Chapter 275: Killing two birds with one stone

There were a total of ten people in the group that had ambushed Lawrence — three mages, four archers, and three swordsmen.

Amongst the three swordsmen, only one was a swordmaster, while the other two were senior swordsmen. Except for the earth adept mage that Han Shuo had already killed, there was one space adept mage left and the black robed dark archmage.

The black robed mage felt a chill down his spine when he saw Han Shuo appear with Pollak’s head in hand. The two mages had been back to back, yet he hadn’t even noticed when Pollak was killed. This indicated the absolutely extraordinary strength of the newcomer.

“Kill this person first!” The black robed mage shouted, about to chant a magic incantation.

Suddenly, the big tree next to him swayed in an odd manner. Like a peacock displaying its tail, the tree branches turned into sharp arrows and shot towards the mage in a hail of sharp missiles that covered the sky. He simply had no time to react as dozen of branches transformed his body into a pincushion. He turned into a hedgehog, his blood flowing profusely.

The mage’s eyes were still wide open as he died. He couldn't accept the fact that the tree had suddenly turned into a murder weapon. Why did the ordinary tree suddenly turn into an unblinking murderer?

The two senior swordsmen were dressed in black nightwalker outfits as they jumped down from the rooftop, intending to kill Han Shuo firsthand. Ludicrously, three cracks somehow appeared on the ground where they landed. They’d wanted to borrow the force of their movement to spring towards Han Shuo, but let out a tragic scream as they were swallowed by the cracks like flies casting themselves into a spider’s web. The remaining people looked on, dumbfounded at the weird happenings with perturbed hearts. The swordmaster assassin then ordered in a grave tone, “Retreat!”

The four archers and the space adept mage acted as if they’d been granted amnesty by this word. They quickly turned around, about to flee.

“Want to escape? Heh heh, it’s my first day of work today! I’ll gain some standing for catching all of you!” Han Shuo leisurely gave chase while smiling devilishly.

The swordmaster leapt, his feet about to tap the small tree next to him when the tree unexpectedly came to life, the snake-like branches tightly wrapping around his ankle. More and more of branches twisted like octopus tentacles and tightly bound the lower half of his body.

The swordmaster’s face was dreadful as he waved his sword, attempting to hack off the soft branches. However at this precise moment, old assassin Lucky emerged from the shadows and approached like a ghost to finish the struggling swordmaster.

Han Shuo was about to act, but halted upon seeing Lucky approach. He understood this swordmaster would be hard pressed to escape death, so he turned his sights to the four archers and the space adept mage.

“Bryan, capture one alive!” Lawrence was both surprised and overjoyed. He didn't expect Han Shuo to be so stunning and calm in the face of so many experts. He’d used some unexpected method to casually play with them.

“Ah! Murder murder! Shut the door, quickly shut the door!” Even though this alley was remote, there were still people in broad daylight. Several civilians opened the windows to take a peek upon hearing Han Shuo's shouts, then hastily shut both their windows and doors in horror of the fear of being implicated.

Han Shuo's sensitive hearing soon caught the sound of a cavalry team quickly approaching from afar. He looked in the direction where the four archers had escaped and laughed sinisterly.

His body flashing with a whooshing sound like a stone thrown from a catapult, he landed in the midst of the four archers in the blink of an eye. The Demonslayer Edge instantly took three lives like a demon summoned from hell.

Han Shuo restrained the last archer by grabbing the back of his neck, lifting him up using one hand. The archer was only one meter and seventy centimeters tall, so his legs flailed around upon being lifted up. He grunted gutturally and couldn't utter a complete word as he looked down in horror at Han Shuo.

The quiver on the back of this poor archer had long since been thrown away. Although he struggled with all that he had, he couldn't reach Han Shuo since his two arms were shorter than the latter's. It looked quite comical.

“Kid, be good and your crime will be lessened!” Han Shuo grinned. He walked back towards Lawrence while easily holding the archer.

The other space adept mage didn't get to take a few steps before he was coldly shot down by a dark arrow in the middle of his back. The dead mage fell from the rooftop to the ground.

The person who shot the arrow was the old assassin Lucky. Han Shuo had seen the happenings clearly, so he wasn't surprised about the space adept mage’s death.

“Who, who dares to fight on the street!?” The cavalry rushed from a distance only when everything was over. The leading officer was fully armored as he shouted loudly.

“You city guards are truly unreliable!” Lawrence on the other side shook his head and let out a long sigh. He didn't spare a glance towards the officer and looked towards Han Shuo with appreciation, “Many thanks, Bryan!”

“Alright. I choked this person unconscious, so you look after him yourself. Remember that I protected you this time, so the Dark Mantle higher-ups will take note of this accomplishment. In addition, I protected the order of the northern castle and prevented a malicious assassination, so the Northern Guard should record this credit for me!” Accomplishing two deeds in one go, what a great harvest! Han Shuo was secretly smug.

“Got it!” Lawrence understood what he meant and answered with a smile.

“Mm, there's no more danger on the road, I'll be leaving then!” Han Shuo only flung out these words before leaving in style.

The officer had originally wanted to stop him, but he simply didn't have the courage to say anything and let Han Shuo leave leisurely when he recognized Lawrence and saw how the two were chatting warmly.

Han Shuo reached the Dark Mantle’s northern stronghold at night as he’d promised. Emily had been waiting for quite some time. When she saw Han Shuo appear, she immediately waved her hand to signal Chester to withdraw so that she could be intimate with Han Shuo.

The two discussed what had happened after they’d parted at the Valley of Sunshine. They also talked about the Northern Guard’s stolen blueprint.

“Are there any clues?” Han Shuo asked Emily after listening.

