a while back,when davi and lily were still looking for nico,a boy ran past the room where nico was held and as if being called by something, turned to the room and stood in front of it.
by now,it seemed like all the assassins had gone in search of nico and there there was no one inside the building. noticing this, he walked inside and observed the place before realizing that it was a den for assassins.
due to his ability to detect mana traces due to his ox blooded eyes, he suspected that a dungeon had spawned here, as he turned to inform the people at the festival, an assassin enters and spots him,dressed in noble clothing and took him hostage. bounding him to a pole in the middle of the room.
davi and the reinforcements that arrived, searched the area for traces of nico while lily was sent to find the [guildbox] that was about to be auctioned out. while searching, davi came across a peculiar trail and followed it with they separated to find him faster
***
nico walked through the abandoned city in this the scope that was like a castle, up until now, he didn't meet with a single monster and he seemed to be nearing the end of the first floor.
"is this really a dungeon?... i haven't met with a single monster yet"
"oh..."
nico walked for a while before arriving at what seemed like an imperial castle and strolled in while staying on guard. after walking through the gaint hallway for a while, a thought came to mind.
"in these kind of situation, something bad happens"
reward:
insight-lv1>
"whoa..."
almost instinctively,nico ducked,evading a swift but silent swing of a gardener fork aiming for his head then used a backhand spring to gain distance from the being
"you managed to dodge that?!... I'm impressed"
it can speak
"I'm sure you're surprised that i can speak right?"
"what do you want?"
the being looked at his for a while then sat on the floor
"what do i want,you say...you casually came in here asking what i might need"
nico stares at it, not daring to look away
"don't be scared--"
"who said i'm scared... who said you're strong enough to make me scared"
"oh... may i ask your name?"
nico hesitated for a second but couldn't understand why he did that
"n-nicodemus..."
the being didn't speak again, he stood to his feet,and lunged straight at nico faster that the first time with killing intent and swung his weapon which nico blocked. despite the fact the nico was able to block the attack fully thanks to his weapon glory skill,the damage given was enough to make him activate power from the brink in one strike.
"what?!"
he drained my hp so much from an attack that didn't even land...system what's his rank?
why didn't you inform me?!
"so you survived the attack huh... well you wont survive the next one"
oh, i've to dodge...right now
nico tried to muster strength from his knees but they wouldn't budge and his hands were bleeding just from supporting the broadsword. the gardener had already prepared his last attack and nico was a step late...
***
davi followed the trail until he got to the house where the noble was held and checked inside. he looked, and saw him tied up on a pole with nobody inside but couldn't find nico.
"oh kid, did you see them take anybody?"
"no..."
davi wanted to go but turned back and untied the boy before leaving.
"make sure to escape, I'm in a hurry so i can't protect you..."
"thank you sir..."
the boy bows his head until he was sure davi was out of sight
"ah..."
leaving the room, the boy ran in the direction he heard the men heading to after changing his attire and davi snuck behind him without drawing attention.
when the boy spotted them, he snuck towards them without realizing that davi was following his from behind. when the assassins saw him, they turned and surrounded him then drew their blades ready to fight. few seconds later, a man's head rolledon the floor with the boy holding his blade
agitated,the others ganged up on him and attacked precisely not wasting an opening. with nowhere to escape, he was eventually subdued and brought to his knees to be killed. davi who didn't know anything that was going on decided to butt in
"hey... what are you guys doing?"
they turned to where the voice was coming from but nobody was there. one of them turned to where the boy was kneeling down and saw davi carrying the child at his back.
they swung their blade to attack sequentially but no one was there. one of them saw and pointed to where the voice had initially come from and saw davi squatting on some boxes of goods holding the boy in his arms.
"mister..."
"why did you come here?... "
"after you left, i remembered one of them talking about a boy that disappeared right before their eyes so i came to find out"
"ah... that was dangerous you know"
"i won't do that again..."
"hey you... you can't just casually walk in and snatch our prey"
"you should be ashamed of ganging up on a child"
"and who are you too give us that rule?..."
a presence that davi didn't detect early moving in and stabbed his gut with a dagger but he put his hand in the way in time suffering injuries on only his hand
"oh... so you're not weak huh"
"it's more like you aren't strong"
the guy walks out from the crowd of assassins with a smile on his face