Chapter 52 - Miscalculation (2)

Before the guard could even finish his words, a cold, dark light flashed past his neck, and he felt his eyes dim. Soon enough, a headless body fell to the ground with a hollow thud.

Wesley simply looked away from the guard's body and toward the wall of the Kader Manor. His hunch that the Kader Family was hiding some trump card had now been confirmed.

This mysterious old man who appeared in the Kader Manor was most likely an expert the four families had invited to safeguard themselves against assassins. This old man was probably extremely strong, which would explain why the two heads felt safe under his protection.

This expert was most likely either a Grand-Master or an Elder. If he was a Grand-Master, Wesley was confident that, with some luck and an ambush, he could easily kill him. However, if the expert was an Elder, Wesley would have to run away or risk dying a pitiful death.

An Elder is an extremely powerful existence among mages and swordsmen. A few years ago, Wesley wouldn’t have thought much about an Elder-level expert, but after coming into contact with the Second Elder and the many Elders at the Academy, he no longer held any such illusions.

If this expert was an Elder, comparable to the Second Elder, then Wesley would only be throwing his life away. He would most certainly die before he could even realize what was happening. The difference between a Grand-Master and an Elder is only a single step, but an Elder can kill a hundred Grand-Masters.

However, Elders are extremely rare, and the chance of Wesley meeting one was fairly slim. The four families could easily hire an Elder, but there was no way they could have done so in the short time they had, because, according to the guard, the old expert appeared about two months ago.

The Four Moons Royal Academy has about thirty Elders as Instructors. However, these Elders serve the Academy and cannot be easily moved by the four families. Wesley was absolutely confident that this expert was, at most, a Grand-Master.

Having gotten a glimpse of what was waiting for him, Wesley once again walked toward the wall of the Kader Manor. He had already figured out his course of action: walk in, try to kill the remaining heads as quickly as possible, and then get the hell out before this old expert could make his move.

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Wesley used the gap in the Manor perimeter where the guard he just killed was to sneak into the Manor grounds. The night gave him some cover, but he still made sure not to be accidentally seen by using multiple Dark Ports to move forward.

Wesley could have easily used his Dark Warp to enter the Kader Manor directly, however, he opted not to do that for two reasons. First, he doesn’t know if he might accidentally Warp into the room where the expert was residing.

Second, Wesley was still on guard against the old expert being an Elder. If he really is an Elder, then there is no way the mana fluctuations caused by his spell could be hidden from him. Although Dark Port has a smaller range than Dark Warp, it used very little mana, so his chances of being discovered were less.

Soon enough, Wesley reached the entrance to the main Manor. After making sure that there was no one around, Wesley immediately walked in. Wesley had no intention of spending anytime more than necessary, so he immediately walked into the Manor.

As soon as Wesley walked in, his surroundings changed. The darkness of the night that covered the world did not exist in this Manor. The hallway that Wesley walked into had multiple firestones lining its walls, causing one to not know whether it was day or night.

Wesley would have preferred if this hallway was dark and gloomy because now he had no cover. Wesley walked forward towards the end of the hallway which led to a Manor's central hall.

As soon as Wesley reached the end of the hallway and he was able to see the main hall, he noticed that there were two maids standing on one corner of the hall talking about something in hushed voices.

Wesley just looked at these two and then his eyes turned slightly cold. He immediately put his hand on his dark sword that was hanging from his hip and immediately used Dark Port to appear behind them.

Before the two maids could even realize that Wesley was behind them, Wesley swung a backhand fist to the head of the first maid. The moment the swing reached the unassuming maid's head, she was tossed away like a kite and immediately knocked out.

Wesley's training at the hand of the second elder and his use of the training armors made his body extremely powerful. When Wesley was not wearing the movement restricting armors, his body's explosive strength and power was too tyrannical. It would be surprising, if the maid was able to withstand Wesley's strike.

The remaining maid was immediately surprised b what happened to her friend. She tried to turn her head, but a cold and rough hand clasped on her mouth and a dagger was held against her throat. Immediately, fear and dread crept on the maid's heart.

Suddenly, she heard a sonorous voice next to her ear. It seemed that whoever spoke was right next to her and she could even feel his breathing.

"Don't be afraid. Your friend is just unconscious. If you answer my questions, you'll both be fine."

Wesley was not keen on killing innocent bystanders like these two maids, but he would do it in a heartbeat if he had to. In his current situation, Wesley had no room for morality when his life hung on the balance.

The maid immediately nodded her head vigorously. Her face was teary and she wanted to cry out, but the voice behind her struck fear in her heart. At this point, she gave up any idea of being a hero and wanted to only survive.

"Are the Kader and Blume Family heads in the Manor?"

Wesley was worried that the two heads snuck out and left that expert behind for him. If this was the case, Wesley would immediately leave this place.

