Chapter 289: A Drink
Screams filled the air from the crowd that had gathered all around the edges of the street in wait of the Devil’s Den’s reopening. Rodrick had arranged them in a wide circle, leaving more than enough space for a fight on the middle of the street.
Twelve had already gathered himself by the time Arwin emerged into the street. Confusion and anger streaked over the demon’s face and he let out a roar, grabbing at his wrist — but the band had concealed itself. Nobody could see what he was actually trying to do.
If it had been the assassin’s real body, then Arwin suspected that Twelve would have made a run for it. He was an assassin after all. Even if he was a higher Tier and more powerful than Arwin and the rest of the Menagerie, that wasn’t a class that lent itself well to a long fight.
But this was a clone — and Twelve had trained Jessen. They shared their arrogance. Fleeing from a fight now would hurt Twelve far more than if he could take out some of the people that had made a joke out of him.
The demon’s eyes locked onto Arwin and he let out a roar, blurring into motion as he charged toward him.
They weren’t in the inn anymore. There were no tables or other objects to hinder Twelve with. The distance between him and Arwin vanished in a split second. Arwin summoned his shield, bracing himself behind it an instant before Twelve’s blade slammed into it.
A loud shriek rang out and he skidded several feet back. He’d barely even seen Twelve attack. There was no way to compete with the assassin at this speed — but Arwin had already known that.
He reached into his pocket and yanked out a bracelet. Twelve’s blade carved across his armor once more, but it failed to penetrate before Arwin could bring the bracelet up to his mouth. He’d made it for a dungeon run but hadn’t ended up having to use it.
Now was as good a time as any.