Chapter 134: 134 Assassination

Chapter 134: Assassination

Roning had never imagined assassination could happen to him.

After all, his domain lay deep in remote mountains—killers would expend tremendous effort just to reach him, let alone now, after two days of heavy snow had sealed the passes.

How much determination must this assassin possess to brave the freezing cold and blizzard, slicing through the white-blanketed woods to take his life?

Roning did not know, nor did he have time to wonder.

Faced with the assassin’s merciless strike, there was no room for hesitation. In a flash, Roning pulled out the protective armor scroll gifted to him by Rulans and poured magic into it.

Hum—

A dull yellow armor enveloped Roning’s entire body just as the blade descended. The assassin’s strike crashed against the spectral armor with a screeching metallic clang, causing the illusion to shudder violently.

“A fifth-level scroll? Hmph. The people of Wushan Castle do have some resources.”

The assassin sneered. “But it won’t save your life.”

He kicked out.

After blocking the blow with the scroll, Roning finally caught his breath. No longer trembling as he had been at first, he was now unnervingly calm.

He sidestepped the kick with lightning speed, then planted his toes into the ground and lunged forward.

That morning, after receiving the seventh package’s warm gift, Roning had spent every last point of his attributes.

His mage level had reached the pinnacle of advanced, and his knight level had surged to 280/300—advanced peak knight.

His physical strength, power, and spirit had all been massively enhanced. Even facing Macken, he would not flinch.

Though only two or three exchanges had passed, Roning had already assessed the assassin’s strength—he was a Bronze-rank knight.

In the cramped room, their battle raged—aura and blade-light slashed wildly, tearing through tables, chairs, and walls. If this continued, the room would not survive.

Roning’s performance had already shattered the assassin’s composure.

“Advanced knight? You’re an advanced knight?!”

After several exchanges, the assassin had fully gauged Roning’s power.

He could not believe the intelligence was wrong—so wildly, so catastrophically wrong.

This once-worthless heir to the marquisate was no longer worthless. In an instant, he’d become an advanced knight—and his combat skill was no less than formidable.

A seventeen-year-old peak advanced knight? A waste?

What nonsense!

“Retreat!”

The black-clad assassin used the recoil of another slash to launch himself backward. His blade swept out, shattering the ornamental wooden window, and he leapt through it to the ground below.

Three stories? Nothing to a Bronze knight.

The assassination had failed, the intelligence was flawed—he had lost all initiative. If he lingered, and the guard knight arrived, he’d be doomed.

“Think you can run?”

Roning pushed off the ground and leapt after him through the window.

But in those mere two or three seconds, as Roning scanned left and right, he saw no trace of the assassin.

“Hidden again?”

Roning cast Wind of Perception. As his elemental vision shifted, he caught the assassin’s landing form—now standing motionless, pressed against the wall.

What was this? Playing hide-and-seek right under his nose?

Or did the man believe “the most dangerous place is the safest,” thinking invisibility beneath his gaze would go unnoticed?

Roning didn’t care. Before his feet even touched the ground, he raised his fist and slammed it down. A fiery punch, like a bomb, roared toward the assassin’s hiding spot.

The assassin had no idea how his stealth had been breached. He had no time to think—only to dodge.

As he moved, his invisibility shattered.

In that moment, Roning understood: the assassin’s stealth had limits—either he couldn’t use aura, or his movements couldn’t be too sudden or too fast, or else the illusion would break.

Boom—

The explosion from the fire punch shook the castle beneath the night sky, shattering its usual silence.

Only then did Galen snap out of his shock. Shouting “My lord!” as he ran, he reached the window and bellowed into the night:

“Assassin!”

“There’s an assassin!”

“Someone, help! There’s an assassin!”

The cries startled the servants inside the inner keep and the guards on the walls.

“What’s happening?”

Chahar, mid-arranging dinnerware, froze. Once he recognized the voice, panic seized him—he bolted outside.

Meanwhile, outside the outer keep’s great hall, Elin, David, and the others had just finished their hour-long lesson and were leaving the “classroom,” light-hearted and relieved.

Elin because she’d finally finished today’s lecture; David because he’d survived it.

But as they laughed and prepared to part ways, the commotion from the inner keep halted them.

“What’s going on?”

The three knights exchanged glances—they hadn’t heard clearly.

But the tower guard had already delivered the unmistakable answer: the lord had been attacked.

Their blood ran cold. Their faces drained of color.

“Protect the lord!”

“Protect Lord Roning!”

