Chapter 96: Road
Translator: Wuxia Dog Editor: Wuxia Dog
“Because the materials needed to cast such a spell were too precious.” Han Jin sighed. “I overestimated the effectiveness of my berserker spell, and underestimated the strength of that bastard.”
“What materials do you need to cast it?” they asked almost simultaneously. No matter how precious the materials were, they were nothing compared to the great power of that spell. They all knew why Han Jin had told the others to leave. If this news were to be leaked out, it would bring the team unimaginable consequences. Those territory owners, who were sitting on their high thrones, would be sure to take Han Jin as their treasure, and try every means to destroy this team so as to have Han Jin in their own hands. Who wouldn’t want to have a second life?
“It’s very troublesome…” Han Jin could only use this as an excuse to slight over the answer.
“If so, we will talk about this later.” Sunier paused. “By the way, you emerged from underground just now… what kind of spell was that?”
“A nameless one. I only know how to cast it.” Han Jin felt a little headache. An idea came to mind. He slightly wobbled his body, and deliberately showed an exhausted look.
“Stop asking so many questions. Raphael need to rest,” Reg interrupted them.
“Don’t think you can do whatever you want now just because you have a second life, Moxinke!” Han Jin stared at Moxinke and continued, “Remember, the materials used to make this magic are very precious, and there’s a high chance the casting will fail!”
“I know,” Moxinke replied in a muffled voice. “Do you think I am a fool? You were reluctant to cast this spell even when you were so seriously hurt. You think I will act recklessly?!”
“Good. I just needed to hear that.” Han Jin let out a sigh of relief. According to his current speed in absorbing the energy from magic crystals, he needed seven or eight days to accumulate enough earth element to make one charm of Earthmeld, and at least two months to make a charm of Faked Earth Corpse, which meant he only had one at present. Now that he had given it to Moxinke, if this guy did not cherish it, Han Jin would go crazy.
Sunier blushed. She was so curious about this magic and had so aspired to verify its mysterious effectiveness that she had even neglected such an important fact: if Han Jin could cast this spell at any time as he wished, how would he be hurt?
“I will make a magic scroll for Reg a few days later when we are much safer,” Han Jin said in a low voice.
“I don’t need it. Keep it to protect yourself.” Reg shook his head. “I can protect myself with Invisibility.”
“I already have a plan,” Han Jin said. “Could you kill a high grade professional after going invisible? This is, assuming you ignore all costs.”
Reg hesitated for a moment. “You mean, trade the life of a high grade professional for a magic scroll?”
“Yes.”
“As long as the opponent is not a powerful ninth-grade professional, I am fully confident.”
“What about a tenth-grade professional?” Moxinke regained the mood to argue.
“That’s good.” Han Jin simply ignored Moxinke. “We can kill our enemy’s leader when the critical moment comes. We will have more chances to succeed this way.”
“So my mission is to attract all of the attacks? I have two lives anyway!” Moxinke laughed. “I wonder if it hurts…” No one answered to him.
“It is all settled then,” Sunier said. “There is a bed inside. You can have some rest, Raphael. I will ask Michelle and Little Joseph to ask about the situation first, and then we can discuss the plan for tomorrow.”
“Why not have a try tonight?” Moxinke suggested.
“There will be even more guards at night.” Sunier shook her head. “And there are very few pedestrians at night. If we are discovered, we will have no way to flee.”
“Sunier is right. We can only leave during daytime,” Han Jin agreed. “I am a little tired. The rest of you can make other arrangements.”
* * *
After comforting the wailing Steelberg, Han Jin went into the inner room and started to cure his wound with some charms. Logically, his body should be extremely tough after using Spirit Possession Art; the rumor that the user of such art was invulnerable to both knife and bullet did not come about groundlessly. But reality had given him a heavy slap to the face. Based on his current energy reserve, he was still far inferior to a high grade professional.
When Han Jin put the charm on his wounds, they started healing at a slow but noticeable rate. He closed his eyes, released a Spirit Refreshment charm on himself, and slowly readjusted his breath.
When the city was covered by pitch darkness, Han Jin exited the room. The others were all sitting by a table with strange expressions on their faces.
Han Jin instantly sensed something was off. “What’s wrong?” he immediately asked.
“Do you know why the city is under such strict patrol today?” Sunier forced a wry smile.
