Chapter 10

Flavors Of Pain

When Erin began to wake up, the first thing she felt was pain all over her body. The many bruises that she had from getting hit all over by Gibbot’s guards felt like they were burning from the agony she was feeling. Despite her training being very rough and brutal, it had not prepared the assassin for anything like this at all.

Despite the protests of her body, Erin began to move around in order to get a better understanding of her situation. Her equipment had been taken away, which was to be expected. She still had her clothes, but that was about it. Both her hands and feet were shackled together, making it difficult to move. The room she was in only had one light shining above her with no windows and no furniture. It was basically a cube-shaped room carved out of concrete with a thick metal door serving as the entrance.

With a hard struggle, Erin was able to crawl up to a wall and sit against it. She started to think about her situation, wondering what she could do now. There was no getting out at the moment, as she lacked any tools to make any kind of an escape. The only chance she would get at escaping would come when she was taken out of her cell for questioning or whatever Gibbot had in mind for her. Because of this, the only thing she could really do was try and rest in order to build back her strength. She did have a plan, but she would need to wait before utilizing it.

As she was sitting down, the assassin began to think back to what had happened. It had all gone just as planned, until she made her way to Gibbot’s office. It was then that everything went to hell, as the goblin’s guards swarmed over her and beat her down until she was unconscious. However, the one point that really stuck in her mind was the reason for her capture. She had been sold out by Ryan and Holly, her supposed allies.

Erin’s hands balled up into fists as she thought about the people that had betrayed her. As soon as she made her way out of here, she was going to make them pay for what they did.

After a while of thinking about the traitors, the redhead heard the sound of footsteps approach her cell. Judging by the sound, there were multiple people, at least three. She hoped that Gibbot himself was one of them, as that would raise her chances at escaping by a lot. Unfortunately for Erin, this wasn’t the case, as the three people were all just Gibbot’s guards.

“Hey there, little lady,” one of the three guards, a human male, said with a grin. “We have some business with you. Mind coming along with us?”

Erin began her plan of escape by throwing on an act of helplessness. She averted her gaze from the guards and tried to make herself look as small as possible by curling up into a ball. For added effect, she began to visibly tremble. Her years spent as a bully had shown her how a truly defeated person with no way to fight back would act in front of their oppressors, as she hoped her act would make the guards think that there was no longer any fight left in her.

“Please… J-Just don’t hurt me,” the redhead said in a quiet and meek voice, just loud enough to be heard. “W-What do you even want from me? Can’t you just let me go?”

“Awww. I’m sorry, honey, but that’s just not going to happen,” the human guard said as he walked up to Erin with his companions chuckling behind him. “You see, you tried to kill our boss and he doesn’t quite like that. Now we need to show everybody else that might think of pulling a stunt like that why it’s such a bad idea. For this, we need you.”

“I-I know I messed up, but isn’t there any other way?” Erin pleaded, keeping up her act. “I’m willing to do anything to be forgiven. Please.”

“Not gonna happen!” the human guard said happily as he grabbed the assassin by her arm and lifted her up. “You see, my friends and I happen to like it, when people like you get caught. That’s when we get to have some fun. Now let’s get going!”

Erin was being taken somewhere with the three guards around her. The human guard was holding her right arm with a strong grip and walking beside her. In front of her was another guard, a female elf, and behind her was the last one, a male lizardman. Judging by how relaxed they seemed to be, the three of them had completely bought the redhead’s act of being weak and defeated.

As they walked, Erin took note of the equipment the three guards had on them. All of them were wearing the uniform of Gibbot’s guards, which consisted of a red shirt and pants, black gloves, black combat boots, a bulletproof vest worn over the shirt and a black helmet. In terms of weapons, they only had their stun batons, either due to Gibbot’s orders or due to confidence in their abilities.

Erin did her best to keep herself as calm as possible. She would have to wait for the right moment before she could take action on her escape attempt.

On their way to whatever place the guards were taking the redhead to, the group walked past a room with its door open. On the inside, you could see a female catfolk guard swinging one of Erin’s swords.

“Meeka, what the hell are you doing?” the elf guard on the front of the group asked. “You know you’re not supposed to play with confiscated weapons.”

“Oh, what’s the harm? It’s not like I’m going to actually hurt someone,” the catfolk guard said in a playful tone. “Besides, the stuff she dropped is so good that I’m thinking of asking the boss to let me have them as my bonus.”

“I doubt you’ll get them,” the lizardman guard said.

