Chapter 96

As for the murder case, the Dark Night Mask had not provided much information to the Viscount, and the Viscount's own investigation had made no progress. This kind of easy money job, of course, Thor was happy to continue. This time, he was heading out to meet someone.

"Lying has become your second nature, hasn't it?" The gatherer now held a mace larger than a fist, swinging it around Thor's head. "The Dark Night Mask is known as the king of the underground in West Gate. How could they not find out about such a small matter? Or do you think the few gold coins they gave you are worth more than your head?"

Seeing the mace swinging in front of his nose, Thor immediately broke into a sweat. "No, no, no, I'm telling the truth! The Viscount mobilized everyone he could, but found nothing. I guess... I'm just guessing, maybe the people from the Dark Night Mask..."

The gatherer and the Black Mountain imp exchanged a smile, thinking it was just as they suspected.

"Since you've said that, you won't mind having two more people join you when you meet the Dark Night Mask, right?"

Under the threat of the two fierce adventurers, Thor nervously walked into the tavern. To avoid arousing suspicion, the gatherer and the Black Mountain imp waited at the tavern entrance and did not go in.

"Square has sent a message, he's already at West Gate and is on his way here," the Black Mountain imp looked down at the message manager. "He should have come earlier; he's the best at this kind of tracking and kidnapping."

The gatherer looked up at the tavern entrance, also receiving the message. This mission had many more steps, and with Square here, the two of them would be much more at ease.

Soon, Thor and the previous hooded man came out one after the other. After giving a rough location to Fang Yi, the Black Mountain imp and the gatherer followed the hooded man.

The hooded man, unaware of being followed, strolled leisurely down the street, leading the two for over ten minutes. Just as the Black Mountain imp couldn't help but start complaining, the hooded man suddenly turned into a small alley.

The two didn't dare follow too closely. After the target disappeared from their sight, they ran a few steps and quickly entered the alley, only to find that the hooded man had already vanished.

"Hurry up, sister!" The Black Mountain imp, seeing the hooded man suddenly disappear, urged the priest behind her. In a panic, the gatherer didn't think much and followed the Black Mountain imp down the alley.

While running, the two soon realized something was wrong. Not far ahead, three figures appeared, blocking their path. The gatherer quickly pulled the Black Mountain imp back. The three people in front clearly meant no good, their weapons drawn, and the bard at the back had already enchanted the weapons of the two warriors in front with magical weapons, eyeing the two menacingly.

Judging from their clothing and actions, the gatherer and the Black Mountain imp immediately thought of retreating. But when they turned around, four figures had appeared behind them, with the hooded man at the lead, and the others looking like players. The residents of the alley, seeing the situation, quickly closed their doors and windows, fearing involvement.

The gatherer's heart sank. Clearly, they had fallen into a trap. Did Thor betray us? But what about these players?

"Wasn't it you who followed me yesterday? Just two small fries, leave them to you." The hooded man glanced at the Black Mountain imp, his hoarse voice reaching everyone's ears. He turned and left the group, quickly disappearing at the end of the alley.

"Life is full of coincidences, aren't you the two pure and beautiful ladies from earlier?" As the players on both sides approached, a familiar voice came. The two looked closely and saw it was the bard who had been scared by the gatherer's green-named elite earlier, now hiding behind two warriors with a sinister smile on his face. "What, not reporting me for harassment now?"

PK and harassment are different things—though the gatherer didn't bother with the noisy bard, she skillfully cast a blessing on the Black Mountain imp and drew her mace. Logging off could avoid verbal insults, but it couldn't avoid a wipe. In her gaming experience, the gatherer had been wiped before, but if she lost a level now... the Heart of Holy Light quest would be delayed significantly.

The Black Mountain imp raised her shield to block the arrows from the ranger aimed at the priest, noticing that the players weren't charging but just harassing, all with smirks on their faces, staring at the two surrounded.

"Wasn't Xiao Bai supposed to have a powerful thief? Are you two his lovers?" The thief leading the other side had never gone into stealth, clearly confident of victory. He leered at the two women, his high-pitched voice sounding quite strange. "Why did he leave you? How about coming with me? I'm definitely better than him."

The gatherer said nothing, her left hand extended as if operating a virtual panel. The Black Mountain imp also looked at the interface on her retinal display, her demeanor instantly changing. "You faggot! Looking like a chick, come here and I'll smack you!" If not for protecting the priest behind her, her shield would have already turned into a flying shield and hit the thief.

