Chapter 2170

In the manor courtyard, the Iron Feather King glanced at Su Xiao inside the castle, smiled, and turned back to walk into the darkness. He was already too old, so old that he didn't want to get involved in the empire's power system. As long as the Northern Alliance and the Abyss forces didn't attack, he wouldn't show his face. After all, every time he made a move, it brought him one step closer to death.

"This country will soon perish. The Iron Feather King won't be able to hold on much longer."

Ursula watched the Iron Feather King's back. The once strongest was now old and frail, so old that it reached the point where she could notice it.

Ursula vaguely remembered that because the Abyss Snake had once bewitched the high-ranking officials of the Sela Empire, the Iron Feather King leaped into the Abyss alone, fought the Abyss Snake for two days, and eventually blinded one of the Abyss Snake's eyes. Ursula still remembered the words he said when he left as if it were yesterday.

"Stay honestly in the Abyss, you crawler."

Ursula, who was watching the battle back then, also heard these words, which scared her so much that she didn't dare leave the Abyss for decades. The Iron Feather King was simply too domineering.

The current Iron Feather King was already old and frail, a hero in his twilight years. No one knew how much longer he could continue to protect this empire. Perhaps tomorrow he would die of old age, and at that time, all kinds of monsters and demons would jump out.

Watching the Iron Feather King walk away, Su Xiao thought of a possibility: that the Pantheon chose to strike now, very likely because the Iron Feather King was about to be unable to hold on. The Pantheon wanted to completely seize the empire's power before the Iron Feather King died, so as to confront the Northern Alliance.

"I have a premonition that we will not meet again, so... farewell!"

Ursula leaped out of the window, saying the most cowardly words in the toughest tone.

Su Xiao contemplated for a moment and decided not to strike for the time being. This movable soul coin was not hostile to him, and alarming the Abyss forces at this moment was not wise.

The Pantheon's assassination tonight was exceptionally interesting. Among the several groups that came, the Twelve were the weakest.

After determining the strength of the Twelve, the old duke's suspicion in Su Xiao's heart dropped significantly, because the old duke had confronted him; if he wanted to kill him, he wouldn't have sent such weak assassins. As for those Death Paradise Qiyuezhe, they were casually slaughtered by the Iron Feather King—that's right, just casually.

The old duke's emblem was the Abyss Snake, and more importantly, he was the first target of the assassination, which could also be seen as him wanting to hide after "death"?

That night, the old duke had absolutely no defenses set up in the manor, but afterward, he admitted that he knew someone would come to assassinate him. This was undoubtedly actively drawing hatred, which was also a point Su Xiao could never figure out.

The old duke's behavior contained many contradictions. Given that old guy's level of cunning, he shouldn't have revealed so many flaws.

Thinking of these, the old duke's level of suspicion dropped significantly.

Su Xiao's head hurt from thinking. Simply put, he decided to use the elimination method: assassinate the dukes one by one. There were only four in total, and a one-in-four probability was easy to hit.

Su Xiao pushed open the bedroom door. He had heard fighting sounds in here just now, but it ended quickly.

Just as he pushed the door open, Su Xiao saw Amu sitting on something. Baha and Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang were not there.

Su Xiao stepped forward, and Amu immediately stood up, revealing a silly, honest smile.

"Amu, capture alive, enemy."

Amu pointed to the lump on the ground. This was a male assassin.

"..."

"Amu, hungry."

"Stay hungry."

Su Xiao picked up the male assassin on the ground. This person had large-scale fractures all over his body, and the cause of death was suffocation; he had been sat to death by Amu.

"Amu, hungry flat."

Amu spoke again in a muffled voice.

"Pay attention to the enemy's vital signs next time. There will be a late-night snack in an hour."

Hearing this from Su Xiao, Amu, who had just been somewhat disappointed, became happy again. It was just that easy to satisfy.

When Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang and Baha returned, Su Xiao had already had the manor servants prepare a late-night snack, enough for two hundred people.

After a simple late-night snack, Su Xiao entered a bedroom to rest, waiting for the second wave of assassination that might appear.

Until the next morning, Su Xiao was not assassinated again. The door was knocked.

"Lord Kuku Lin, Lord Alfred has an urgent matter to find you and invites you to meet at the Holy Court."

After a servant left this message outside the door, he hurried away.

Su Xiao sat up from the bed, washed up, and rushed to the Holy Court.

One hour later, Holy Court, inner hall.

Only the old duke sat before the round table. He yawned from time to time; he must not have rested well in the last few days.

"Something up?"

Su Xiao sat on the seat belonging to Duke White Dragon.

"Kuku Lin, the people from that side assassinated you last night, right?"

"That's right."

"Sigh~"

The old duke let out a long sigh.

"What intelligence did you investigate? I might be able to bring you help, unexpected help."

"..."