They drew their swords and sprinted toward the inner keep at full speed.

“Lord Roning was assassinated?!”

Elin’s wide eyes filled with terror and panic, her face ashen. She sprinted after David and the others toward the inner keep.

Then she suddenly realized—she was useless inside. A novice mage’s combat ability was pitiful, negligible.

“Guard Captain!”

She spun around. “Yes—go find Macken!”

Macken had personally overseen the cavalry and guard training lately, which had freed David and the others to study in the evenings.

Perhaps from panic, perhaps from dread, Elin’s legs felt weak. As she burst through the outer keep’s gate, she stumbled and fell flat, her body and face smeared with mud.

She didn’t care. She scrambled up instantly, racing to find Macken as fast as she could.

Fortunately, she hadn’t run more than a hundred meters west when she saw Macken galloping toward her on horseback.

“Elin, what’s wrong?” Macken demanded urgently. “Why did I hear explosions inside the castle?”

"Assassins, there are assassins!"

Aileen cried out, "Hurry, go save Brother Ronin!"

Macken's expression shifted drastically; how could there be assassins inside the castle?

He had clearly stationed guards at the gates and atop the towers, so how on earth had the assassin eluded the sight of the sentries on the parapets and towers to enter the castle completely unobstructed?

"The Lord should be alright, shouldn't he?"

Macken leaped from his horse, his battle aura erupting as he charged into the castle at his absolute fastest speed.

...

Leaving aside the reactions of the servants and subordinates, Ronin was already locked in a fierce, bitter combat with the black-clad assassin.

Though he was no match for his opponent in terms of sheer strength, the fruits of his recent swordplay lessons under Rydal and Macken were now fully on display.

The current Ronin was like a lesser version of Rydal, while the assassin before him resembled a weakened version of Baron Rayson.

Ronin was suppressing his adversary with his swordsmanship.

Several questions currently haunted the mind of the man in black, the most incomprehensible of which was how his stealth ability, which had never failed him before, had rendered itself entirely useless before this baron.

"To think the rumors about you in the outside world were all wrong!"

Knowing that a prolonged battle would only disadvantage him, the black-clad assassin suddenly let billow a dark aura from his body, resembling a blazing fire.

Under the man's control, these flames gradually manifested atop his longsword into a long, black serpent.

"The Serpent's Embrace!"

As he lunged toward Ronin, the black snake upon the longsword roared and soared into the air, transforming into a terrifying beast some four or five meters long with a maw a meter or two wide, swallowing Ronin whole.

A bleak, profound atmosphere enveloped Ronin, this venomous serpent carrying a potent corrosiveness that rapidly ate away at his Guardian Armor.

The earth-yellow armor had already endured several impacts, and under this erosion, it dimmed at a visible rate.

Ronin hastily summoned his battle aura armor while swinging the Flowing Flame Sword, unleashing the tier-three fire-attribute combat technique, Dense Fire Clouds.

Augmented by the Flowing Flame Sword, the power of the Dense Fire Clouds was greatly amplified; the scattering fire clouds exploded outward like splatters of molten iron, clashing violently against the dark serpent.

Rumble...

The sounds of collision resounded continuously as the storm generated by their competing techniques swept across the surroundings, leaving the arriving servants and guards too intimidated to advance, with only David, Wharton, and Dandy, three novice knights, charging into the fray.

Black light and red fire ground against each other, and the two men caught in the center of the battlefield were torn by the violent energy, shaken into a succession of retreats.

Ronin felt his blood boiling and churning uncomfortably, though he remained uninjured.

The only pity was that the Guardian Armor, under the weight of the erosion and impact, now remained only as a faint, translucent phantom, seemingly on the verge of dissolving entirely.

Looking across at his opponent, the assassin appeared to be faring no better.

"The three of you, fall back!"

Ronin gripped the Flowing Flame Sword in his hand, ordering David and the other two who wished to join the fight not to act rashly.

These three were merely novice knights and were no match for the assassin; rushing in would only create chaos, and they would even risk losing their lives.

"My Lord!"

David and the others felt a wave of reluctance.

"Leave this assassin to me."

Ronin's gaze remained locked tightly on his opponent; he would not easily let go of someone who had nearly taken his life.

His fingers traced the magical lines, and Ronin bestowed upon himself the "Haste" spell he had learned from the magic core of the Storm Magic Wolf.

Spurning the ground with both feet, his entire being transformed into a streak of red light.

The assassin was startled by this sight, "What is happening, how did his speed become even faster?"

(End of Chapter)