Counterattack
“Trying to leave?” Leylin sneered as the dagger flew out of his hand. With a violent scream, it dove straight into the assassin’s back. This was the rank 0 spell, Launch Bolt. With Leylin’s own powers, the dagger he threw was out comparable to a crossbow bolt.
Miserable gasps sounded out briefly before the assassin fell to the floor. Provoked by the death of his companion, the other one ran even faster.
Leylin chased after him as well, not seeming to have noticed the dark figure that was constantly closer. These two assassins were bait, and the real surekill strike would come from the leader who was hiding in secret.
*Smack! Smack!* Leylin chased up to the fleeing assassin in a flash. The fellow had long been scared out of his wits, and was already down on the floor after being beaten up a few times. Leylin unhinged his jaw and broke all of his limbs.
At this moment, he showed joy on his face. This was the reaction that a powerful juvenile ought to have after obtaining the first victory in his life.
The young man stood in front of the assassin who had collapsed. Although he had tried his best to conceal it, he still radiated the aura of someone high and mighty, “Speak! Who sent you?”
“I... I’ll speak....” The assassin’s voice was gentle. He played the role of attracting Leylin’s attention very well, and coordinated with his leader’s attack.
His lips kept opening and closing, yet the sounds he made were exceptionally indistinct, which made Leylin irritable, “Speak clearly! I can’t hear you!”
Leylin was half-squatting beside the assassin, and almost all the crucial points of his back were completely exposed.
‘Now!’ The assassin who was lurking in the dark widened his eyes. An arrow with a blue tip pierced through the air, and came close to Leylin’s back in an instant.
“Huh?!” Leylin opened his eyes wide, and a trace of panic finally appeared on his face.
“Mage Armour!” A transparent protective force field appeared, and the number of rank 1 spells that Leylin had prepared fell by one.
*Poof!* The arrow collided with the invisible force field, producing a sharp whistle. Yet it eventually deviated from its original course, and brushed past Leylin’s face.
The tremendous force from the contact made Leylin take a few steps back in succession, and he fell to the floor.
“Awoo!” “Awoo!” Numerous green eyes emerged from the darkness. A few strong and healthy figures pounced forth, their canine teeth covered with saliva as they tried to bite Leylin’s neck.
“A rank 1 Monster Summoning spell?!” Leylin cried out in alarm, but the expression on his face was quickly replaced with unwavering determination. He swiftly recited a few phrases, and pointed towards the wild wolves. A gigantic white web materialized out of thin air, trapping the three wild wolves in it. The white web seemed extremely sticky, rendering the wolves immobile.
“Who exactly is it?” The young man got up, evidently flustered and exasperated, but his expression was even more so filled with a faint hint of dread. At this very moment, the air behind him distorted and a silhouette emerged. The emerald dagger was heading straight towards Leylin’s heart, about to stab in.
“Shadow Step?! A rank 7 assassin?!” The young man made a startled cry and a rope flew out from his embrace.
“Animate Rope!” Under the influence of the spell, the rope seemed to have a life of its own, and threw itself towards the silhouette, curling around it tightly like a python.
*Thump!* The silhouette had his hands and legs tied, and collapsed onto the ground. Yet he had turned into a puppet.
“A substitute!” The expression on Leylin’s face was now that of horror. Soon after, he saw a blade of icy light appearing out of thin air, thrusting right into his throat.
Clear-cut! Quick! An a lethal attack in one strike! This was the style of a high-level assassin. Moreover, he had clearly found out about Leylin’s wizard rank through certain means, and had been patiently waiting until he’d thought that Leylin had exhausted all his spells before taking action. This one move didn’t leave Leylin any chance at all.
Within such a short distance, there wouldn’t be enough time even if he used any magical items. After all, those magic scrolls couldn’t take effect instantly.
From his opponent’s graceful glance, Leylin saw a deathly stillness. It was as though he wasn’t about to assassinate a human, but a pig or dog, or some other animal. His profound gaze, however, held a trace of agitation. It was obvious that getting rid of this magic genius would bring him a particular sense of accomplishment.
However, when the assassin saw the look in Leylin’s eyes, his expression changed. At this moment, Leylin’s face was not filled with any panic or fear of death whatsoever, but just a smile of a person who had gotten his way.
‘I finally caught you!’ were the words he could infer from Leylin’s smile.
‘What does that mean? Caught me?’ The assassin felt dizzy, but then saw the glaring radiance of a spell shine in front of him.
A blue ray shot straight into the palm with which he was holding the dagger. A layer of ice immediately spread until his entire palm was completely covered, and it even extended along his arm towards his body.
