Boom! Boom! Boom!
Under the manipulation of the Hand of Thunder, the silver longbow erupted with the sound of whistling hurricanes and crashing thunder.
One Hammer of Sacred Light after another, wreathed in lightning, pierced the air with sonic booms and surged toward the five assassins of the Three Sword Guild.
In just one exchange, the five assassins' forward momentum came to a sudden halt, as if they had stepped into a quagmire.
Not only were they unable to take another step forward, but they were actually forced back repeatedly by the terrifying kinetic energy carried by the Hammers of Sacred Light!
And that wasn't all.
As the kinetic energy of a Hammer of Sacred Light was exhausted, a giant Hand of Thunder instantly manifested from the void, firmly grasping the hammer's handle.
In the next instant, sacred light and lightning intertwined, and the hammer—now like a thunderbolt falling from the sky—slammed down upon the five assassins!
The leader, Pointy Head, had just blocked a flying Hammer of Sacred Light. His arms were vibrating as if someone had pressed a button on them, and an unnatural flush appeared on his face from the shock of the collision.
However, the Hammer of Sacred Light that had seemingly lost its power in his eyes was now swinging down ruthlessly toward his head under the control of the giant Hand of Thunder!
"Argh!"
Pointy Head gritted his teeth again, his Battle Qi flaring as he swung his fire-steel giant hammer to clash with the Hammer of Sacred Light once more.
However, he wasn't facing just one hammer!
To the horror of the onlookers, the Radiance Longbow behind Leon was like an alchemical automatic rifle. Without the slightest delay, it poured out a frantic barrage of fire!
In just ten short seconds, fifteen Hammers of Sacred Light condensed on the silver bowstring like light arrows and were violently shot out by the Hand of Thunder.
At first, Pointy Head could still rely on short bursts of frantic power to suppress the two hammers attacking him with his Battle Qi.
However, when the third Hammer of Sacred Light joined the fray, the situation changed drastically.
Every time a Hammer of Sacred Light struck, the lightning tremors it carried would briefly paralyze Pointy Head for half a moment.
This moment was weak at first, but when two hammers swung down together, the lightning tremors stacked frantically.
When the third hammer struck Pointy Head again and the lightning tremors stacked further, his body—which had been stiff for half a moment—quickly became paralyzed for a full moment, then half a breath!
Boom!
Unable to dodge after being paralyzed, Pointy Head was hit squarely by a Hammer of Sacred Light swinging in from the side.
He flew back like a sandbag for over ten meters, leaving a scorched trail on the ground.
His sternum shattered under the blow, caving inward into a small pit.
Pointy Head spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with disbelief and shock.
He didn't understand!
They were both at the Silver rank, so why was he still struggling for his life with a fire-steel giant hammer while this Leon Douglas could summon a longbow and fire Hammers of Sacred Light like arrows?!
Firing them frantically was one thing!
But why could these fired hammers fly back up and be swung by a giant Hand of Thunder to give him a head-on blow?!
"Goddamn intelligence... Goddamn Silver rank priest..."
He remembered the line in the report: "Silver rank priest."
He remembered the middleman's words: "He only defeated the Mad Shark King under the protection of two Gold rank transcendents."
At this moment, Pointy Head, despite his pointy head, finally realized—
That middleman was using him as cannon fodder!
Leon Douglas was not a Silver rank priest at all!
Boom!
However, he realized it too late.
A Hammer of Sacred Light slammed down again. His skull shattered, and flesh flew everywhere.
Pointy Head stopped breathing instantly.
As for the other four assassins, they lasted no more than five rounds against the multiple hammers.
They all fell by the roadside, their bodies crushed by the hammers as they questioned their very existence.
Shua!
The battle ended, and the Hammers of Sacred Light and the Hands of Thunder vanished simultaneously.
Only five corpses remained on the scene, along with Mayor Zachary, whose eyes were wide and who didn't know what expression to make.
Zachary stared at the corpses in a daze, muttering unconsciously, "Is this the combat performance a Silver rank can pull off...?"
"Of course it's a genuine Silver rank." Leon turned his head and looked at Zachary. "If I couldn't even beat five fellow Silver rank transcendents, what kind of Divine Art genius would I be?"
"As for you, Mayor Zachary..."
Leon stared at him and said, "I'm glad you didn't turn against us during the fight just now."
"However, you'd better hope there really is a ruin under your manor."
"Otherwise... things will get very ugly."
Zachary's heart skipped a beat, realizing Leon suspected him of masterminding the assassination attempt.
Or rather, Leon suspected he had lured him away from the Rose Cathedral just to set up an ambush here.
A bitter smile appeared on Zachary's face. "Master Leon, if I said I was also a victim, would you believe me?"
Leon glanced at him without answering. Instead, he turned to a Falcon warrior. "Daniel, Wesley, you two stay behind to handle the corpses."
"The rest of you, come with me to Mayor Zachary's manor."
"Yes, sir!"
At Leon's signal, Zachary helplessly cursed the Three Sword Guild in his heart and led Leon's group toward his manor.
On the way, Leon glanced at his panel:
【Radiance Perception Lv1 (81/100) → Radiance Perception Lv1 (92/100)】
【Hammer of Sacred Light Lv2 (278/300) → Hammer of Sacred Light Lv2 (289/300)】
"Almost leveled up."
Leon pondered for half a second, thinking about where else he could gain experience besides sparring with Alicia.
"The Three Sword Guild..."
The guild's motto was that they would take a job even against a Legend rank if the price was right.
Since the five assassins failed to kill him this time, they would probably continue to send more later, right?
After all, while ten thousand gold coins wasn't a huge deal to him, it was enough for others to live comfortably for half their lives.
If more assassins were willing to take the job, he could continuously farm the Three Sword Guild.
And if no one dared to take the job anymore... Leon thought about it. Actually, he could just pay the Three Sword Guild to assassinate himself...
In any case, from the moment they accepted the contract, he and the Three Sword Guild were enemies.
Having them send more assassins for him to kill would provide both rewards and experience.
Besides... if an assassination failed or no assassin dared to take the job, the Three Sword Guild would refund 90% of the commission...
"It's a good way to farm experience. I can consider it, though it might be a bit hard on the Three Sword Guild's assassins."
However, since they weren't his own forces, he wouldn't feel bad about losing them!
...
An hour later.
Leon got off the horned horse while holding Alicia, his pant legs stained with mud.
The first half of the journey from Eldenborg to Jellyfish Town was fine, but the second half was muddy. The road, which had been packed earth, was full of potholes due to years of neglect.
It took Leon's group quite some time to cross the potholed area and arrive at Jellyfish Town.
After dismounting, the group followed Zachary straight down into the underground of his manor.
Ratahn followed behind Zachary, his black spear never leaving Zachary's back.
Fortunately, as soon as they reached the excavated cavern beneath the manor, they could faintly sense magic fluctuations.
Walking to the end of the cavern, they indeed saw a ruin with a protective barrier that had existed for over eight hundred years.
A finger-sized crack had appeared on the ruin's barrier.
Before they could even get close, a calling voice suddenly echoed from within the crack:
"Come in, come in here, my children..."
Rate on N.U.
