"What the heck are you guys doing?!"
Ilyon appeared in their midst with a bang.
His visage was stained all around with blood as he pointed his sword at the approaching five while his eyes darted all over the place and his brain whirred at high speeds trying to understand the current situation.
He had been warding off the incoming wave of snakes on his lonesome after Motavu left to help Rowan.
They needed Rowan's power, so he thought it would be better to finish up the big one quickly and then use their combined might to cull the swarm, so he told Motavu to assist while he kept the snakes busy.
A few minutes had passed and he hadn't heard Motavu's loud voice, so he came to check on the situation.
What he met though, was the realization of his worst fears.
Rowan was lying down limp in a pool of blood with his body pale.
Motavu seemed to be incapacitated as he laid on the ground unmoving.
Thankfully, both of them were still alive.
But considering the circumstances, it was doubtful whether he should be thankful that the two most powerful people had become liabilities.
As he thought of this…
*Ssssss*
*Ssssss*
*Ssssss*
The hissing of snakes broke the greedy minded adventurers out of their fantasies as they looked behind them to see the reason they had decided to fight the A-rank monster in the first place.
The snake swarm was getting bigger, but they were also being attacked by large attacks.
Unlike them, the half of the mage unit that was helping Rowan turned to the snake swarm the moment the big one was killed.
Mages had superb firepower, but very pitiful physical strength. Well, not all of them, but these mages were at Intermediate-rank at most.
It was because of this pitiful constitution that they judged running to be a big no-no.
They could never outrun the swarm of frenzied snakes, so it was better to hold the line with the adventurers led by Ilyon.
So each adventurer began to revise their plans of betrayal once more.
'Damn! I forgot about those. How am I supposed to escape from that thing?'
'Well, this is a problem. I'll wait and see what the other do before making my move'
'Hmm, if we kill Rowan, would we be able to get out of here alive?'
All these things happened simultaneously within seconds.
The five who had moved to kill Rowan found themselves stumped after Ilyon arrived in front of them.
'Shit! What do we say?'
'Did he notice us before coming here?'
'One wrong move and we're dead'
They didn't know what to say as their minds whirred, trying to cook up an answer. But then, one of them lunged forth with three small knives in hand as he moved to attack Ilyon.
'He's been fighting far longer than the rest of us. He must have gotten tired by now'
'I just need to get a clean hit and the poison will do the rest'
'Don't blame me for this, blame…"
The man never got to finish that thought, because he saw Ilyon's hand turn into a blur and then…
*Splat*
Like falling ice cream, the man's upper body, from the pelvis to the head, fell to the ground.
It was a scene right out of a horror movie.
The culprit though…
"Hmm, I have grown so weak that even scum dares to look down on me?"
Ilyon spoke calmly as he swiped off the blood on his sword.
His expression was calm, but one could see the anger mirrored in his eyes.
He was a guild master, and he took pride in it. For such a lowly thing to actually have the audacity to attack him! Did he think he was weak?! It seemed a lesson was needed to educate these fools.
The remaining four could only stare, not knowing how to react to their comrade's action, especially since he was now dead, when Ilyon's hand became a blur once more.
Without being able to react, the four had their heads cut off in one smooth motion, letting a fountain of blood erupt from their necks before their bodies dropped on their own pool of blood.
Ilyon couldn't be bothered though as he swiped blood off his swords once more before turning his eyes towards the greedy adventurers, who flinched at his gaze. Their throats ran dry and lumps got stuck in their throat as they gulped nervously, especially when considering Ilyon's current visage.
The blood that erupted from the neck of those killed had splattered on his clothes, thankfully avoiding his head.
So his body was constantly dripping blood at the moment.
To the adventurers though, he looked like a demon.
Ilyon smiled at their reaction while checking his insides.
Like the assassin speculated, Ilyon was becoming exhausted.
He maintained his façade, because he knew showing any sign of weakness would make the mercenaries not hesitate to bare their fangs at him.
His mana was recovering steadily, but his stamina was the real headache, though it was still manageable.
'Now, what do I do with you guys?'
Ilyon wondered how best to put them in a formation against the snake swarm.
The adventurers though…
'Shit! He knows. We're all dead'
'There's no outrunning him!'
'What do we do? What do we do?!"
…were all freaking out as Ilyon approached.
Ilyon approached, satisfied that his performance had achieved its purpose.
"Hello, Sir Ilyon"
A man out of the remaining mercenaries came out with lackluster armor but with a confident gait.
"Yes?" Ilyon raised an eyebrow at such antics as the man continued.
"I believe I have something that might really benefit Sir Ilyon"
"Hmm-" Ilyon's look got weirder, before saying…
"What is it?"
"A plan"
"Hmm, why do you think I need this big plan of yours? And why do you want to give it to me?"
"Well, the plan will make Sir Ilyon the hero of the snake attack, and I'm giving it to you because I want to join your guild"
"What happens if this plan isn't as good as you say?"
"Then you can have my head"
Ilyon nodded.
"Fair enough, let's hear what you have to say"
"So, Sir Ilyon, what do you think of taking the spoils of this battle for yourself?"
"Hmm, do you have a way?"
Ilyon was, of course, intrigued by such prospects.
But, before continuing, he looked at the others and shouted.
"What are you waiting around for?! Go and assist the mage units in repelling those snakes!"
Ilyon glanced back at the man and said…
"Go on"
'He wasn't going to kill us?!'
The man felt extremely regretful. He only spoke so as to find a way out for himself because he thought they would all be killed.
But that wasn't the case…sigh…
'Why did I have to open my big mouth?' he asked rhetorically, before taking a deep breath.
He had already put his life on the line, so now he had to see it through.
The adventurers ran towards the location of the mage units like no tomorrow as they all sighed in relief that they weren't killed.
As for whether any of them would live to see the light of day tomorrow, it was still up in the air.
