章節 284: Chapter 351 - The Assassin Sets Traps
Chapter 351 - The Assassin Sets Traps
Grrr!
Along with the ogre dogs, several drowned corpses were visible.
Were the drowned corpses fresh, newly made ones?
Considering the heavy rain a few days ago, it was entirely possible.
For monsters, whether they had been born an hour ago or a week ago, it made little difference.
Sometimes, older ones become dangerous, but just being newly born didn't make them wobbling, clumsy creatures. So, whether they were freshly born or not didn't matter.
What mattered was the numbers.
"There are many."
That was the comment from the whip-wielding guard. Yes, the numbers were indeed many.
The quantity was one issue, but the variety was a bigger problem.
Among the monsters in front of them, there were creatures with a significantly greater threat level.
Normally, monster beasts are less dangerous than the common monsters, but exceptions exist everywhere.
A simple example would be the bear monster.
A bear is a dangerous creature even when not a beast.
When a bear becomes a monster beast, it becomes far more threatening and dangerous.
The two most obvious examples raised their heads among the monsters. One of them had a head larger than the other.
Grrrrrrrrr.
The bear monster, with drooling jaws and bloodshot eyes, immediately stood out.
Seeing that, Rem spoke.
"There's a religious zealot friend."
"Indeed," Ragna responded.
Had Audin heard that, he would have likely asked with a gentle smile if he should stand next to his god, as usual.
However, the bear was different from Audin.
It did not smile.
Grrrrrhhhhh!
Instead, it beat its chest and roared.
The roar vibrated throughout its entire body. It was a cry that would freeze the body of its prey instantly.
It seemed like a signal of sorts.
"They're coming."
Dunbakel spoke. The monsters, like a wave, rushed toward them. They started charging.
The ogre dogs stomped the ground, dirtied their bellies with mud.
The drowned corpses flailed their arms and rushed forward. The ghouls extended their claws, striking the ground forcefully as if showing off.
The numbers had surpassed one hundred.
Each time the beast swarm surged forward or the bear monster moved, the ground shook with loud thuds.
If the people here were ordinary civilians, they would not just be in trouble—they would be fighting for their lives.
It was a scene that would naturally induce terror.
However, the humans gathered here were far from ordinary or average.
If they were prey, their bodies would freeze at the bear monster's roar, but only the freest of individuals had gathered here.
None of them would freeze at the sight of such a monster.
Hooong, thud!
A beam of light shot into the head of one of the charging bear monsters. It was a thrown axe.
The beast, roaring loudly, emitted a deflating sound from its mouth.
Its head jerked back, only to snap forward again. The strong neck muscles prevented its head from being torn off. However, the result didn't change.
The bear, with an axe embedded in its head, began to lose its momentum and tumbled forward.
Several ogre dogs near it were crushed under the bear monster's body.
The scream of the ogre dog rang out.
That was the end of it. With its head shattered, the monster that survived and moved on was likely a Hydra.
The Hydra had multiple heads, after all.
Of course, even Enkrid had never seen a Hydra in person.
For a bear monster with a split head to die was only natural.
"Oh, that was mine!"
Dunbakel grumbled.
Grrr!
The ghoul's signature scream echoed loudly.
Ragna and Jaxen nonchalantly sliced the ghouls' head and limbs off, as if pulling weeds.
A series of concise movements.
They minimized their steps and slashed through any monster that came too close.
Enkrid also stepped forward.
Wasn't it said that it took three trained spear soldiers to handle one ghoul?
A well-trained soldier could take down a ghoul alone.
For such monsters, even a thousand could come, and Enkrid would still survive.
"Just hit and retreat, repeat it over and over."
If you're alone, that's the way to do it. What about while escorting Krang? It's fine to fight while carrying him and running.
But now, I'm not alone. I'm with the squad members. There's no need to retreat. Instead, we pushed forward.
We struck, killed, and cut down monsters in the blink of an eye.
The monsters' black blood soaked into the rain-drenched ground.
"Monster tossing, huh?"
After the brief chaos settled, Jaxen spoke.
