Chapter 377: Dark Brothers Club and Wizard Club (12)

One o'clock in the morning.

Luosen used a light spell to illuminate the path ahead, riding alone on his horse, leisurely walking on the country road on the outskirts of Lyon Town.

The night was extremely black; all around was a thick 'ink', looking like an endless deep abyss.

Gah-gah~~goo-goo~~

The strange cries of night owls rose and fell.

Some sounded like weird laughter, some like a baby's crying, some like dying screams, indescribably creepy.

After walking a while, he again encountered a pack of wolves foraging in the fields.

There were twenty or thirty of them, each as sturdy as a calf, and they weren't afraid of people.

Upon seeing Luosen, they launched an attack without hesitation.

Naturally, they were instantly wiped out.

But this is because Luosen possesses a divine body with limitless power, and also masters considerable ordinary spells and a powerful artifact.

Lacking any one of these three, it would be hard to withstand the wolf pack head-on.

Shortly after repelling the wolf pack, having walked less than two kilometers, while crossing a forest, he again encountered three ambush-lying black-furred giant tigers.

Their builds were huge, estimated at least 500 kilograms each, hiding in the bushes, preparing to ambush him.

Such big beasts actually cooperate in teams and know how to ambush; aside from abyssal masters who wield divine artifacts, ordinary experts would hardly escape unscathed.

With one strike each, he killed the three black tigers, flicked the blood from his blade, and Luosen silently marveled.

"This half-plane is still in an era where humans and beasts coexist."

"By day it belongs to humans; by night it belongs to beasts."

Fortunately, the manor where the target was located wasn't far from Tulip Manor; about forty to fifty minutes later, Luosen arrived near the target.

Throughout the process, Luosen maintained a time spell called "Undercurrent Surge", which reduces the disturbance of his own movements in the river of time to avoid detection by opponents.

This is a delicate time spell requiring superb skill and enduring stamina; ordinary time masters cannot cast it, and even those who can find it a great challenge.

Any slight mistake or insufficient strength would render all prior effort wasted.

Luosen had Laifu's assistance, so naturally he had no such worries.

But although the effect of the Undercurrent Surge spell is excellent, it is not omnipotent.

This spell can only conceal perception from time masters; it has little effect on ordinary detection posts.

For example, watchdogs guarding homes are basically unaffected.

To deal with watchdogs, one must rely on the aid of ordinary spells.

Thus, Luosen also bolstered himself with the "Silent Barrier" and the "Lightless Barrier".

Although the light spell is lit, beyond three meters nothing can be seen or heard.

He drifted toward the manor's wall like a ghost.

Soon he was outside the manor wall, dismounted, tied his horse to the hitching post outside the manor gate, cast a calming spell on it, then approached the wall, exerted a little force, and climbed in.

Not even a person, let alone the manor's dogs, was disturbed.

Luosen had already figured out the manor's layout via a retrospection spell; this time, familiar with the place, he felt his way to the window of the manor lord, Knight Aolante.

The bedroom was on the second floor, the windows tightly shut, but that naturally posed no problem for Luosen, who knew magic.

First he buffed himself with various support spells, pushing his condition to the limit.

He used Levitation to go up, Mage Hand to open the window, slipped in silently, then carefully closed the doors and windows.

On the big bed lay a person, exactly the middle-aged man seen in the retrospection spell.

He walked over, stood at the bedside, and lightly tapped the person's cheek with the icy blade of his sword.

"Hey~ don't sleep, wake up~".

The middle-aged man blinked his eyes open, and upon seeing the figure at the bedside, he reached to grab the sword at his side with lightning speed.

This is definitely not a speed a mortal could possess.

This indicates he has a divine body, and judging by speed, his divine body's strength is high—much higher than Luosen's 12-ring, yet still considerably short of the 20-ring witch Patenalusi.

Estimated to be around the strength of a 13-/14-ring.

Luosen had prepared in advance.