“A girl can always try!”

With their conversation done, the three guards continued to escort Erin. She herself made sure to keep in mind the place where her confiscated gear was now located. In all honesty, the assassin hadn’t even imagined finding out where her weapons had been taken and that she would have to make do with whatever she managed to get her hands on. It seems like luck was on her side for once.

After some time spent walking, Erin was finally taken to her destination. The elf guard opened the door to a room that smelled like blood. Once inside, the redhead saw what it was. It was a torture room.

The room was filled with all sorts of terrifying tools designed to cause pain. There were blades, saws and clubs of different shapes and sizes hanging from the walls and covering the tables set around the room. There were also numerous bottles filled with chemicals in a large cupboard that was on the wall. But the two most eye-catching thing had to be the chair that had straps on it that reminded Erin of an electric chair.

“Alright, what should we start with then?” the human guard still holding onto Erin’s arm asked with a sadistic grin. “Should we start small or do we want to move to the really good stuff right away?”

“I think we should get our little friend comfortable first,” the elf guard said as she went to grab the redhead’s other arm. She then along with her human colleague placed Erin on the chair and strapped her down on it with strong leather belts that were part of it. “There we go. Now as for your earlier question, I think we should try to get as much enjoyment out of this one as we can. Not only do we have a lot of time on our hands, but it’s been so long that we had someone to play with that it would be a real shame for them to expire too soon.”

“Hey, I just remembered something!” the lizardman guard suddenly exclaimed. “Weren’t we supposed to go check on the secret passage that they filled in? Gibbot said that we needed to make sure the workers didn’t do a half-assed job with it!”

“Oh, can’t that wait? It’s not like the tunnel’s going away,” the elf guard complained.

“I don’t know. Gibbot takes these matters pretty seriously,” the human guard said. “Better to have at least one of us go check it out, so we won’t get punished by him.”

Since none of the three guards wanted to leave, they decided to play rock-paper-scissors to see who would have to go. In the end, the lizardman was the one who lost and had to leave. Erin hoped that he would be gone for a good amount of time, as this could be the opportunity she was hoping for.

“Okay then, shall we begin?” the elf guard said with a smile. “Gotta be careful, though. Can’t break her too much. For whatever reason, the boss wants her to be kept alive, no matter what.”

From there began the “light” torture session for Erin. At first, a towel was placed over her face as water was poured over it, making it feel like she was drowning. After that was done for a bit, needles were stuck into different parts of her body, such as her face and all over her hands and feet. She was also given a couple of hits from the torturers’ fists to the face and her stomach. The last thing they did was give her some electric shocks with their batons.

“It’s been too long since we got to do this,” the elf guard said with a satisfied sigh. “It’s honestly a shame that there aren’t all that many people that are willing to go against Gibbot. We rarely get to play like this any longer.”

“I hear you, but we just have to take what we can get,” the human guard said in agreement. “Anyways, what should we do next?”

“Let’s see… How about the whip?” the elf suggested as she went to get said item. “I’ve always liked it quite a lot.”

“Sounds good to me. Just hang on a second,” the human said as he went to remove Erin’s restraints. “Come on now, the fun isn’t over yet.”

It was at this moment that Erin decided to enact her plan. As soon as the restraints were removed, she fell to the floor, like all the strength in her legs had disappeared. She then put on her weak and defenseless act by curling up and trembling.

“P-Please…. No more,” the redheaded pleaded quietly. “I-I’ll do anything. Just stop this.”

“Oh really?” the human guard asked with a small grin. “And just what are you willing to do in order for us to stop?”

“I… I would…” Erin kept pleading in a more quiet voice, to the point it was impossible to hear her. This forced the guard standing next to her to lean in closer, to the point his ear was right beside her.

This was just what the assassin had been hoping for, as she suddenly bit down on the guard’s ear, like a rabid animal. The guard had barely realized what was going on before his ear was torn off completely. He fell to the floor screaming in pain while holding the bleeding spot where his ear had been just a second ago.

The sudden commotion caught the elf’s attention, who immediately turned around to see her comrade fall to the floor. However, before she could really do anything, Erin came charging at her, ramming her body violently into the guard and sending her falling against a table behind her, causing it to collapse and the tools on it to scatter everywhere.

At this point, the human guard had started to regain his composure, as took out his stun baton and stood up, ready to kill Erin. It no longer mattered whether he enjoyed torture. All that mattered was that the person who had hurt and humiliated him like this paid for her actions.

