Deathmatch!

Charlie, vice-leader of D'argent under Marcel, stealthily climbs over a second-story rooftop as two of his most trusted men follow him closely behind. The first was an average height man with a thin physique, yet still had managed to acquire a bulky musculature, this was Presot, an orphan who'd been groomed by Charlie and the D'argent gang to become their watchdog. The man was fiercely loyal due to Charlie saving him from an unbelievably dire situation. In Charlie's honest opinion, there was none as loyal as this man.

Not to mention, Presot was an impressive combatant, having trained most of his life to master spearmanship, along with any other skills someone belonging to the criminal underworld might need.

The second, was the hawk-eyed man beside Presot, Rennius. He was slightly taller than Presot, which meant he was significantly taller than Charlie, and was incredibly skilled with a bow. He'd originally been an assassin sent by the Baleine gang to kill Marcel, but after Charlie defeated him, the man pledged his loyalty... Mind you, he still would have been executed had he not made a vow under a Contract of Brimir, which would kill him if he broke his vow.

Despite their lack of magic, both were more than skilled enough to kill a regular mage in combat. If both worked together, they might even be able to kill a trained mage if they got the jump on them. Unfortunately, like most things in this world, there were thing's they couldn't overcome. Any skilled mage would easily decimate someone who lacked magic.

What good is being a master swordsman if the mage can simply melt your blade? What good is being a master archer if a simple wind spell would make all your experience useless?

This was the main reason only assassins or musket men were sent after mages. And also the reason Charlie was accompanying his two subordinates. After all, if this stranger was allowed to continue wreaking havoc on D'argent's forces, there wouldn't be a gang left to save.

The three were all wrapped in cloaked that were enchanted for concealment, hopefully allowing them to get the drop on their enemy. These weren't cheap in the least, but Charlie considered them a necessary expenditure.

"Have any of the patrols sent any signals yet?" Charlie asks as he scans the nearby city rooftops.

"No sir, everything's going accordingly. Same as yesterday." Rennius states.

Charlie frowns, "I don't know how long we'll be able to keep this up... What if the enemy never returns-*Bang!*" he starts but is interrupted as a small explosion occurs in the distance. Instantly, all three knew what it meant. Each patrol had been given small parcels filled with black powder, that they needed to explode if they found the stranger.

Charlie grabs his staff and leads his two subordinates as they sprint towards the location. They hop over a couple of rooftops with the assistance of his magic, and eventually reach a rooftop overlooking the alleyway that had smoke drifting out from it.

It hadn't taken them long to get here, yet... The whole patrol had been wiped out, arrows littered the bodies, and a few of them had black scorch marks covering them, indicating that some kind of magic had been used. "D-damn! That was twenty men! How were they killed so quickly!?" Charlie mutters in disbelief.

"S-sir! Over there!" Rennius quietly exclaims, pointing over at the opposite rooftop where a shadow could be seen leaving.

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Michael sighs and rolls his shoulder after he fires an arrow at the last remaining man... This was the most people he'd fought at once, but with his upgraded Ether Shock, steadily improving archery, and a better understanding of ambushing and controlling the enemy. It hadn't been all that difficult.

They had tried to use some kind of makeshift grenade against him, but it missed him entirely and hit the wall below his position. The resulting smoke had obscured his sight slightly, but it wasn't enough to save their lives.

Still, it was loud enough to be a cause for concern, so he decided to quickly leave and find another patrol to get rid of... He still had around 70% of his mana left, so there was no reason to be overcautious... At least, that's what he thought...

"RIP CURRENT!" someone shouts from nowhere, causing water to rapidly form around Michael sweep him back towards the battlefield. The water was too strong for him to resist, so he's easily thrown from the rooftop and back into the alleyway where the D'argent corpses still sat.

He was around three stories up, so if he hit the ground he'd definitely die... He could Hex himself again, but that'd make him easy picking for whatever mage had attacked him. Instead, he draws his dagger and plunges it into the wall he was just about to bounce off of before plummeting, his rune enhanced strength allowing him to barely perforate the wall.

The tip of the blade snaps off almost instantly, but the remains of the blade dig in enough to allow him to slow his descent slightly... Despite his actions however, he was still moving too quickly to avoid injury...

"ICE SHARDS!" another shout sounds out, along with the faint sound of an arrow leaving a bow. Michael's barely able to throw himself from the wall as many dagger-like ice shards collide against the wall, leaving large divots that'd undoubtedly end his life. Along with an arrow that collides with the wall where he'd previously been, before deflecting off uselessly.

Michael plummets around fifteen feet and rolls as he lands, this alleviates a lot of the momentum, but a slight 'crack!' could be heard from the shoulder he'd rolled over. It wasn't broken or anything, but it'd definitely reduce his combat effectiveness...

Michael quickly gets up and runs to a nearby wall while looking up at the rooftop where his three enemies were standing. Each cloaked figure was strangely fuzzy in his vision, but he was easily able to identify their combat capabilities... A mage, archer, and spearman... "Fuck."