[Espy]

Putting a hand to his mouth, Dante held on to his smoke as he clambered to his feet and gave the first guard a hefty kick to the head, then spun around and snubbed out the cigarette on another's forehead.

"Fer heaven's sake, stop pissing me off," he muttered, "I've business with the girl only!"

What exactly were they carrying? Not the guns, obviously, or shots would have been heard already; whatever they were, Dante assumed they were close-ranged. All the better for me, he thought, eviscerating the slightly-burnt guard with his knife.