The first to strike was the swordsman, who closed the distance in a leap and swept the air with a horizontal slash aimed at James’s abdomen.
However, James leaned his body back at the last instant, letting the blade pass just inches from him.
Behind him came the bearded man, who raised the mace above his head and brought it down with everything he had.
James managed to dodge that one too, sending the weapon crashing into the ground.
But that brief reprieve lasted less than an instant, because the dagger woman was already on him.
He backed away as much as he could, but even so one blade grazed his forearm and the other opened a cut on his side.
’Damn it,’ James thought, gritting his teeth. ’With these shit stats I can’t let my guard down for even a second.’
The three mercenaries seemed perfectly coordinated.
And every attack forced him into position right where the next one was already waiting, slowly boxing him into the narrow alley.
But at that exact moment, an old man appeared at the far end of the alley and, seeing the fight, stopped dead.
"Guards!" he began shouting as he took off running. "There’s a killing going on here! Someone call the guards!"
The archer woman, who had stayed on the sidelines waiting for her moment, clicked her tongue seeing him flee.
"Damn it... let’s end this now," she muttered, raising her bow and drawing the string taut.
A bluish light began forming at the tip of the arrow, spinning in on itself until it became a glowing point of energy.
She waited a few seconds for James to turn his back to her, then fired straight at his blind spot.
"Ice Wall."
Suddenly a thick wall of ice erupted from the ground, splitting the alley in two.
The arrow slammed full into the wall, shattering into a spray of frozen fragments.
"What the—?!" the archer mercenary exclaimed.
Seeing there was no way through, she clenched her teeth and shouted over the wall.
"Deal with that bitch and get out of here now!" she said, already taking off running. "See you at the hideout!"
The dagger woman obeyed instantly and stopped attacking James to lunge at Faust instead.
But to her bad luck, the elf was already waiting for her.
"Gale Burst," Faust chanted, extending her palms toward her.
The dagger woman barely had time to react before the gust hit her full force, lifting her off the ground and slamming her back-first into the alley wall.
Her head struck the wall hard and her body dropped completely limp.
"Thanks for the help," James said, deflecting an attack with his sword.
"Hurry up and finish them," Faust replied.
With the archer and the dagger woman down, James could finally focus on the two enemies left.
The swordsman charged him, blinded by rage, unleashing a flurry of wild slashes that James blocked with ease.
And then, catching an opening, his sword sliced through the man like butter, cutting him cleanly in half.
"Son of a bitch!" the bearded man growled as he attacked nonstop with his mace.
But his movements were far too predictable.
James simply waited for the right moment, and when it finally came, delivered a clean cut that severed the man’s arm, sending it to the ground along with the mace still gripped in its hand.
The man let out a scream and dropped to his knees, clutching the stump with his other hand as blood poured out.
"Bastard!" the bearded man said. "I’m going to kill you!"
"I hope that wasn’t your jerking-off arm," James taunted, looking down at him. "That would be a real tragedy."
"I swear I’m going to—!"
The mercenary had barely started speaking when James interrupted him with a kick straight to the face, knocking him out instantly.
And then, on the other side of the ice wall, several voices could be heard approaching.
"It’s this way! It came from this alley!"
"Quick, before they escape!"
"Careful, we don’t know how many there are!"
Hearing them getting closer, James clicked his tongue and, without thinking twice, grabbed Faust’s hand.
"Let’s go."
"What? Wait—"
The two of them fled the alley running and didn’t slow down until several streets later, once they were finally certain no one had followed them.
"Hey," James said, stopping. "Are you okay?"
"Yes," she replied, panting.
They kept walking a few more meters in silence, gradually catching their breath, until Faust broke the silence.
"...Why did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Help me," she said, glancing at him sideways. "You didn’t have to risk yourself like that for me..."
"And leave you to fend for yourself? Of course not."
"..."
"Besides, you still haven’t answered my offer."
She looked down at James’s hand, still holding hers, and then looked away to one side.
"Fine... I accept," she said quietly. "I’ll join your party."
"See? Wasn’t that hard."
After a few more minutes of walking, the two of them made it back to the guild, where they found Rosalía waiting in front of the entrance, pacing back and forth with obvious impatience.
But the moment she saw James, her face lit up and she ran toward him.
"Where did you go?" she said, stopping in front of him. "I was so worried about you."
However, the joy on her face vanished instantly the moment she noticed the blood on his clothes and the wounds he had.
"What the hell happened to you?!" she said with concern.
"It’s a long story"
Rosalía was about to press for an explanation when her gaze shifted toward Faust, and then toward the hands the two of them were still holding together.
"And What’s she doing with you?" she said, frowning slightly.
"Let’s just say... she just joined our party."
"Huh?"
Rosalía looked at him, confused, before looking back at Faust, studying her from head to toe for a few seconds.
The elf simply held her gaze without saying a single word.
Rosalía stayed quiet a few seconds longer before sighing and turning back toward the guild.
"We’d better go inside," she said, noticing the stares from the people around them. "We’re drawing way too much attention here."