The sky slowly grew dark. Linley remained hidden outside the walls of this residence the entire time, but up till now, he still hadn’t found any opportunity or method by which he could stealthily get near that mysterious old man.
“Based on their conversation in the hotel, the Radiant Church seems to have sacrificed several powerful experts for the sake of catching this person.” Linley frowned as he considered the question. “This old man is at least of the ninth rank in power.”
“But he shouldn’t be at the Saint-level yet. Even a large group of powerful experts of the ninth rank could at most force the Saint-level to flee. It definitely is highly unlikely that they would seize him.”
Although Linley wasn’t too sure about exactly how powerful that mysterious old man was, without question, that mysterious old man had the ability to deal with multiple experts of the ninth rank.
“This old man must be very important for the Radiant Church to expend so much effort on catching him. I’ll definitely disrupt their scheme.” Linley’s eyes were radiating a cold light. “But killing these six experts of the ninth rank and preventing a single one of them from escaping Cerre is a difficult task.”
Linley himself was living quite close to Cerre. Naturally, he wouldn’t want his movements and his presence to be exposed.
If he was to act, he would have to kill all six of them.
“Myself, Bebe, Haeru. We are totally capable of dealing with three combatants of the ninth rank. Against six…if we use some tactics, it still isn’t out of the realm of possibility. However, it’s best if we release the old man first and have him ally with us. That will give us an even greater chance of success.”
Linley knew how to deal with antimagic manacles.
The power and value of antimagic manacles lay in the complicated magical rune formations etched onto them. But the materials which the manacles were made out of actually weren’t that durable. Although antimagic manacles prevented the prisoner from using any mageforce and was fairly sturdy, Linley was totally confident in his ability to break them.
Linley wasn’t in a rush. At this time, he mentally commanded Haeru to return to the city from within the mountain valley.
Humans and the magical beast companions they had tamed were spiritually bound. The more powerful the spiritual energy of the two was, the greater the distance the two could exchange mental conversations.
For example, Linley and Bebe could exchange thoughts from a distance of several hundred kilometers. But if they were to become separated from an even farther distance, it would no longer be possible.
As for some weak members of noble clans who used soul-binding scrolls to tame magical beasts of the first, second, or third ranks, they might not be able to communicate past a distance of just a few hundred meters.
The main issue was spiritual energy.
Linley and Haeru, as well, could spiritually communicate from a distance of hundreds of kilometers. But once the distance grew too great, they would only be able to vaguely sense the direction each was in, and could no longer send messages.
Darkness descended. It was approximately 9 o’clock at night now.
Dressed in a black warrior’s outfit, Linley was hiding outside the walls of the residence, alongside the similarly black Shadowmouse, Bebe, as well as the Blackcloud Panther, Haeru. They were quietly waiting for their opportunity.
“Bebe, Haeru, the two of you stay here. Only make your move after I mentally command you two to act.” Linley instructed.
Haeru and Bebe both nodded.
Linley immediately removed his black warrior’s outfit, then allowed black scales to manifest on top of his skin. A black spike jutted forth from his forehead, and spikes jutted out along his entire back spine.
That draconic tail silently pierced through Linley’s long pants.
Linley’s eyes became a cold, merciless dark gold color.
“Remember. Await my order.” Linley once again instructed Bebe and Haeru. And then, like a phantom in the darkness, Linley glided towards the courtyard.
After having mastered the ‘impose’ level, Linley could now move without causing any disturbance to the surrounding air.
The main building had two floors. Beside it were three rooms, the central one clearly being the place where the old man had been locked into. Because outside this room, there were two black-robed men.
Linley crept behind a manmade hill, not moving at all as he quietly awaited his opportunity.
“I refuse to believe you won’t lose your focus for even a second.” Linley was extremely patient.
Right now, the two black robed men were engaging in conversation out of boredom.
“Bro, after completing this mission, the two of us have to have a good, long rest. These past two years have exhausted us. I’ve been nervous this entire time, not daring to loosen up at all.” One of the black haired men said.
“Right. On this mission, two of our Ascetics of the ninth rank died, and three Special Executors of the ninth rank as well. Eleven of us had to work together, aided by poison, and yet five of us still died. This old fellow is such a monster.”
Right now, the two black-robed men were fairly relaxed.
In order to pursue and capture this old fellow, their group had been sent out as soon as the Radiant Church had received news of his whereabouts. They had passed through the O’Brien Empire, traversed the 48 Anarchic Duchies, and entered the great plains of the far east. They had battled against this mysterious old man for months, finally capturing him in one of the Duchies of the Anarchic Lands.
But as long as they had managed to seize this old man, all their sacrifices would have been worth it.
They were very careful on their way back as well. They were afraid that the experts of the O’Brien Empire would discover them. But by now, they were halfway back, and the towns they would pass by in the future were all small ones without many experts. They shouldn’t pose much danger.
Naturally, Lampson and the others now felt slightly more relaxed.
“Bro, I’m going to the bathroom. You stand guard here. I’ll be back in a minute.” One of the black-robed men said.
The other black-robed man laughed. “I was fine before you said anything, but now that you mentioned going to the bathroom, I want to go as well. Fine, you go first, and I’ll go later.” Although they were a bit relaxed, they still didn’t dare to have both guards be gone at the same time.