The Ironclad Assassin (4)
In the slums of District 8, where shabby buildings stood packed in rows, there was a restaurant tucked midway down a sparsely traveled alley — a place that never seemed to have a single customer.
Surrounding a shop whose hygiene alone would give anyone pause, the men of Valiant had all but forced the owner into cooperating.
Not many people had the guts to refuse a request from a pack of large men carrying weapons.
Of course, any real commotion would have tipped off Dagas on the upper floor, so everything from sealing the perimeter to storming the second story had been carried out in a single, unbroken rush.
"The hallway's pretty narrow. Should we fall back a bit?"
"That'd be better."
But like most buildings in District 8, this one didn't have a corridor wide enough for a crowd to stand around comfortably. Besides, Sinel and I were only guests who'd come to observe. The whole thing wasn't going to take long anyway. There was no reason for people who didn't need to fight to hog the spots closest to the door.
I deliberately took a position well clear of the entrance, and the Valiant officer who'd completely surrounded the room where Dagas was hiding gave the order.
"Rip it open."
The Valiant executive who'd come in Mister Trillo's place. Liam, if I remembered the name right.
Confirming the door was locked, Liam barked the brutal command, and a few of the men picked up tools. Valiant was a criminal organization that didn't much fear the city's rules. A violent approach was only natural. District 8 was one of the more rundown zones even among the outer districts — it would take the security forces a good while to show up somewhere this dim and neglected.
Apparently eager to finish the job as fast as possible, the Valiant men closed in on the door to tear the handle free.
And that was when everything went wrong.
"Guh—!"
BANG!
A gunshot cracked from the far side of the closed door, and the man standing in front of it dropped.
A shot rang out, and a body hit the floor. That meant only one thing: the bullet fired from behind the door had punched straight through the thick iron and come flying out the other side.
"What the hell—!"
The Valiant men reeled for a moment at the sheer absurdity of it — but the attack from inside the room was far from over.
BANG! BANG!
Two more men went down to those unreal gunshots, and then the iron door that had been locked so tight tore free of its frame. As the panel fell away, the man who stepped out wore a pauldron, long hair streaming behind him.
Ironclad. Dagas Philip.
The contract killer shoved the door aside and used the tilted slab as cover while he scanned the hallway. One step. Two.
My eyes met Dagas's as he looked our way — and in the same instant, Sinel yanked me hard toward her.
"Boss."
BANG!
The bullet that followed the gunshot punched clean through Liam, who was standing in the line of fire. Liam staggered and collapsed where he stood, and I followed Sinel's pull around a corner, out of Dagas's sight.
"…Thanks, Sinel."
If she hadn't been there, I could easily have been the target in that split-second. I drew the pistol from inside my coat and let out a breath.
The moment I was catching my breath around the corner, Dagas's voice reached my ear.
Sharpness
The instant the words left him, he fired again — and a sound cracked from the left side of the wall.
CRACK! A single bullet punched through the wall and left a massive impact scar on the far side.
Watching that, I had no choice but to revise my assessment of Dagas. I'd thought his magic only raised a material's cutting power — but the enhanced round had torn straight through a thick concrete wall. With that kind of force, a simple shot could punch through most body armor. A true magic bullet.
"Tch. Missed."
Dagas clicked his tongue, sounding disappointed at the failed sniper shot. Plenty of Valiant men were still left in the hallway and on the first floor. If he let this drag on, the reinforcements coming up from below would close the noose around his neck. He seemed well aware of that — because he vaulted the railing without hesitation, then used the terrain in a wild, improvised route and bolted for the outside.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The Valiant men below opened fire again and again, but he broke through the cordon clean and got away.
What to do about a fleeing Dagas. I weighed the sudden variable and reached a decision fast.
"Sinel. We're taking him."
"We're the ones catching him?"
She was clearly worried about our promise to let Valiant take Ironclad. But that wasn't what mattered right now. Showing your face to a criminal and then letting him walk was a risk all by itself.
"They'll pay us more for catching him than for losing him. There's a bounty on the guy, too."
Dagas had gotten a clear look at the people chasing him. An assassin who'd identified his enemies. Leave him free and the odds of him coming back for revenge looked high. If we didn't put him down now, he would become a problem later.
"Understood."
Haste
Sinel nodded, cast her magic, and dropped over the railing. I moved toward the rail to follow her — then looked down and shook my head. This was not a place I could jump from. For me, the stairs were the right call.
Telepathy
I cast my own magic and sprinted for the bottom of the stairs. Gripping the banister, I raced down to the first floor and spotted Valiant already moving in pursuit of Dagas. Trailing them wouldn't get me the catch — more likely I'd just lose him. I took off down a street on the opposite side and sent a telepathic message to Sinel.
"From now on, I'll give orders this way."
With someone I'd already synchronized with, I could send telepathy even when they were out of sight. Of course, without a way for Sinel to answer, I wouldn't hear a reply. I made a mental note to buy her a radio next time, and started calculating the route Dagas would take.
Even if I was a 3rd Circle mage with magic of my own, I had no exceptional combat ability to speak of. If I got ahead of Sinel and met Dagas head-on, my odds of winning a straight fight looked slim. I'd be lucky not to go down in an instant. So I set winning aside and settled for buying time.
Tracking Dagas's path as I ran, I found a building along the route I expected him to take and went inside.
"Hah… hah…!"
My breathing turned rough as I pounded up the stairs. Reaching a landing open enough to shoot from, I immediately started steadying my breath.
"Pace yourself."
"If you keep chasing the target, you'll hit a gray building. I'm going to try to pin him down there — move like you're herding him that way."
Sinel's Haste was fast, no question. In a straight chase with nothing in the way, she'd catch Dagas in no time. But the man she was hunting was an assassin who knew this terrain cold. And under Haste, Sinel burned through stamina far faster than usual. We needed to end the pursuit before her endurance ran dry.
"Hoo…"
I drew the pistol from my coat and settled into a stance. My read on Dagas had been right — his figure came into view as he cut around the alley. I held my rising breath and lined the gun up on him.
The distance was farther than I'd hoped. I aimed a little ahead of the running Dagas and fired.
BANG! The first carefully aimed shot skimmed past him by a hair. The fleeing Dagas snapped his gaze toward me.
"…"
Only the first round had missed. He'd need time of his own to get a bead on me.
BANG! I fired the next round.
And in the next instant, something impossible happened.
Sharpness
Spotting me, Dagas raised the arm wearing the gauntlet — and the bullet I'd fired slammed into his iron plate.
CLANG! The round shattered against the metal and vanished. Superhuman reaction fused with magic — that was the spectacle in front of me.
I only had a moment to gape at the absurdity of it before the sight of Dagas still running snapped me back. I loaded a fresh round while throwing a siren wail in the direction he was fleeing.
WEEEEEEOOO—
Hearing the siren, Dagas faltered and stopped. Then he made a snap decision and doubled back the way he'd come. Mistaking it for the security forces, he cut past me again.
I raised the reloaded gun and aimed at him once more. Dagas had been watching my every move as he ran, and the moment I lined up on him again, he lifted the gauntlet the same as before.
But you only fall for a trick once.
BANG!
BANG!
I fired a blank sound as a feint. In the tiny opening that created — as Dagas flinched at the first shot and shifted the gauntlet — my gun was already aimed a fraction to the side of it.
"Gah—!"
Dagas clutched his shoulder and staggered mid-stride. The double report had put a clean hit into his left arm.