Lin Gui was the first to call out to the assassin, who was still looking around and talking to thin air.
“Stop shouting.”
His voice wasn't loud, but it echoed with extreme clarity through the silent woods.
“Your so-called Lord Legendary isn't coming out.”
The assassin's gaze snapped back, locking dead onto Lin Gui.
Sitting at the front of the raft, Lin Gui looked at him with calm grey eyes, speaking as if stating an absolute matter of fact.
“He is silently hiding nearby. The moment you take a step to run, he will cast a spell and blast you to ash.”
“So, I suggest you don't make any moves.”
“Otherwise, your death will be very gruesome.”
The assassin's face turned hideously ugly.
Taking a deep breath, he forced down the anger in his heart and questioned Lin Gui in a low, threatening voice,
“This hunt was organized jointly by the twenty-four magic families of the City of a Thousand Towers.”
“To kill members of the magic families participating in the hunt...”
He stared at Lin Gui, emphasizing every single word.
“Are you trying to ruin this hunt?”
“Can you... withstand the collective wrath of the magic families?”
Upon hearing this, Lin Gui couldn't hold back a laugh.
The chuckle was soft, yet to the assassin's ears, it sounded exceptionally harsh.
The assassin's brows knitted tightly together as he suppressed his rage.
“Brat, what are you laughing at?”
Only after laughing his fill did Lin Gui slowly speak.
“If we kill you, that counts as ruining this hunt and offending all the magic families in the City of a Thousand Towers?”
He paused, a sliver of mockery dancing in his grey eyes.
“Then when you tried to kill Lady Irene of the Ross family just now, weren't you also ruining this hunt?”
“And offending all the magic families as well?”
The assassin choked on his words.
His mouth opened and closed, wanting to say something, but nothing came out.
Lin Gui looked at him, his smile fading as his tone returned to indifference.
“I have no interest in the grudges between your magic families, nor in this so-called hunt.”
“I could have left you in that dead wood forest to be torn apart, just like the companion you abandoned.”
“But I didn't.”
The assassin narrowed his eyes, watching him with extreme vigilance.
“Then what do you want?”
Lin Gui smiled, turned his head to glance at Elvia beside him, and then looked back at the assassin.
“We want you to fight her.”
“Without using battle force, defeat her, and we will let you go.”
“How about it?”
The assassin froze for a moment, then frowned.
He hadn't expected in the slightest that the reason they didn't kill him in the dead wood forest was for this.
His gaze swept over to the blonde knight.
High-tier High Rank, on the verge of breaking through.
Her aura was unstable, lingering right at a subtle threshold.
The assassin understood instantly.
They were using him as a whetstone, creating an opportunity for this young girl to make a breakthrough.
He quickly calculated his odds in his mind.
Unlike mages...
If mages didn't use mana, they were essentially sitting ducks.
But physical classes were different.
Even without battle force, their baseline physical capability was enough to support a decent level of combat strength.
As a High-tier Transcendent, even without using battle force, he could unleash power equivalent to at least a Low-tier Transcendent.
A High-tier High Rank knight on the verge of breaking through...
He didn't take her seriously at all.
The assassin sneered, looking at the black-haired mage who was clearly the group's backbone.
“How do I know you'll keep your word?”
Lin Gui said calmly,
“Then I take it you refuse?”
He turned his head, glancing off toward an empty patch of ground.
His lips twitched slightly, as if he intended to say something to that powerful Legendary mage.
The assassin's pupils contracted sharply.
“Wait!”
He practically roared the word out.
An uncontrollable urgency bled through his voice.
Lin Gui paused, turning his head back to look at him once more.
The assassin gritted his teeth and nodded.
Lin Gui withdrew his gaze, turning his head toward Elvia and giving her a nod.
“Go ahead.”
Elvia stepped forward.
She walked to Lin Gui's side and came to a stop.
Without looking at him, her eyes fixed on the assassin ahead. Her voice was flat, yet held a trace of confusion and anticipation that even she barely realized.
“Did it ever cross your mind that I might fail and be killed by him?”
She paused.
“A cornered beast will do desperate things.”
Though Shadow Blade Lynn's training of her had been ruthless, it was ultimately just training—a trial that stopped short of real fatality.
This time, however, Lin Gui was pushing her straight into a life-or-death struggle.
Those playful banter responses could not obscure the massive risks involved.
Lin Gui turned his head, looking at her indifferently.
“Elvia.”
“You said you would help me.”
He paused.
“And a High-tier High Rank knight is nothing more than a burden to me.”
He handed over the Gray Dagger.
Elvia's eyes dimmed. She took the dagger and gripped it in her hand.