Erin noticed the approaching guard and quickly looked for a weapon among the scattered torture tools. Her hand gripped a knife that she managed to find and she threw it at the guard, who couldn’t react in time at all. The blade struck him in the neck, causing him to stumble backwards a couple of steps before falling dead on the floor.

The elf guard was starting to get up while still a bit dazed from crashing on the table. Knowing she needed to use this moment to her advantage, Erin quickly grabbed the whip the elf had dropped and in one quick motion put it around the guard’s neck. The elf struggled for a while, before her struggles ceased and she fell dead on the floor.

“Hope you liked that. After all, you said yourself that you enjoyed the whip,” Erin said in a cold tone as she spat one the dead elf. While she knew that she would later get visions of the people she just killed later, she didn’t care at the moment. In her eyes, people who toom enjoyment from the suffering of others deserved no mercy.

With both guards now taken care of, the redhead searched for something that she could use as a weapon. However, all she could find were torture tools. Good for causing pain, not so good for an actual fight. In the end, she settled for one of the stun batons the guards had. While not exactly a lethal weapon, it would help her a lot more than most of the tools she had around her.

Erin was just about to walk out of the room, when the door suddenly opened right in front of her. The third guard, the lizardman one, had returned at the absolute worst of times for the redhead. There was a small moment, barely even a second, where the two of them just stared at each other with wide eyes of shock. It was after that moment that the guard realized what was going on, as he tried to reach for his weapon.

“You dirty little-!” was all the guard managed to say, before he was cut off.

Unfortunately for the reptilian man, Erin was able to react faster and used her new stun baton to hit the guard right across the face. The lizardman fell to the floor, stunned and dazed by the strike. Before he could regain his composure, the redhead was already upon, locking the baton in her hands underneath the guard’s chin. She then used all of her strength to pull back with both arms holding the weapon. The lizardman quickly realized what was about to happen as the baton began to press against his windpipe, but it was too late. There was a sound of bones cracking, as his neck was crushed underneath the pressure and he joined his colleagues.

“That should take care of the obstacles,” Erin said to herself as she started to head back the way she had been escorted by the guards. “Time to get back my gear.”

The redhead was hoping to get her own weapons back, as they would make her escape a lot easier. She only hoped that the catfolk guard that had been admiring her sword was no longer there, so she could get the weapons back without any further issues. Unfortunately, much to her surprise and frustration, the guard was still there, holding the same sword she had been admiring earlier.

“Oh for the love of-! Doesn’t she have any work to do!?” Erin cursed silently, before turning on her stun baton. “Well, I guess we’re doing this the hard way then…”

With careful and silent steps, the assassin slowly crept towards the guard, who was still busy admiring the sword in her hands. Erin was just a couple of steps away from the unsuspecting guard and was soon within striking distance.

However, while Meeka, the catfolk guard, seemed to be completely unaware of the assassin behind her, the truth was far from that. The guard’s ears had picked up the sound of someone approaching her, before Erin had even come close to the door. When the sound of footsteps suddenly ceased at the entrance of the room without anyone announcing their presence, it got the Meeka’s attention. Had this just been one of her colleagues, they would have at least announced themselves or said something. Whoever was behind her was doing their best to hide their presence and not make any sounds. By using her very sensitive ears to their fullest, Meeka was able to determine how close this intruder was without even looking.

Because of the catfolk guard’s superior senses, Erin was caught by surprise, when her surprise attack on the guard was suddenly interrupted by her own sword being swung at her. She barely had enough time to bring up the stun baton to block the attack. But while she had managed to avoid a fatal blow, her weapon was destroyed in the process and she was sent tumbling down to the floor.

“Did you really think it was that easy? Hate to tell it to you, but some of us didn’t win Gibbot’s favor simply by sucking up to him, but by being actually skilled,” Meeka said with a cocky grin while staring down at her opponent. “But I guess it’s my lucky day today. Seeing as how you’ve most likely taken out more of the guards, your worth as a criminal has just gone up. As long as I bring you back to Gibbot, I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to gift me these nice toys of yours as a reward.”

“Don’t go singing your own praises just yet. You still have to beat me,” Erin said with a growl as she stood up.

“Oh sure… You’re really gonna take me on with that nothing you’re holding in your hands,” the catfolk guard said mockingly. “Are you certain that it can block a hit from this sword of all things?”

