War on Crime #3

The leading robber casually sits down in a chair with his revolver pointed at the crowd of hostages. "Sit still like good boys and girls, then no one will get hurt. My boys and I will be on our way and out of your hair shortly."

"Boss! We got the money!" A henchman called from the safe room, exiting with sacks upon sacks of money in his hands. 

"Good!" The leader nodded. "According to the top brass, with this, we can cover our losses and gain even more money--"

Bang!

A loud explosion rang out, followed by the whistling of a bullet crashing into a glass window and the thud of a heavy object. When it was all said and done, the leader looked over to his right, to see the man he had been conversing with, dead.

"S-Sniper!" He yelled out, jumping off his seat, and turning the table for cover. "Get down!"

The three in the vault room did as they were told and retreated back to the protection of the concrete and steel room, while the hostages and their captors panicked.

"Get down, you idiots!"

The three fumbled clumsily, before retreating and joining the other four behind the desk counter. "W-What now boss?"

"Stay low! Keep your heads down!" The leader replied, his frustration with his underlings growing. Peeking across from him was an unbroken glass, high-quality enough to give a mirror reflection of what was happening behind his table. "Where is it coming from?!"

The four men guarding the cars dutifully retreated behind the cover of the vehicle, with their firearms at the ready. The pause in between the first shot was long and awkward.

"Why isn't he shooting!?"

As if on cue of his worrisome thought, a loud explosion rang out, followed by four others. 

Bo-Boom! Bo-Boom!

The sound was loud, blood-crudling, and violent, with a handful of liquid gasoline spraying all over the place. "A mage!? Theirs a powerful mage here too!?" The boss gasped. "The initial explosion must've taken the two cars in the middle and then the other two! It must've been the 3rd-circle [ Scatter Flare ] fire spell!"

"B-Boss! What is a mage doing here!? Aren't they in the tower!?"
"Like hell if I know! They should be!!" He replied. "A sniper and a mage too?? This is getting bad! Where did a monster like that come from?"

While the anxiety set in their hearts, Arthur was atop the rooftop, a ghast at the power of his attack. He sat behind the wall, mouth open comically wide with his hands covering it. "I did not know the gasoline would cause a chain explosion!!" 

Taking a deep breath, Arthur repositioned himself on the ledge, with a 98 Kruger procured from his inventory. "Now's not the time to get distracted, I need to safe the hostages."

Steadying his breath, Arthur aimed down the iron sight, steadying his arms and shoulders with a deep breath. Arthur pulls back on the bolt handle, ejecting the empty brass casing. "Fourteen." He said, counting down.

Arthur frowned, thinking back on the words of his teacher. "If an assassin takes more than one bullet to eliminate a target, he is a failure– My ass!!"

"I don't have enough ammunition for all sixteen of them– damn it, Vincent! Screw your 10-bullet policy!"

Bang!

The gasses expanding inside the barrel shoot out of the muzzle, kicking his shoulder. "Thirteen."

"Twelve– Eleven– Reloading."

The last casing of the rifle ejects and clattered on the ground, just as Arthur loaded in five more. The thieves were easy pickings, especially to Arthur's trained eye.

"Six." He said, lifting the barrel from the ledge. "I'll have to finish this with magic –"

"Kyaaaa!" A shriek interrupted his thoughts. "Somebody help me!"

Arthur gasped, his eyebrows furrowing as he witness the remaining men hauling both the spoils of their heist and a few meatshields.

"Hostages, huh?" Arthur spat. "Because of that, I can't use fire magic– since it puts them at risk."

"Smart move." he clicked his tongue, returning the Kruger and the ten brass casings into his inventory while retrieving his night attire. "But I'm not out of the fight just yet!"

"Move it! Keep the Hostages close! He can't use fire magic anymore!" The leader yelled, as he and his men slowly walk across the street to the parked vehicles, towards Arthur's apartment. "Lucky for us, he ran outta ammo! Sniper bullets ain't cheap and easy to find!"

"How much longer!?" he asked, looking at his subordinate, who was picking the car's locks.

"Just a minute– done! Get i–"

Pow!

An armored boot came in contact with the man's jaw, throwing him backward and freeing his hostage.

"Kyaa! I'm free!"

The subordinate nearest the lockpicker gasped, looking up to the car's hood to see the mysterious vigilante. "Who the hell are you–"

Ka-pow!

Another armored boot came down on him, knocking him down and out with a caved-in nose.

The remaining four threw their Hostages away for more room as they drew their revolvers– but they were no match for Arthur's inventory summoning and shooting speed.

Ba-Ba-Ba-Bang!

