Chapter 265: Time for a Robbery
"These fellows are even more terrifying than what we saw in the national tournament!"
Gucci panted heavily as his face became ugly.
His nickname, "Traceless Sword" came from his strange attacks which made it extremely difficult for his opponents to completely avoid them. But against Stingham, these attacks were completely useless.
After several rounds of attacks, the barrier of yellow light around Stingham was still there, but the arcane particles within his body were nearly exhausted.
"Come on! Put a little more into it! Perhaps you will be able to get rid of this zombie!"
Stingham's nonchalant behaviour and excited expression made Gucci even more agitated.
Zzzt! Zzzt! Zzzt!
On the other side, streaks of green light descended from the sky. Upon hitting the ground, the green light immediately turned into a pool of green slime from which thorny plants quickly grew.
But not even one of Matteo's attacks touched Rinloran as he swiftly moved around Matteo without attacking.
"He's so fast… I can't locate his actual position!"
"With his amplification artifact, he is even faster than during the national tournament. I can't hit him at all!"
Matteo's face became ashen.
He was currently stuck between a rock and a hard place. If he stopped attacking, Rinloran would launch an offensive which would spell the end for him. But if he continued attacking, his injuries would continue to worsen.
"Can't you all be a little more normal?"
"We just wanted to have a nice and proper fight!"
As Abel Academy team captain Lotner watched Gucci and Matteo being supressed by Stingham and Rinloran and then at Ayrin, who was acting like a true pervert and asking for them to hit him, he couldn't help but feel his mind crumbling apart.
Abel Academy had always been the overlords of the national tournament alongside Dragon Breath Academy. For them to lose to Holy Dawn Academy, perhaps it would have been acceptable if they were facing all six in a head on fight.
But right now, the six of them, who had somehow managed to gather together within this Forest of Evil, were being defeated by three. And it was when they were the ones who had laid the trap.
"A proper battle? Were you not the ones who tried to deceive us?" Ayrin perplexedly asked as he heard the words of the crestfallen Lotner, "We wished to have a proper competition, but you guys tried to set up an ambush. You were the ones who attempted to force us to retire and win through disgraceful means."
"You three…"
Lotner started, but then stopped as he spit a mouthful of blood.
"Forget it. We surrender. If we keep fighting, we will only be humiliated further," Lotner said, his face extremely pale.
"Forget it. Just kill us already."
Upon hearing Lotner's words, Matteo closed his eyes as a miserable expression emerged over his face and he glumly said, "As a fellow team from the national tournament, I hope you can kill us quickly and painlessly."
"Eh? You guys are giving up just like this?"
Stingham was full of disbelief as he observed Gucci, who had also stopped. "Just a little more, and you would have succeeded! Hurry up and gather strength to hit me once more! Please! Please hit me one more time!"
"Can you not act so perversely!" Lotner and the others shouted. They couldn't stand it any longer.
"It's fine if you kill me. But please don't humiliate me any longer," Gucci cried, his body trembling as he looked at Stingham.
"Kill you? Why would I want to kill you? You aren't an Evil Dragon Follower. Even if you were, how could a handsome guy like me commit such a bloody and cruel act? I won't do it." Stingham shook his head. A penetrating look emerged in his eyes as he confidently said, "I'm not stupid. I can see through your machinations. If I kill you, then the Office of Special Affairs will come after me."
"……" Hearing Stingham's words, the Abel Academy team members nearly spit blood once more.
Was there anyone who would use their own life to plot against others?
"You guys won't kill us?" Lotner and the others were somewhat bewildered.
"Of course not," Stingham sincerely replied.
Some hope reappeared in the dead and ashen eyes of the six Abel Academy team members as Lotner asked, "Then how do you three plan to deal with us?"
"Oh, that's right. Now that we've dealt with these scoundrels, what next?" Stingham immediately looked at Ayrin and Rinloran.
"You are Traceless Sword Gucci?"
Ayrin scratched his head as he thought for a moment. Afterwards, his gaze landed on the saber in Gucci's hand as he asked, "Is that saber a materialization or?"
An ominous feeling rose in Gucci's heart as he said with difficulty, "This isn't a materialization. It is a 'Moon Echo' Sword made from the demonic crystal of a Moon Lion Lord."
"So it's an extremely powerful weapon? One which also acts as a sword skill amplification artifact?" Ayrin's eyes immediately lit up, "Rinloran, you also train in a lot of sword based skills. Wouldn't this sword be very useful for you?"
Rinloran stiffened, then slowly nodded his head.
"This sword is pretty good, why don't you give it to Rinloran."
A new thought popped into Ayrin's mind as he turned to Lotner and the others and excitedly shouted, "Quick, take out all of the good things you have on you!"
"This is… robbery?" Stingham's mouth formed an 'o' as he said, "Ayrin, won't this also cause the Office of Special Affairs to come after us?"
"They were the ones who set up the ambush, so it should be fine if we take some spoils right?" Ayrin shamefully scoffed, "Plus there is no way the six of them will tell anyone that they set up a trap and still ended up being defeated by the three of us. It would be too embarrassing, right?"
