The dim light provided by the street lamps was barely enough for the two men to see in front of them, but this was of no problem since they had surveyed the area multiple times before in preparation for this mission. Their short stay at the Den was no coincidence either. It just was the most inconspicuous spot for them to spy on the patrol of the city guard. Despite their willingness to fight, it was still better for them to employ the way of subtlety and avoid being seen by the city guard.
Their steps were unhurried yet fast, appearing as if they were merely locals attempting to get home quickly after a night of drinking. They advanced without problems for about two hours, until they reached the exit of the 5th residential district, leading to the business district. The layout of New-Paris had little to do with the original planning of the city as there was very little of the old Paris that survived the war. Instead, when the Order had taken over, they chose practicality over historical accuracy. As such, the city was centred around the business district, which also housed most government buildings, and around it, were sixteen residential areas arranged circularly. Such a layout made it nearly impossible for Amon and Bel to conduct their assassination during the day since their target would be residing in the busiest part of town.
However, they had planned and snooped a bit, and they found out that tonight, the city guard would hold a special counsel regarding matters of public order. That counsel was expected to last the whole day and end late at night. This fact would present them with the perfect opportunity to attempt to take the captain's life. And it just so happened that the captain resided in the 5th residential district. Despite his status allowing him to live elsewhere, the captain was born of humble descent, and he chose to live there as he felt uncomfortable surrounded by wealth.
The two assassins quickly hid in the shadow between two apartment complexes and waited for their victim to pass by. Their choice of hiding spot might seem somewhat simplistic, but with the lack of any decent lighting from the street lamps and the moon being absent from the sky, their dark blue cloak concealed them perfectly as long as they stayed entirely still. Such a task wasn't a problem for killers used to stalking their prey for a prolonged amount of time. It was only about an hour after they arrived that they could hear some voices in the distance.
Judging by the direction of the sound, they came from the business district and were most likely from their target. However, it was outside of their expectation that some of his men would accompany the captain. Faced with this unexpected setback, Bel whispered to Amon.
"What now? Do we go ahead with the plan? Although I'm confident a few city guards won't be much of a problem if we take too long, we might attract some unwanted attention. If we fail this attempt, I'm afraid it will be much harder to try again if they are alerted to our presence.
Underneath his cowl, Amon scrunched up his eyebrows as he took a few seconds to think. Ordinarily, he was a prudent man, the opposite of Bel, but he knew that they couldn't delay their mission too much. Who knew how much longer they would have to wait for another opportunity like this to present itself. Plus, he was confident that even if they didn't manage to care of all of their enemies, just killing the captain wasn't too hard of a task.
-Indeed it's a bit of a problem. They arrived later than I thought and we only have a window of about five minutes before the regular patrol comes. However, as long as we can take care of the captain, the rest of his troupe matters little. We'll do it like this; I'll leave the guards to you while I take care of the captain. You only need to hold on while I finish him. Once we're done here, we need to escape before the patrol can arrive so let's flee in separate directions. Tomorrow, we meet up at the rendezvous point in the business district.
-Sounds good. I knew I could count on you to find a great plan!"
Although he couldn't see Bel's face under his hood, Amon could imagine the sarcastic smirk that made its way unto his lips. He knew Bel didn't respect both as a human and a partner, but he was efficient, so Amon ignored it. As the sounds of the guards discussing became increasingly close, Amon signalled to Bel, and they jumped out of the shadows building unto the unsuspecting men. The roads of New-Paris were considered reasonably large and could accommodate two vehicles both way and included a sidewalk.
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Since no cars were allowed in the streets past seven o'clock, it was commonplace for people to walk in the middle of the road in the evenings. As such, the two assassins felt confident fighting in that environment.
As soon as they jumped out, they both took out their retractable swords and faced the city guards. There were seven of them, all dressed in the same uniform apart from the one at the front of the group. Their uniform was a very simple black uniform with streaks of gold, and the emblem of the empire was embroidered at the back, a circle with a cross in the middle. A simple black cap completed the ensemble. The captain wore a similar attire except for a star on his right breast, indicating his higher rank. The group was visibly startled when they saw the dark figures rushing at them but years of training and service had prepared them for moments such as these.
They all drew their weapon with incredible speed but sadly they were a tad too slow as Bel had already reached the group, and his fully deployed sword had chopped down on the closest guard. However, the guard was rather sharp, and he took a step back when he saw the man attacking him, and he managed to avoid getting severed in half and only received a long wound on his left arm, rendering it unusable. Immediately, the captain yelled, "Surround him!" But before he could do so himself, he was intercepted by Amon, whose powerful thurst forced the captain to sidestep away from the rest of his team.
Seizing the advantage, Amon followed with a series of quick but deadly swings, driving the captain further and further away from his comrades. Sensing that he was getting isolated, the captain tried his best to break the barrage of attack, but he could only level the playing field, unable to win over Amon's pure speed and savagery. Although he wasn't as good a fighter as the two Ravens, the captain was no over pushover either, and he could hold his own to Amon, which surprised the latter. Ordinary humans couldn't hold a candle to him due to the strength and agility that his various genetic augmentations provided him. However, for the captain to last more than a few seconds against his barrage to attack meant that he received some augmentations himself
. However, when they took their mission, there was a specific mention that the captain was in every way an ordinary human, if not one that was skilled with a blade. Feeling that something was wrong, Amon made an especially powerful swing, forcing the captain back a few steps, to gain himself an instant to warn Bel. As he turned towards Bel to shout, his vision was filled with red, and he could hear Bel curse loudly. "They have a pyromancer!"
This shout of alarm by Bel confirmed Amon's suspicions. For one reason or another, the guards who were supposed to be slightly strong but still regular humans had been augmented. Apart from genetic augmentations which could enhance the natural abilities of a person, nanotechnological augmentations could allow their owner to do things impossible to the rest. Pyromancer referred to those who received an augmentation allowing them to generate intense friction outside of their body, creating fire. The strength of the flame and the distance at which it could be made varied based on the compatibility of the individual with the augmentation and the quality of said augmentation.
This new found information spelled trouble for the two of them as it meant that their mission had just got significantly harder. It wasn't that the two assassins couldn't deal with the few augmented guards, but instead doing so as fast as possible meant that they had to take some risks. Without worrying about Bel, Amon resumed his assault, but this time, he took the initiative to release the electrical current that maintained tension in his sword.
As the multiple parts hung limply from the handle, he used his weapon like a whip to entangle the captain's sword. Taken aback by this novel tactic, the captain couldn't react in time as Amon yanked the sword out of his hand. However, he wasn't a simple man and knowing that he was defenceless, he chose to charge towards Amon.
If the two of them got stuck in a close quarter fight, Amon's sword wouldn't be nearly as useful and the captain saw this as his only chance of survival as the two of them weren't far apart. Amon couldn't get out of the way of the captain's charge and could only use his free hand to try and brace himself. Being stronger than the captain, he managed to stop his assault without much harm and chose to drop his sword as he predicted it would be hard to put some distance between the two of them if the captain was insistent on staying in close quarters. Amon was still confident it wouldn't take long to finish off the captain, with or without his weapon.