Chapter 185: The great escape
“Has there really not been any suspicious characters nearby lately?” A Gryphon Legion officer asked Elaine.
“Honored sir, our hotel has always had good ratings in Valen City and have always cooperated with the Aschers. We would’ve immediately reported to you had we discovered anyone suspicious.” The chubby Elaine was still merry and promised with a smile that nothing was wrong with the hotel.
“Mm, I feel that nothing would be wrong with your hotel anyways!” The officer’s expression was calm as he spoke gravely.
A severe whistle sounded at this moment as a streak of faint red cut through the dark sky, making straight for the officer.
The officer, who’d been putting on a show in talking to Elaine, had long since been on his guard. He wouldn’t have sent his men out for help otherwise. He pulled out the sword by his side with an audible clang as soon as the whistle had sounded. Dark green fighting aura suddenly flared across it as it immediately flew out towards the descending red light.
Ding! The sounds of weapons clashing into each other rang out. The Demonslayer Edge bit viciously into the officer’s blade and extinguished his fighting aura, causing a nick in the officer’s blade.
A figure flashed at the same time as a hard fist pummeled towards the officer. The officer started in shock and he lifted his left hand, blocking his chest and attempting to stop Han Shuo’s punch.
It had seemed to be an ordinary punch, but suddenly flared up with purple spellfire when it reached the officer’s chest. A bitingly cold presence suddenly rushed to the front, and it surged into his body when Han Shuo’s fist landed on his chest.
The officer felt like he’d fallen into an icy cavern in a single instant. Frost immediately formed on his hair and eyebrows, and ice pierced through his body as well. He didn’t even have the strength to lift his hands.
Han Shuo retraced his tightly clenched fist and snatched the Demonslayer Edge out of the air. He turned his head to yell at Elaine, “This place has been compromised. Tell everyone to leave the hotel immediately!”
Elaine quickly sized up the situation after recovering from her shock. The cries of the gryphons were sounding out from the air at this time. This meant that Han Shuo’s judgment had been without error, and that the soldiers circling in the sky were already closing in.
“However, Madame Emily has yet to return!” Elaine was about to leave when she suddenly recalled that Emily was the true leader of this mission, and couldn’t help but speak up at this moment.
“You don’t need to worry about this, she will return soon.” Han Shuo grasped the Demonslayer Edge and charged into the soldiers, quickly responding to Elaine.
Elaine had no other reservations after Han Shuo’s words and she nodded as she turned. She yelled out as Angelica, members of the Battlefire mercenary band, as well as Phoebe and Gilbert all emerged from the hotel.
When they came outside, they joined in the fray without another word from Han Shuo, killing all the Gryphon Legion soldiers.
“Go! Leave through the back!” Although these soldiers were dead, this location had already been compromised. Along with the soldier’s previous report, this place would quickly become a prime target. The two hovering soldiers high up in the air had also discovered the abnormalities over here.
The group of people didn’t pack anything under Han Shuo’s orders and had just fled the hotel, running towards the back. Although Elaine didn’t possess any fighting aura, she was quite quick on her feet and didn’t become a burden.
A loud outcry of yells suddenly sounded from the distance. Han Shuo ran and jumped up, landing on a nearby roof. He looked into the distance and noticed that Emily, Candice, and Caspian were fighting their way over here.
A dozen cavalry members were behind them, riding armored battlesteeds and wielding sharp spears. They pursued Emily fiercely, seeming to have discovered their identities.
“Hurry, come this way!” Han Shuo suddenly called out loudly, his voice making it over to Emily’s location like a sharp weapon.
Lawrence’s group also bumped into Phoebe and Candice at this time, making all those who had participated in the Bob Ascher operation gather in one place.
“Form up! Let’s make it out of here before the entire Gryphon Legion arrives!” Standing on top of the roof, Han Shuo had become the leader of this mission as he called out sternly.
“Steal the horses!” Emily suddenly hovered in midair on her way over as she lowly chanted a dark magic spell.
The dozen fiercely charging knights suddenly floundered into a dark vortex along the way. The battlesteeds’ lightning fast speed suddenly became incredibly slow, and their hooves made no sounds on the ground.
The trees in the surroundings suddenly became alive as their branches danced liked snakes, entangling the slowing horses, forcing them to stop where they stood.
Caspian’s old tree branch of a magic staff rested on a nearby tree. He concentrated and released the magic of the druidic order, restraining all twelve horses and confining even the legs of the knights on the horses.
“Hurry up!” Caspian also suddenly roared out.
“Grandpa! Are you alright?” Angelica broke down into tears of joy when she saw her grandfather appear from the vantage point of being protected by the Battlefire mercenary band members.
“Take the horses, come on!” Han Shuo had already charged out in the air and turned his head to yell back.
Lawrence waved his hand and didn’t bother speaking to Phoebe. Those beside him, including Belinda and Johnny of the Calamity Church and even Phoebe and Candice, dashed out and made for the dozen trussed up horses and knights.
Han Shuo had Caspian, swordmaster Phoebe, magus level Emily, thunder mage swordsman Johnny, as well as fire mage swordsman Candice, and finally Lawrence by his side. With such a group of experts coming together to take care of the ordinary knights tied up on the backs of their horses, it was easily a slaughter.
Everyone displayed their abilities in the span of a few breaths and killed the twelve ordinary knights in a few seconds. They threw the bodies down and claimed the horses.
“Hurry and get out of here. We escaped this way because there’s more than a hundred similar cavalry behind us.” Emily tugged on the reins and shouted.
Just as her words sounded, the cries from the gryphons in the air became more and more numerous. Han Shuo lifted his head and suddenly discovered a few black dots converging on their location. His sensitive ears could hear random hoofbeats. It seemed that they would be surrounded before long.
“Come with me, we’ll make it out soon!” Han Shuo yanked on the reins and turned the horse around, charging in the direction that Emily and the others had just come from.
“You’re crazy! There’s more than a hundred knights back there!” Emily was immediately shocked by Han Shuo’s about face and called out in surprise.
He turned back and looked at Emily with a wry smile. “I think that’s the only path available to us that will get us to the city walls as soon as possible! If we don’t leave immediately, there will be countless troubles that follow behind us, so we must take that risk!”
Han Shuo didn’t hesitate after speaking and charged off on the back of his steed, shooting for the location where the hoofbeats were converging. Emily was stunned for only a second before she immediately followed Han Shuo’s battlesteed.
Phoebe and Candice had worked with Han Shuo before and trusted his judgment greatly. Gilbert had no objection of course, and charged out after Emily. Caspian and Angelica, on the same horse, also followed quickly after a moment of hesitation.
The last group was more hesitant, but they too followed Han Shuo’s direction one by one after a short while.
None of them knew whether or not this path would lead to life or death. They could only hope that Han Shuo’s judgement had been correct.