“Prince Leon.” The two men exchanged a look. They didn't look like they wanted to harm Leon. “Please follow us…”
Suddenly, a figure slide in from the back and jammed two daggers into the two assassins’ heard. The runes on their armors didn't do a thing.
Leon’s eyes slightly widened. It was the maid that helped him dress up. He remembered her name was Teresa. She was holding onto two bloody daggers. A cold look was on her face. Leon suspected she was some sort of spy, but he had no idea she was a fighter as well.
Leon didn't know what to say or do, but Teresa did. She took a step forward before suddenly grabbing onto her neck and resting her blade to his throat.
“What the…”
“Be quiet, your grace.” Teresa’s voice was hardly that of a servant. “Now, follow me and you will not get hurt.”
Leon didn't resist as Teresa quickly pulled him toward the Emperor Guards. To his surprise, the Emperor Guards moved slightly to let them through.
As soon as he was inside the defenses, Leon could see Benedictine on the ground. A surge of happiness covered him, but he quickly put on a sad and worried face.
“Your grace, are you alright?”
Benedictine coughed. For a moment, he looked like he was about to die. Leon glanced at his armor and saw blood.
“I’ve been through worse.” The Emperor commented, but his voice was low.
Leon kept his head low so the grin on his face couldn’t be seen.
Across the field, Moon soldiers were ambushed and overwhelmed. Many men died from a stab in the back. Some were from their own comrades. Others were from seemingly innocent civilians. One of the civilians jumped into the middle of eight Moon soldiers before suddenly exploding. He was carrying a C4 package, as well as the willingness to die for the cause.
Moon soldiers held their ground, but they seemed insufficient against the all attack and no defend style of the assassins. Their ranks were quickly overwhelmed.
Eventually, the assassins have taken care of the remaining isolated Moon guards. Thousands of Moon corpses spread across the field, but they were insignificant compared to the thousands and thousands of civilian bodies. Across all the accidental kills and stampede, countless innocent have become collateral damage.
Hundreds of men in blue were still standing, alone with hundreds more of men in civilian clothing, but the fact that they were still here meant they weren’t who they seemed to be.
Emperor Guards held their ground. There were only 500 of them, but they stood up to nearly a thousand perpetrators without any fear.
A figure in black armor emerged from the shadows. Blink. She was the one that fired the orange sniper shot, and she was advancing toward the defensive formation by the Emperor Guards. Her Voyager rifle continued unloading shot after shot of orange blast at that direction.
“Form a wall! Protect the Emperor!” An Emperor Guard shouted as he and a dozen other guards formed a multi-layer wall between Blink and Benedictine. Runes were activated and formed a solid layer of blue shield. Blink reacted expertly as she took out a shock grenade and tossed it over the blue shield. The grenade sent all the Emperor Guards to the ground. Blink gunned them down one by one.
But dozens more Guards took the place of the fallen.
Blink gunned down another Emperor Guard before facing five mounted Guards, all charging toward her. Against a ranged enemy, speed and attack was better than defend. Blink replaced her rifle with her sword and severed the legs of one of the horses. The second horse was half a second later, and that opening was enough for her to slide her blade across the first man’s throat and turn to the second man in time.
The fellow assassins charged forward like a tidal wave. Emperor Guards stood their ground, but the assassins were obviously elite warriors as well. Neither side feared casualties. As a result, dozens of bodies hit the ground every second.
Blink was the speartip of the attack. Her Voyager Blade cut through Guard after Guard. Even the best warrior couldn’t survive a single exchange with her. Finally, she came face to face with the Emperor himself.
Blink transformed her Voyager rifle into a handgun and took aim at Benedictine. On the side, Leon could barely conceal his excitement. Again, he didn't know what weapon the assassin was holding, but he did know it was capable of immense power.
Suddenly, he realized something odd. The maid, Teresa, was still beside him. It was as if she didn't care if Benedictine lived or died. But how could it be? Teresa should be charging forward and try to stop the assassins at all cost, just like the Emperor Guards!
But she seemed to prioritize keeping an eye on him over protecting her lord.
This only meant one thing...and Leon’s eyes widened as he realized what it was.
Blink pulled the trigger three times. Three orange bolts of energy flew out of the chamber and struck Benedictine in the chest. Blink was about to move on when she discovered something.
Benedictine was still alive. In fact, he wasn’t even grazed.
His armor absorbed all the hits.
The Voyager took a step back as Benedictine casually stood back up. He was no longer the injured man but rather a victorious hunter. There wasn’t a single wound on him. All the weakness he showed was just an act.
“Is this it? I’m disappointed.”
Blink’s expression changed as she immediately teleported out of where she was. It turned out that was totally justified because at the same time, Benedictine raised a crossbow and let loose a single shot. The arrow missed Blink but punched its way through a dozen assassins with ease.
If Blink tried to tank it, there was no telling what might happen.
“It’s a trap!”
Appearing behind the wave of assassins, Blink let out a small cry.
Suddenly, dozens of flags rose up near the river bank. Two thousand mounted Emperor Guards, the entirety of the legion, emerged from the shadows. They were obviously ready for this. Their lances pointed forward. Their formation spread apart. Not a second was wasted as they charged into the field with all the might in the world.