It meant someone had driven the monsters here and thrown them at them.
"Monster tossing," "pushing," "throwing up," and various other names are used for this famous technique.
"This isn't the end."
Jaxen wiped his sword with a cloth and threw the cloth on the ground.
That was his judgment.
It wasn't simply ignoring or luring the monsters away; sending them in such an organized manner was no ordinary skill. They weren't to be underestimated.
"Let them come, as much as they want."
Dunbakel said confidently. Monsters were no threat to her.
She stomped her foot, smashing the ogre dog's head as it came at her, drooling.
The ogre dog's head exploded, and more than five others were crushed beneath it.
The creature let out a screech, but it didn't matter.
"That's just the beginning," Jaxen continued. His tone was firm. It was speculation and prediction—things he was used to.
Of course, this wasn't from a defensive standpoint, but an attacking one.
'Are they gathered?'
It wasn't just a couple of guilds moving. It was on too large a scale.
Naurilia must also have its own assassination guilds.
Had they all come together, forming a united guild?
It was a simple guess, but it felt certain.
Such a scale, and the audacity to target the royal family of a nation.
A single guild wouldn't handle this.
'Why did they gather?'
Through a few guesses and predictions, he drew an answer.
The client wanted hunting dogs, and the ones selected for that role had chosen survival by working together instead of feeding off each other alone.
Jaxen's guess was almost perfect.
It had played out exactly that way.
In Aspen, the assassination guild known as the Monster Swamp controlled most of that world, but Naurilia was different.
They competed and coexisted.
Their numbers weren't small.
The domestic situation was complicated, and wars had raged here and there for years, giving rise to guilds formed by a few nobles who saw this as an opportunity.
Some operated as mercenaries, using their skills to take on contracts from ordinary people.
In this ecosystem, twelve guilds had managed to survive over a long time.
Currently, those who had each formed their own guilds were now united as the Twelve Dagger Alliance.
***
"We hired dozens of mercenaries and sent our own men, but all failed."
"They were up against that madmen unit, weren't they?"
Assassin guilds were naturally sensitive to information. They had realized what happened immediately after it occurred.
They were now staying in a mansion that had been remodeled in a city close to the capital.
Of course, security and precautions were thorough.
"Are we just going to let it slide?"
"Everyone knows what failure means."
There was always one guild leader who held the most influence among the Twelve Dagger guilds. Before the alliance formed, the woman who led the largest faction spoke to everyone.
"We must do everything we can."
Giving up meant death.
The client was from the royal palace. Failing or giving up would only lead to the same result.
To survive, there were only two options.
Escape, abandoning everything built so far.
"Or succeed."
She and the other guild leaders naturally dreamed of the rewards that would follow afterward.
Abandon everything and run? That was out of the question.
If that was the plan, they might as well force the job through and make it succeed.
The nation's ruler would change.
Naturally, there would be rewards to follow.
They had come too far to just give up, so they set aside their pride and gathered together.
With everyone's minds united, the woman who became the focal point spoke.
"We're facing those who've made names for themselves on the battlefield. Winning in combat is impossible. Let's fight our fight, on our stage, using our methods."
"Right."
Her husband-to-be responded first.
"Of course."
Even the other guild leaders, who were jealous of her, nodded.
And so, they did. They moved according to their own ways. The opponent couldn't possibly know every assassination technique they had, and one of them would eventually be caught.
Once that happened, it was over.
Some of them had experience hunting bounties, but there was no way anyone could fully grasp all the traps set by the assassins.
They were all veterans of the battlefield, after all.
Their judgment was sound.
"Please, save me!"
A voice was heard while traveling along the road.
A young man, clearly still a child, was sprawled on the ground. It looked as if he had been caught in a trap.
The young man, bleeding profusely, spotted Enkrid's group and desperately opened his mouth.
"Please, save me! My father is a landowner with many tenants! I will repay you! I promise!"
Tears streamed down his face as he spoke.
"How did you end up in this trap?"
Before Enkrid could speak, Jaxen asked the question.
His tone was different from usual, similar to how he spoke when imitating Krais. His voice was soft, pretending kindness and concern.
