Chapter 638: [Dawn Extinction]
“You mean… we are targeted by the Dagger Brotherhood?” The fatty swallowed hard, “You can’t be serious, right?”
Lucio knelt down and tore off the sleeve of the corpse. There was a 2-dagger tattoo on his shoulder which was gradually fading. Soon, the corpse burned under a strange power and gradually turned into ashes. Even no bones were left.
“Yes, it should be a member of the Dagger Brotherhood.” Lucio’s expression looked a little solemn as he made a gesture to Chen Rui.
The Dagger Brotherhood was a well-known a.s.sa.s.sin organization with its power spreading over several empires. It was said that as long as one could afford the price, even the empire’s king could become their target.
The killers of the Dagger Brotherhood were not only superb, but they were also cruel. Even if they were captured, they would not leave any remnants just like this self-burning corpse. After the mission failed, they would send another killer to retaliate more vigorously. However, if they failed 3 times in a row, the mission would be deemed to have exceeded the expected cost. Then, they would automatically give up and would not a.s.sa.s.sinate the target.
This was a tradition set by the human’s dark forces. Although the time of origin was unknown, even the current largest a.s.sa.s.sin and bandits organization ‘Rogue Union’ was strictly following this tradition, let alone the Dagger Brotherhood.
After confirming that the enemy was from the Dagger Brotherhood and not the Holy Feather Mercenary Squad, the fatty was immediately horrified and became very fearful, “Who actually hired the Dagger Brotherhood to deal with us at a high price?! No way! We need to return to Town Gudam immediately…”
The fatty only said half a sentence, and he suddenly remembered that since the other party was the Dagger Brotherhood, he still couldn’t escape from the killer’s hand even if he went back. The level of the Garden City’s church is higher than that of Town Gudam, and the Light Knights are stationed there. There is a chance of survival there. He suddenly changed his words, “Commander Ina, you must protect us to Garden City. I will double… No, pay 10 times the rewards! I will also be responsible for all the casualties you have suffered including the consolation money of the 2 brothers who died.”
According to the rules, the hirer generally only needed to pay the commission in accordance with the hiring agreement regardless of the mercenary loss or casualties during the task. Although the fatty loved money, he was not stupid. No amount of money was usable once life was gone.
If the mercenaries abandoned the mission midway, in addition to not getting the commission, they would also need to compensate for the breach of contract and their reputation would be greatly tainted. However, if Ina really abandoned the mission, the Iron s.h.i.+eld Mercenary Squad would only lose the money and reputation while the fatty and the others would lose their lives. The fatty had been in the position of the head of the Town Gudam church for many years, and he naturally had a few means. He knew the principle of ‘there must be a brave man under great reward’. Therefore, he immediately endured the pain and raised the issue of increasing the salary and being responsible for the compensation.
Ina pondered for a moment. She looked at the mercenary and said, “Sir Pastor, rest a.s.sured. Our Iron s.h.i.+eld Mercenary Squad values trust the most. Now that we have accepted this mission, we will definitely do our best to complete it.”
“Great! You all are worthy of being Iron s.h.i.+eld Mercenary Squad!” The fatty sighed with relief, “I have my word, I will immediately pay 10 times the salary and compensation once I arrive in Garden City.”
Ina nodded. She began to rearrange the defense, order the mercenaries to look for the lost mount and arrange the wounded to rest.
When pa.s.sing by Chen Rui, the female commander took a deep look at him and spoke up, “It is generally impossible for the a.s.sa.s.sin of the Dagger Brotherhood to be captured alive. I don’t know how you captured this a.s.sa.s.sin. But I can be sure that regardless of whether the original a.s.sa.s.sin’s target was you, you will become 1 of the Dagger Brotherhood’s key targets during the remaining journey.”
“Oh, I just went through an intense battle, so I need to go back to the tent to rest for a while.” Chen Rui shrugged nonchalantly as if he didn’t understand the current adversity. He turned and walked toward the tent. Lucio on the side quickly followed suit.
Ina looked at Chen Rui’s back and snorted coldly. He asked the bearded man lying on the ground, “Silva, how is it?”
“I won’t die.” The bearded man barely supported himself to stand as he smiled. “By the way, the special antidote is really magical. Even the poison that can’t be removed by the [Dispel] has been cleared. The rest is just some minor injuries which will not get in the way.”
Although the bearded man said that he was fine, Ina could see that this was definitely not just “minor” wounds. Fortunately, after removing the strong poison, there was no risk of life. He just needed to rest for a few days to recover, but his combat power would surely be greatly reduced in the short term.
“This Richard is really not simple.” Ina showed a thoughtful expression, “His strength is even higher than we expected. Maybe he can really escape the Dagger Brotherhood’s 3 a.s.sa.s.sinations.”
“No matter how powerful he is, he can’t compare to… By the way, commander. Did you agree to continue the protection mission this time because the deputy commander…”
Ina looked around and whispered, “Before we left Town Gudam, I just received a magic message from him from Town Laize. He said he has completed the Stam City’s mission and he is on the way back. I left him a message at the hotel. He should come and join us after he returns to Town Gudam. It will probably take 2-3 days.”