Lotner and the others felt their vision dim.
Even if they did speak of this, it was likely that no one would believe them. How could the six mainstays of Abel Academy possibly be robbed by a group of three from Holy Dawn Academy?
"That's right!" Stingham became excited as he heard Ayrin's reasoning. He immediately turned towards the six Abel Academy team members as he beratingly said, "Come on, hurry up and hand over all of the good things you have on you. Also, if others ask, we didn't steal these things from you, you gifted these things to us."
Tears filled the faces of the six Abel Academy team members.
"Rinloran, both of your arms are still useless. Just how can you carry this sword?"
"It'll be fine if we just tie it to him."
"Wow! This is a Blaze Bracelet! It's an extremely rare fire skill amplification artifact! Do you know just how rare and hard to find fire type giant beasts like Boss Fire Caracal are? Ayrin, you've really struck it big this time. Your Evil Flaming Eye will become so much stronger."
"This is a Spirit Obstruction Gem! It can ward off spiritual attacks!"
Stingham, Ayrin, and Rinloran inventoried all the goods they had taken.
"You all must still have things hidden atop your bodies!" Stingham abruptly shouted in dissatisfaction.
"Your Abel Academy was created by Draconic Scholars, and one of the oldest academies in the Kingdom of Eiche. As the mainstays of Abel Academy's team, how could you six be as poor as vagrants?!"
An urge to kill themselves emerged in the hearts of the six Abel Academy team members.
The 'Moon Echo' saber, an amplification artifact which also worked with materializations and was already inherently stronger and sharper than most materialization created swords.
The Blaze Bracelet, a fire skill amplification artifact made from stringing together the demonic crystals of several Firebat Lords which increased the power of a five gate or lower arcane master's fire-based skills by at least two levels of power.
A Spirit Obstruction Gem from the Era of the War with Dragons which could no longer be mined today.
The six of them had already given away three such treasures, yet Stingham still compared them to vagrants!
Just where in Doraster was there a vagrant so rich?!
"Why don't you just go and rob the vaults of the Nine Great Families!" Lotner and the others inwardly shouted.
"No, hurry up and take out everything!" Stingham shouted, his eyes full of suspicion.
"Otherwise, if I find a single valuable thing on you, I will strip all of you naked and hang you up in a tree! You guys won't be able to say anything anyway."
At this moment, Stingham's sharp eyes caught sight of Presley's hand moving behind his back as if trying to hide something in the grass behind him. Stingham shouted, "What are you hiding there?! Show it to me right now!"
Upon hearing Stingham's shout, Presley's face turned white as a sheet.
"Move!"
Stingham was like a real bandit as he roughly shoved Presley aside.
"What is this?"
His eyes abruptly widened in shock as he saw the object Presley had attempted to hide. It was a thin piece of folded sheepskin.
"This is… a map?"
Ayrin and Rinloran immediately gathered over. They froze in astonishment as they cried out in unison, "It's a map of what's within Fallen Shadow Valley?"
"How did you guys get this map of Fallen Shadow Valley?"
Stingham was stunned. Even with his level of intelligence, he knew that the Office of Special Affairs had only just located Fallen Shadow Valley before immediately ordering this assault. How could any arcane team have already successfully entered Fallen Shadow Valley and come out?
The six Abel Academy team members were petrified as they remained silent. But their expressions were each uglier than the one before.
A strange feeling ran through Ayrin's heart.
"Stingham, let's strip them and leave them hanging," Ayrin said.
"We'll speak." Lotner knew that if he didn't say it now, the three facing him wouldn't ever let them go. Tears streaked down his face as he said with difficulty, "That map is from the intel our Abel Academy obtained through interrogating the Evil Dragon Followers that we captured after battles. Everything is drawn in accordance with what they told us."
"And then?" Rinloran's voice was extremely icy as he grabbed the map and shook it in front of Lotner. "What are these markings for?"
Seeing that it had been discovered, Lotner sighed once more as he simply explained, "The Evil Dragon Followers have been operating within Fallen Shadow Valley for many years now. They have discovered many treasures which are of use to arcane masters. These markings are for places which might contain fragments of the Tree of Life."
"Fragments of the Tree of Life?" Ayrin and Stingham reiterated in confusion.
The Tree of Life was something which preceded the Era of the War with Dragons, and rumored to be the source of strength for the ancient Elven Kingdom. It itself contained an incredible power, and it was said that its scent could stimulate the awakening of stronger elven bloodline abilities. Legend also stated that the Tree of Life made the vegetation around it flourish and increased the reproductive abilities of elves.
"If you are truly skilled brave warriors, then don’t steal from us, and go into the valley and steal those fragments of the Tree of Life from the Evil Dragon Followers!" Presley screamed in anger.
"We will do that next."
Ayrin turned back towards the six as he excitedly said, "But first, hurry up and hand over your arcane skill records too! It would be best if you could turn them into scrolls! I shall be taking your arcane skills!"
"What?!" The eyes of the six Abel Academy team members darkened once more.