Shortly after, there was an excruciating pain from his thigh, along with the ear-piercing sound of bones breaking.
‘He broke my legs!’ The assassin’s heart sunk. He immediately lost his center of gravity and collapsed onto the floor.
Leylin didn’t let him go. A fist as hard as steel landed heavily on his face, making him spit out a few teeth covered in blood, and a small ball which contained highly poisonous toxins.
‘That wasn’t easy! If a rank 7 assassin wishes to escape, I might not be able to catch him!’ Leylin said, sighing after he finished with the formalities.
Everything had gone almost flawlessly in the battle earlier. These few assassins could only act according to the script that Leylin had written, and on the stage he had put in place. They had ultimately ended up being completely wiped out.
“You... Why do you still have a spell left? You... Aren’t you a rank 5 wizard?”
The chief assassin sputtered a few undecipherable words, along with a large amount of bloody foam.
“It seems that a spy has appeared in my family? Also... Who told you that I’m just a rank 5 wizard?” Leylin shot a glance at the assassin, and appeared extremely disdainful.
“Heh heh... So... So you already advanced to rank 6 a long time ago!” The chief assassin seemed to be convinced, “As expected, you’re worthy of being the legendary magic genius. But what a pity... In the face of our power, you will be unable to avoid your ultimate downfall...”
“Stop spouting so much rubbish!” With a stroke of Leylin’s blade, the assassin fainted.
This assassin leader had a very high status and a decent amount of strength. He definitely knew a lot, and this was why Leylin was bent on plotting to capture him alive.
“He even knew that I’ve already advanced to a rank 5 wizard. Although this information is from several years ago, I’m afraid that it’s necessary to purge the family once through...” Leylin looked over at the chief assassin, who had already fainted. The list of traitors would certainly have to be fished out from the assassin’s own mouth, but no matter; he could be said to be an expert when it came to interrogation and psychological probing.
Perhaps the assassin in his hands would feel better off dying right away.
“Young master! Young master!” At this moment, there was a commotion at the port in the distance. Jacob had finally brought the patrol team over.
“This is-- Ah....” An anxious Jacob immediately exhaled deeply after scanning the place.
The assassins at the scene had all collapsed on the ground, and there was even an additional person. Jacob understood the strength of these assassins very well. Each one of them had strength close to at least a rank 5 elite in their profession, and the one lurking in the dark was stronger.
If he was in Leylin’s shoes, Jacob would not have be able to avoid such attacks no matter how he tried, and it was very likely that he would have died there and then. However, his young master had rounded all of them up in one clean sweep, and didn’t even sustain any injuries.
This knowledge immediately gained Leylin Jacob’s respect, and this was even more true for the rest of the patrol team members.
“What happened to the person who was chasing after you?” Leylin looked at Jacob. Seeing the new wounds on his body, Leylin had already made a guess.
“We killed him, but his last counterattack in the face of death also took away the lives of two of our team members...” Jacob appeared rather embarrassed, especially after seeing the two people that Leylin had taken captive.
“You can bring that guy with you, and interrogate him in detail! Leave the other one to me!” Leylin threw the more average assassin to the patrol team, and left with the chief assassin.
The other fellow was evidently cannon fodder, and wouldn’t know much. Compared to him, Leylin was more interested in the chief assassin. A rank 7 Professional wouldn’t be attracted to someone so easily.
Moreover, he was 80% sure that the chief assassin still controlled the hidden spy in Leylin’s manor, and he was even the source of intel for the pirates that had come ashore. Leylin absolutely would not hand him over to the useless patrol team before digging out everything in his brain. If not, he suspected that he would hear news about this chap committing suicide the next day.
“Jacob, take him with you. Don’t let him leave my line of sight!” Under Leylin’s commands, Jacob lifted the unconscious chief assassin onto his shoulders and followed behind Leylin.
The patrol team members looked at each other in dismay, and could only bring the remaining survivor back with them. They clearly wanted to vent all of their fury on him. Of course, they were also in charge of things like cleaning the battlefield. They had to bury the corpses to prevent an epidemic.
After they were all done, the area had barely regained its tranquil state. Only the ditches in ground and numerous blood stains spoke of the danger during the earlier battle.
“Who would’ve thought that my younger cousin has gotten so strong. Seems like I was worried for nothing...” A black figure flashed, revealing Isabel’s sturdy black attire. As she gazed in the direction Leylin had left in, her eyes turned gentle for a moment.
The softness was quickly replaced by a frigid gaze.