“Excellent,”
Leon said. “Then it is a deal.”
“I trust that you will not break our agreement.”
The Shadow King said solemnly, “I certainly won't!”
Break the agreement?
He would have to be out of his mind to do that!
He had brought his entire livelihood to seek refuge with Leon in the first place, so why would he break his word and anger him?
Besides, before meeting Leon in person, he had still harbored a sliver of wariness.
But now, that wariness had completely vanished.
Not just because Leon could heal his injuries,
but also because... it was entirely unnecessary!
The aura radiating from the blue-gold giant beside Leon far exceeded the Gold Rank, already reaching the power of the Diamond Rank.
A Diamond Rank powerhouse could crush him and his crew as easily as these seafaring adventurers caught fish!
If Leon had wanted to make a move against him, he would have been dead long ago!
Wariness? Concern?
In the face of absolute strength, they were utterly meaningless.
After all, all his previous decisions and countermeasures had been based on the premise that he could drag Leon down with him if he fought with his life on the line.
But now...
The Shadow King stole a glance at Leon, who remained perfectly calm, maintaining an indifferent attitude toward him, a peak Gold Rank rogue.
With a hint of bitterness in his heart, he thought:
“Let alone now, with my strength diminished by injuries—even at my peak, I would be no match for Leon at all...”
“...Not even seventeen years old, yet he has already advanced to the Gold Rank, and his strength is directly comparable to the Diamond Rank... What kind of monster did the Church of Sacred Light breed...”
...
Half an hour later.
The Shadow and the Deep Diver arrived at the outer islands of the Endless Bay.
“Information on Burns's undead army is scarce,”
Leon said, his eyes burning like torches as he looked at the scattered undead on the outer islands.
“From what we currently know, there is a Gold Rank necromancer on the Endless Bay, but his exact strength is unknown.”
“And we have no idea how many warbands this undead army has, or how many squads are in each warband.”
“Therefore, I need you to infiltrate the Endless Bay, locate that Gold Rank necromancer, and assassinate him.”
Leon turned to look at the Shadow King, who, after receiving two treatments, no longer had to worry about his injuries and could unleash his full power. He said:
“It would be best if you can successfully assassinate him. If not, at least wound that Gold Rank necromancer to sow chaos.”
“When your assassination attempt begins, my side will coordinate and launch our attack on the Endless Bay together.”
Hearing this, the Shadow King nodded. “As you command, Young Master Leon!”
Leon nodded and added, “I must remind you, because information is so scarce, I do not know if there is a second Gold Rank combatant in there.”
“So when you infiltrate the Endless Bay, be prepared for the possibility of facing two Gold Rank opponents.”
“Yes! I understand,” the Shadow King replied with a firm nod.
With that, the Shadow King's figure flickered, and he instantly vanished from the deck of the Shadow.
A moment later, a dark shadow silently stepped onto the island of the Endless Bay.
The dark shadow slipped through the shadows like a ghost.
Even when he briefly appeared right in front of an undead, the creature remained entirely oblivious, as if it had never seen the shadow at all.
Relying on his exquisite shadow-walking techniques, the Shadow King successfully traversed the outer islands of the Endless Bay and entered the inner region of the island.
Spending a bit more time and effort, he finally located a general's palace in the inner island area.
Inside this palace was where the necromancer ordered to occupy the Endless Bay resided.
Arriving outside the palace, the Shadow King channeled his arcane power once more, reducing his presence to the absolute minimum.
Then, he slipped out his Occult Dagger and stepped into the palace.
After searching the palace for a moment, he finally found his target:
A necromancer who was nothing but a skeleton, yet wore deep blue magic robes, held a magic crystal staff, and was covered in burning soul fire.
The moment he saw the necromancer, the Shadow King's aura became even more concealed.
At the same time, all of his emotions seemed to be swallowed by a black hole, vanishing into nothingness, leaving only the purest composure unique to a rogue assassin.
Gripping his dagger tightly, the Shadow King stepped forward slowly, calculating the optimal assassination angle and his escape route in his mind.
However, just as the Shadow King crept closer to the necromancer, a powerful premonition of death suddenly surged in his heart!
“Something's wrong!”
In the next split second, the Shadow King decisively aborted the assassination. Abandoning even his disguise, he unleashed all the arcane power in his body and lunged backward—
Swoosh!
A dagger burning with deep blue soul fire materialized out of thin air, pinning itself like a missile into the exact spot where the Shadow King had been standing a moment ago!
The instant the dagger struck the floor, the soul fire on it flared and spread.
Carrying an icy chill as cold as an abyssal chasm, the soul fire instantly froze the surrounding wooden planks, stone walls, and even the floor made of special crystal!
Seeing this, the Shadow King's pupils shrank, a lingering dread gripping his heart.
If his perception had been a second slower, or his retreat a fraction of a beat late, he would have been instantly frozen solid by that soul fire!
By then, even if he didn't die, he would have lost most of his combat capability!
“A keen sense of danger.”
Just then, a figure appeared out of thin air.
This figure was also shrouded in soul fire, but unlike the other, he was not just a bare skeleton; patches of rotting flesh still clung to his body.
The flesh-clad skeleton suddenly materialized in the palace. He bent down and picked up the dagger radiating cold flames.
The spreading soul fire immediately died down, releasing its icy grip on the surroundings and retreating back into the blade.
Sensing the arcane power radiating from the flesh-clad skeleton, the Shadow King's expression turned incredibly grave.
“A peak Gold Rank rogue?”
“Tsk,” the undead rogue scoffed. “Hey, kid, do you think a mere peak Gold Rank could master soul fire to this extent?”
The undead rogue lifted his head in dissatisfaction, his hollow eye sockets staring at the Shadow King.
“I might be at peak Gold Rank now, but when I was alive... my strength was at the Diamond Rank!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the dagger in the undead rogue's hand seemed to warp through space. One second it was in his grip, and the next, it was driving straight for the Shadow King's face!
The Shadow King's pupils dilated rapidly. He immediately raised his Occult Dagger to block.
Clang!
The clash of metal echoed sharply throughout the palace!
The Shadow King deflected the blow. As the soul fire began to spread, he quickly retreated again, darting toward the exit of the palace.
“Something's wrong! There isn't just one Gold Rank undead—there are two!”
Two Gold Rank undead, and both at peak Gold Rank strength!
To station such combat power on an island like the Endless Bay, which was so close to the Heron Empire...
The Burns Court must be plotting something major, and they surely had more preparations in store.
The Shadow King's mind raced, quickly grasping the situation.
“The assassination failed; the enemy was prepared! I must go back and inform Leon so we can plan our next move!”
But just as this thought crossed his mind, another intense warning of death flared in his heart—
A necrotic tentacle suddenly erupted from the floor, carrying a terrifying aura of death as it whipped violently toward the Shadow King!
At the critical moment, the Shadow King hastily raised his Occult Dagger to shield himself, colliding head-on with the necrotic tentacle.
Bang!
In the next instant, the Shadow King was sent flying like a ragdoll. He crashed through the stone walls of the palace, smashed through several boulders on the island, and finally came to a halt.
“So strong...”
Propping himself up, the Shadow King wiped the blood seeping from the corner of his mouth and looked up.
He saw three figures rushing toward him at breakneck speed.
Among them, one radiated mana, another radiated arcane power, and the last one exuded the aura of the Church of Death.
It was actually an undead priest!
Rate on N.U.
