knew them, but knew they weren't worthy of his attention.
Ulrich headed the group, draped with white robes matching his white hair and leather armor over his shoulders, he also wore greaves and shin guards. He seemed unarmed, but Horus knew his body was the weapon.
Shiv lingered behind the group, facing the ground as soon as she entered the room. She wore flowing blue robes with daggers fastened to her belt. She was unwilling to meet Horus' eye, but she was already scanning the room.
The final person, Randall, rounded them, instinctively trying to cut off escape routes. His blue eyes flashed with amusement. He wore Black mercury armor, which meant high magical and physical resistance, along with a crimson spear similar to John's.
Horus met him first, turning and cutting the boy off with slow steps. Randall paused, fist tightening around his spear.
"This doesn't have to end that way," Ulrich said clearly. "Surrunder yourselves and no one has to get hurt."
"And Wally?" John asked with a straight face.
Ulrich's icy facade cracked slightly when John spoke. He glared down at his best friend. "Do you know what I'm offering you?"
He pointed from Horus to John to June. "Every single one of you can be tried for treason. You might not even leave this dungeon alive, but I can bend Urchin's will, if you listen to me."
"What laws did Wally break?" Horus snapped back. "And not the imaginary ones you made up. I mean anything in the 2nd book of law."
"Horus, don't pretend like you don't know what this is. We make hard decisions for the sake of the future. We—"
"I know!" Horus shouted back. His head was still swirling from the fight with the assassin. The names he mentioned. Gregor, Frances…
Anhur.
"I was there. I executed traitors on my mother's order. They called it a test of loyalty. If we were smart and loved Bloodhaven we would do it without questions. But now I see that I was just a fool."
Memories of him beheading a man and turning to Anhur with an encouraging smile flashed through his mind. He remembered how his brother had questioned what happened in those places, and how he had dismissed Anhur's concerns.
They were just thirteen back then, but he knew that wasn't an excuse. Anhur had felt it was wrong, and Horus dismissed it. Anhur was strong while he was weak.
His curved sword flared, illuminating Ulrich's icy expression and Shiv's horror.
"I knew and I pretended it didn't matter. But not anymore."