“I will do as you wish.”
She turned around and stepped forward.
Planting her feet firmly on the ground, she raised her rapier and faced the assassin.
In her golden eyes, all playfulness and calculations vanished.
There was only a cold, resolute intent to fight.
Aboard the raft, Lin Gui sat down cross-legged.
He turned his head to look at the tiny Shadow Blade Lynn sitting on his shoulder.
“I need to think over a few matters.”
“Remember to remind me: Elvia cannot die.”
“Don't forget our agreement.”
Shadow Blade Lynn let out a soft chuckle.
The sound was faint, carrying a trace of irony.
“Hmph, if you treat her like this, she'll never reach the apex in her lifetime.”
Lin Gui replied indifferently,
“I don't need her to reach the apex.”
Shadow Blade Lynn sneered.
“A mage planning to overthrow the Alliance—do you honestly expect to face those twenty-plus Title Rank powerhouses all by yourself?”
“Or do you intend to rely on that newly risen Demon King you showed mercy to back at the Wall of Sighs to march to your deaths together?”
Ignoring her provocation, Lin Gui sat quietly on the ground and closed his eyes.
Floating up from his shoulder, Shadow Blade Lynn said coldly,
“Hmph, arrogant.”
After that, her gaze locked firmly onto the battle ahead.
The Shroud of the Gloomy Night could hide from everyone's vision, but it could not fool her, a being composed of pure soul.
In her vision, this area under the shade of trees—otherwise ordinary and slightly dim—had already been lit up.
Ahead, Elvia and the assassin confronted each other for a brief moment.
Then, she moved first.
Her rapier unsheathed, its silver-white blade carving an arc through the sunlight, thrusting straight toward the assassin's face with a whistling tear of air.
The assassin sidestepped to dodge, sweeping his short blade upward backhanded toward her wrist.
Elvia didn't dodge; pressing her rapier downward, she met his strike head-on.
Clang!
The clash of metal exploded through the forest.
Sparks flew between the blade edges.
Elvia gave him no room to breathe.
Strike after strike, wide and powerful, every blow carrying a whistling shriek.
Her swordsmanship right now wasn't that of an assassin, but that of a true knight.
In her hands, the slender rapier possessed the momentum of a greatsword.
Forced back repeatedly by her onslaught, the assassin's back slammed into a withered tree.
He dodged sideways, and Elvia's blade struck the tree trunk.
Splinters flurried as a deep gash was left behind.
Once the duel began, Elvia relentlessly pressed the assassin on the defensive.
Meanwhile, Lin Gui kept his head lowered, lost in thought.
The thrilling, high-stakes duel between Elvia and the assassin didn't affect him in the slightest.
To the side, Irene watched this play out, her brow furrowing tightly.
She found Lin Gui's nearly cold-blooded behavior completely incomprehensible.
The affection and pride that blonde girl had shown when introducing her man to Irene earlier...
...even someone like Irene, who struggled with social nuances, could see it with utmost clarity.
Yet now, the girl who loved him was fighting for her life out front against an enemy far stronger than herself.
Could this man really be so heartless that he wouldn't even spare a single glance?
Her fingers quietly tightened around her staff, her knuckles turning white.
In her black eyes, disgust grew stronger and stronger.
Lin Gui, however, had no idea that his image in the eyes of the magic genius behind him had plummeted straight through the floor.
He was currently immersed in deep thought.
Ever since he became involved in this hunt, he had felt a sense of discordance.
His original plan had been to pull out the eight nodes sustaining this massive perception veil first.
As long as this perception veil remained, his location would be continuously exposed.
Because Guy, the prey, was by his side, and he couldn't abandon Guy—since only Guy knew the location of the sanctuary.
The rank of that perception veil was at least Legendary or above.
And its level of detection reached directly into the soul.
Under the observation of the Eyes of the Netherworld, subtle soul threads extended from Guy's body, connecting into that towering veil.
Lin Gui possessed the ability to sever them, but the perception veil would simply detect Guy's existence all over again.
Because it wasn't targeting Guy specifically, but the entire race of half-demons.
This reminded him of an item.
The Divine Artifact: Omniscient Compass.
And as long as this perception veil existed, the half-demons had nowhere to run.
Initially, the Ross family falling behind in participating in the hunt gave him an instinctive sense of urgency.
The hunt was nearing its end; if they didn't act soon, it would be too late.
Yet it was precisely this "urgency" that kept making him feel something was off.
It wasn't until just now, after killing that ranger, that he realized the most unnatural aspect of the entire affair.
Time.
His sense of urgency stemmed from the hunt being underway.
