After taking a much-needed long rest—some at a brothel, Travian at a graveyard—the party reconvened to discuss their next steps. Dante shared information he had gathered: Commander Locke of the Argent Order was hunting Ambrosius Veyl, the leader of an assassin guild and Mike's former teacher. Mike expressed a desire to confront Ambrosius, whom he had once worked for and now wanted to learn how to eliminate once and for all. The Traveler returned to the brothel to ask the Matriarch for Commander Locke's location, exchanging a handful of gold for information that the Argent Order was active in the marketplace. The party decided to split up: Lena, Sybil, Greg, and Travian would investigate the marketplace for the Argent Order, while Mike and Dante would search for the Poisoner's Guild.
In the marketplace, Lena and Greg encountered a finely dressed noble vampire who admired Greg's armor and offered to find information about Locke for a sample of Lena's blood, revealing his fangs when he smiled. Lena refused, and the vampire departed, stating he would be in the market for a short time. Sybil used her glamour to appear as a Veythrone vampire, and the group approached a nervous, shady merchant selling questionable wares that appeared to be stolen from fallen Argent Order members. Travian choke-slammed the merchant against a table, demanding information, and the terrified merchant revealed that the Argent Order was active in the next quarter and that a hunt was about to happen in the square. The party knocked out the merchant and left him behind.
Meanwhile, Mike and Dante located a Poisoner's Guild safe house, where Mike was ambushed by a guild member who recognized his past association. The guild member warned Mike that his friends were in trouble, calling it a setup, before escaping with a smoke bomb that left Mike and Dante dizzy. The two rushed back to the Seahorse Shanty to warn the others, and the entire party reconvened, exchanging information and realizing the marketplace was a trap. Mike spotted assassins on the rooftops and emerging from the crowd, confirming their worst fears.
The party engaged in a chaotic battle against the assassins in the marketplace, utilizing teamwork and powerful abilities to combat the hidden foes. Dante and Mike initiated combat by tag-teaming an assassin leader on a rooftop, staggering him with a brutal combination strike. Lena and Travian worked together to entangle and damage another assassin leader, making him vulnerable and causing him to glow brightly. Sybil activated her protective magic, summoning armored beetles for defense, then combined her powers with Lena to unleash a devastating swarm of exploding fireflies that decimated the assassins, causing armored beetles to burst from the dirt and explode violently on contact. Greg, declaring himself unstoppable, charged an assassin cleaving him in two with his sword.
Dante was struck down by an assassin leader's serrated blade and fell from the rooftop, appearing to be dead with a dagger in his body. In a miraculous turn, Dante pulled the dagger from his chest and stood back up, fully healed, shocking the assassin leader who had thought him defeated. Travian's Puma companion pursued and tackled a fleeing assassin leader on the rooftops, tearing him apart. Sybil and Lena teamed up to entangle the remaining assassin leader, pinning him to the ground as Greg held him down for questioning. Before they could interrogate him, Argent Order members appeared from the shadows, and one swiftly executed the captured assassin leader with a single strike. An Argent Order member addressed Mike, acknowledging their effectiveness and revealing that the entire battle had been a test to see how well the party would handle themselves, inviting them to meet their commander.