The sword blade spun to deflect the opponent's palm, the tip thrust forward to press against his brow, sinking in a full half centimeter.

"Behave, or you'll die!"

The middle-aged man on the bed immediately stiffened, slowly lay flat, eyes unblinking fixed on Luosen: "Merchant Luosen?"

"That's right."

"How did you find me?"

The opponent arrived too fast, with no warning whatsoever, leaving him bewildered.

Luosen didn't answer; a flash of sword light, and he slapped the opponent with a 'pa' sound: "I ask, you answer, no nonsense."

The man glared at Luosen hatefully, but dared not make any extra movement.

"Knight Aolante, why did you send someone to kill me?"

"Kill me, I won't tell you."

Luosen gave a cold smile, pressing the sword blade against the opponent's mouth, inching it inward.

"If you weren't afraid of death, you would have resisted all out earlier, instead of being threatened by me."

"You'd better speak now; once your brain is pierced by me, it'll be too late."

Knight Aolante held out for two seconds, and just as the blade was about to pierce his throat, he suddenly mumbled: "I'll talk!"

Luosen immediately drew his sword and looked at him.

"I serve the Sage of Order, Talusi; he ordered me to kill you."

This message matches what Patenuoluosi said.

"Then where is Tuoluosi hiding?"

"I don't know; the Sage never shows his face publicly, has no fixed abode, and I don't even know what the Sage looks like."

"How do you keep in touch?"

"We usually keep in touch via black crows."

"And where do you come from then?"

"Projected from the Glorious Glory Plane." The Glorious Glory Plane corresponds to the present Nightmare Abyss, meaning it is the person of the Nightmare Tyrant Antuwangi.

Luosen continued asking: "How many people like you are there?"

"Not few; I don't know the exact number, but there should be at least four or five hundred, scattered throughout the half-plane."

Luosen felt a secret shock; that number really is quite a lot.

"What is your purpose?"

Aolante Knight shrugged slightly: "Of course it's to serve the various elders; this is our inescapable heavenly mandate."

"Heavenly mandate?"

Luosen looked at Aolante Knight on the bed and felt it was somewhat tricky.

He wanted to, just as he had transformed Adela, remove the other's "heavenly mandate," so that they would lose the reason to oppose him.

But he soon realized he lacked that ability.

Because the other's soul strength was several levels higher than his, he also lacked a suitable auxiliary magical device; relying solely on the ability to simulate a divine body was insufficient to win them over.

It seemed the only option was to silence them.

Aolante Knight vaguely guessed Luosen's intention and hastily said: "You said you wouldn't kill me."

"Often, a swift death is a kind of reward."

As he spoke, he focused his full attention on the opponent and slowly raised the Extinction Law Sword.

But just then, he suddenly saw a very vivid time illusion, in which two women appeared—both old acquaintances of his: Adela and Patenuoluosi, standing respectively on either side of Aolante Knight's body.

Aolante Knight was still alive as well.

Luosen's heart gave a slight start: "How did these two women end up here?"

The unusual situation caused his gathered killing intent to dissipate slightly; he changed the Extinction Law Sword from a thrust to a slap, swatting aside Aolante Knight's desperate struggle, then lifted a foot and kicked him back onto the bed.

"Don't move!"

"Though they were about to die, Aolante Knight refused to listen and struggled desperately."

The Extinction Law Sword pointed forward again, pressing against the opponent's forehead: "I said, don't move!"

This time it worked.

Luosen did not continue thrusting forward but stood in place, patiently waiting, because such a concentrated time illusion indicated that the event had just occurred, possibly less than ten minutes ago.

Sure enough, after about two minutes, a light tapping came from outside the bedroom window, accompanied by a whisper: "Luosen~ open the window."

Outside the window was Patenuoluosi.

Luosen thought, and used Mage Hand to open the window.

Patenuoluosi, dressed in leather armor, lightly jumped in, then untied the rope at her waist and threw it out the window.