The redhead knew what the guard meant. The sword that was currently in Meeka’s hands was the bulkier and heavier sword. While it didn’t exactly have the best edge for cutting, it more than made up for it with its weight and durability. If you could swing it well enough, you could break the skull hidden beneath a helmet with ease. Erin had mostly used it on targets that looked tougher, where it was difficult to either hit a vital point or take down the target in a single move. Even then, it was mostly used through surprise attacks and only rarely in actual combat.

This was the downside to being an assassin. You rarely actually fought your enemies, as you were aiming to take them down before a fight could even start, thus leaving you with a lack of combat experience and prowess.

However, Erin noticed that on a table just behind Meeka was her other sword. This one was made of lighter materials that made it feel practically weightless. If she could get past the guard, the redhead could have a chance at winning by arming herself with her other sword.

The two combatants were sizing each other up. Meeka gripped the handle of the sword tighter while carefully approaching her prey, while Erin was preparing herself to lunge past the guard. The assassin’s life would be decided in an instant.

Finally growing tired of playing around with her enemy, Meeka gripped her weapon and swung it, attempting to cut her opponent in half. This was seen through by Erin, who managed to duck underneath the wild swing and roll past the guard. Meeka was caught off guard by the evasion and quickly turned around in a defensive stance, fully expecting to get attacked from behind. Much to her surprise, her opponent had instead decided not to use this opportunity to attack, but to go for a weapon.

“Now we’re on an even playing field,” Erin said while gripping her sword. “Ready to continue?”

The redhead expected her opponent to either not respond at all or to give some cocky line. What she didn’t expect was for the catfolk guard to burts out laughing, like she had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

“You actually think you can take me!?” Meeka gloated while still laughing. “I had a hunch that you weren’t exactly a veteran fighter, but this just confirmed it for me! You’re practically an amateur!”

Not feeling like she should waste her time trying to argue with an enemy, Erin simply moved in to attack, using her trained skills to their fullest. However, much to her surprise, none of her attacks would land no matter what she would try. Her blade wasn’t able to even graze Meeka’s body, let alone draw blood. To make matters worse, the catfolk guard was able to avoid every attack with such ease that it looked like she was only playing around.

“Are you beginning to see how much of an amateur you are? You even made the wrong choice of picking a fight with me, instead of simply running away,” Meeka said mockingly. “You might be skilled as an assassin, but once an assassin loses the element of surprise, they’ve pretty much lost. Not only that, but you apparently don’t even understand the difference of our equipment.”

“What are you talking about?” Erin asked while panting from being worn out from the fight.

“Simple. I’m someone that actually fights people head-on for a living, meaning you’re outclassed. Second, the sword I’ve got is made a lot stronger, while yours… Well, let me show you,” the catfolk guard explained, before with a quick swing of her sword, she destroyed the redhead’s weapon. “Case in point.”

Erin stared at the remains of her weapon with eyes full of shock. She barely had no time to see the next attack from her opponent, before the blade hit her. Blood splattered around, as the impact of the hit threw the redhead to the floor, where she laid still.

“That takes care of that,” Meeka said happily as she began to walk away while whistling happily. “Time to report and get my reward!”

However, before she could walk out of the room, she heard movement behind her. The catfolk guard turned around and saw Erin standing there, despite the blood dripping from the wound across her chest. Before Meeka’s attack had connected, the redhead had moved her body back just enough to avoid a fatal blow. She was still knocked down, but this had allowed her to play possum in order to fool the catfolk guard and prepare a counterattack.

“...Okay, I wasn’t expecting you to get back up, but that doesn’t really matter,” Meeka said with a smirk as she got into a stance. “It’s not like anything has really changed. You’ll still end up dead on the floor, whether it’s with one attack or two!”

The catfolk guard charged towards Erin with her sword raised up, ready to strike. However, just as she was about to reach the redhead, Erin suddenly threw something at her face. Intense pain burned in her eyes, as shards of the assassin’s broken sword were flung into the catfolk guard’s eyes.

Erin had decided to play to her advantages and switched to a surprise attack, the core tactic of an assassin. Once she had fooled Meeka, the redhead had gathered shards of her broken weapon and held them in her hand. While a cheap trick, it was something most wouldn’t expect, especially a person like Meeka that was certain of her victory.

Blinded by the shards of metal in her eyes, the catfolk guard screamed in pain and rage, as she began to wildly swing her weapon around, hoping to hit her opponent. But try as she might, she couldn’t feel her sword connect with any actual person. She did hit walls and furniture, but that was about it.

