Chapter 647: Radiation, Capture

"So what should we do now?" Aiboke looked around at the quiet surroundings, then asked.

He did not think that standing guard or searching through the night was a good idea; currently, the attacker was hiding in the shadows and even possessed spell-breaking abilities, which posed a considerable threat to a lone spellcaster.

Xia Duo heard the retreat in Aiboke's tone, but he was not surprised; if he hadn't truly discovered something himself, he would not be willing to waste his efforts here either.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "I'll see if there are any new clues. You head back to the Tower of Time first. When you go back, take Saier Town Mayor and his family with you, so he isn't harmed by the attacker."

"Saier? I understand, I'm going now!"

Aiboke responded, then turned and left.

Xia Duo did exactly as he had just said, returning to the tree from before and observing by the faint light coming from the nearby villa estate, as if wanting to find some overlooked clue.

Under the tree, Ruien's "artistic" corpse had long been taken away by Ailin's family, but a large amount of blood remained, emitting a thick, fishy stench.

Xia Duo covered his nose and mouth with his hand and carefully examined the area around the bloodstains. Before long, he suddenly let out a soft "Huh," as if he had discovered something.

Immediately after, Xia Duo's expression became solemn. He began to pace around the bloodstains, repeatedly adjusting his perspective to observe, as if the clue were hidden within the blood.

The bloodstains, which were where Ruien's body had previously lain, were at the foot of a large tree. Xia Duo pacing back and forth inevitably meant crossing paths with the trunk; he chose to go around behind the tree, effectively circling the trunk and the bloodstains.

On the first lap, Xia Duo was lost in thought; on the second lap, Xia Duo sighed, "So that's how it is."

And just as he was about to finish the second lap and emerge from behind the tree, a ghostly green ray shot out from behind the tree a step before him, heading straight for a spot on the stone path not far from the large tree.

The ray did not complete its final journey but was blocked midway by some object. This seemed to enrage the ray, which instantly exploded and dispersed, turning into a thin film of emerald light that enveloped the object blocking it.

Only then did Xia Duo slowly walk out from behind the tree, sneering at the empty space—which appeared empty to normal vision and contained only a thin film of emerald light to Magic Vision:

"You didn't leave after killing someone; did you really think no one could find you? Do you know the answer now? Are you satisfied with this answer?"

A series of questions seemed to stun the invisible person, but Xia Duo did not relax his vigilance in the slightest; the only 【Dimensional Anchor】 he had pre-cast in the Magic Net had already been used.

If he couldn't capture the opponent while blocking their teleportation, they might just get away, and if they ran, it wouldn't be so easy to catch them next time!

"Human, how did you find me?"

A gloomy, hoarse voice with a strange accent rang out from the empty space. Then, a short but sturdy figure suddenly appeared, slowly descending from a position slightly hovering above the ground.

It really was a Drow!

White hair, black skin, red eyes, wearing a set of dark gray Leather Armor, with two scimitars tucked at the waist, also in dark tones. If not for that snow-white hair, they would really look like they had walked out of a coal pile.

Xia Duo felt a slight relief in his heart; it wasn't the worst-case scenario he had imagined—that the killer was an Elf themselves, hiding among normal Elves. If that were the case, it might be even more troublesome than a Drow assassin.

Of course, that referred to the situation where the killer couldn't be caught; being able to catch them was another matter entirely.

The Drow were an even bigger problem; this meant that the Drow, who had previously only been rampaging within the borders of Cormanthor, were now setting their sights on Netheril. What exactly was going on?

The Drow appearing before him could even speak some broken Netherese, which made Xia Duo feel even more worried, so he didn't intend to waste words with them—he would arrest them first!

With the opponent's teleportation blocked, Xia Duo cast spells calmly. The first was the 【Enhanced Armor】 he hadn't applied earlier for fear of the killer escaping; this only required a simple conversion of his permanent 【Changxiao Hujia】.

Although the duration was shortened, the effect was increased manifold.

Seeing that Xia Duo didn't answer but instead cast a spell, the Drow assassin immediately turned and ran. This almost caused Xia Duo to lose control of his spell; this little thing, he had fully expected them to rush up and take a desperate gamble, but he hadn't expected them to just run away.

However, Xia Duo was not worried, because he had already seen a familiar figure descending from the sky, landing in the direction the Drow was fleeing—it was Aiboke, who had left earlier.

The Saier family and other important figures of the Savile Territory had already been taken to the Tower of Time in the evening. Originally, this was to prevent an Elf riot, but now, encountering this Drow assassin business, it could be considered a timely coincidence.

As for why Xia Duo was able to discover the Drow, that went back to a few months ago. In short, after becoming an Advanced Arcanist, perhaps his Arcane Fire and bloodline had a linked reaction; in any case, he had gained Darkvision (Chapter 506).

Being able to perceive light that normal people could not was the origin of Darkvision. Earlier, when he first arrived at the "Yishu Xianchang," the Elf had used a light spell, and after the Elf left, the environment became darker, which made some special light that had previously gone unnoticed stand out.

Beside the bloodstains of the corpse and on the stone path, this special light existed in varying shades, and there were even slight traces in the air. It was from that moment that Xia Duo guessed there was a high probability it was a Drow.

If just passing by or staying would leave traces sufficient to identify them, then what about a living Drow? They were practically a mobile radiation source, and in a low-light environment, they couldn't be more obvious.

After that, it was standard procedure: pretend to discover something, then catch them off guard and hit them with a 【Dimensional Anchor】, which basically settled it.

The facts were indeed so; a Drow assassin who had been marked and had their teleportation blocked could not last many rounds against a High Mage.

Xia Duo had just cast 【Flight】 and was preparing to follow and take a look, but as soon as he flew up, he received a 【Sending】 from Aiboke—the target had been captured!

Immediately after, he saw Aiboke flying toward him, dragging the unconscious Drow assassin with a pair of Force Field shackles. Xia Duo hurried forward to ask, "How is it? No accidents, right?"

"No, it's just that their scimitars are a bit interesting; I need one to study."

"No problem, send them to the Tower of Time first! I'll take another lap to see if I can find their accomplices!"

"Good!"

Aiboke responded, and this time he truly left.

Xia Duo also began to track the Drow's radiation traces, wanting to find more clues. If there were accomplices, it might be a big problem.