Chapter 624: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Released

Irina, having climbed the highest, caught sight of the armored throngs of Temple Knights and nearly shuddered herself right off the edge of the rooftop.

Yet as she watched the crowd furiously bellowing "I am an assassin," she found herself utterly dumbfounded.

Commander Gethla, clad in the heavy plate armor of the Temple, stood equally stupefied.

"Where in the world did all these assassins come from?!"

"Commander Gethla, what are our orders now?!" a knight whispered urgently.

"..."

...

"Dammit!" Gethla muttered, his face dark with rage as he strode away from the Mercenary Guild.

As the commander of the local Order of Knights, the task of hunting down these surviving remnants of the assassins fell squarely on his shoulders.

Yet it was glaringly obvious that despite the vast privileges they enjoyed as missionaries sent to spread the faith, they possessed no right to override the laws of this land.

Under local law, claiming to be an assassin was not an executable offense; had it been a lone soul or two, they could have dragged them off and beaten them senseless without a peep from anyone, but with such numbers all professing the same allegiance, the matter had grown beyond easy resolution.

"Curse them!" he snarled, slamming a fist violently against the brickwork. "They all deserve to be rounded up, the reckless fools! If they hadn't muddled the waters and bought them time, we would surely have uncovered the true assassins' tracks today!"

"The higher-ups have already made it clear that we are in a critical period, and the recent war has already tarnished our image across the kingdoms. If you wish to avoid the Inquisition, you had best learn to endure for now!" From behind him, a Grand Priest draped in crimson robes approached with measured steps.

"I am certain someone is pulling the strings from the shadows!" Gethla said, his voice cold. "We must root this person out!"

"I advise you to banish that thought, Commander Gethla," the crimson-robed priest replied chillingly. "A month ago, such a move might have carried no consequence, but the wind has changed."

"And why is that?!" Gethla demanded coldly. "This individual must surely be an accomplice harboring those killers!"

"You ought to walk the streets more often instead of brooding here, Commander," the Grand Priest remarked indifferently. "A good number of nobles are currently cultivating their skills within that establishment, and there are even elves among them. Lord Luther will soon depart for the Silvermoon Forest; it is precisely the moment we require the goodwill of the elves, so do not go stirring up trouble now!"

"Should you interfere with his Lordship's designs," the priest sneered, "not even ten of your lives would suffice to pay the forfeit!"

"Are we simply to stand by and watch then?!" Gethla asked, his voice dropping to a low rumble.

"Have no fear; these assassins are frail at best," the Grand Priest murmured callously. "With the launch of our new mystic realm, we have focused our propaganda heavily on anti-assassination techniques, ensuring they realize that assassins are nothing but a jest before our might! I trust the nobility will know how to choose."

"Furthermore, Lord Luther's embassy to the elves will bring them the new mystic realm from the 'Duran Workshop.' We shall use that occasion to launch another campaign; I expect it is a creation that will leave even the elves in awe."

"Indeed, Lord Luther will allow any elf to test it freely, and they may even select assassins for evaluation," he added with a faint laugh. "With a stroke of fortune, we might even secure a precious spell projection to aid our cause."

"I truly cannot wait to see the astonishment on those elves' faces!" Gethla let out a cold laugh.

...

As the morning sun spilled into the shop, it brought the dawn of another hopeful day.

And at this particular hour within the Origin Internet Club.

A few elves had only just stepped through the doors, their hearts brimming with anticipation for the early release of *Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood*.

"I wonder when the boss will finally release *Brotherhood*." By now, even the young elf Sera had completed *Assassin's Creed 1*, to say nothing of the other masters.

Naturally, that applied only to the proficient; in terms of combat technique, Sera was by no means lacking, her strength having already attained the sixth rank, allowing her to progress far more rapidly than ordinary mercenaries.

Meanwhile, elite figures like Captain Evan, Irina, and Hassin had spent the past few days embarking on their second playthroughs, challenging the higher difficulties, though they had clearly met rather grisly ends.

Then, a new entry appeared upon the small blackboard: *Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood*.

"Oh—! It's actually out?!" Sera stared at the blackboard in delightful surprise. "Has that cunning boss finally found a conscience?!"

Following her usual routine, she selected a seat near the street. She was immensely fond of the shop's singular architecture; drawing back the curtain and looking to her left, she could gaze through the flawless crystal wall out onto the bustling thoroughfare.

The stark contrast in decor inside offered an indescribable sensation, making one feel as though they had stepped into an entirely different realm, yet opening the curtain revealed the same city of white walls, red tiles, and garden vistas—Canglan City, where mercenaries drifted by, nobles rode in carriages, and knights patrolled the avenues. She found the contrast utterly marvelous.

Sera leaned back comfortably into the spacious computer chair, which felt much like a leather sofa, took a sip of her delicious milk tea, and along with several other elves, used her membership card balance to activate the new chronicle, *Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood*.

Impatient to begin, she clicked launch and slid the virtual reality headset over her eyes.

As the pioneer of the series, *Assassin's Creed 1* had employed version 1.28 of the "Animus," which naturally limited the scope of what could be achieved; it was purely a tale dedicated to the Master Assassin, Altaïr.

It chronicled the trials of a master who, through countless tribulations, ultimately grasped the true essence of the Assassin's Creed.

Yet *Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood*, while depicting another Master Assassin, Ezio, at the absolute zenith of his legend, offered far greater freedom—incorporating virtual training, multiplayer matchmaking, the recruitment and training of apprentices, and cooperative missions (including the multiplayer elements from Unity).

Following the familiar dance of the Ubisoft logo, Sera soon found her vision returning to that same laboratory, focused once more on the man named Desmond.

The imagery was washed in shades of grey, a clear sign of reminiscence: "I don't suppose anyone wakes up one morning expecting to find themselves caught in the middle of a war between two ancient secret societies."

"I certainly didn't choose this, but it happened to me anyway..."

Through Desmond's narration, the sequence swiftly laid out the origins of the entire affair.

In the 1930s, under the pretext of Germany's "Uranium Project" nuclear weapon program, the Templars began constructing a mysterious device in Norway. Utilizing knowledge extracted from the Apple of Eden, this apparatus promised the ability to peer into the ancestral memories of humanity.

Desmond had originally been a member of the modern Assassin Brotherhood until the Templars tracked him down a short while ago, forcing him into the Animus in a bid to unearth the "Pieces of Eden" hidden within the memories of his forebears.

.