Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: Ghost Steps (2)
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To assassinate the Emperor of the Philius Empire, a thousand shadows pierced through the dark night. They were the Hashashin from the Edriger Kingdom and members of the Full Moon Flower guild, the greatest assassin group on the western continent.
The Full Moon Flower's leader, the Shadow Emperor Ghost Step, knew full well the weight the Philius Empire's Emperor carried in the current situation. That's why he had squeezed every last coin of gold originating from the Lisbon Maritime Kingdom out of his negotiations with the Edriger Kingdom.
"We've received the down payment. Time to get to work."
Ghost Step Diego muttered under his breath in a low voice as he advanced through the darkness. With such an enormous contract fee on the line, failure meant the end of the guild's future. That's why the Full Moon Flower had thrown its entire force into this mission, staking everything on it.
Success would elevate their name to even greater heights, but failure would plunge them into an endless abyss.
"We've arrived at the Philius Empire army's camp."
One of his subordinate guild members reported. Those mobilized for this operation were elites among elites—not just the Hashashin, but the Full Moon Flower guild members as well. By cloaking themselves in darkness with basic stealth techniques, they could move at speeds rivaling cavalry without relying on mana.
"How's the situation?"
He was asking about the state of the enemy army's defenses. Thinking that, the subordinate guild member replied calmly.
"They're maintaining minimal vigilance, but it's much weaker than before."
"Good. The moment the Free Isirian Kingdom army begins their diversion, we launch our attack."
At Diego's words, Anna and the other guild executives nodded. One executive vanished into the darkness to inform the Free Isirian Kingdom army of their arrival.
And how much time passed?
A majestic horn blast echoed under the moonlight. It belonged to the Free Isirian Kingdom. They advanced vigorously toward the Philius Empire army's camp, banners fluttering.
Alarms rang out in the Philius Empire army's camp as well, and troops began to move. They had lowered their guard, but not to the point of missing a large-scale assault.
"The forces of the night await your next command."
Anna emerged from the shadows, reporting that the assassins had completed all preparations. Looking up at the moonlight, a sharp smile spread across Diego's lips.
"We move when the enemy falls into chaos."
He said in a low voice. The subordinates who received the order nodded silently and checked their weapons.
The horn blasts grew closer. Soon after, hundreds of fireballs erupted first from the Philius Empire army's camp, where mages excelled.
"Crimson Tower Lord Berenus Kyle, is it?"
Diego grinned. He instantly recognized who had cast the spell. Shields unfurled in the Free Isirian Kingdom army's camp as their mages began counterattacking.
The two camps exchanged offensive magic, closing the distance between them. Archers soon began loosing arrows. Knight orders and cavalry charged out, and full-scale combat erupted.
"It's time."
"We'll proceed."
Confirming the signal flag for "proceed" raised by the executive embedded in the Free Isirian Kingdom army camp, Diego spoke in a cold voice. The executives from Full Moon Flower and the Hashashin scattered into the darkness.
"Master..."
"Yes, let's go."
The Shadow Emperor Ghost Step and his direct guild members began moving as well. They headed straight for the heart of the Philius Empire army's camp, where the command center was located.
Thanks to the chaos of the battlefield and their stealth, there was no significant resistance on the way to the command center.
"Master. Fog."
"The mages are pulling some clever trick."
At some point, thick fog shrouded their vision.
One of the most basic ways to protect a command center from assassins on a battlefield was to summon fog with magic.
Even though it was a situation they sometimes encountered when assassinating key figures on battlefields, Anna felt an inexplicable unease and emphasized the fog's presence. But Diego brushed it off as nothing serious.
However, as time passed, Anna's anxiety grew, and even Diego began sensing something off.
"Was the command center this far?"
Someone muttered softly to themselves. They were moving at speeds near that of cavalry.
Even with the thick fog, they had pinpointed the command center's last confirmed location using mana and charged straight for it. Yet after an hour of movement, they still hadn't reached the target.
Even more strangely, they hadn't encountered a single enemy soldier blocking their path. It was abnormal, even accounting for their advanced stealth and the dense fog.
"Master. It seems we've fallen into a trap."
"Yeah... It looks that way..."
Anna's unease became reality. Diego had no choice but to admit they were trapped.
"A disorientation spell, perhaps?"
Diego shook his head firmly at Anna's question.
"You think I'd fall for some petty spell like that? This is clearly something a bit more advanced."
No hostile mana reactions stirred within his body, so Diego was certain it wasn't a magic effect related to disorientation.
"A barrier...?"
Diego muttered to himself and pulled something from his bosom.
"Master. That is...?"
"A high-grade magic tool, the 'Barrier-Breaking Compass.' It's single-use, but it can destroy even advanced barriers."
As Anna's eyes sparkled with curiosity, Diego smiled and explained. He activated the Barrier-Breaking Compass. Blue mana spread outward, but the fog remained unchanged, and no fragments of mana from a shattered barrier emerged as they should have.
"Looks like it's not a barrier after all."
Diego muttered. He even tried to use his signature Ghost Steps, but it didn't work.
What confined them here wasn't a simple barrier, but the secret labyrinth formation guarded by the Denitz family. A unique technique blending barriers and formations, it was said that in ancient times when this secret art was at its peak, it never let go of any enemy who entered the formation.
"Contact with the other squads?"
