Ghost and Destruction
This basement is quite packed with rations. I didn't get a chance to check on the season, but is winter close? If that's the case then securing a base before that is a must. Liam could remember the old days he spent traveling in the winter, that wasn't fun at all.
He approached the door and started listening to the wall, he could hear footsteps in the distance. Someone is passing by, I should check, I might be able to use them as hostages.
Liam peeked through the keyhole to look outside, but the only thing he saw was an eye staring back at him.
Damn…
CRACK! A dagger pierced through the door rushing toward his heart, but he quickly jumped back, dodging the stab.
A maid kicked the door open and lunged inside with two poisoned throwing knives and launched them at him. Liam swung his scimitar and deflected one while dodging the other. At that moment he could hear the maids all over the mansion rushing toward that location. They started opening holes and vents in the ceiling and walls, walking in like a swarm of rats.
"Get down!" The maid who first spotted him shouted.
"Kill him! No need for questions!" Another maid lunged in with a dagger swing.
"He's slippery, surround him and use everything. The threat is level three, don't hold back." Another yelled as she pulled a musket and shot at Liam. With her signal, they started pulling muskets and flintlocks.
"How many of you are here?!" Liam growled as he lunged forward, sliding beneath one of the maids' legs so they couldn't shoot him.
The moment he got past her and into the hallway, she turned around with a blade emerging from her heel. Liam lifted his arm and blocked the spinning kick, but the blade dug into his forearm. The maid didn't stop and spun right back with another kick with her other leg.
As Liam blocked the second kick and the maids surrounded him in the hallway, he could see a familiar face at the end of the hallway protected by two maids.
"Liam?!!" Sara gasped as she saw him.
Liam blinked and the maids refrained from shooting him for a second.
The maid that was tailing Liam appeared out of thin air behind him and stabbed his neck with a needle. "This is the end." She said with a whisper.
Liam felt the poke and spun a fist at her, but she dodged, jumping at the wall and bouncing back to Sara's side. "The needle is poisoned. I suggest you stop moving." She said with a smile. Albeit. It's sleep poison. I don't know where things went wrong so we should keep him alive for now.
Liam clenched a fist. "I see. My time was short." That girl is one of the farmers I saved from the goblins this morning. What is she doing here? Did she rat me out? No, how did she know who I was?
It doesn't matter now, everything went wrong. He smiled, staring at them, "I'll not die alone."
"Wait…" The maid stared at him… "Don't move." She growled, sensing a wave of mana rushing around him.
Liam lunged forward like a blast and swung a fist, the maids tried to stop him but they got smacked on the walls, and he reached the maid in the blink of an eye.
"Die!"
[HAKAI: Level 1] The villain regained his signature ability, sending the assassin maid flying through the hallway with a single punch. The walls cracked and their floor ripped apart. Albeit being extremely weakened by his new body and injured stat, the skill of absolute destruction still causes mayhem, shaking the whole area.
Thud! Liam fell on his face, out of mana and breath. His conciseness slipped away due to the poison, and backlash of his ability. He didn't want to use it because it could kill him in such a condition, but he'll never die alone.
Sara looked around out of everyone she was the only one who remained unharmed. "Samara!" She cried, rushing toward the head maid that was stuck to the wall, bleeding with her uniform ripped on her stomach where the punch landed.
Samara fell on her knees, coughing blood as she stared at the unconscious Liam. What's this man? That punch was heavier than Ricardo's [Heavy Impact] She looked at the walls, seeing countless slashes, dents, and holes. Destruction everywhere, the whole hallway trashed.
It wasn't a blunt impact like a normal punch, but a combination of slash, piercing, and bludgeoning damage. This has to be a unique skill, just like mine.
She looked at her stats, seeing that she barely survived that. Samara saw Sara's worried face and she smiled. "Lady, don't worry about me. I'm fine."
"You used your skill to protect me. You aren't fine, you're bleeding from everywhere." Sara cried. Samara's skill is [Yurei] It turns her into a ghost. This erases her presence completely, makes her invisible, and gives her the ability to fly within a set area and go through walls and ceilings with ease.
While in ghost form, physical attacks and spells will pass right through Samara's body without harming her, like a ghost. But the ability could only target one person. When she used her ability to protect Sara, she got hit with Liam's attack.
The mansion guards rushed in and saw half the maids knocked out while the other half were barely moving, Liam was unconscious on the ground and Samara was barely standing with Sara's help.
"Is he an intruder?" They growled, pointing their spears at Liam.
"Wait…" Samara growled, "The lady knows him." She looked at Sara.
"Who is he?"
"He's the one who saved me and my sister from the goblin's nest this morning." Sara looked at Liam. "But why is he here?"
"I saw Ricardo bringing him into the mansion, but he was beaten up and carried on the back of the horse." Samara growled.
"Father sent Ricardo to invite him to reward him…" Sara mumbled, "Wait, did Ricardo beat him up?"
"This might be a huge misunderstanding. But to be safe, tie him and lock him in the living room upstairs. I'll join the lord once I'm patched up, and send someone to call Ricardo back. He needs to do some explaining." Samara growled and everyone started rushing.
As the in-house healer healed her, Samara and Sara watched as the guards picked Liam up, confiscated his weapons, and carried him away. "No wonder he took on a whole goblin nest alone. This guy is strong."
"No…" Sara stared at her. "He was unarmed at the goblin nest, and he didn't fight directly, he made the goblin shaman kill the others with her magic."
"Illusion?" Samara gasped.
"No, he just picked her up and stabbed her in the back with a stick to force her to shoot spells." Sara shook her head.
"He can't have grown this strong in a day. He wasn't even trying at the nest." Samara sighed. "Ricardo, that bastard… He must've done something to anger him."
"Like what?" Sara asked.
"I bet you heard, you aren't young anymore." Samara stared at her, "Nobles are notorious for abusing their power to have their way with people. And they don't only target girls, even men if they show promise and strength. He probably thought it was such a case and came here with the intent of fighting for his life and freedom."
"That can't be…" Sara looked down.
"I won't be surprised. Ricardo is a bit dense and probably didn't explain things well. He thought his life was in danger so he tried to run away, but that bastard Ricardo beat and dragged him here." Samara scratched her head.
"This has gotten messy…" She sighed.
When Liam woke up, he was tied to a chair in the living room with the city lord, Ricardo, and Samara facing him.