Su Xiao didn't speak. Noticing this, the old duke let out another long sigh.

"The unluckiest thing in my life was being found by you. Hahaha... to think the dukedom could also be snatched by force. Before you appeared, I had never considered such a possibility."

The old duke seemed to be chatting idly, but in reality, he was worried about something.

"The Pantheon... I founded it."

The old duke turned his head to look at Su Xiao, that old face still smiling.

"Oh? You tell me so easily?"

"You!"

The old duke was somewhat angry. A moment later, he let out another long sigh.

"With your ability, you will soon be able to find out that the leader of the Pantheon is among us. I am worried that after you, you bastard, investigate that the Pantheon was founded by me, you will come directly to assassinate me!"

The old duke glared at Su Xiao, his cheeks twitching.

"How could that be."

"You absolutely would. As long as you investigate that the Pantheon belongs to a certain duke, you will slaughter us all one by one. Am I right, Kuku Lin?"

"You worry too much."

"No, you would do that, absolutely."

"Oh."

Hearing Su Xiao's final "oh," the old duke had the urge to jump up and hit someone. He was willing to admit it voluntarily because he was worried—worried that Su Xiao would investigate that the Pantheon was related to the dukes and come to assassinate the dukes one by one. That would be a truly unjust death.

"That was over fifty years ago. An old guy who had just lost his wife, after discussing with someone and learning that that person couldn't hold on for too long and could no longer protect this empire for another hundred years, had a brain cramp and founded the damn Pantheon. In the name of the gods, to judge those Holy Descendant dukes who held high positions but did nothing, advocating never to betray and never to kill the innocent. That's right, that idiot was me."

When the old duke said this, he seemed to want to slap himself in the face at any moment.

"At that time, I must have been bewitched by the Abyss. After all, that snake and I could be considered 'old acquaintances.' It occasionally bewitching me could only be considered a greeting between 'old friends'."

"So?"

"Let me finish."

The old duke lowered his eyelids and continued:

"About a dozen years ago, Angry Lion noticed the existence of the Pantheon. That guy was very angry, like a furious lion. He led his army to wipe out the Pantheon. This was the 'Undead Widow' incident that circulated at the time. The cause of that incident back then was not at all because of the wine named 'Crimson Gift.' Angry Lion just needed an excuse at the time. Angry Lion, Moon Wolf, White Dragon, Lilin, and I being hostile is also for this reason. If it weren't for my seniority being too high, they would have already jointly judged me. Furthermore, the Pantheon back then was just a concept; I hadn't cultivated any assassins."

According to the old duke, the Pantheon should have been wiped out, but it still existed now.

"What makes me feel even more incredible is that the Pantheon actually appeared a while ago. My first thought was that it was Angry Lion's doing. He hadn't completely wiped out the Pantheon a dozen years ago, but he died the next morning. I investigated this, and he did indeed die. I even tried putting his leg bone in a pot to boil; that must have been Angry Lion's leg bone. I stake my life on this."

"Lilin."

Su Xiao suddenly spoke, interrupting the old duke.

"Right, Lilin. The Iron Feather King's days are numbered, and Lilin is going crazy. The night we met was when Lilin wanted to kill me, but I noticed it and drove away the assassins hidden among the guards beforehand."

When the old duke said this, he let out a long sigh of relief in his heart. He was truly worried that Su Xiao would find him at night and hack him into hundreds of pieces while he slept.

Su Xiao's previous deduction was not wrong; the old duke was indeed related to the Pantheon, after all, the Pantheon was founded by him.

The old duke successfully misled the friendly forces, thereby covering for the enemy. It was precisely because of this that Su Xiao felt the old duke was the most suspicious and Lilin the least. The old duke's move of drawing hatred was worthy of a perfect score.

Last night, Su Xiao felt the old duke's behavior was contradictory for this reason. This old guy founded the Pantheon but was wiped out by Duke Angry Lion, letting Lilin pick up the bargain.

However, the old duke had already noticed that he had misled the friendly forces, so he immediately arranged to meet Su Xiao to avoid being assassinated by the angry friendly forces. That would be a truly unjust death.

"The smartest among us, Duke White Dragon, discovered that Lilin was not right, so he died this morning. Last night, he secretly sent someone to deliver this to me."

The old duke took a branch from his bosom. In this world, there is a type of tree called the Dawn Tree, representing light and justice. And the Dawn Tree is Duke Lilin's coat of arms.

【Prompt: The Hunter has obtained key information, and the hidden mission has changed.】

【Hidden Mission: Pantheon (First Ring only)】

Difficulty Level: Lv. 50 (Due to the Hunter's investigation, the difficulty of this mission has been reduced by Lv. 6)

Mission Information: Kill the Pantheon leader, Lilin.

Mission Reward: Destiny Stone (Holy Spirit-grade gem)

Mission Penalty: Forced execution.

Miaoshuwu