Realizing that blind rage wasn’t getting her anywhere, Meeka stopped and calmed down, trying to locate her enemy with her hearing. When that didn’t work, she regretfully opened one of her eyes while ignoring the pain.

Unfortunately for the catfolk guard, Erin wasn’t there when she opened her eye. Instead, the redhead was right behind her, waiting for her chance, which had just come. Once Meeka had stopped thrashing around wildly, Erin seized her opportunity by grabbing the catfolk guard from behind. Once she had seized her opponent, she wasted no time and in one swift move snapped Meeka’s neck.

With her opponent now dead, Erin unceremoniously dropped the dead catfolk guard to the floor before picking up her sword. After giving herself some much needed medical treatment, the assassin gathered the rest of her equipment, before resuming her escape.

While moving around carefully and quietly, Erin was able to get to a garage that was located in the mansion. The place had a few guards walking around as well as two large trucks, meant to transport supplies to the place. The redhead knew that if she were to get out of there, this was the only way to do it.

One of the trucks was being prepared for departure. A couple of the guards got inside it and turned the engine on. In just a matter of seconds, Erin would be either getting out of there or she would be left behind to deal with the aftermath of the dead guards being discovered and the alarm being raised.

At the last moment, the assassin noticed her window of opportunity, when all the guards weren’t looking in the direction of the truck she had been watching. Seizing this opportunity, Erin made a fast dash to the truck, its engine covering the sound of her footsteps. She quickly climbed up to the back of the truck, where she hid herself among the containers there.

After hiding herself in the truck, Erin quietly waited as the truck left the mansion and was heading towards the town. She was also listening to the two guards driving the truck in case the situation changed at all. So far, it seemed like not much was happening, as the two guards simply talked about some random stuff she had no real interest in.

However, she suddenly heard the radio in the truck turn on and call the guards. It seemed like Erin’s escape had been discovered.

“I repeat, the assassin that was apprehended last night has escaped! Keep your eyes open for her!” the person at the other end of the radio told the two guards. “Also check your cargo in case she is hiding there!”

Once the message was delivered, the truck came to a sudden stop. Erin quickly got her sword prepared as she waited for the two guards to come check the cargo. As soon as the first one came in, the assassin quickly dispatched him with a strike to the head. The second guard barely had enough time to pull out his gun, before even he was cut down. The people around the truck were shocked by the sudden show of violence, forcing Erin to run away from the scene by going to the alleyways.

Keeping herself hidden from any prying eyes and possible pursuers, the assassin was able to make her way around the town unnoticed. It took her some time, but she was eventually able to get to the safehouse Ryan and Holly had been using as their base of operations.

Seeing the familiar entrance in front of her caused a surge of rage to build up within Erin. Until now, she had been so focused on escaping that she had completely forgotten about the betrayal she had been through, how Ryan and Holly had sold her to Gibbot.

After taking a moment to breathe in deep and calm herself, Erin silently entered the hidden base of the two pro assassins. If she were to get back at her two former teachers, she would need to be as silent as possible. It was time to see whether the student had surpassed the teachers or not.

As she quietly sneaked around the base, the redhead could faintly hear the sound of someone talking. Knowing that this was most likely where her two targets were, she began to head towards their direction.

However, what Erin saw wasn’t the father and daughter assassin duo only. Instead, it was a group of Gibbot’s goons standing over Ryan and Holly, who were both severely beaten and laying on the floor. It seemed that at least Ryan was still alive, as he was struggling to get back up, while the guards standing around him simply laughed at his attempts.

“Hey now, shouldn’t you just give it a rest already?” one of the guards asked while chuckling. “It’s real admirable how you’re trying to fight back, like some comic book hero, but what’s the point of it all? Even if you do get back up, I doubt you can put up much of a fight, so why bother?”

“Why don’t you… get a bit closer… and I’ll show you?” Ryan managed to say despite the pain he was in. Judging by the injuries that were visible, Erin was surprised that he was still conscious. “If you’re so sure you’ve won… you can do that… can’t you?”

“Okay, old man,” the guard said as he crouched down in front of the beaten up assassin. “Just what are you supposed to show me?”

