Chapter 156: A Night of Chaos (Part 1)
The four men blocking the path were low-level thugs called in merely to bolster the numbers. Their assigned task was simple: Block the escape route if the assassination targets flee—as long as they could stall until their boss and the main force arrived, their mission would be considered a success. Among them, only one had actually used a blade to cut someone; the other three had barely seen blood. They were fine for acting tough while following a boss in a winning fight, but facing an opponent who actually fought back? Their courage failed them halfway, let alone in a life-or-death struggle like this.
Faced with a Night's Watch soldier clad in black, charging head-on through the night with a sword raised in a ferocious offensive stance, the blocking party lost most of their momentum before a single blow was struck.
Clang!
A crisp sound of metal meeting metal echoed as the thug closest to Egger ducked and raised his blade to parry the first strike. The unfamiliar vibration traveling through the hilt made his palm go numb, and the bravado he had accumulated from bullying the weak instantly evaporated. Any thoughts of a counter-attack or tactical coordination were thrown to the wind—he didn't even dare to receive a second strike, turning and bolting into the darkness.
Those who flee in the heat of battle usually make the best targets for a pursuit, but the remaining three stepped in to block Egger's path.
The second thug swung a knife, forcing the Night's Watchman to sidestep and parry. The man then froze for a half-second, hesitating: Should I run too? But he never got the chance to decide. Stimulated by the constant throbbing pain in his shoulder, Egger showed no mercy—he didn't care to know the man's name or whether his crimes merited death; he only knew that these people were here for his life tonight, and he wasn't ready to die.
Go to hell! Egger roared in his subconscious. Seizing the moment his opponent left his chest exposed, he delivered a horizontal slash. Blood splattered across his cheek and the alley walls as the wounded man collapsed, clutching his chest and screaming.
With one opponent down and two remaining, Egger tensed his nerves and muscles for the next clash, only to find that Jaqen had already downed the other two without spilling a single drop of blood. Whether they were dead or alive was unclear... as expected of a Faceless Man.
The first skirmish ended in seconds, but this night of chaos had only just begun. The two continued running forward, vanishing into the gloom.
...
"Don't let them escape back to their nest! Split up and intercept them!" The thug leader, arriving with his men, looked at his three subordinates lying on the ground. His face contorted as he gnashed his teeth and gestured. "You two, go this way. You two, go that way... if you find them, don't engage. Just shout!"
"Yes, boss."
"Run faster! Don't let that crow get away!"
The leader took his remaining four men and gave chase in the direction the targets had fled. He was fuming, radiating murderous intent... but less than half a minute later, he realized he wasn't the hunter—he was the prey.
Life is fragile, and killing is remarkably simple. During that brief first encounter, the soldier's instinct Egger had kept tucked away in his marrow was activated by the blood on his face. The bloodlust buried deep in his genes awakened under the threat to his life. Having participated in several actual battles, he didn't lose his head despite the sudden ambush. He was still more than a mile from his residence; trying to flee back blindly relying on luck was nearly impossible. When ambushed, the worst thing one can do is follow instinct and play by the opponent's rhythm—he had to take out more of the surrounding enemies and break the encirclement to survive!
Having reasoned it out, and aided by the now total darkness of night, he led Jaqen into hiding within a small alley. Their black clothing served as the perfect camouflage. After waiting for a minute, they successfully turned the tables on the pursuers who came sprinting toward them.
The new round of fighting was equally unremarkable. The quality of the five enemies in the second wave was only slightly better than the first four, but they made the mistake of carrying crossbows through a labyrinth of narrow alleys—an environment ill-suited for ranged weapons against two unknown targets. When Egger and Jaqen lunged from the shadows of a corner to launch a surprise attack, another one-sided slaughter began.
Egger swung his sword at the man in the lead. The victim had no time to react, hurriedly raising his heavy military crossbow to parry. Before the snap of the breaking crossbow arms and the snapping string could fade, a second thrust buried itself in his chest. Only then did the twin-dagger wielder following behind react—the thug leader gave a strange shriek and charged Egger with his daggers dancing, forcing the Night's Watchman back two steps...
This leader was a somewhat famous assassin in Flea Bottom and the King's Landing underworld; the number of people who had died by his hand reached double digits, including trained swordsmen. In a one-on-one, the outcome might have been uncertain. But he trusted his lackeys too much and never expected that the servant accompanying his target was a Faceless Man—one of Braavos's finest assassins. He focused all his attention on the supposedly formidable Other-Slayer before him, so much so that when Jaqen appeared behind him—having cleanly knocked out the second crossbow-wielding thug with an elbow—the leader didn't even have time to make a sound before his neck was snapped, and he slumped down like a rag doll.
In a flash, the First and Second Brothers lay on the ground, their fates unknown; the Third Brother knelt in a pool of blood. The remaining two were scared witless, dropping their weapons and scrambling away.
