Translator: AtlasStudios Editor: AtlasStudios
Everyone could see up to three meters ahead under the crackling flames in the ferocious storm. They scanned the surroundings and the unbounded darkness of the night sky as though it formed into thick, solid walls around them.
The ground was unusually slippery on this abandoned mountain filled with gravel and rocks and the group advanced carefully to avoid falling to their deaths.
Mercenaries lined by both sides had oil lamps and swords in their hands while they were accompanied by their fully-armored companions. After all, everyone knew that the enemy had to extinguish the light sources in their hands if they planned on ambushing in this dark night. Meanwhile, the Chairman was protected in the middle of the group as they moved forward.
Everyone advanced slowly to coordinate with the Chairman’s pace. In ten minutes, they covered a few meters of slippery, steep mountain slope. The storm and pitch-black darkness before them seemed as though it was impossible for any enemies to lurk.
Viktor gripped his sword as he scanned the surroundings vigilantly. On the other hand, Rhode had disappeared into the forest. Come to think of it, the Chairman’s group was actually playing the same ‘drawing the snake out of its hole’ game as Felwood. Felwood waited for the Chairman’s group to sneak out of their cave to cut off their retreat while the Chairman’s group was luring their catchers to attack and wipe them all out.
This was a ‘life and death’ game and only one side could survive.
And now, it would depend on their opportunity.
Viktor turned back and gazed at the cave that they had exited. At this point in time, they were a distance away from the cave. However, the cautious enemies hadn’t launched their attacks yet. It was apparent that those guys were also waiting for the best chance to strike. Without a doubt, Viktor knew what they were up to. The enemies might think that Viktor’s group was only probing and they had purposely let them off while waiting for the chance to catch the tiger by its tail. If Viktor’s group had the intention to probe the situation, they might hesitate to go even deeper after they discovered that there were no ambushes before them. If that happened, the enemy would use the chance to wipe them all out.
This was truly treacherous.
Viktor sucked in a deep breath. If it weren’t for Rhode’s group, perhaps they might have to force their way through the traps. Although Viktor was powerful, he wasn’t an expert in frontal battle. In this aspect, Barter was much stronger than him and no matter if it were a sea of flames or a land of knives, he would charge forward without hesitation to kill his enemies. To be frank, Viktor was rather admirable of Barter’s attitude. However, this didn’t mean that he wished to pick up that trait of his.
Almost there.
Viktor gestured and everyone stopped moving. He turned around and ordered his mercenaries softly. “Inform everyone to get ready. If I’m not mistaken, they should be attacking us soon.”
Viktor shifted his attention to the darkness before him. There was nothing.
“Leader, they stopped!” One of the guards screamed.
Felwood spat and glared at him. “Shut up! I can see for myself… They must be panicking now but our encirclement isn’t fully ready yet. Wait for my command and if there are any idiots who disobey my command, I’ll teach him a lesson!”
Sure enough, those mercenaries stopped for a short while and continued to head towards the bottom of the mountain.
Hmph… Humans are greedy and don’t know when to give up, even in the face of danger. Oh well, my men should be ready with the encirclement now. Just a little more patience will do…
The mercenaries had arrived at the midpoint of the mountain. Perhaps they were used to the downpour, so they were now advancing much quicker than their turtle-like speed at the start of their ‘escape’.
Felwood gripped the pendant hanging before his chest once again. Soon, the dark sky was replaced with vibrant colors and he witnessed his men sneaking in behind the mercenaries with the power of this night vision device. The encirclement was completed and his men awaited for Felwood’s orders to strike.
Opportunity knocks only once.
Felwood gestured to his men while holding onto the dagger by his waist.
The storm was getting stronger.
The mercenaries widened their eyes and scanned every corner cautiously in fear that a dagger would strike towards them at anytime. However, even though they did their utmost best, they weren’t able to locate their sneaky enemies.
“Phew…” Viktor lowered his head and sighed. At this moment, an assassin suddenly swung his right arm to the side!
An intense blade airflow rose from the ground rapidly and engulfed the storm as though fluttering waves. A pitch-black dagger struck towards Viktor’s chest. Clang! Viktor’s sword collided with the ambushing dagger. The assassin flinched slightly and seized the chance to attack another mercenary.
“Ambush!” The mercenaries snarled as they gripped daggers smeared with deadly venom and darted for their prey like a pack of hungry, vicious wolves.
“Don’t stop! Keep moving!’ Viktor ordered his mercenaries and advanced unswervingly. He brandished his sword and a powerful stream of air with dozens of sharp wind edges erupted, slashing the assassins before them. At the same time, Viktor looked for Rhode’s presence but he couldn’t locate him. It seemed like all he could do now was to wait patiently for Rhode to respond. Viktor’s mercenaries continued to resist the assassins’ attacks as they howled and released the explosive powers from their weapons.
“They’re putting up a hopeless struggle!” Felwood gritted his teeth. This wasn’t his hallucination… This immense storm was definitely hindering them from displaying their skills. So what if every single one of them performs like superheroes? There are only ten of them while I have 60! With such an advantage, how can I let them escape?