After a moment, Adela, with black hair and black eyes, delicate features, wearing a sky-blue long robe, climbed up the rope and then turned to shut the window tightly.

Luosen kept his eyes on Aolante Knight on the bed, glancing at the two sisters with the corner of his eye: "Good evening, ladies."

Patenuoluosi looked at Luosen with a curious expression, while Adela behind her wore a frosty face, yet her black eyes glimmered with an indescribable light.

"Your Majesty, I sense you have obtained an extremely powerful time talent, even far stronger than mine; this is truly beyond my expectations."

Patenuoluosi was quite astonished.

Luosen chuckled: "Just luck."

Having said that, he immediately added: "May I borrow that fun item for a while, okay?"

That fun item is naturally the Time Treasure Pearl.

Patenuoluosi chuckled: "Since Your Majesty has achieved such an astonishing feat, you may naturally use it for as long as you like."

Then she stated the main point: "The situation is this: our sisters' plight is the same as yours; we are also wanted by Antuwangi."

"Indeed, our situation might be even worse than yours, for Antuwangi knows us far better than he knows Your Majesty."

"Now, Antuwangi's elemental projection Gaomilei'er has built an organization called the Dark Brotherhood in this half-plane, one of whose tasks is to hunt us down."

"To that end, my sister and I have also formed a Wizard Society to resist the Dark Brotherhood's pursuit."

As she spoke, Patenuoluosi walked to Aolante Knight's side and kicked the captive with her foot.

"This knight is a core member of the Dark Brotherhood; my sister and I intend to develop him into a spy for our Wizard Society infiltrating the Dark Brotherhood."

Aolante Knight felt a hope of survival and immediately nodded like a pecking grain: "Yes, yes, yes, a spy! I'm willing to be a spy!"

Luosen understood and also believed the sister duo had the ability to win over Brotherhood members, but he wondered: "How do you know I'm here?"

Patenuoluosi gave a light laugh: "To be precise, we have never strayed far; we have been secretly observing Your Majesty's actions and have also been tailing You from afar."

Luosen was somewhat surprised: "Then you've hidden yourselves really well."

He hadn't noticed at all.

"After all, we have been entangled with the Dark Brotherhood for countless years, so we have some know-how in hiding. Of course, mainly it's because our souls are vastly stronger than Your Majesty's, and we are also farther from Your Majesty."

Patenuoluosi finished her explanation, then smiled and asked: "Your Majesty, do you agree to let your captive become a spy for our Wizard Society?"

Luosen stepped back, sheathed his sword: "I've received your great help; let this Aolante Knight be a small token of thanks."

Upon hearing this, the hitherto silent Adela walked over to Aolante Knight and placed a finger on his forehead.

Patenuoluosi simultaneously produced a dagger and pressed it to his chin: "Don't move, or I'll pierce your brain."

Aolante Knight immediately lay obediently on the bed, silent.

A few seconds later, he suddenly let out a muffled groan, his body shaking violently, but to avoid being killed, he gripped the mattress tightly with both hands, not uttering a sound.

About ten minutes later, Adela withdrew her hand, a trace of fatigue appearing on her face.

All right, Knight Oranter, you are now a member of our Wizards' Association; as soon as the Dark Brotherhood makes any move, report to us immediately.

Knight Oranter was already soaked through, yet he quickly rose from the bed, his face humble: "Yes, ladies."

Adela didn't respond either, turning and walking toward the window.

As she passed Luosen's side, she lifted her head and glanced at him; a hint of complex light flickered in her dark eyes, then she withdrew her gaze and continued forward, until she reached the window, when Patelnalos finally couldn't hold back.

"Sister, you didn't say you wanted to have a good talk with Luosen, did you?"

Adela's steps paused: "Yes, I want to have a good talk."

"Luosen, let's talk at your Tulip Manor."

Luosen's heart stirred slightly: "As you wish, lady."

Lao Mo's family matters have been temporarily resolved; continuing with normal updates.

(End of chapter)