Both waited for the right moment to launch their attack. Half a minute later, after discussing the task at hand.
Ren ordered Zavi to stay put and await his command. Meanwhile, he would fight the two guards, while Zavi would rescue the hostages and lead them out of the building.
From the perspective of the hostages and the two guards in robes, Ren was sure they were unaware of his presence because the light from the chandelier would not reach the hallway, allowing him to carry out this task easily.
He chuckled softly, pointing his pistol upwards—at the large chandelier. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense, the sounds of panic from the hostages could be heard everywhere, including from the two guards in robes.
From the hallway, Ren jumped down without hesitation, pointing his gun directly at the two panicked guards in robes.
In the darkness, and in a room lit only by the moonlight and the twinkling stars, Ren could see clearly.
Unlike Zavi, the hostages and the two guards in robes could not. Sensing something was wrong, one of the guards wanted to open the door and tell his other colleague.
Ren's lips twitched, and without hesitation, he shot the guard in the robe's hand as he turned the doorknob.
Bang! Bang!
Screams followed, and fresh blood dripped slowly, forming a small pool beneath him.
"Damn it. Where are you? Do you want to die!?" shouted another cloaked guard as he scanned the darkness of the room.
Ren ran sideways, looking for space to shoot back.
Bang!
A shot rang out, but this time he aimed it upwards. Meanwhile, from the corridor, Zavi heard the instructions Ren had given him earlier.
He wanted to jump, but he hesitated a little. With no other choice, Zavi recklessly jumped from the corridor to the floor about ten metres below.
Thud!
His shoes scraped the floor, making a distinctive sound afterwards. Because the room was now dark, he had a little trouble seeing.
However, he had noticed earlier that the hostages were at the far left end of the room. After thinking for a moment, Zavi stepped slowly, his hands feeling his way.
His efforts were not in vain; he sensed someone's presence in front of him. Zavi saw several shadows walking towards him.
He reflexively swallowed. It wasn't because he was afraid, but he was a little surprised after seeing them. To find out, he finally plucked up his courage and confirmed it.
"Who are you?" He paused for a moment. "Are you all merchants in the square?" he asked, holding his breath.
A second or two later, he heard no answer. Feeling familiar with the voice, one of the shadows mixed with blue approached him.
In the darkness, a woman he knew very well emerged with her hands tied, none other than his mother, Mei Actitus, followed by several people behind her.
Zavi was shocked. His heart felt relieved after seeing his mother's face.
"Mother?" he said softly as he walked towards her.
Without realising it, he hugged his mother tightly and forgot about the task Ren had given him earlier.
One of the men wearing a bowler hat with his hands tied approached him.
The man pressed his hat and said, "Thank you for helping us all."
Zavi released his embrace and took two steps back. He looked at the eleven people among them, including his mother, three women and eight men.
"All right, then let me untie them," said Liam as he untied their hands one by one using the broken glass he had found earlier.
Bang! Bang!
"Eh, what's that gunshot sound? Is there anyone else here besides you?" asked one of the men whose hands Zavi had just untied.
Zavi looked back before answering, "Don't worry about it, we'd better get out of here as soon as possible."
After untying all the hostages, he led the eleven people out of the building and looked for a safe place to hide while waiting for Ren to arrive.
One of the hostages, a bearded man, found a wooden door under the hallway with an old wooden cupboard next to it.
Unable to open it because it was locked and hearing continuous gunshots from behind, panic made him have no choice but to break it down.
He asked another man, including Zavi, to help open the door. Four men, including Zavi, agreed to break it down.
Five seconds later, the door came off its hinges, fell, and exposed a fairly wide corridor with candles attached to the walls in a row.
Without hesitation, after seeing the exit in front of them, five of them—four men and one woman—ran into the corridor, eager to get home without caring what awaited them inside.
Zavi hesitated slightly, but upon seeing his mother's panicked face, his hesitation vanished instantly.
"It's okay, Mum," he said, trying to calm his mother's mind.
"But how did you know I was here?" she asked in a hoarse voice.
Her whole body froze instantly. Her eyes widened.
"Ah... Ren and I came to the square and saw the chaos there. So, we came here after getting information from an old woman," replied Zavi calmly so as not to arouse suspicion.
Mei's blue eyes stared intently at her son's face. She then placed her right hand on Zavi's cheek as a sign of affection.
Zavi felt his mother's hand was cold because she had been here for too long. There wasn't enough time, and he wanted to get the hostages out of this place as soon as possible.
But how? Zavi thought for a moment.
The place he thought was safe was the corridor above, so he looked up. But, since the sound of gunfire was still heard without stopping.
He was forced to enter the corridor in front of him. After thinking for a moment, he finally chose to go through the corridor.
Six people were still waiting for his decision, and were also wary of what was inside the corridor. Zavi turned his head and looked at the faces of the five people who were hoping for him.
There was no time and he had to take the risk. Finally, Zavi instructed the six of them to follow him and be alert once they entered the corridor.
They all nodded and walked down the corridor to find a way out.
Meanwhile, Ren was still fighting the remaining guard. The other one had died a few minutes ago, but this time he was having a little trouble and was facing such a nimble enemy for the first time.
That agility didn't make the cloaked man lucky all the time. He wasn't at an advantage in this fight because he couldn't find where his enemy was.
Meanwhile, Ren could move freely in this dark room. Right on time, the woman Ren had met earlier arrived, entering through the window.
Both of them heard the sound of breaking glass, and the robed man, with his keen hearing, moved towards the source of the sound.
With his speed and agility, he managed to catch the woman and immediately choked her neck.
"Now, come out! If you don't want this woman to die," he said in a raised voice.
The woman screamed in pain, her voice clearly audible to Ren's ears.
"Hmph, did he manage to complete his task? If so, I'll finish off that little bastard as quickly as possible." Ren pulled his pistol back, and the bullet that had been lodged in the wall earlier flew out and filled the pistol's magazine.
He smiled, aiming it directly at the hooded man's head and preparing to fire.