The moment the guard got close to Ryan was the moment Erin knew he had just made a big mistake. This was because there were generally two great differences when it came to the fighting styles of assassins and actual fighters. One was that assassins often relied on the element of surprise, choosing to attack from the shadows and other unexpected places to catch their targets off guard and deliver one fatal strike. The second one was that assassins wouldn’t use your typical weapons or tactics. This also played into the whole element of surprise that was so crucial for them, as a lot of assassins used weapons that were hidden from sight or made to look like it wasn’t a weapon at all.

The guard’s mistake was assuming that Ryan wasn’t just unable to fight back, but that he was also unarmed. He only realized his mistake far too late, once Ryan had pulled out a hidden knife and used it to slash the guard’s throat open in one swift move.

Enraged by the fate of their comrade, the other guards soon descended upon Ryan and began to beat the life out of him. Kicks, punches and the backs of guns were used to smash every inch of the beaten man’s body, until only a bloodied and broken mess was left behind.

With their work done, the guards began to leave. Erin hid herself in the shadows, not willing to risk her life against such a group. Once they had left and she couldn’t hear them anymore, the redhead walked out of her hiding place and made her way to the two beaten assassins.

The state of both Ryan and Holly were quite horrifying. Both had signs of torture and abuse all over their bodies. Cuts, bruises and other signs of injuries were covering them. Seeing how still Holly was, Erin didn’t even need to check her pulse to tell that she was already long gone.

However, through some unexpected miracle or just sheer stubborn will, Ryan was still breathing, albeit very lightly. Even if he had managed to survive what Gibbot’s goons had given done to him, it was clear as day that he was hanging by a thin thread. It was only a matter of seconds before his life would end.

Somehow Ryan was able to sense that Erin had walked up to him. He opened one of his eyes very slightly, as that was all he had the strength for anymore, and looked up at her.

“Oh… It’s you,” Ryan said in what was practically a whisper. “I guess I’m not even allowed to pass away with you taken out as well.”

“Why?” Erin asked as her body trembled from anger and a couple of tears fell from her eyes. “Why did you do it!? Why did you betray me!?”

“It was to avenge my daughter. The real one,” the assassin answered, shocking the redhead. “Ever since she died, all I’ve wanted was revenge. I wanted to get back at those bastards that killed her without any remorse. However, I always knew deep inside me that they were far beyond my reach. That I would never be able to make them pay. That was until you came along and told me who you were. While you weren’t the one who had done it, you were the closest thing to my daughter’s killer that I could get my hands on. My desire for revenge would be at least somewhat sated.”

“Is that why you took me in? You made me your apprentice in order to have your revenge against me?”

“No… At first, I had no idea of who you were. I took you in and trained you because I thought you were one of the few people left in this world that was willing to oppose those bastards.”

“You mean-?”

“Yeah. Devinolux and the rest of his group. Your old friends. Even as an assassin-for-hire, I’ve always done my best to offer support to those who were opposing them. Deep down I felt like I was building up my forces to finally take them on. That was until I realized how pointless it all was.”

“How could it be pointless to fight back against your oppressors!?”

“Because I could have all the time in the world and I could never come close to taking a single one of them down. People already can’t take out even Gibbot, the most worthless of their pawns. If we can’t even defeat someone like him? How could we ever hope to defeat any of the more powerful warlords and vassals they have? Let alone the big bosses themselves? All the people opposing them are small groups that are barely able to do anything, not actual armies. You haven’t even seen the things Devinolux and his closest aides can do by themselves either. They’re unbeatable.”

“...So because you couldn’t take revenge on the ones who actually killed your daughter, you decided to settle for the next best thing, which was me.”

“Yes… I don’t give a damn whether you hate me for what I did or not. You said yourself that you’re the one responsible for those monsters coming in and taking over. You’re responsible as well for what happened to my daughter. I will never forgive that.”

“...You don’t need to forgive me anything. I’ve never been able to forgive myself for what I did. Even before I knew what my old friends did to this world. Just know that had you decided to fight back against them, I would have supported you no matter what.”

“Big words…. I wonder… if you’re able to… live… by… them….”

Ryan finally closed his eye and passed away, his injuries having been too much for him.

For a moment, Erin just stood in silence while staring down at the broken remains of the two assassins and contemplated Ryan’s last words. Was fighting back truly pointless? Was there no way to fix things? If that was the case, then what could she do?

In the end, Erin decided that it was worth fighting. There were just some things that one couldn’t simply abandon, no matter how hopeless the struggle looked like. The redhead was going to fight until the bitter end, as she felt that was her responsibility.

Now she needed to make some preparations. There was a certain goblin that she needed to pay a visit to.