The maid pondered Wesley's question. Her thinking was a little slow due to her fear, but she still understood what Wesley asked. She immediately nodded her head. Seeing the maid's response, Wesley was delighted, he spoke again:

"Good. You're doing well. Now tell me, where are the Kader family head is at."

Wesley loosened the hand that was on the maid's mouth. The maid immediately started sobbing, but she didn’t dare scream. After a few moments of silent sobbing, the maid spoke in a soft, broken up voice:

"The he..ads are stayi..ng downstai..rs at the family vua..lt."

The maid's words were jumbled and unclear, but Wesley still heard everything he needed to know. The two family heads seemed to have holed up in their vault downstairs.

"Well done. You can rest now."

Wesley suddenly wrapped his hand around the maid's throat and squeezed. The maid's face immediately drained of color as she struggled to breath while scratching Wesley's hand. Soon enough, she was rendered unconscious.

Wesley immediately stepped over the unconscious maid and walked towards the stairs. He needed to take of things before his presence was felt by the expert. He also didn’t dare use any spells lest he alert the expert.

However, before Wesley could step on the first step of the stairs, against earthen colored wall appeared out of nowhere almost instantaneously and blocked Wesley's path. Wesley's face immediately changed as he realized that he was detected.

"Shit."

He immediately jumped backward, trying to escape. However, as he landed, Wesley's feet sank ankle-deep into the floor, as if it were sand. The floor hardened instantly, trapping him.

At this point, Wesley's face twisted in anger and frustration. Not only had he been discovered, but he had also been captured. Furthermore, the speed of those two spells was simply too fast. Unless there were two earth mages present, this speed was impossible to achieve.

Wesley immediately reached for his dark sword, hoping to use Dark Port to escape his earthen restraints. He didn’t care anymore if he was exposed as a dark mage—his life was in danger.

But as his left hand moved toward the sword, a well-timed spike emerged from the ground and, before he could reach his weapon, it pierced through his palm. Wesley's eyes immediately turned red, and he let out a painful scream.

As his left hand was pierced by the spike, another similar spike pierced his right palm as well. This was the most excruciating pain Wesley had ever felt.

"Don't struggle too much, little one. Today, you will leave your insignificant, little life behind. Haha."

Wesley suddenly heard a croaky voice reverberating throughout the entire hall, as though every single wall was speaking at once. Wesley looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice, but to no avail.

The voice reached him again, but this time, it came from his left. Wesley turned his head quickly, only to see a gray-robed old man walking toward him with a grin on his face.

The old man looked emaciated, more skeleton than human. His face was lined with deep creases, showing his age, but his eyes burned with vigor and determination. Seeing this old man, Wesley’s heart churned with regret and fear.

The old man continued to approach, his eyes fixed on Wesley. When he finally stood before him, the elder reached up and pulled Wesley’s hood off, revealing his face.

Seeing the youthful face of his captive, the old man was slightly startled. He had assumed the assassin would be much older, but now, staring at him, he couldn’t fathom how such a child could have been caught doing such things.

The old man was taken aback for a moment, but he quickly shook it off and spoke again:

"Little one, I hate to kill a child such as yourself, but it must be done. However, I'll make your death painless if you tell me what I want to know."

The old man’s words almost made Wesley laugh out loud. He had used that line so many times himself—it was practically his catchphrase. Whenever Wesley killed a group of bandits, he would use that line to coerce the last one into revealing the location of their base.

Now, the same line he had used so often was being used on him. The irony of it was almost poetic. Wesley's eyes slightly curved in amusement as the elder spoke.

With a pained expression, Wesley looked at the old man and replied:

"My lord, I am but a lackey. I will tell you everything I know, but I hope you'll have mercy and release me."

The smile on the old man’s face faltered. Wesley's words were exactly what he had expected to hear, but a glimpse of something—perhaps laughter—on Wesley’s face made him feel that the assassin had already resigned himself to his fate. The old man immediately spoke:

"It seems you are not willing to listen. We’ll change that soon enough."

The old man reached down, and a small needle made of earth floated up from the ground. It floated toward the old man’s hand, and he pointed it directly at Wesley’s chest.

The moment the needle made contact with Wesley's chest, the tip pierced through his skin, and he grimaced in pain. The old man spoke again:

"Don’t worry. I won’t kill you yet. We’ll see how many needles it takes to impale your heart before you die. Of course, you can always tell me who sent you and where they are, and you won’t have to go through all of this."

Wesley’s face grew even uglier as he listened to the old man's words. It seemed tonight was going to be the last night of his life.

The old man noticed the change in Wesley's expression and immediately smiled. He locked eyes with Wesley, and the moment their gazes met, he pushed the needle slightly deeper into Wesley’s heart.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Haha. That's one."