Blake paid no heed to the stunned onlookers, merely sweeping a cold glance over the two brothers sprawled on the ground.
"Two-on-one and you still lost, your very pride trampled and tossed aside. You've disgraced the entire Seven-Legged Serpent!"
"What right do you have to remain in the Seven-Legged Serpent?"
"Scram!"
"Vanish from my sight!"
"My guild has no use for trash like you!!"
Mockery was written all over his face.
The other assassins chimed in at once.
"Hehehe… I've hated those braids forever. If you hadn't kept calling them 'partners,' I'd have made my move long ago."
"A killer who leaves such glaring weaknesses deserves exactly this!"
"Told you, they're all bark, no bite. Without their two-on-one excuses they'd never sit at our table."
"While you still can, carry your brother and crawl away. Later might be… messier."
When a wall crumbles, everyone gives it a push.
The crowd muttered under their breath.
"No way?!"
"He's the guild master, his partners get humiliated and he doesn't even comfort them? Kicks them while they're down? Absolute scum!!"
"We're talking about assassins here, how many saints do you expect?"
The more Kalu listened, the colder his heart grew.
He knew they'd been abandoned; yet he could only hoist his unconscious brother and limp toward the tavern.
"Hey!"
"Didn't I say you're no longer qualified to stay?"
"The exit out of the City of Outlaws is that way."
Kalu froze, turning timidly. "B-but our luggage and our savings are still in the tavern room…"
"Hah?!"
"Savings? Oh, you mean the money you 'earned'?"
That's property of the Seven-Legged Serpent, what's it got to do with you?!"
The shameless Blake intended to rob the brothers of every coin.
"What did you say?!"
"That's the money my brother and I scraped together with our lives!"
Kalu snapped.
Without that coin they couldn't even pay a healer while his brother lay senseless.
He dropped to his knees at once. "G-Guild Master… please, have mercy… let us go!"
"Tch…"
Blake said nothing; he only grunted in annoyance and stepped to Kalu. "Didn't I tell you to disappear from my sight?!"
With a roar he raised his right leg, stomping toward Kalu's skull!
"Watch out!!"
"Move!!"
Spectators cried warnings, some covered their eyes, unable to watch the coming gore.
Yet—
One second, two, three… no crunch of heel on face.
What happened?
Did Blake hold back?
They opened their eyes and stared, stunned.
Two unfamiliar youths now stood there. One held a chain of pure magic power that coiled round Blake's descending foot, stopping it cold.
"H-he blocked it?!"
"Who dares help them now?"
"Never seen them in the City of Outlaws, must be new."
While the crowd whispered, a flicker of surprise crossed Blake's face.
"Oh? Interesting newcomers!"
The rescuers were none other than Weston and Precht.
"We couldn't stand watching any longer!"
Weston glared, fury blazing in his eyes.
"Even if an Assassin Guild is ruthless and only respects strength, confiscating a killer's earnings before he leaves is plain wrong!"
"If every guild behaves like you, wrecking the market, bullying its own, the whole killer trade will rot. Who would ever join?!"
"Scum like you dares call yourself guild master?!!"
The entire street fell silent.
Everyone gaped, stunned by Weston's outburst.
The next instant—
"EHHHHH—??!!!" ×N
They'd thought he acted out of pity, only to learn his true gripe: "Blake is ruining the assassin industry"!!
Even Precht, half-hidden by his collar, couldn't help but show a wry smile.
"You brat…"
"Must be fresh on the scene, huh?"
Far from angry, Blake looked intrigued, eyeing Weston and the magic power-chain-wielding Precht.
"Young, yet worried about 'the assassin trade', your vision is enough to beat seventy percent of the pros."
"You've got skill, and I'm short two men, how about joining me?"
Weston sneered. "You think you're worthy?"
Blake's eyes narrowed. "Confidence is good, it's wise know your enemy first."
"Teach them a lesson!"
At his order, four assassins, tall, short, fat, and thin, moved as one.
A katana flashed from its sheath in a razor draw-cut.
A long-sword slashed downward, spitting flame.
A sniper rifle clicked, a bullet shrieking forth.
Nunchaku whirled into blurs, howling through the air.
Four strikes from four angles barreled toward Weston.
He stood motionless, unimpressed by the combined assault.
Beside him, Precht acted the instant the four moved.
His left hand still held the chain on Blake, while his right flung out a second magic power chain.
The chain danced like a serpent—
First deflecting the bullet and slicing the rifle in two, next coiling the nunchaku and whipping it away, then parrying the katana's cutting arc, finally piercing the fire to stab the long-sword straight through its hilt.
All in a single, flawless second.
Precht retracted the chain, gaze sweeping the four killers, and spoke coldly.
"Assassin Guild, Seven-Legged Serpent?"
Nothing special."