REVIVAL by Nick Venom (great book club books .TXT) 📕

didn’t appear that they knew about us and I learned that they were sent here with vague orders from an assassin I tortured.” He remarked, glancing at the blood that stained his uniform. James had participated in the first half-hour of fighting before being ordered to return.

“I’m guessing the Order wants to appease us no matter what, even if it includes sacrificing their people.” Iron spat on the ground. “That’s why assassins are nothing but creatures full of pity and darkness. They kill and kill, but are looked upon by their superiors as garbage. What feeble monsters.”

“It’s as you say, the Order treats their assassins cruelly, yet many still return to their side. It makes you wonder why they do that. Is it because they have a family like-”

“Assassins don’t have family.” Iron bluntly said. “If they did, they wouldn’t have joined that life. Assassins are people without a future or those bred and grown to kill.”

James nodded. He didn’t agree with Iron’s idea of an assassin completely, but he could understand it. “Well, the FIS is pushing the assassins back with the help of Blint and Iz. We should assist them.”

Iron nodded. “Those two aren’t the most gracious beasts, but they’re on our side so we must respect them. Leave them to fight, look at-” His words were cut off as Iz was triple-teamed, the assassins digging their poison-laced daggers through his skin. He fell to the ground, the poison paralyzing him. The assassins grouped on him, slashing and kicking at his body. He was killed under their shoes. “Let’s go.” Iron barked. He began his descent of the hill overlooking the action, headed to assist the remaining Royal Assassin and the FIS. However, he was cut short by a man dressed in a cloak sprinted towards him. Two others appeared by his side, the trio brandishing their weapons.

“They’re hoping to kill you off, sir,” James muttered.

“Let’s see how many I can kill before first light.” Iron remarked, smiling. He raised his sword, ready for the fight. 

James followed suit. “I’m sure I can kill more.” 

Both men sprinted forward, darting towards the assassins. As they did so, several more assassins appeared around them. Neither man was deterred. 

Iron raised his sword and slashed at the nearest assassin, who took a few steps back. However, the assassin didn’t notice that Iron had slashed three times in one motion. He looked down at his hands, noticing white and red lines all over them. A few moments later, his body split into three pieces, his brain still working even as his mind watched his body split apart. He died a few seconds after he got a clean shot of his body.

Iron continued this method, deceiving the assassins with a bad swing that would make them underestimate his strength to then unleash his skill, Flash Strikes - a skill that allowed him to slice more than once in a single swing.

James didn’t want to lag behind, standing in one spot with his eyes closed. He waited for an assassin to approach him before he swung, catching the assassin off-guard. This tactic couldn’t be used for more than the first few, but it was enough to help him catch up. 

Tiger Mask watched from afar, seeing as the assassins tried to overwhelm the two but failed. He glanced to his side where his second-in-command stood, a boy half his size known by his mask with a large black ‘X’ on it. “Get him. Kill the leader and let them flee. We will survive once he’s dead.” He told the boy.

Black X nodded, darting towards Iron and James with a dagger in hand. It was laced with poison, strong enough to kill upon contact.

Tiger Mask remained in his spot, watching as Black X neared the men. He turned away, heading away from the battle. Ghosts. That’s the new name for us cast-outs. Long Live The Ghosts!

Meanwhile, Black X reached Iron and James. Iron was busy dealing with a few assassins in front of him, pushing his limit by slicing five times in a swing. He sliced an assassin apart before going to the next one.

James noticed the assassin boy darting towards Iron. He sheathed his sword and sprinted towards Iron, hoping to cut the boy off. 

Iron turned his attention to the assassin boy, recognizing the green tint on the boy’s dagger. It was the color of poison.

He prepared himself to strike the boy, but the boy’s speed suddenly increased. The boy wasn’t a low rank, but a rank 2 assassin that found himself being discarded. The boy, using his speed, slashed at Iron and made contact. Unfortunately for the boy, he hit the wrong target. His dagger sliced at James. Due to him sheathing his sword, he didn’t have his sword prepared to deflect the blow, taking it head-on. 

The dagger cut a large gash in his forearms, his momentum and the momentum of the strike throwing him off-balance and towards the ground. 

Iron, who was given time to attack because of James, sliced the boy up quickly. The boy’s corpse fell to the ground; his weapon was discarded to the ground. 

“James!” Iron shouted, crouching by James’s side. “Why did you do something foolish like that?”

“B-Because,” James muttered. The poison was already doing its job, the darkness spreading through his body at a quick rate. Within a few seconds, he would be dead. 

“You need to leave. You’re... the captain of the FIS and the only person who could-” His eyes rolled to the back of his head as his mouth began foaming. He was dead. James, one of his most trusted subordinates, died for him. Killed by an assassin.

