Chapter 80 – Old Friends.

Rusty turned his head toward the voice, his visor locking onto the person who had just spoken. A group of figures emerged from the shadows of a nearby alley. The one who had addressed him was a familiar-looking lanky man with a smirk plastered across his face. He wasn’t alone, and he certainly wasn’t the leader of the group. In the center stood another figure – bald, a bit below two meters in height, with a face covered in tattoos and scars. He was wearing a heavier suit of armor but his face was exposed.

“Thought you’d never see us again, Albert?”

‘It’s those thugs again, and this time they’ve brought friends.’

Alexander whispered to Rusty, who had also recognized the group entering the alley. Rusty had been on his way back from the Guild after depositing the monster materials he’d collected. He’d taken a shortcut through the alley to reach the inn where he was staying. It was the middle of the night, and the city gates wouldn’t open for a few more hours. These thugs seemed to have been waiting for him, only approaching once he was alone and out of sight of the city watch.

‘I was wondering who these people were, But they don’t seem like much of a threat. Can I kill them all?’

Using his life detection skill, Rusty had sensed a few people waiting in the alley ahead. The skill worked in a peculiar way – the stronger the life signal, the more intensely it resonated in his metallic head. With it, he could roughly gauge someone’s power level. Even this new, armored individual was no match for him. Compared to the monsters inside the dungeon, this guy was on the level of an E-rank Orc at best.

‘Normally I would be against it but they clearly mean business, their intentions are obvious, they are here to kill you and this alleyway is probably the perfect place to make people disappear…’

Alexander assessed the situation for Rusty. It was probably just as he suspected. Rusty didn’t respond but stood still, watching as the larger thug stepped forward, his knuckles cracking with a loud pop. The group numbered five men in total, three in the front and two behind him. The moment he was halfway through the alley the three with the lanky man stopped him from the front, while two quickly closed off the escape route from the back.

‘That’s what I wanted to hear!’

Rusty was eager to crack some skulls, irritated that these thugs had now harassed him not once, but twice. However, just as the moonlight gleamed off the hairless man’s bald head, Alexander suddenly stopped him.

‘Wait, Rusty. Don’t kill that baldie.’

‘Oh? Why not?’

‘Those tattoos he’s got – one of them belongs to the thieves’ guild. He might be our way in!’

Rusty’s visor flickered as he heard Alexander’s words. The bald man, covered in tattoos and scars, wasn’t just some common thug – it seemed he had ties to the very organization Rusty had been searching for. The Thieves Guild. He still had all the stolen goods from the adventures stashed away in his system inventory. Perhaps this bald man was a key to getting him inside the black market.

‘Hah, those idiots…’

Before the battle could begin, one of the thugs pulled out a strange scroll. At first, Rusty saw it as a potential threat, but Alexander urged him to let them use it. The scroll began glowing with a white light, and soon the alley was enveloped in a peculiar spell.

‘A silencing spell. No sound will escape this alley. Those idiots just signed their own death sentence.’

Rusty had studied basic spells in the Soul Forge library and recognized this one immediately. It was commonly used for robberies and murder – perfect for keeping unwanted attention away. In the darkness, with sound completely muffled, no one would know a fight was taking place. This meant Rusty didn’t have to worry about keeping up his human guise or avoiding attention.

He started by stepping back, wildly swinging his blade around as if in panic – deliberately giving the thugs a false sense of confidence. The thugs grinned, taking the bait. The armored man among them wore heavy gear, equipped with a shield and mace. It was clear they had come prepared for someone in heavy armor after their last failed attempt.

“Hah, you lost to this coward?”

“Be careful. He’s stronger than he looks,”

The lanky man warned as the bald one closed in.

“Don’t worry. I’ll pry him out of that shoddy armor – but remember, all his belongings are mine.”

The lanky man nodded as the bald one stepped forward, ready to deliver a shield bash. To them, Rusty appeared like a cornered animal, but they hadn’t realized they were the prey. The thug charged, moving at a surprising speed, aiming to slam into Rusty’s kite shield. But when they collided, the expected outcome didn’t happen. Instead of sending Rusty crashing into the wall, he stood firm, unmoving, as if he were made of solid iron.

“What?”

Confusion flickered in the thug’s eyes as Rusty hadn’t even flinched. Then, something began to change. His metallic form, which had appeared to be ordinary armor, shimmered and shifted, transforming before their eyes. His armor switched to the all-rounder form, something his enemies didn’t expect. Before the thugs could react, a dark fog spilled across the ground, engulfing the already shadowy alley in pitch-black darkness.

“W-what is this? I can’t see anything!”

One of the thugs yelled, panic creeping into his voice.

“Agh… is this poison?”

The black mist was taking effect. Everyone caught in it felt weak, their bodies growing heavy and dizzy. They didn’t need to check their statuses to know they were afflicted by some kind of debilitating status effect. But by the time they realized it, it was already too late.

The alley was now drenched in darkness, a thick fog that disoriented the thugs. They coughed and staggered, trying to find their footing in the growing sense of panic. Their silencing spell had done them no favors and now they were blind and defenseless. Rusty’s metallic form moved within the mist, his footsteps loud but unable to echo out into the city.

The bald leader swung wildly, his mace slashing through the air, but it connected with nothing. He couldn’t see Rusty anymore, and his frustration grew as the fog sapped his strength. He cursed under his breath, realizing they had vastly underestimated their target.

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Suddenly, a blade pierced through the mist, striking the lanky man in the leg. He screamed, dropping to his knees, but the sound was swallowed by the silencing spell with only the people inside of it being able to hear. Rusty emerged from the darkness behind him, his sword glowing red as it sliced through the man’s nape, cutting through his jugular instantly.

Blood spurted briefly from the lanky man’s neck, but his body crumpled silently to the ground. The thugs were still reeling from the poisonous mist, disoriented and powerless, their confidence shattered. The bald man, the leader, was furious. His tattooed face twisted in rage, eyes darting around in a futile attempt to find Rusty in the oppressive darkness. His mace swung again, cutting through but finally colliding with something, one of his allies’ faces.

The thug screamed in agony as his cheekbone shattered from the force of the blow. His cry was quickly joined by others as the rest of the group suffered devastating injuries. One by one, they fell, their bodies crumpling under Rusty’s brutal assault. The dark mist that had enveloped the alley began to thin, gradually lifting to reveal the grim scene beneath it.

“Shit… Let’s talk about this…”

As the fog cleared, a crushing reality hit the bald man – he was the only one left alive. The four other thugs lay on the ground, their arteries severed in vital places, blood soaking the alleyway. It was clear now: Rusty was too strong for them and bartering was probably the only way out.