The thief, likely the leader, was taken aback by the fierce warrior who looked so refined. He laughed in anger, drew his short sword, and said, "No need to wait for Xiao Bai, let's start. That thief doesn't seem to be coming."

Seeing the other side about to attack, the Black Mountain imp and the gatherer immediately backed up, pressing against the wall, back to back. The atmosphere suddenly became tense, everyone's attention focused on the warrior and priest in the center. The thief wisely retreated behind his teammates, guarding against their desperate counterattack.

Thinking about about to ravage two beautiful women, the thief felt a surge of excitement. Just as he imagined the scene of the two begging for mercy, a soft voice came from behind, "Waiting for me?"

***

After receiving the system prompt for a successful team join, Fang Yi launched a sneak attack. Holding the elven dagger in his left hand, the thief's armor seemed like paper, the quality difference in equipment allowing the elven dagger to penetrate the thief's back without much resistance.

As the sneak attack caused the thief to fall unconscious, Fang Yi twisted the dagger, causing the secondary damage numbers to jump from the thief's head, the blood gushing out in a spray, forming a blood-red flower. The golden light of the Aura of Courage also lit up under the three of them.

The ranger, standing farthest back, was the first to notice Fang Yi. The sudden appearance of the thief, like a bloodthirsty beast, caught the leader off guard. His small frame trembled in the splattered blood, and in an instant, the thief's health in the party list dropped to the brink of death.

The ranger, who had been aiming at the two in the center, quickly turned his arrow towards the back of the sneak attacker. The Rapid Shot skill flashed, and the three arrows shot directly at Fang Yi's head, but no blood spurted as expected.

The leading arrow seemed to be deflected by an invisible force, and the two following arrows only hit the thief's back at an angle, causing single-digit damage.

On the other side of the battlefield.

The moment Fang Yi attacked, the Black Mountain imp, as if in sync with him, immediately rushed to the side where Fang Yi appeared. She symbolically blocked the paladin's greatsword with her longsword, then crashed into the paladin's chest, pushing him back a considerable distance.

The gatherer, who was behind, did not move but raised her right hand, a faint white light connecting her to the slightly crouched Fang Yi, ready to charge. She allowed the powerful Hypnotic Gaze (slightly longer duration than Fear, but the effect would fail if the target took damage) to hit her.

Fang Yi ignored the ranger behind him, drew the dagger from the unconscious thief, and dodged the paladin, who was off-balance from the Black Mountain imp's collision. He activated his level 2 Sprint skill, which increased his speed by 32%! In a few steps, he met the two charging warriors.

The two warriors approaching Fang Yi were in a dilemma. Both were skilled, and the spell line between the priest and the thief was so obvious—it was clearly the priest's level 2 spell "Guard Other." Any damage to the thief would be transferred to the elven priest, and the Hypnotic Gaze would definitely fail, wasting a 5-second control spell.

The two warriors hesitated for a fraction of a second, then felt a blinding light explode in front of them, instinctively closing their eyes. A gust of wind passed between them, and they felt a chill. "Not good!"

Fang Yi felt the air seem to solidify, as if an invisible hand was blocking his path. He lightly scratched his arm with the elven dagger, glanced at the damage number marked with -1 (transferred), and looked at the bard casting protective spells on him. A slight smile appeared on his lips, and the red light of the Magic Thirst and Frenzy skills covered his body.

"You should have worn plate armor, young man!"

The gatherer, who had just come out of the Hypnotic Gaze, remained unusually calm, the light of the Blessing spell accurately landing on Fang Yi.

The blindness lasted less than three seconds, but Fang Yi took only three seconds to deal with the bard. The bard's unfamiliar casting and nervous, off-key incantations resulted in him only casting a moderate healing spell before dying.

Fang Yi turned around, looking at the two remaining stunned warriors, his bloodthirsty short sword, affected by the Magic Thirst skill, held in front of him. "Bullying girls? Suicide or let me do it~"

The paladin, eyes wide, watched the human female warrior turn and charge at the ranger. Her shoulder-length hair stained with blood, she wielded two longswords and had transformed into a berserker. The paladin, until his death, couldn't understand why, despite being the one on the offensive, he couldn't defeat a warrior who had just switched to dual-wielding. Was the shield just a cover-up from the start?

***

Apologies to everyone, I had to go out all day today and only got back very late in the afternoon, disappointing those waiting for the update...

Normal update tomorrow.