“Isn’t it because…”
“Do you think it was because of the disappearance of that little thief? Does a dwarf forging master really have that much power?” Sunier looked more helpless as she said this.
“I felt it suspicious this morning too. Who is this Villar? How can he be so powerful?” Moxinke said resentfully.
“Why didn’t you say this earlier?” Reg asked.
“I… I only felt something was wrong. But I wasn’t sure what exactly!”
“What the hell is going on?”
“Dismark sent his most trusted general Gerald to West City to negotiate with Lord Winston, the castellan of West City, last night, but they were attacked by a group of Dark Elves. Gerald was killed on the spot!”
Han Jin was astonished. After a while, he showed a bitter smile too. “So… we were too impulsive?”
“It’s too late for us to discuss this.” Sunier sighed. “You and Moxinke are now wanted.”
“I wondered how why Villar was so powerful,” Moxinke was still muttering.
“Could you please shut up! If you had not insisted on having a drink at the bar, would we have been discovered by Villar?” Sunier angrily rebuked.
“Why… do you blame me for this? You drank too, didn’t you?”
“Well, well. Arguing doesn’t solve any problems.” Han Jin paused. “Winston will likely try every means possible to find those Dark Elves to give Dismark an explanation, which means we are in danger too. Is that right, Sunier?”
“It would also be an ‘explanation’ if he caught us, especially you. It is said that Lord Dismark made a personal order to capture you alive!” Sunier sighed. “Tell us the truth: what did you do during those months when we were away?”
“I did nothing.” Han Jin frowned and thought. “Do you remember the hostage?”
“What about him?”
“I killed him when I left. His name was Mario,” Han Jin said.
“Mario? I have not heard of him.” Sunier stared at Han Jin. “And what happened later? You were missing for such a long time. Did you really only kill that Mario?”
“And the merchant Leopold. They were all killed by me.”
“All of them? You mean the whole caravan?”
“You…” Sunier bitterly smiled. “Even so, that’s not enough to enrage Dismark so much. What else?”
Han Jin blinked his eyes. “And that General Quincy. I trapped him in the underground city. If the soldiers from Holy Crown City were not find him, it would have been impossible for him to escape by himself. Now that the underground city is occupied by Zaganide… I guess he should be dead by now.”
“I know this Quincy,” Sunier said. Wild Willow was an ally of Holy Crown in the past, thus she had a lot of information about them. “He had limited ability, but had a good sister… Dismark’s mistress. That’s why he was promoted so rapidly. Dismark trusted him very much. Are you sure you trapped him?”
“Yes, quite sure.” Han Jin nodded. “I cleared all the marks they left. The underground city is full of branching paths; as dense as a spider’s web. It would be hard for anyone to find him. Even if they could get across the canyon, they wouldn’t be able to find their way home.”
“That makes sense. Quincy’s sister was favored by Dismark. If she asked Dismark to capture you… he would do as she said without hesitation,” Sunier said.
Her continuous mention of Quincy’s sister somehow reminded Han Jin of the woman he had met in the underground city. “I… I also killed a woman in the underground city.”
“Why would you kill a woman? You…” An obscene expression appeared on Moxinke’s face.
“Fuck off!” Han Jin was both amused and annoyed. “She nearly killed me! Remember how I told you I was killed by a female thief? That was her!”
“What? A female thief??” Sunier’s face suddenly turned pale.
“What’s wrong?”
“No, no, it can’t be this coincidental!” she muttered, not noticing Han Jin’s question.
“What’s the matter, Sunier?” Moxinke asked in surprise.
“What did she look like?” She gave no reply, but asked in a hurry.
“She was in her late twenties, very beautiful, and charming.” Han Jin cast his mind back and said, “She was skilled with Invisibility. I didn’t notice her until her dagger stabbed into my body. I was nearly killed! But… she seemed stupid too. The second time she tried to kill me, I fought back. I thought she would dodge my attacks, but she didn’t. It was weird. I was on the verge of fleeing.”
“She must be a thief with no practical experience.” Red laughed.
“Ah…” Sunier suddenly covered her forehead with her hand and let out a painful groan.
She finally understood why Dismark hated Han Jin so much. But what she didn’t know was that around twenty miles away from West City, countless vampires were also gathering together, searching for them for a similar reason.
Nor could she have expected that their fates had been doomed. Han Jin had no other choice but to establish his own faction. Otherwise, the only end waiting for him was death.