Yet reality told him that the hunt was actually drawing to a close.
The reaction of the Ross family mages told him that they had arrived late.
They really had arrived late.
The hunt was already over.
The prey had already been captured.
In that case...
Why did the perception veil still exist? Why were this High-tier Transcendent assassin and ranger from the magic families still lingering in this Withered Wood Wasteland instead of leaving with their prey for Withered Wood Town?
The most likely possibility was that top combatants like Edwin, who organized the hunt, had hit a stalemate with Morgan and the others.
Even in a stalemate, it shouldn't concern these magic family members who had already completed their hunt and could leave with their prey, leaving only a few behind to maintain the perception barrier.
Unless...
The escaped half-demons they captured had become bargaining chips for negotiations.
Although the peak strength of the half-demons was formidable, their opponent was the City of a Thousand Towers.
If the one behind this really was that person...
The combat force sent out could never be held back by mere four Legendaries.
Could the sanctuary have some trump card hidden up its sleeve?
While Lin Gui was thinking, his peripheral vision caught sight of something.
Low Rank demons emerging in the woods, drawn by the sound of battle.
Then, he muttered as if to himself toward Guy,
“Tell me, if all of you were to die here on the wasteland, who would be the person least willing to see that happen?”
Guy froze, staring at him blankly.
“Huh?”
Lin Gui smiled faintly without explaining.
Just at that moment, the fight between Elvia and the assassin drew toward its climax.
The assassin had initially been suppressed by Elvia's aggressive onslaught, but that was merely him adjusting to the rhythm of combat without battle force.
The physical traits and battle experience of a High-tier Transcendent were far beyond what any High Rank knight could match.
He quickly stabilized his footing.
His short blade wove through Elvia's web of sword strikes like a silver viper.
Every clash sent numbness shooting up Elvia's arms.
Her offensive momentum was dismantled piece by piece, her footwork growing erratic.
The assassin caught an opening.
Elvia lunged with her sword, overextending her force with no time to pull back.
He dodged the tip of her blade, reversing his grip on the short blade and viciously slamming its hilt onto Elvia's wrist.
Crack!
Elvia let out a muffled groan, the rapier flying out of her grasp.
Her body stumbled to one side, her left hand instinctively clutching her injured right wrist.
The assassin gave her no room to catch her breath.
Closing in, he clamped his left hand onto Elvia's shoulder blade, slamming her violently against a withered tree.
Flipping his short blade in his right hand, he aimed the tip straight at her throat.
Cold metal pressed against her skin.
Elvia's pupils contracted slightly, her golden eyes reflecting the chill gleam of the blade.
She didn't close her eyes.
Her lips tightly pursed, she stared fixedly at the assassin in front of her.
Looking down at her from above, a cruel grin touched the corners of the assassin's mouth.
“Little girl, it's over.”
Exerting force with his wrist, he thrust the short blade forward.
At that exact instant...
Floating on Lin Gui's shoulder, Shadow Blade Lynn raised an eyebrow.
She opened her mouth, preparing to shout out a warning.
Irene, whose nerves had been stretched taut all along, could no longer care about anything else.
Raising her staff, mana surged wildly at its tip.
Guy instinctively closed his eyes.
He didn't dare to look.
And then...
Lin Gui opened his eyes.
He deactivated the Shroud of the Gloomy Night.
No incantations.
No gestures.
Not even the slightest sign of gathering mana.
Right at the instant the assassin's short blade was about to pierce Elvia's throat...
All around the assassin...
In the gaps between withered trees, within the folds of the air, countless magic circles appeared instantaneously.
Densely packed.
Layer upon layer.
From the ground to midair, from tree trunks to fallen leaves, every angle and every crevice was filled with these magic circles radiating a razor-sharp aura.
They hovered silently without a single ripple.
Yet the center of every single ring was locked dead onto a target.
The assassin's throat, heart, limbs, head.
Every magic ring pointed directly at him.
The assassin's short blade ground to a halt three inches in front of Elvia's throat.
Unable to advance even half an inch further.
Not because his strength had failed...
...but because of sheer terror.
An uncontrollable dread surging from the very depths of his soul.
Elvia looked at the wind-infused magic rings floating in front of her, blocking the space between her and the blade, as well as the surrounding magic rings enveloping her.
Lin Gui couldn't possibly create so many Wind Blade rings in a single instant; he had clearly prepared them far in advance, merely concealing them with the Shroud of the Gloomy Night so no one caught the flaw.
Recollecting Lin Gui's indifferent response earlier, Elvia couldn't help but chuckle softly.
“Stinky man.”
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