Chapter 698: Assassin Captured! Is Anyone Home?
Two guards, wrinkling their noses, one lifting his head and the other lifting a foot, hoisted up the green cocoon and walked in the direction Garrett had pointed. Inside the cocoon, Tupac Demir did his best to conceal his aura, making himself appear no different from an ordinary civilian to the perceptions of the powerful.
Should he make a move?
Perhaps it would be better to act once inside the house. The silver deer, resembling the Silver Moon Deer from the beastiary, possessed immense strength, excelled in long-distance travel, and had healing abilities. However, it was too tall to enter the house.
As for the elven ranger, typically exceptional in archery and close combat, he was confident he could escape unless they were more than two levels above him. And mages? Under his anti-magic blade, they were merely a cut away.
Tupac slowed his breathing and calmed his heartbeat. Good, the mage wasn’t paying attention to him. He was sneaking up behind the elven ranger, reaching out to stab her from behind—they both burst into laughter...
Damn it, why did that plain-looking, at best average-handsome, young mage attract the attention of the elven beauty?
Garrett and Miss Silver Dragon stood shoulder to shoulder, watching the guards carry the patient past them. Opposite, Lord Appa idly pawed the ground and snorted.
Suddenly, Garrett felt a hunch and cast a [Detect Magic]—
!!!
He shuddered. The person wrapped in the grass cocoon was unclear in his meditative vision!Lord Appa, a level eight magical beast, should make magic glow visible to those below level three. But this one, it was just a dark blotch—
If the cocoon itself was magical, light would emanate from it, revealing at least the skull and neck bones. But now, nothing was visible!
Without thinking, Garrett ducked behind Cirilla, poking her back while casting a [Message], whispering a spell only they could hear:
“Cirilla, listen. Smile, don’t be surprised, don’t react—there’s something wrong with the person bound up! He’s a professional, at least level three or above!”
Cirilla stiffened. She turned her body in the direction the man was carried, casting a [Message] in sync:
“Shall I take him out? Or, subdue him?”
“Wait—”
Garrett grabbed her.
Cirilla was strong, capable of wiping out a group, including several high-ranking priests and knights of the Radiant Church, level ten and above, with her only suffering a minor injury like a stubbed toe;
But from Garrett’s point of view, he didn’t even want Cirilla to suffer that minor injury.
What if the opponent was a high-ranking warrior above level ten?
Level fifteen or above?
Better to be safe than sorry!
“Cast a [Protective Hut] or something similar, and cover our hut,” he whispered back.
“Don’t make an entrance, trap that guy. I’ll go find Elder Knox.”
A level sixteen high priest combined with a close-combat capable Silver Dragon should be able to handle any foe, right?
Tupac Demir lay quietly in the protective hut, on a bed constructed by force fields. Footsteps hurried past, and the two guards dropped him off and turned to leave. But the target didn’t immediately enter; from a distance, they only heard:
“I’m going to the restroom first!”
Then it was truly quiet around him—the kind of quiet where you hear no footsteps, no wind, nothing. Tupac counted his heartbeat on the examination bed, one, two, three, four, five...
Then, brisk footsteps approached directly. Tupac didn’t need to discern carefully to recognize it was the elven ranger, her steps springy as if fitted with springs. She hummed as she walked:
“Spring has come~~~la la la la~~~”
“Summer is here~~~la la la la~~~”
“The cattle are back~~~la la la la~~~”
“Cirilla is full~~~la la la la~~~”
...Elves are supposed to pick fruit, collect honey, and brew wine with dew and berries, right? What does her being full have to do with cattle? Can you even swallow a whole herd?!
As he thought this, a surge of magical energy suddenly swept over him. Tupac tensed:
Is it aimed at me?!
Am I exposed?!
Is this magic for attack, control, or something else?
Without opening his eyes, he rolled off the treatment bed. He had only rolled halfway when a strong force suddenly pressed down. Tupac hadn’t reacted yet when his wrists were grabbed, and he was swung around, pressed to the ground—
“Cirilla!”
A low call from behind. Anxious, worried, concerned. Was
that the target’s voice...? What are you worried about?! You should be worried about me!
Before he could complete the thought, countless vines sprouted from the ground, binding his wrists, ankles, elbows, and knees tightly together...
The vines not only restrained him but also sprouted tiny branches that burrowed into his clothes. The first layer tightly bound him, and the second layer immediately expanded outward. With a tearing sound, the rags he had snatched from the commoners ripped apart.
“Oh my! Garrett, he has a dagger!”
“Don’t touch it! Cirilla, don’t touch it!”
Garrett urgently stopped her. He directed a vine to wrap around the dagger and brought it before his eyes, then bent another vine to wipe a leaf on the dagger.
Instantly, the leaf withered and yellowed, and the vine itself turned brittle. Had Garrett not cut it off, even the vine holding the dagger would have perished.
Clearly, the dagger was poisoned, and dangerously so. If it had brushed against Cirilla...
Garrett shuddered, not daring to think further. Elder Knox watched him with a smile:
“How about it? Want me to ask around what this fellow is all about?”
The young one is cautious indeed! Hmm, a tiger catching a rabbit still uses full force, and you shouldn’t take the elf ranger for granted or be careless about your backup.
You must use all available strength to ensure absolute certainty!
“No need,” Garrett wiped his sweat. He tiptoed carefully behind Cirilla, directing the vines to continue their work. Tiny thorns grew, piercing the target’s skin, then secreting an anesthetic liquid—
Topical anesthesia!
Nerve block anesthesia!
Subarachnoid block, not to curb pain but to numb all sensation in his lower body!
Numb him so he can’t move! Then cast a [Hypnosis] to put him to sleep, then tightly bind him up! Every joint tightened!
Finally, he pulled out the [Emerald Crown] given by His Excellency, the alchemy bird, and dictated a message for it to deliver to Grand Mage Seymour of the Royal Mage Corps:
“We’ve caught an assassin! Suspected... likely a professional above level five. Can you ask the council if they’re interested?”
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