Playing with Fire

Quinlan pulled out the dagger from the crossbow before chucking it toward the assassins chasing after him. His body, as if out of necessity, applied Qi to the throwing weapon unconsciously, increasing its penetration and speed.

"UGH!"

One of the assassins chasing after him was surprised, earning a dagger embedded in his throat. It wasn't that Quinlan's throwing prowess was amazing, but rather because the trajectory it followed was impeccable, enough that the assassin couldn't decide where to dodge before the dagger hit him.

Quinlan didn't cheer, however, since there were still eight of them chasing after him. Given the pace at which the distance between them was closing, they would end up within an arm's distance within 30 seconds.

Within that time, Quinlan had to find a way to either buy some more time or reach the garrison.

Fortunately, the assassins became wary of using projectiles after one of their comrades died from their own weapon. If not, then he might've already been full of holes.

As he was running, Quinlan noticed something in the corner of his eyes.

"... Right! Let's do that!"

Quinlan changed directions—not toward any alley or another road, but rather breaking into another person's home!

*CRASH!*

Quinlan jumped through the window, destroying the bamboo shutter over it. Although it was painful and earned him some scratches, it would also hide him from the view of the assassins.

"Great, now..." Quinlan muttered, lowering his stance while in hiding.

From the loud noise he made, the owner of the house would come sooner or later. When he gets discovered, he'll probably be reported as a thief. However, going out would expose him to the pursuers behind. Quinlan was in a dilemma... Or not.

"I'll be borrowing this."

Quinlan didn't have any hesitation in his actions, pulling the candle holder with a lit candle on it. He leaned close to the wall before using the candle's fire to light up the curtains and other easily burnable items inside the house.

'Sorry about this, but you're all probably awake anyway. I'll be burning your house, so just escape as fast as you can!'

It was an action—an illegal one—that he wouldn't have taken if his life wasn't on the line. The fire spread quickly since the house was made of light materials, but it was a little too fast compared to Quinlan's estimate.

"FIRE! THERE'S A FIRE!"

Quinlan raised his voice, trying to make it sound as deep as possible so that nobody could relate it to him. As soon as he did, he could hear rushed footsteps from above, notifying him of his success. Taking advantage of the situation, Quinlan then took off his eye-catching outer garment, pulled a random curtain, and used it to cover his head and body, acting as if a normal resident were evacuating after hearing there was a fire.

In an instant, dozens of residents gathered at the center of the road. Adding to the bright light coming from the burning home, it should be hard for the assassins to identify someone based on their face or clothes.

Quinlan blended with the crowd while maintaining vigilance. Since he hid inside the building, he also lost sight of the assassins. Right now, he had no idea where they were.

Still, he didn't rush. Time was his ally, after all. Of the five minutes, a full minute had already passed. Furthermore, since there's a house burning over here, the garrison should be moving now to handle the fire.

Quinlan could simply stay put, and his quest would be over!

"...!"

However, as expected, it wouldn't be so easy. Among the crowd, he saw some members of the assassins checking out everyone's faces from up close.

The way they were doing it was extremely conspicuous, even earning them some angry shouts, but after they showed the swords in their hands, nobody dared to reprimand them any longer.

Quinlan felt nervous. He was quite far from them, but they would reach him sooner or later. Even if he bide his time, it would be far from the time limit before they reach his position. Just as he was estimating his chances, a hand patted his shoulder, causing him to jump.

"You, turn around and show me your face!"

Although Quinlan couldn't see what the other person looked like, he could already tell it was one of the assassins. Quinlan used the curtain covering his head to also cover half of his face before turning around slowly.

As he expected, it was one of the assassins wearing all-black. He had a sword in his right hand, hanging idly parallel to his thigh. "..."

Quinlan had no other choice but to engage. Realizing this, he decided to take action immediately. Pretending to have lost balance while turning around, Quinlan took a step forward. Then, using his other leg, he launched a powerful kick with all his strength.

*CRACK!*

"Hik...!"

Hearing the cracking sound, along with the squishy sensation he felt on his foot, Quinlan knew that he had hit the target. The assassin didn't faint from the pain, but he still fell to his knees and ended up letting go of his sword. Quinlan picked it up and swung it without hesitation, aiming at the assassin's neck.

*PISSSHHHH!*

As soon as he followed through the swing, the assassin's head fell and rolled along the pebbled road. Blood sprayed like a fountain as his body maintained its kneeling and leaning forward position.

"A-AAAAAAH!"

"KYAAAAAAH!"

Screams immediately spread, causing panic among the crowd. After all, someone just got killed beside them.

Quinlan took advantage of the confusion and hid among the panicking crowd. While there, he was eyeing the assassins around, counting them, and taking note of their positions.

'Six... One's missing.'

Although he was unsure where the last one was, Quinlan had little time remaining. He had to move!

From their position and visible range, Quinlan first came to the one who was isolated, with nobody watching over his location. After pretending to run beside the assassin, reaching his back. Quinlan then swiftly drew the sword he was hiding under the curtain's cloth and swung it once, horizontally.

Before the assassin could even realize what had happened, his head was already rolling on the ground.

With another dead body spraying blood everywhere, the crowd began moving in another direction, as if trying to move far from the dead body. Of course, Quinlan had that in mind when he chose who to kill and quickly followed the wave of crowds along, reaching another unsuspecting assassin.

*SLASH!*

A short swing, and another head rolled on the ground. Three of the assassins died in less than a minute!