“I'm inspecting this closely, but I can be certain that the people haven't left Ossen City since the Dark Mantle immediately started investigations. Our people are stationed at all four gates. All foreigners are being detained by the Empire, so they’ve had no chance to slip out.”

“We actually discovered a few suspicious groups recently. However, we can't be sure if they were the ones behind this. I'm investigating this with full force. As long as I can determine which group did this, none of them will be able to escape Ossen City. You just wait for my news. Although this problem is tricky, the Dark Mantle will definitely handle it properly since it occurred inside the city.” Emily had a cautious expression as she whispered in a low voice.

“Store these two things well. They will definitely help increase your power!” Han Shuo took out the magic staff embedded with three amethysts, and a notebook in which he recorded everything he remembered from Ayermike Cotton’s ancient notebook. He handed them over to Emily.

“For, for me?” Emily was stunned upon seeing these two things, her mind temporarily dizzy. She understood clearly how valuable these things were.

Ayermike Cotton’s handwritten notebook had recorded his experiences, understandings, and feelings about dark magic. It was a sacred object that every dark mage would give an arm and a leg for. As for the magic staff, its value was even more difficult to calculate, given the terrifyingly rich dark elements on the surface.

Emily had already had a faint premonition when she heard Han Shuo say he had taken down a copy of the notebook. However, her heart still pounded wildly in disbelief when he actually handed these two treasures to her.

“Of course, they belonged to you the moment I got them. However you need to prepare a reason for this magic staff so it won't rouse Candide’s suspicion!” Han Shuo had turned in the original handwritten notebook to Candide, but concealed the matter about Ayermike Cotton’s magic staff. To dark mages, this magic staff certainly wouldn't have the ordinary effect of magnifying magic spells. Han Shuo reminded Emily in advance so that she could evade Candide’s scrutiny.

Emily inhaled deeply and murmured, “The Dark Star staff belonged to magic god Ayermike Cotton. It's thick covering of dark element can help dark mages gather their mental strength faster. Be it training or casting magic, the speed should be five times faster when using the Dark Star staff. This staff is considered a divine artifact for dark mages.”

“Then there's also the comprehension of dark magic from magic god Ayermike. If I can completely understand everything, my power will increase by leaps and bounds and reach new heights. These, these two things are simply priceless artifacts for dark mages!”

“No need to be so moved. I know full well of their value. They belong to you now!” When Han Shuo saw Emily so happy to the point of forgetting everything else, he hugged her by the waist and continued, “Eat this pill. It can give you eternal youth and is very beneficial to the study of dark magic.”

Emily's heart almost stopped beating from excitement when she heard the two words “eternal youth”. One good thing after another was falling on her head today, all of which was brought about by Han Shuo. This was the first time she’d ever experienced such a thing in her life, and it also proved her position in Han Shuo's heart.

“Eternal youth, eternal youth…” Emily was most concerned about her age. Her being older than Han Shuo had been a knot in her heart. Now that there was a medicine that could maintain eternal youth, she was willing to pay any price no matter what. Her whole being became distracted as she muttered nonstop.

“Eat it, I’ll help you dissolve the pill!” Han Shuo whispered. He pulled her over by the hand and brought the Rebirth Pill to her lips.

Emily's eyes shone brightly, she swallowed the Rebirth Pill without hesitation. Afterwards her bones emitted cracking sounds as the Rebirth Pill reformed her body bit by bit with Han Shuo’s help.

Like Fanny and Phoebe, Emily also had a need for the toilet. She only felt assured after Han Shuo told her the pill’s side effect.

Han Shuo left the stronghold and went straight to the Boozt Merchant Guild.

In the deserted training field inside the guild, Phoebe was wearing a pure white warrior outfit, her hair braided and tied into a ponytail. The sword in her hand whistled as it danced through the air. Her body moved like a lightning bolt within the field, shadow images appearing one after another from the high speed. Extremely sharp silver crosses blossomed from the sword as they hacked a huge rock into fragments with rumbling sounds.

Suddenly, Phoebe seemed to discover something. She raised the sword in her hand and shot spinning cross-blades towards a small tree. Cracking sounds echoed as the tree exploded into hundreds of pieces.

A black light flashed, a shadow behind the tree rushed forward at a very high speed and slipped through the spinning cross-blades. A huge killing aura enveloped Phoebe and restrained her. Dread spread from the depths of her soul and filled her mind. In the blink of an eye, everything around her seemed to be confined by the killing intent. Phoebe suddenly felt her body stiffen up, she simply couldn't move. A deep fear surged in her heart.

However, the violently churning killing intent suddenly stopped when it almost touched Phoebe's delicate body. It spread to the sides, not hurting her in the least bit. When the killing intent disappeared and she relaxed her whole body, Han Shuo appeared right in front of her eyes with a slight smile.

“Congratulations! I didn't expect you would reach the rank of great swordmaster at such a young age. Truly incredible!” Han Shuo looked at Phoebe with a smile and congratulated her.

Phoebe rushed into Han Shuo's chest with happy surprise, like a young swallow returning to its nest. A faint fragrance, mixed with a dash of sweat, instantly assaulted his nostrils. She tightly embraced Han Shuo and said in a sweet, excited voice, “It was all thanks to that medicinal pill. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to break through so quickly. Take a look, how am I different from before?”

Like Fanny, Phoebe's skin was soft and delicate like silk. Her already beautiful smile was now even more soul-shaking after the Rebirth Pill’s reformation.

“You've become much more beautiful!” Han Shuo replied honestly.

“Mm, I’m all sweaty, let me take a bath first!” Phoebe softly pushed Han Shuo away and walked to her bathroom, somewhat embarrassed. Suddenly, she stopped halfway and said in a light voice that couldn't be lighter, “Come with me!”

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