Before their fingers could pull on the trigger, their hearts had already been pierced by lead.

"Alright mission complete." Arthur nodded.

The green window appeared, bringing satisfaction to Arthur

[ Mission Quest Complete!]

[ Complete: Eliminate the Bank Robbers ]

[Mission Side quest Incomplete: Leave no witnesses ]

Arthur looked up to his apartment, to see Samantha gobsmacked, probably from witnessing the whole thing.

It seems that she noticed Arthur's intention and shook her head vigorously. "I- I- I- Won't tell–

Bang!

Arthur watched her body fall and splat on the ground, just beside the robbers.

"Assassin School lesson numero uno: No witnesses." Arthur thought. "Shame, she'd probably been a great real estate agent."

[Mission Side quest Complete: Leave no witnesses ]

[ Rewards will now be given: ]

[ +Stolen Bank Money: 73 Million Sterling ]

"Much better." Arthur hummed, tossing the bags of money in his inventory. "I'll ask Alexander about money laundering later, but right now, I need to bounce.

[ +100 Exp ]

[ You've Leveled up! ]

"Nice, I even leveled up," Arthur smirked, entering his apartment to fetch the deed of his apartment.

[ Arthur Haile / Level 34/ 1st-Circle Magic Warrior / Fire and Earth Specialist ] [ Fame: 1 / Known Rumor ] [ Exp Points needed before next level up, 0 / 200 ]

[ Strength: 18 ][ Agility: 18][ Vitality: 18 ][ Defense; 18 ][ Magic: 18 ]

Changing into his casual clothes, Arthur patiently waited for the authorities to come and inspect the scene.

"Now, we wait. Let's brush up on Vincent's Acting lessons…"

Sure enough, they sat Arthur down on the sidewalk, beside other victims. By the time they had gone through all seventeen of them, Arthur included, it was already noon.

"You sure, kiddo?" The police officer asked for the nth time, irritating Arthur.

"Yes sir, I heard four gunshots while me and my Real estate dealer were hiding in my apartment," Arthur repeated, sounding sadder than before. "When it was all said and done, Samantha poked her head out the window– no matter how many times I told her to hide– and.."

"Thank you, son." The cop sighed. "I promise, we'll bring this vigilante down."

"Fuck-ass asks me to repeat my story only to ignore it halfway through." Arthur nodded at the man's dismissal. "Am I allowed to leave?"

The policemen looked at each other in silence, almost communicating without words, before the leader turned to Arthur. "Sure, have a good one, lad."

Arthur bowed respectfully before turning away with his document in hand. "finally, I just need to submit this to the Government office so they can authenticate it. I'll also fill out my contact information and bank account." he thought, merrily walking away from the crime scene, not noticing the policeman looking at him.

"Tail him, Chaperone doesn't want loose ends."
"Yes Sir!"

It was already dark when Arthur exited the government office, with the deed in his inventory. The night was sparse, with barely any people walking in the dark streets. With only the lights produced by the dim and damaged street lamps, Arthur traverses the city with his guard not entirely up.

"Amazing! I'm moving up in the world" Arthur hummed, almost skipping along the sidewalk as he journeyed to the bar. As he hummed joyously, just turning the corner two blocks away from the bar, a car's tires screeched in the distance.

Arthur jolts, turning to face behind him, to see a car barreling down at high speed and two men poking out of it, with lever guns in their hands. Just as he began to process the situation, the two men opened fire

"What--"

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The men fired two rounds each in a short span of time, they were in effective range of Arthur. The first bullet hits Arthur in the bottom right of his waist, missing bones, and organs but tearing through him; the second hit him in the left leg, barely missing his artery and femur, and the other two missed, hitting the brick building behind him.

Falling off balance, Arthur holds unto the wall, in great pain. "An Assassination!" He croaked. "Ri...Rival gangs? Have we been found out? The t...traitor!? Shit, It hurts!"

Taking his revolver, which he had reloaded earlier, Arthur leaned on the wall, waiting just in case for the vehicle to come around. At the same time, the rain started to pour, washing the blood off the sidewalk and into the drain.

"[ Body Reinforcement! ]" Arthur said, activating one of the three skills he had learned. "This will keep me conscious, but It's not high-level enough to block bullets. It'll keep me alive at most, so I need to get to the bar-- before the car comes!"

"We got 'em!" The first shooter cheered in the vehicle, meaning him a high-five from the other shooter.
"We sure did!" The other agreed.

The police leader from earlier drove the car. hearing his subordinate's cheering, he smiled. "El Chaperone is going to be pleased."