Felwood placed the tips of his fingers by his lips and blew.
“—!” A sharp whistle sounded and a few whistles responded back almost immediately. In Felwood’s line of sight with the ‘night vision’, the backup that he had arranged was drawing closer. Meanwhile, those damn runaways had darted for a distance and stopped once again. They are trapped now…
Felwood stood up in his hiding place with a satisfied expression and decided to join the battle. Those runaways weren’t as easy as they seemed and his traps weren’t efficient. Felwood revealed a sinister smile and suddenly, someone patted his shoulder.
“What the hell do you…” Felwood turned around and before he finished his sentence, a sharp dagger pierced through his throat effortlessly. Felwood widened his eyes at the sudden agony. He gazed at the man who was in full black and a pitch-black mask. Who is he? Why is he here?
The ‘night vision’ in Felwood’s eyes flickered and vanished entirely. He could no longer see his enemy and had fallen into the darkest abyss.
Rhode withdrew his dagger from Felwood’s throat, at the same time snatching the pendant around his neck. He examined it and twitched his brows.
This Night Vision Pendant was a great find. It seemed like these lackeys had access to all these wonderful treasures… However, this wasn’t the time for that. Rhode lifted his head and the corners of his mouth twitched. Dozens of figures in black cloaks were darting towards Viktor’s group. It seemed like Viktor’s group couldn’t hang on anymore and were about to be devoured by a pack of jackals. However, Rhode saw them as moths fluttering into a sea of flames.
Rhode placed the ring on his right index finger on his lips. “Our bait has fallen into the net. Move out.”
Viktor’s group was in a treacherous situation. After a desperate breakthrough, they were now slammed more violently than ever. Viktor strained himself to cast his most powerful skills to disperse the damned hungry jackals. His arms were starting to fail him. His mercenaries leaned against each others’ backs while brandishing their swords and defending with shields. The Chairman was half-kneeling in the middle, surrounded by the mercenaries protecting him.
The situation was utterly chaotic.
“Get lost!” A burly mercenary brandished his two-handed sword and struck off an assassin in full black. He roared and slashed straight for the assassin while striding forward. The assassin couldn’t dodge his ferocious attack and the sharp blade hacked into his shoulder. In the blink of an eye, the unlucky fellow collapsed to the muddy ground. While the burly mercenary withdrew his sword, another assassin darted towards him with a dagger and pierced his arm.
“Argh!” The mercenary groaned in pain and he retaliated with a punch innately. Although the assassin was punched in the gut, the mercenary couldn’t settle his scores because two other figures pounced on him at the same time…
As expected by Felwood, lack of manpower was their fatal wound. It was true that Viktor had brought his guild elites to Soraka Mountain, but the Light Parliament’s men weren’t weak either. Both sides were almost equally divided in terms of strength and equipment.
Good luck came late.
Soon, Viktor realized that there were some slight changes to the situation. The enemies seemed to be disoriented with their attacks and they weren’t as aggressive. However, it didn’t affect the overall situation too much.
This was only the start.
Joey lowered his body and tossed a corpse to the side. He scanned sideways and spotted a target darting towards the dim flames in a distance. Joey darted forward and caught up with the target instantly. The assassin sensed that something was off. He turned around quickly and was startled to see Joey behind him. Although Joey was also clad in a pitch-black cloak, his strange mask gave away his outsider identity. The assassin reacted quickly by brandishing his dagger towards Joey before dodging to the side successfully… Until another dagger penetrated his chest from behind.
Joey nodded at his companion as they gazed at the corpse on the ground. After seeing his companion’s hand gesture, Joey raised the ring on his right index finger.
“Boss, no problem in the surroundings. Settled!”
“—” A resplendent, multi-colored ice wall emerged all of a sudden and blocked all the attacks.
With weapons still in the mercenaries’ hands, they stared at the ice wall in bewilderment. They suspected that this was an attack from the enemy, but they were quickly proven wrong.
“An ambush!?” The assassins began to retreat at the sight of this ice wall. They realized that things were amiss because there were no Mages among the mercenaries who could cast this ice wall. What does this mean? Damn it, could it be…
“Firsy!” Marlene gazed at the battlefield secretly while she hid behind Anne’s shield. At the same time, her slender fingers drew a horizontal line in the darkness to connect the magical runes hovering in midair. The heavy rain concealed the chanting of her spell.
Bam! A column of flames emerged behind the assassins while scorching flames erupted from the empty ground as though responding to her summons. The flames were like ocean waves sweeping on the seacoast, smacking the surface violently. Gillian emerged within and pointed forward with a smile. “I’m so sorry; this road is blocked. Go from another way.”
“—!” The sea of flames formed a circle and enclosed the assassins. This was the first time tonight that the assassins were so frightened and although there were about 40 of them with excellent equipment left, they were nothing more than naked children standing before the raging flames.
The burning flames whizzed towards the assassins.
From a distance, one could see scarlet radiances flit in the mountain range.
Then, everything returned to complete darkness.