"Messengers don't seem to be reaching them. In fact, the ones we send are going missing."
"Damn it!"
At Anna's response, Diego spat out a curse uncharacteristically for him.
He had anticipated a trap to some extent. Hadn't he brought a single-use high-grade magic tool precisely for breaking barriers?
But the Philius Empire's Emperor was more brilliant than expected, and the trap he had laid was far deeper than Diego had imagined.
"Mages!"
Even an assassination guild didn't consist solely of assassins. To counter powerful magic traps, assassin guilds kept a small number of highly skilled mages. The Full Moon Flower was no exception. Especially for this assassination, where the entire guild was mobilized, elite upper-grade mages were accompanying them.
"Yes! Master!"
The mages gathered. Diego discussed countermeasures with them, but no solutions emerged.
"What about detection spells?"
"Even when we use them, nothing registers. It's to the point where we doubt this is even an enemy camp with thousands of troops."
The guild's top mage answered Diego's question. They had definitely entered the enemy camp, yet not only had the Emperor not appeared, but no armed soldiers had shown themselves either. All that was visible was the thick fog rendering their vision useless.
"It's like we've entered a white hell..."
Guild members nodded in agreement at someone's words. Thick fog blanketed everything ahead, with no visible escape. To make matters worse, contact with the other assassin squads was cut off. The only decision Diego could make was to escape this hell first.
"Minimize stealth usage. Conserve mana."
Diego ordered.
Stealth techniques consumed mana too. And since mana wasn't infinite, minimizing consumption was wise in this situation where combat could break out at any moment.
Traps like this were usually meant to force mana expenditure. Sure enough, the moment the guild members minimized their stealth, armed soldiers bearing the Philius Empire army's banners emerged from the thick fog.
"Master!"
"Do we engage?"
The subordinate executives asked whether to fight. They still had some mana left, so maximizing stealth now could let them evade the Philius Empire army's attacks.
After a brief moment of deliberation, Diego made his call.
"Engage!"
Diego's sharp voice rang out. The Full Moon Flower guild members drew their weapons en masse and clashed with the Philius Empire army. At first, it was just one enemy combat unit—500 men.
The Full Moon Flower and Hashashin were scattered through the fog, but over 300 moved with Diego. For these renowned elite assassins, facing 500 regular soldiers wasn't a major challenge.
"Retreat! Fall back!"
The ambushed Philius Empire soldiers lost 200 of their 500 and hastily retreated.
"Pursue them!"
Diego shouted. He thought chasing the fleeing Philius Empire soldiers might lead them out of the trap.
But the thick fog and Viscount Denitz's labyrinth formation didn't even allow pursuit. The moment they entered a certain point, the mages suddenly felt vertigo and staggered. Since escaping such traps required mages, Diego had no choice but to abandon the chase.
"Ughhh!"
The vertigo worsened. Some mages even vomited. They had entered one of the wondrous zones in the Denitz family's secret labyrinth formation—one that caused mana backlash in mages.
"Enemies incoming!"
The disaster didn't end with the mages' incapacitation. As Anna sharply warned of the enemies' appearance, blades of wind flew in from all directions.
"Arghhh!"
The wind blades shredded the assassins. Severed arms and legs rolled across the ground, crimson blood spraying.
"Wind spirits!"
Someone warned. Sharp mana surged from the assassins' daggers.
"We are the Iron Wind Knight Order, sworn to the Spirit King! By our oath, we shall exterminate the enemy!"
Spirits clad in armor and wielding spears and swords woven from wind mana appeared.
"Fight back!"
"Kill them all!"
Shouts erupted as the assassins charged the wind spirits, swinging their daggers. Combat began.
Assassins were optimized for ambushes. But the Full Moon Flower guild members had also trained for frontal knight engagements, allowing them to face off against the Iron Wind Knight Order, wind spirits excelling in close combat.
However, as Viscount Denitz's labyrinth formation fully activated, the wind spirits weren't all that appeared. Arrows and magic rained down from the sky on the Shadow Emperor and assassins as they defeated them and resumed moving.
"Arghhh!"
The guild mages deployed shields and the assassins dodged frantically, but it wasn't enough. Under the relentless barrage of arrows and chained magic from above, Shadow Emperor Diego lost over 100 subordinates.
"When the hell will we get out of here...?"
"Damn it, I just want to live..."
Under the ceaseless attacks from unseen foes, the assassins under the Shadow Emperor dwindled to fewer than 100.
Morale, once sky-high, had hit rock bottom. Everyone was exhausted, caring only about escaping rather than the mission.
"Rest here for a moment."
The arrow and magic attacks had ceased. To prevent morale from plummeting further, Diego ordered a short break, and the assassins took sweet respite in the thick fog.
And after about 10 minutes?
Bwooo!
A horn blast echoed.
"H-Horn?"
"Give us a break!"
The assassins raised their weapons in desperation. It seemed even this brief rest was denied them.
"I-Imperial Army!"
"I see the Emperor's banner!"
Faintly visible through the fog were the banners of the Imperial Army and the Emperor.
"We're saved!"
"If we kill the Emperor, we can get out!"
"Kill him! Kill!"
The assassins cheered. Without waiting for Diego's command, they rushed toward the Emperor's banner.
They thought the Emperor appearing in the fog was fortune, but in truth, it was the beginning of calamity. Neither the assassins nor Shadow Emperor Diego realized it.