Chapter 210: Ring of Restraint
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
After a while, Hogan walked into the room after Sunier. Hogan was frightened once he saw Harley, who was floating in midair. He obviously knew that it was a dark creature.
“Master, you were looking for me?” Hogan hurriedly bowed his head and timidly asked.
“Your men, all of them are wearing the Ring of Restraint?” Han Jin still wore a lazy look. The Ring of Restraint that he had mentioned was the headband which was found on the heads of the slaves. It is said that this was invented by an Ice Mage from Cold Shadow City. The Ring of Restraint could be considered as a very vicious magic prop. When Moxinke, Cessacioun, and the others, including HanJin and Gibran, saw the effects of the ring for the first time, they could feel their scalps becoming numb.
There is nothing strange about the outer appearance of the ring, but the crucial part is the two crystal nails that are half a finger long which are attached at the back, as they could explode at any time! When the magicians of Cold Shadow City put the headband on the slaves, they would insert the crystal nails into the captive’s skull. From this, it showed that the magicians of Cold Shadow City were not only successful in the Puppet Technique, but that they had also made great progress in their understanding of human anatomy. Two crystal nails with lengths of half a finger long were drilled into their skull, but the slaves were still alive and well, and the nails did not affect their daily activities. However, warriors could no longer release their vindictiveness, and magicians also could not gather any magical powers. Otherwise, the crystal nails would immediately explode.
Moreover, it was very difficult to remove the Ring of Restraint after putting it on. According to Hogan, dozens of slaves had died on their journey here, all from trying to remove the headband. After the crystal nails have been inserted, it will cause them pain if they try to violently remove it or try to cut it. If the position of the crystal nails are slightly shifted, it is enough to cause fatal damage. Actually, the success rate of putting on the headband was not a hundred percent. For every ten slaves, at least one or two of them would die on the spot. The position where the crystal nails were to be inserted had to be precise, and there must be a precise focus when inserting it so that no deviations occur.
This method of controlling slaves was too cruel, which made their impression of Cold Shadow City even worse for Moxinke and the others.
“Yes, Master,” Hogan whispered back.
Han Jin paused for a moment and nodded. “You’ve done a good job. Come here.”
Hogan kept his head low, walked to a place that was less than two meters away from Han Jin, and obediently stood there.
“Lift your head up. Look at me.”
Hogan was stunned as he looked up at Han Jin. Their gazes met, but Hogan was a little timid and wanted to turn his gaze to another place. However, Han Jin’s eyes seemed to be attracting him and were firmly catching his attention.
“Take it!” Han Jin screamed. A dazzling white light shot out and hit Hogan’s eyes.
Hogan opened his mouth in surprise. Suddenly, he felt that a little muddle headed, and his rhythm of response became very slow. He wanted to say ‘Master, what’s wrong?’, but he had unexpectedly forgotten how to pronounce these words. He wanted to laugh but didn’t know how to control his muscles. At this moment, Harley’s body turned into a line of smoke and entered Hogan’s mouth.
Hogan’s body vigorously trembled, and his face turned a color of green and white. After a moment, one of his pupils became a strange red, but his body gradually calmed down.
“Now, do you have anything you want to tell me?” Han Jin asked faintly.
Hogan’s face gave an expression of pain. His mouth repetitively opened and closed like a thirsty fish. It looked like he wanted to say something but then decided against it.
After a long time, Hogan laughed and said, “Master, you have to be careful with the magicians of Cold Shadow City.”
“Beware of them?” Han Jin sneered. “Why should I?”
“They are not affected by the Ring of Restraint.”
“Oh?”
“I am the one who personally put on the Ring of Restraint for them; no one knows it better than me, hehe…” Hogan showed an apple-polished smile. “In the beginning, I purposely made a mistake, causing the crystal nails to explode on the spot. Damn, the heads would explode into pieces, and the brains would all be smashed. That scene… Tsk tsk, that magician called Yalina couldn’t stand looking at it and walked away, leaving only the stupid, big, and lofty Moxinke behind. Can he even understand? I have already broken the crystal nails, so the rings that the magicians are wearing have no effect at all.”
“That’s all?” Han Jin was very calm. He had expected the magicians of Cold Shadow City to be plotting something. Hogan’s confession had only verified his conjecture, and there was nothing shocking to it.
“There’s more.” Hogan then remembered something. “The magicians have already collectively agreed to escape together tomorrow night.”
“This is Isolated Cliff City. Where would they run to?”
“They only have to get outside the city. The Stone monsters will be there to aid them.”
“Stone monsters? Looks like you’re involved as well?”
“Of course. If it wasn’t because of my help, they wouldn’t have the guts to escape!” Hogan said it in a flaunting tone and bore a whole face full of pride.
Han Jin quietly looked at Hogan. Perhaps there was nothing left to hide or perhaps because he still wasn’t very conscious, but Hogan no longer escaped Han Jin’s gaze this time. He was widely smiling while staring directly into Han Jin’s eyes.
