Outside the mine, the dawn light barely penetrated the thin clouds, falling over the desolate mountain valley.
Half an hour had passed since Caesar led the four assassins into the mine.
This abandoned dark iron mine mainly had three large exits, as well as several hidden ventilation shafts that required climbing or crawling.
At this moment, every exit was being strictly guarded by the rebels.
In front of the largest main exit, a simple wall had been built from thick logs and stones.
Several rebels holding alchemical muskets and Transcendent warriors lay in ambush behind it.
The two slightly smaller exits were cleverly blocked with thorns, camouflage nets, and trip-alarms.
As for those inconspicuous crevices,
they were set with poisoned spikes and lethal tripwires.
High-end alchemical bombs imported from the Dwarven Kingdom were buried near every exit.
Once a chain explosion occurred, even a High-tier Transcendent warrior would find it difficult to survive.
Despite being well-prepared, Valk, the leading mage, felt a faint sense of unease.
He stood beside a group of mages maintaining a barrier, his brows locked in a frown.
As a Low-tier Transcendent mage, he was already at the top among these rebel mages.
"Boss Valk, why have you been wearing such a long face since last night?"
A wandering mage in tattered robes approached and asked in a low voice.
"I mean, isn't the leader making too big a fuss?"
"Dragging out nearly half of everything we've got just to block those three people inside?"
Valk smiled bitterly in his heart.
Yes, all for those three.
They had mobilized a full twenty-plus Transcendents, more than a hundred High Rank warriors, and over a hundred shooters skilled in using dwarven muskets.
His gaze swept over the nearby hidden lethal traps, and his heart grew heavier.
High-explosive alchemical bombs and triggered Binding Arrays were buried near every exit.
These were originally prepared to deal with the kingdom's knights.
They had even activated the regional isolation barrier, which they had obtained from a ruin a year ago at the cost of many brothers' lives.
Moving with such fanfare just to handle a High Rank knight, a Mid-tier mage, and a sleeping Saintess?
Initially, Valk had been as puzzled as everyone else.
But after a whole night of continuous monitoring of that mage named Lin Gui inside the cave,
an indescribable, eerie feeling had shaken him.
The feedback from the alchemical creatures had confirmed countless times that the other party had not left, nor had they sent out any alchemical constructs to scout.
Everything seemed "normal," but for some reason, Valk always had a skin-crawling sensation.
It was as if that black-haired mage were quietly "watching" everything outside through the thick, cold rock walls.
No, to be more precise, he seemed to have been "watching" leader Caesar's every move!
Valk thought back to the monitoring tracks recorded last night.
A scalp-numbing synchronicity emerged.
Whenever Caesar moved to inspect a certain exit himself,
Lin Gui's movement track inside the cave would undergo a subtle change.
Moving to the position closest to Caesar in a straight line.
The closest time, his figure could even be glimpsed from outside the cave entrance.
He was acting as if he were on an invisible chessboard, adjusting his own position according to his opponent's moves.
Valk had been hesitating whether or not to report this discovery.
But all data and detection indicated that the opponent had not used any known scouting methods.
'Could it be... soul sensing?'
A wild thought flashed through his mind, only to be immediately dismissed.
Soul Magic was the most profound and difficult to learn among all magic.
How could a Mid-tier High Rank mage have mastered it?
Just the other man's display of Levitation was enough to shock their group of mages.
He shook off the unrealistic thoughts.
But Valk truly couldn't explain those bizarre movements as a coincidence.
After thinking for a while without result, Valk could only set it aside for now.
He prepared to send alchemical creatures again to detect the other party's location.
Valk pulled a Transmission Stone from his robe.
It was a common communication tool; although its range was short, it didn't require cables like a telephone.
As long as the other party had a matching Transmission Stone, they could talk.
"Carlos, send out the earth moles again on your side. Do another sweep inside."
He contacted his companion responsible for using the earth moles for inspection.
After a long time, a brief answer finally came from the other side: "Okay."
Valk frowned. Just now, he had waited nearly two minutes before the other person spoke.
This was somewhat off.
"What were you doing? Did you leave your post again to harass that tigerkin slave of yours?"
"...Yes." The other side paused for a moment before coughing. "Say no more, I'm heading out to check."
Valk called out a few more times, but found the other person was no longer responding.
Strange. Why was Carlos so cold today?
Normally, he would have long since started bragging about his "extraordinary talent" in that regard.
He switched to another Transmission Stone and contacted another mage responsible for tracking.
The response was similarly brief and cold.
After several consecutive communications, although the speaking styles were slightly different,
they all carried the same sense of detachment that made Valk uneasy.
Unease spread in his heart.
Valk instructed the mages maintaining the barrier beside him to watch over things.
He quickly climbed up, crested a dirt slope, and looked toward the other mine entrances.
Then, he saw a scene that shocked him beyond belief.
The rebels who were supposed to be guarding the entrances were all gone.
Over two hundred brothers from all the exits had vanished!
"????"
Just then, a specially marked Transmission Stone in his robe lit up with a piercing red light.
Caesar's anxious voice came from within.
"Valk! Tell me their location!"
"We've turned the place upside down and haven't found a trace of them!"
"Didn't you guarantee that the three of them never once left your sight?!"
A voice identical to his own rang out almost simultaneously from behind him, reporting clearly into the Transmission Stone.
"Leader, they are indeed inside. Right in... No. 3 Mine."
"Hurry and surround it. They're hidden in a very inconspicuous rock crevice at the top of the mine."
Valk's pupils shrank violently; he hadn't opened his mouth at all!
This was... the Novice Magic, Voice Mimicry!
A cold dagger was silently pressed against his neck.
A deep voice whispered in his ear, "Don't make a sound."
The Transmission Stone at his waist lit up with Caesar's response.
"Fine, understood."
Then the light went out.
The next second, a heavy blow struck the back of his neck.
Valk's vision went black, and he lost consciousness entirely.
Rate on N.U.