The bearded man showed a surprised expression, “Great! If he can rush over, we don’t even need to be afraid of the Dagger Brotherhood!”
Ina’s voice lowered. “He didn’t come just to meet up with this time. Instead, he is going to go to a place through Garden City, and it happened to be in the route of our mission. This matter is related to his private secrets, so I don’t want to ask further. I didn’t tell everyone. Now that the enemy is the Dagger Brotherhood, then the deputy commander’s matter should not be disclosed so as not to attract the Dagger Brotherhood’s attention. As long as we can survive the Dagger Brotherhood’s 3 attacks, we will pa.s.s this obstacle.”
“Understood.” The bearded man nodded and laid down again.
The night pa.s.sed without another ambush. The team continued their journey the next day. Some mercenary mounts were not recovered, so 2 of them shared a mount. Their speed was not very fast as they remained careful along the way. 2 days pa.s.sed, and nothing unusual happened. Most of the members of the Iron s.h.i.+eld Mercenary Squad had recovered from their injuries, but they did not dare to relax their vigilance.
It was autumn in the human world. The sun was not dazzling, but it was easy to cause fatigue. Amidst the b.u.mps of the carriage, the fatty’s eyelids began to close. He couldn’t help taking a nap.
Before Sir Pastor slept for long, he was awakened by the violent shaking and screams. The fatty nerves that had been loosened immediately tightened. After opening the curtain to see, blocks of boulders on the side of the mountain rolled down. At this time, the mounts seemed to be frightened by some kind of special power as they ran wildly around uncontrollably. In desperation, the mercenaries had to abandon their horses. A few of the mounts even rushed into the boulder area. They were immediately smashed into mashed flesh.
“The road behind has been blocked. Quick! Sir Pastor! Get off the horse! Let’s run into the woods over there!”
The horses of the carriage were beheaded by the mercenaries because they lost control. The fatty jumped out of the carriage and quickly fled to the woods at the side under the protection of the mercenaries. In the midst of the panic, he didn’t notice that ‘Richard’ was gone again.
Everyone finally avoided the boulders and escaped into the woods. The sun in the sky suddenly dimmed.
It was not that there were dark clouds, but this forest was shrouded by a special kind of power. Even the sun was covered with a layer of mist.
Everyone only heard the screaming and wailing sounds. There seemed to be countless hands dragging them in the woods. Their speed was involuntarily slowed down. The gusts of ghastly wind seemed to penetrate deep into the bone marrow which made everyone’s heart felt ice-cold. The layers of mist in the woods seemed to be transformed into a life-threatening phantom, floating around. Both their will and power were tremendously weakened in this terrifying environment.
“This is a dark breath! d.a.m.n a.s.sa.s.sins, how dare you use this blasphemous power!” The fatty was a pastor after all. He put away the fear in his heart as he tremblingly raised the staff in his hand. He started to chant incantation together with the 2 friars, “Disperse! The lowly darkness!”
A cl.u.s.ter of white light appeared floating in the air, and it spread out. The mist faded into smoke and dissipated under the s.h.i.+ning of the white light. At the same time, the abnormality of everyone seemed to be weakened.
At this moment, the ghastly wind was blowing strongly. The white light was quickly devoured by the mist that filled the entire forest. The fatty chanted several times in a row, but the effect was minimal. On the contrary, he exhausted too much spirit power. His footing was unstable, and he fell to the ground. The other 2 friars were weaker than the fatty. They were unable to cast [Dispel] not long after.
The light in the woods was getting darker and darker. The mercenaries seemed to be in a quagmire as they couldn’t use their power. Even the magic of the magician couldn’t work. All kinds of debuffs came one after another. Fear, weakness, deceleration…
Chen Rui looked curiously at the 2 black-robed men in the woods who joined forces to cast the dark power – There are also dark magicians in the human world?
From his eyesight, it could be seen that the strength of these 2 men was both Great Demon King early stage. A special magic circle was laid in the woods which could buff dark power. The purpose of rolling the boulders just now should be to drive everyone into the woods so that they could catch them all in one fell swoop.
“Hmph! Didn’t they say that there is an enemy who might be a Master? He even killed Tucker. Why are they all weak ants!” A man said disdainfully.
“Tucker is just an incompetent person, but d.a.m.n those intel agents! It’s a humiliation that they alarmed us for these people!”
“Since we are here, let’s torture these ants slowly to death!”
As Chen Rui was about to finish the 2 men himself, he suddenly looked in the other direction. He could sense that there was someone rus.h.i.+ng toward this side quickly, and his strength seemed… to be not weak.
Accomplice? Chen Rui’s mind moved slightly as he put down his hand. Anyway, the fatty and the others are not in danger now. When the accomplice arrives, I can just finish them off together.
The person who rushed over was very fast. In the blink of an eye, he has already arrived in the magic circle of the woods. Only then did the 2 black-robed men react. They were both startled when they heard a determined man’s voice sounded through the woods. “[Dawn Extinction]!”
What surprised Chen Rui was that this voice was a bit familiar!
TL: ??someone he knew in the human world?