The young man responded between sobs, "I was on my way to sell wheat, but when I woke up..."
He seemed as confused as anyone would be in such a situation.
"Should we help him?"
The whip-wielding escort asked, feeling a strange sense of unease.
Enkrid observed the situation. The man genuinely seemed to be caught in something he couldn't control.
"Please, please, help me!"
The man cried, tears and snot pouring from his face, his words distorted by his desperation.
Jaxen was already scanning the area, his eyes narrowing as he spoke.
"It's a trap. Looks like there are traps buried around him."
He could sense poison in the air and saw the sunken spots in the ground where the traps were hidden.
"Will he die if we leave him?"
"If we leave him, yes. These traps were set to kill him."
Ignoring it might work, but it would still be a trap aimed at them.
"If we ignore it, they'll blame us for his death," Enkrid said, piecing the situation together.
Jaxen continued explaining briefly. The trap was one they couldn't avoid, forcing a choice.
"To save him, we need to cross these traps, but if we do nothing, we'll be drawn into a complicated mess when we reach the next city."
The man, still crying, shouted, "The one who killed my father is there!"
Jaxen frowned. It was a familiar trick—using hostages, threats, poison, and more to manipulate them.
They were trying to entangle them in a mess, make them act recklessly and then stab them from behind.
"Cunning," Jaxen muttered under his breath.
Enkrid made a decision.
"Dunbakel."
"Yeah?"
"Get him."
Dunbakel, fast and agile as seen in the previous battle, could easily dodge traps and lift the man to safety.
"Got it."
Dunbakel didn't ask questions—if Enkrid gave the command, she followed through.
She moved swiftly, using her speed and strength to bypass the traps and reach the man. The earth beneath her feet collapsed as she leapt into action.
With a swift jump, she reached the child and, without hesitation, broke the trap's hold. The metal that had been constricting his ankle shattered with a loud crack.
The child, sobbing uncontrollably, was cradled in her arms as she made her way back, jumping over traps effortlessly, displaying the impressive strength of her beastly legs.
With one final leap, they were free, and the child's cries echoed in the air.
Enkrid quickly tended to the child's injuries, applying powder to stop the bleeding and wrapping bandages around his wounds.
"Thank you, thank you so much," the child whispered, still overwhelmed with emotion.
He was just an ordinary civilian, no relation to the assassins, no part of the game they were caught up in. It was clear to Enkrid from the start.
Jaxen reached the same conclusion, knowing that if they left him, they'd be seen as murderers in the city, but saving him also meant navigating a double trap.
Thanks to Dunbakel's strength and Jaxen's experience, they were able to escape the traps and get the man to safety.
But the danger didn't end there.
"Please, help us!" A group of merchants appeared, bleeding and running from something.
Enkrid frowned. Were they truly merchants?
They were hiding something, showing signs of hostility—classic tactics of assassins.
But something didn't sit right.
As they approached, Enkrid's heightened senses picked up on something odd. None of the merchants were injured in a way that seemed accidental. Their movements were too coordinated, too precise.
There were even ghouls behind them, confirming the threat.
Despite the suspicion, Enkrid's instincts warned him to stay cautious, unsure of the real intention behind this encounter.
Their movements were too well-practiced. There was no panic, no hesitation. It was a trap, and Enkrid was quick to react.
"They're enemies," he said, and Jaxen nodded in agreement.
To confirm his suspicion, Enkrid threw a dagger with pinpoint accuracy at one of the merchants, aiming for their throat. The merchant, his belly round with a visible bulge, narrowly avoided it, showing surprising agility for someone pretending to be a civilian.
"Cold-blooded," the merchant muttered, clearly a trained assassin in disguise.
Enkrid smiled lightly, responding with a teasing comment.
"Are you pregnant?"
The merchant's expression twitched, and his anger flared. Despite years of training to maintain composure, the unexpected insult was too much.
That small slip in his composure was all Enkrid needed.
In an instant, he launched another silent knife, this time hitting its mark in the merchant's neck.
The assassin collapsed, clutching his throat as blood poured from the wound.
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