 

A few hours later, the chaos was over. Both Blint and Iz lost their lives in the battle, overwhelmed by assassins. Half of the FIS were killed, including James. 

“Sir,” The FIS member from earlier, started. “The Order Assassins were decimated to a tenth. Ninety percent were slaughtered at our hands. However, we lost more people than we can afford to replace.”

“I know.” Iron barked, staring at James’s corpse. “Burn the bodies of the assassins. Rid them from our streets. Disgrace them if you want to.”

“But sir, that isn’t-” 

Iron glared at him, pushing the young soldier back a few steps. He nodded his head, saluting him. “As you ordered sir.”

Iron nodded, turning to James. He stared at his comrade with regret. What did you want to say? I’m the only person who could do what? Stop the assassins? It must be. All assassins must die.

***

Zaken and Liz drew their weapons, pointing them at each other. They hesitated to make the first blow, awkwardly staring at each other. Zaken glared at her, but his anger wasn’t for her but himself. I really have disgraced my parents. They would be ashamed of me for joining this damn life. And for losing her.

Liz stared at Zaken, taking the glare in. Please help me, my ancestors. What do I do? Kill him or stop him? Please advise me!

Zaken charged forward, his momentum being put into his sword, which was extended in front of him. He threw the sword forward, catching Liz off-guard. 

She reacted by bolting to her right, escaping the sword. However, Zaken had decided to scrap his attack and charged into her. He slammed his leftover momentum into her gut, ripping the air out of her. He took a few steps back as she went to her knees. She recovered quickly though, gripping her sword tightly and jabbing at him. The sword nicked his chest, but nothing more than a scratch. 

Zaken looked down at his chest, inspecting it for a few seconds which gave Liz enough time to sprint forward and slam into him. He was thrown back, hitting the cell wall. It heaved dust off as he collided with it. 

He recovered semi-quickly, jumping to his feet and sprinting in closely. Liz grabbed something under her cloak but stopped herself. It’s not fair to use anything besides a sword and my fists. 

She charged forward, swinging and slicing at Zaken. But the cell was too small for her swings to hit their full stride, scraping off the walls. It threw sparks at Zaken, but he didn’t care. He had closed the distance, grabbing her shoulder and pushing her to the ground. Her legs hit the ground before the rest of her body, her face threatening to kiss the concrete. But Zaken grabbed her hair and pulled it up. She barely missed the concrete, centimeters from it.

Liz grunted as she tried to fight Zaken off. He pinned her to the ground, using his legs to stop her legs. Damn, I hate that he’s physically stronger than me, she thought as she attempted to throw him off. After a few shakes, that made Zaken look like he was riding a mechanical bull, she threw him off. She scrambled to her feet, dishing out punches before he could recover.

He blocked off as many punches as he could, but there were many that bypassed his defense. He began to bruise and bleed from her punches that were like being hit by an iron skillet pan. His right eye suffered a good punch to the eye that blackened it.

He kicked at her right leg, throwing her off balance. She stumbled for a few seconds before regaining her balance. Even so, she was too late as Zaken charged into her. He collided with her stomach, kicking at the concrete to give him more momentum and slam her into the wall.

Liz shrieked as she hit the wall. She, however, didn’t fall to the ground as Zaken did. He was drained and bloody already. 

Her ribs were broken, but nothing serious. Zaken mostly slammed her into walls, so only her back and ribs suffered, but no blood was thrown. Zaken, on the other hand, was bleeding and bruised. 

Liz got off the wall, walking around Zaken and grabbing her sword. She turned to face Zaken, pointing it at him. “I’m the victor.”

Zaken used one hand to drag himself to a wall, resting his back against it. “Yeah, you won. You can kill me now.”

Liz shook her head. “How about this? I’ll give you two options. You can die here or… you can come with me.”

Zaken tilted his head, staring at her with his good eye. “Go… Go with you?” He questioned, his voice sounding uncertain. “You want me… to go with you?”

Liz nodded. “If you want to change and become the person I know,” She breathed in deeply, exhaling it. “Then I need you to tell me now. Do you want to change or remain the same?”

Zaken stared at her, dumbfounded. “U-Uh…” His voice trailed off. He couldn’t wrap his head around her offer, it seemed too good to be true. 

“This is your only chance. Do you want to go with me and we live together or do you want to stay here abiding by the Crown’s rule?”

Zaken looked away from her, his mind still pondering her offer. “I… I want to go with you.”

Liz smiled, a smile filled with hope and light. She extended her hand to him. “Welcome back Zaken.”

A small smile crept on Zaken’s face. He reached out his bruised hand, taking her hand. “I’m home, Elizabeth.”

 

TBC…

Extra Chapter Two "The Mage With Sealed Powers Re-Release"

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