“Go, kill them all,” Han Jin softly said.
“Yes, Master,” Hogan said without any hesitation before stepping out of the room.
“This… is dark magic?” Sunier asked.
Just as Han Jin was about to say something, there was a cry outside, “Sir Raphael! Something has happened…” The voice was followed by a heavily panting Saxon coming into the room.
“What’s the matter?” Han Jin asked in astonishment. Although Winston was not as attention-seeking as Gibran, this was only a matter of their attitude. In fact, the combat experiences of the Reaper Mercenary Team were almost the same as Gibran’s Red Vanguard Mercenary Team. It definitely wasn’t something trivial for it to cause such a reaction from Saxon.
“You… when you guys were completing the previous task… didn’t you put that… that lady’s house as a mortgage?”
“Slow down.” HanJin asked, “Sylner?”
“Yes, yes! Miss Sylner’s house. The Mercenary Association already passed it back to Moxinke before this, but since all of you were staying here, no one was there to look after it. It’s winter now, and all the homeless have nowhere else to go. The guild was worried that the homeless would go in and cause trouble, so they had always sent several men to look after it so that it wouldn’t upset Miss Sylner if she came back.”
“Then?”
“This afternoon, an elderly and a young man suddenly walked into Miss Sylner’s house. I am not sure about the whole incident, but anyways, a few mercenaries went to interrogate and ended up being lectured by the man. Then, Sir Juventus hurriedly went over, but…” Saxon bitterly smiled. “Even Sir Juventus got the lower hand!”
“He lost?”
“Well, I saw it with my own eyes. The old man was like… playing with a kid. He easily got hold of Sir Juventus’s sword.”
“You were there? Even Winston?”
“Yes.” Saxon’s face turned red.
Just by looking at Saxon’s expression, Han Jin knew that Winston’s attempt hadn’t ended up any better than Juventus’s. “Come, let’s go have a look.”
“Wait, Sir.” Saxon hurriedly stopped Han Jin. “Winston told me to inform you that the old man is definitely one of the Superiors! He wants you to be prepared before going.”
“A superior?” Han Jin was shocked. Although everyone thinks that he is the Dragon Slayer, he himself is still clear headed. With his current strength, along with Gibran and the others, if they were well-prepared, they may have a chance of winning, but if they were to really go against a Superior, it was purely a suicide attempt.
Han Jin slowly took a breath. “Where’s Yalina?”
“I met her at the door just now on my way in. She has already left with Majordomo Gail and the rest.”
“There’s no need for preparations. Let’s go!” Han Jin firmly said. At the end of the day, the Mercenary Association was doing this for him. Since they were suffering a loss now, Han Jin has the responsibility of helping them. Plus, Yalina had also rushed over. Even if he was thick-faced enough to not care about the Mercenary Association, how could he not care about Winston? And regardless of Winston, how could he watch Yalina be at a disadvantage? What’s more important was that the opposite party hadn’t harmed any one of them even though they had absolute superiority, which obviously meant that they didn’t want to cause any conflicts. But with Yalina’s hot temper, it was very likely for her to make things worse.
Saxon was shocked. He had heard the legend before that two superiors would not simply cause a conflict unless it was because of an extreme conflict of interest or if one of them has full confidence in themselves. In fact, when Winston had told him to be fully prepared, there was a hidden concealment. He did not expect Han Jin to rush into the house and beat up the old man. He also didn’t want to trigger a Superior. He was just hoping for Han Jin to make his entrance a little more mighty so that the old man would be at least a little more cautious, making it easier for them to negotiate.
Saxon also understood Winston, so when he saw that Han Jin was leaving without making any preparations, he was shocked. Was Han Jin really that powerful even while facing a superior?!
Saxon filled in as the chauffeur and drove the carriage to the scene at the fastest speed possible. As they got closer to Sylner’s house, they could already see a huge group of mercenaries surrounding the house. Han Jin couldn’t see the situation inside, so he decided to jump on top of the carriage. However, once he saw who was inside, he couldn’t help but stay stunned.
Upon seeing Han Jin’s arrival, the mercenaries burst out cheering. In Isolated Cliff City, Han Jin had already become a major figure that demanded public respect and support. The mercenaries had more confidence in Han Jin than they had in themselves.
At the scene, Majordomo Gail was confronting an old, clear-eyed elderly person. Yalina was at the back and very eager to jump into the situation, but she didn’t dare because Majordomo’s attitude towards her just now was way too strict. As far as she could remember, this was the first time!
As they heard the cheers, the two men who were confronting each other looked outside. Han Jin was standing right on top of the carriage, and his position was very conspicuous. Then, the young man who was hiding in the corner suddenly shouted with a voice that was even more excited than the surrounding mercenaries. “Young Master! Young Master! I’m here!!”