The assassins saw this as well. They knew they could never outrun the cavalry. Plus, where could they run to? It would only be a matter of time before the Emperor’s intelligence department tracks down who they are and trace them back to the lords they serve. Before long, everyone’s head would be on a spike.
But if they could kill Benedictine, they would still die, but the lords they served might rise to power. Perhaps those lords would take care of their families for them as a sign of generosity. That was all they could wish for.
“Push forward!”
The assassins pressed forward, but the lines formed by the Emperor Guards was too strong. It was so strong that the assassins took heavy losses and still couldn’t break through. Before long, the mounted Emperor Guards swept through their lines. Assassin after assassin collapsed at the tip of the lances. Some of them fought back, but it was useless. They have lost the element of surprise and the mounted warriors had the momentum. The battle was over before it has begun.
Blink looked around. As a self-respecting Voyager, she was searching for a way out, but blue Moon flags were emerging from all fronts. Benedictine made sure his Emperor Guards were positioned so they could cut off all retreat paths.
He wanted to wipe out every single man and woman that dared make a go at his life.
When Blink was finally surrounded, Benedictine finally walked up under the cover of layers of Guards.
“I knew there was something going on in the city. A conspiracy to dethrone and replace me, but I didn't know who is behind this and who else are involved. I had to let you come into the open yourselves. Why else did you think I came to this ceremony? There are more than one way to announce my dominance without exposing myself like this.”
“You did this for us. The entire ceremony...” Blink frowned under the mask. She quietly calculated her possibilities to snipe Benedictine and then escape. The question wasn’t if she could get away. It was what she could do before she gets away.
“Yes. I put myself at risk and gave you traitors the perfect opportunity to strike. Tens of thousands of audience. Guards composed of men from all factions of the military. Me, exposed. No one would miss a chance like this.”
“What about all these people?” Blink gestured around. “Tens of thousands dead. The Emperor attacked on a festival aimed to show his power. What would the people think?”
Benedictine smirked. “The people doesn’t matter. I would sacrifice thousands to root out disloyalty among my own ranks anyday. Even if half the population is against me, I can put them down with the help of the military.”
“Now, as for you,” Benedictine finally set his eyes on Blink. Blink was in her black Voyager armor, but apparently that wasn’t enough to conceal her identity. “you’re one of the three mercenaries that came to me, aren’t you? My spies reported seeing men in black armor fighting in the field. Why do you want to kill me?”
Blink suddenly grinned under her mask.
“Clever. Really clever. You may have won this battle, local, but there is still a long way to go until winning the war…”
She reached for her teleportation device, but she never got to it. An arrow through her heart made sure of that.
Emperor Benedictine nodded at the leader of his Emperor Guard behind Blink, who slowly lowered his bow.
Blink coughed. She couldn’t believe it! She was a Voyager! A Voyager! How in the world was she tricked by a local? She stood there for two seconds, but finally, she collapsed on the ground, dead.
Benedictine’s expression didn't change as he glanced through the field. It was a carnage. The ground was practically covered in corpses. Moon soldiers. Civilians. Emperor Guards. Assassins dressed like guards and civilians. Even worse, thanks to the charge of the Emperor Guards, most of these corpses pressed together on the ground like a layer of flesh. Even the toughest Emperor Guard felt like throwing up.
The emperor turned back to his general.
“General, my spies will identify who these assassins serve. Bring your men, follow them, and hunt down all those behind this.”
Blink might be a member of the assassination attempt, but she was just an outsider. There was no way she could set up everything without support from local officials or royalties. Good. He wanted this. This was the perfect chance to root out all the dissenters.
“As you wish, your grace.” The general paused. “Your grace, should we mobilize the other forces in Throne’s City to help in the arrests? There are only 2,000 Emperor Guards, and I have to leave at least 1,000 with you. The rest might not be enough to cover all the objectives.”
It was difficult to control the situation with just 1,000 men. Breaking an enemy formation and hunting down targets were completely different. An elite soldier could be worth the value of ten lesser men in breaking an enemy formation, but when things were up to guarding the walls and patrolling the streets… even the toughest man couldn’t be at ten places at once.
“No!” Benedictine quickly denied. Some of the assassins were in Moon soldier uniforms and were incorporated into the ordinary Moon guards. It was obvious there were hostiles among the standard Moon ranks. There was a reason he only used the Emperor Guards for his real plan. The ordinary soldiers couldn’t be trusted. Even if they weren’t completely disloyal, there might be those among them that could leak the news to the dissenters and help them escape.
“Leave a garrison with me. Take the rest.”
“But your grace, 250 Emperor Guards may not be enough…”
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take. Obey the order, general. The longer we wait, the more likely the conspirators will hear what has happened and flee.” Benedictine glared at the general. “As for me...I have spies all over the city. It will take a pair of eyes from the sky to locate and silence all of them. I am safe.”
“As you wish, your grace.”
Blink’s body was still on the ground.
There was only one problem.
Her wrists were bare.