Real combat is entirely different from a tourney; there are no back-and-forth exchanges or dazzling displays of swordplay. These enemies were untrained and lacked any sense of self-preservation when ambushed. Of the three with the best skills, two had chosen the wrong weapons. Excluding the Others, this was the first time in his life he had killed a man—Egger had swung his sword only five times tonight, yet he had ended two lives. As for Jaqen, his weapon wasn't even stained with blood, yet he had downed twice as many enemies as Egger. The Night's Watchman hadn't even been able to see clearly how the Faceless Man had struck.
A useless move made months ago on a whim had saved his life today, but this night of chaos was far from over. Quickly vacating the messy scene of the skirmish, they ran a few hundred meters in a random direction before stopping.
"They actually had crossbows. Slynt is insane." Egger panted, using a scrap of cloth to wipe the blood from his blade. Others being crazy was their business, but he wasn't about to be buried alongside his opponent's madness. "What should we do now? Hide for the night?"
"The Master commands," Jaqen's monotone voice drifted through the dark.
Fine. This Faceless Man had fulfilled his obligation by saving him at the critical moment; expecting him to help with a plan was wishful thinking. Egger stood between two houses, thinking for a moment before making a decision. "Since they ambushed us on the way home, it means the brothers at the house haven't been hit yet. Slynt failed to kill me with hired thugs, so he might mobilize the City Watch... we go back, get the brothers, and find a place to lay low together."
Tyrion had sent a squad of ten young men yesterday—guards who had finished basic training at the security camp outside the city—to report to Egger. They served as a security detail for one of the founders of the Night's Watch... while not battle-hardened veterans, as long as Slynt didn't send the City Watch, they were more than enough to handle a bunch of clumsy amateur killers.
Leaving these ten men at the residence instead of taking them along had been a serious oversight. But looking at it another way, if he had traveled with a full squad of bodyguards, the forces sent to deal with him wouldn't have been a mere handful of thugs.
Taking a winding route, the two men spent half an hour traversing a few hundred meters to get home, encountering a patrol of the City Watch along the way. Hiding in the shadows across from the main gate, they carefully observed the surroundings. Finding no anomalies, they rushed across the street and pushed through the door into the courtyard.
Nothing had happened at home. Three security soldiers recently assigned from outside the city were sitting on stone benches in the courtyard chatting. Seeing Egger return, they stood up quickly to salute and greet him.
"Where is your officer? Get everyone out and assembled. We can't stay here; we're leaving immediately!"
...
Half a minute later, everyone was gathered in the courtyard. Nina was startled by Egger's appearance: "What happened? Is that blood on your face?"
"Not all of it is mine. Slynt must have gotten wind of things; he sent men to ambush me on the way home. I was lucky to get out, but he'll likely bring the City Watch next to move by force. We're moving out now!"
"At least let me bandage your wound first!"
"I'm not dying yet! Don't fuss. Open the door, we leave now!"
As the security soldiers of the "guard squad" exited the door, Egger quickly noticed eight or nine people standing across the street... seeing fourteen of them pour out from the gate, the group seemed startled by the numbers and quickly scattered into the darkness.
Though he had escaped the trap, he was still being watched. Not only that, he faced another problem: "Master, where are we going?"
Where to go? The disadvantage of not being in King's Landing for long became glaringly apparent. The Night's Watch industries had three strongholds in the city: the first and second offices, and the employee residence. All these places were out in the open. In this critical moment, Egger realized he didn't even have a safe house to hide in!
Just find a place to hide until dawn? The population density of King's Landing was so high that even the most remote bridge arches or alleys were occupied by beggars and vagrants. It was impossible to hide quietly... especially with at least a dozen people watching. He was just a foreign Night's Watchman; though somewhat famous, he was nowhere near influential enough to have local residents spontaneously help him hide from law enforcement like a guerrilla fighter.
His obvious foreign features, usually a high-recognition asset, were now a liability. He couldn't hide his identity at all.
As for fleeing to the homes of his allies... since Janos Slynt had flipped the table for a final gamble, he wouldn't care about anyone's status. Without the physical strength to resist, they would likely be dragged out by City Watch soldiers no matter where they hid.
The enemy held command over the City Watch. At this moment, there was no safe place in the city besides the Red Keep, but unfortunately, the royal castle closed its gates at night. After weighing his options, Egger finally made a judgment—they had to find a way out of the city!
The Iron Gate was closest, but he had just fled from that direction; returning that way was too risky. After some thought, Egger finally decided to move toward the second closest, the Mud Gate. The captain of the River Gate, Ser Jacelyn 'Ironhand' Bywater—who Tyrion evaluated as brave and honorable—was more reliable. Not to mention, the bustling and chaotic Blackwater docks outside the Mud Gate were a suitable hiding spot. Better yet, if they traveled upriver, they could reach his own territory: the Night's Watch industrial park!
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/MistaQuartz
On Patreon, you can explore Extra Chapters in advance!