“You may rise first.
Did those people reveal their purpose before they died?”
Xia De's voice echoed in the shadow soldier's mind.
The shadow soldier did not stubbornly remain on one knee. It knew that their Lord could perceive their loyalty and fanaticism at any moment.
It only needed to obey that Lord's orders unconditionally without harboring any ulterior motives.
Following Xia De's command, it stood up, though it kept its head bowed respectfully as it spoke to him.
“Before clearing away those trash, I overheard them plotting to ambush and kill your group.
From their conversation, their target this time is Lilith, the object of your current mission, Lord.”
“So it really is Lilith?
After waiting for so long, they've finally come.”
Xia De was not in the least surprised by the shadow soldier's report. S-rank adventurers were at least Tier Seven in strength; if this were merely a simple escort mission, it would have been far too much of an overreaction.
After all, the carriage was traveling along a main road that had been specially cleared by high-level experts, so there was no sign of high-level magical beasts.
Thus, as early as when Count Toka had approached him to explain the details of the mission, Xia De had been fully aware that the danger of this mission would only come from humans.
That was why Xia De had been waiting for the past two weeks, and now they had finally appeared.
As for who they were?
Drawing from the experience of the works he had read in his previous life, a noble's enemies were nothing more than personal foes, political rivals, or the like.
But Xia De did not care about any of that. If he wanted to, he could destroy this entire country at any moment.
The purpose of these so-called enemies was merely to add a bit of amusement to Xia De's journey.
Xia De spoke in the shadow soldier's mind once more:
“You have done well. Keep up the good work. Do not forget that not only must you kill these people, but you must also completely clear out any magical beasts that have reached Tier Four. Not a single one is to be let through to my side!”
With that, Xia De severed the mental connection and fell silent.
“Yes, Lord!”
Upon hearing Xia De's words, the massive shadow soldier knelt on one knee again with utmost respect. Its dry, raspy voice was filled with boundless fanaticism, like a devout believer receiving a command from their god.
It stood up, bowed its head slightly, and began to sense its surroundings through the shadows. Then, its body sank into the darkness.
When it reappeared, several Tier Four magical beasts stood before it. It raised its greatsword high, pointing it at them. Its eyes flickered with a crimson glow as cold, emotionless words spilled from its mouth:
“My Lord says... you must all die!!!”
Meanwhile, after disconnecting his consciousness, Xia De slightly lifted his eyelids to glance at the quiet girl reading across from him.
The girl sat upright with perfect posture, quietly looking at the grimoire in her hands. She exuded a tranquil and elegant temperament, as if she were completely oblivious to her own danger.
But was she truly oblivious?
Xia De did not believe for a second that the daughter of an astute and powerful figure like Count Toka would be some naive, sweet girl, especially since she herself was a genius.
Xia De could almost see a blue exclamation mark hovering over her head. The escort mission was merely the beginning; there would likely be a series of related quests to follow.
He could easily imagine that her future life in the Royal Capital would be anything but peaceful.
Xia De calmly withdrew his gaze, having no intention of asking.
Whatever happened to her in the Royal Capital had nothing to do with him.
Perhaps if he had nothing else to do, he might be interested in participating to enrich the contents of his adventure log, but he had his own matters to attend to in the Royal Capital—finding his parents in this world and gathering magic spells at the magic academy.
As time passed, the group entered a small city.
The ruler of this city was a Count, but his cultivation was only at the peak Tier Five level. The population size and level of prosperity were mediocre, and the ordinary adventurers in the local Adventurer's Guild mostly possessed Tier Two cultivations.
It was completely unlike the strength and prosperity of Count Toka and Toka City.
However, this was actually the norm for a county. Count Toka had only been able to advance to Tier Eight because his territory backed onto a large labyrinth, allowing him to rely on its abundant resources, combined with his own formidable talent.
It was also due to his formidable strength and the resources of the large labyrinth that a multitude of factions had been attracted to settle there, which had even led to the birth of four other Tier Eight powerhouses within the city.
This had allowed Toka City to become one of the top five largest cities in the country.
One could say that the prosperity of Toka City was inseparably linked to the resources of the labyrinth and the strength of its lord; neither could be lacking.
Without facing any difficulties, after Theodore and the others revealed their Tier Five auras, the guards did not even charge them an entry fee, respectfully inviting Xia De and his group into the city.
However, the moment the group entered the city, Xia De's perception picked something up.
Several individuals dressed as street vendors looked at them with glowing eyes, exchanged glances, and left two lookouts behind while the rest slowly converged toward a certain location.
“New spinning tops have arrived. I hope they can keep me well entertained!”
Xia De propped his cheek with one hand, casting his calm, idle gaze out the carriage window onto the street as he spoke in a careless, nonchalant tone.
His voice reached the ears of the girl opposite him. Lilith put down her book and looked at Xia De with a puzzled expression, not understanding why he would suddenly say such a thing.
Xia De did not care about others' gazes in the slightest; his mind was entirely occupied with thinking of ways to spin these new tops.
After leaving the city gates, the suspicious individuals made their way one after another to a grocery store.
Inside the grocery store's basement, the dim room was lit by an oil lamp, casting several black, menacing shadows onto the walls.
Several people gathered around a table, and one of them spoke up:
“Boss, the target has arrived. When do we strike?”
“How is the other side's strength?”
“Hawkeye used perception magic to sense them. Their energy signature indicates two Tier Sixes, four Tier Fives, five Tier Fours, and a bunch of low-tier weaklings.
With our strength, it is more than enough to handle them.”
“That fellow Toka really spared no expense for his daughter. A Tier Six extraordinary might only appear once in every three or four medium-sized cities, yet he actually managed to hire two at once.”
“As expected of a wealthy noble!”
The lackey sneered, “So what if he's a wealthy noble? The more he values his daughter, the more grief-stricken he'll be when he hears of her death. Perhaps that grand personage will even give us an extra reward.”
“Then we move tonight.”
At that moment, Hawkeye spoke up, “But Boss, through the window, I saw that there seems to be a youth inside the young lady's carriage. Could he be that fellow Toka's trump card?”
The leading boss merely waved his hand and said dismissively, “Just a kid. No matter how strong he is, he can't be that formidable.”
He placed his hand on the wooden table in front of him and applied a light pressure. In an instant, the wooden table turned to dust as his aura flared, revealing him to be at peak Tier Six!
He grinned savagely and said, “A mere kid can be easily crushed with a wave of my hand!”
“As assassins of the Assassin's Guild, we won't be frightened by some kid. Besides, as long as we complete this job, we won't have to worry about the rest of our lives!”
At these words, greedy sneers appeared on everyone's faces. The oil lamp's flame flickered wildly, and the shadows of the men projected onto the wall writhed like demons from hell.
Yet, no one noticed that within their shadows, a faint, illusory crimson gaze was watching them.
Rate on N.U.
