Read Novel Full Chapter 505: A Very Original Assassination Attempt [I]
Chapter 505: A Very Original Assassination Attempt [I]
Her voice seemed to bounce off the weathered gray stone walls and fade into the darkness beyond.
No one responded.
The only sound in the massive chamber was the soft hum of her own breathing. And even that was silenced the next moment as her armor finished materializing on her body.
Dazzling light particles coalesced to form golden plates that clicked and locked around her shoulders and spine.
The chestplate snugly pressed against her ribs, and a plumed helmet settled securely over her head.
A full-length vermilion cape, matching the shade of the plume on her helmet, unfurled from her pauldrons to flutter behind her.
She adjusted her grip on the cruciform sword and snarled. “Show yourself. I’m sure we can just talk and settle this matter peacefully.”
Her tone, however, promised the exact opposite of peace.
Once again, there was no response.
But Thalia could sense someone lurking in the darkness around her.
No. Not just one person.
There were at least five. Maybe more. All skilled fighters, judging from the way they were carrying themselves.
And sure enough, a few silhouettes soon stepped forward into the dim light at the center of the room, several meters ahead of her.
Each of them wore matching charcoal-gray robes. All their faces were obscured by plain, featureless red masks, though the sharp glint of metal beneath their sleeves made their intentions crystal clear.
“So original,” Thalia drawled from behind her helmet, shifting her weight as she rested the flat of her blade against her shoulder plate. “Did you all buy those masks in bulk? The lack of aesthetic effort here is honestly more offensive than the kidnapping attempt.”
None of them took the bait.
The figure in the center — the largest of the group with a massive, iron-studded warhammer — quietly raised a hand.
Without a single word, the three on the left vanished.
Fast. They were very fast.
Almost at the same time, two silver arrows came whistling through the air from her left, and yet another robed figure fell on her from directly above, a pair of long daggers gleaming in the shadows.
A four-point encirclement. This was standard assassin tactics.
With a deep inhale, Thalia outstretched an arm toward the incoming arrow. Immediately, a large kite shield came into existence in her left hand.
One of the silver arrows struck the golden center of her shield, and the other hit the rim. They were packing so much more punch than she expected, forcing her to skid back half a foot across the stone floor.
Before the third arrow could follow, the assassin falling from above brought two gleaming daggers down toward her neck.
Instead of bothering to look up, Thalia utilized that time to pivot on her back foot, masterfully using her shield’s recoil to sweep her cruciform sword upward.
—CLANG!
Metal screamed as the edge of her blade caught both daggers mid-air.
The force of her strike sent the robed figure tumbling clumsily through the air before crashing onto the cold floor.
The two assassins who had disappeared earlier chose this exact moment to flank her from her blind spots.
One lunged low, sweeping a pair of hooked scythes toward her hamstrings, while the other leaped high, aiming a fatal thrust for the joint between her helmet and gorget.
Rather than trying to block both angles, she turned to them and channeled a burst of Essence into the core of her chestplate, activating its enchantment.
—BOOM!
A shockwave of blinding golden light erupted outward in a three-meter radius, catching both flankers mid-stride. The sudden burst didn’t hurt them too badly, but it still threw off their balance, sending them staggering backward a few steps.
The warhammer-wielder from earlier took advantage of the split-second opening and came swinging his massive weapon toward her ribs. The air itself was wrapping around the studded spikes of the warhammer.
Thalia had a bad feeling about being hit by it.
So she just avoided being hit by it.
Like a trained gymnast, she jumped and twisted so she was completely horizontal to the ground.
The massive warhammer passed harmlessly beneath her.
She landed safely on her feet, and then swiftly darted in the direction of the dagger-wielder who was still scrambling back up from the stone floor.
No less than a dozen arrows and magical projectiles rained down on her, but she kept her shield facing toward where she had figured out the casters and archers were lurking in the shadows.
Some of the attacks struck the shield with enough force to make her arm tremble. Others bounced off without much damage. A few did manage to slip past, but her armor took the brunt of it.
The dagger-wielder had pulled himself up by now. He spotted her, and as soon as he did, he cast two Cards.
One was some sort of area-limited debuff Card. Thalia guessed this because the closer she got to the robed figure, the more sluggish her mind felt. It was as if a wave of lethargy was washing over her, getting stronger and stronger.
It wasn’t enough to make her drop unconscious or anything, but it was still enough of a nuisance that she felt her reaction speed slowing down by a critical fraction of a second.
The second Card he activated materialized as a dark, oily sheen over his daggers, a black vapor curling off the blades like smoke.
Thalia didn’t have to guess that it granted his daggers some kind of corrosive effect that could eat through her armor in a couple of blows.
That was a good combo. Dulling her reflexes before engaging in close quarters.
Thalia’s response was to shift her shield in front of her and charge like a raging bull. She used her innate ability to enforce her boots, which, in turn, boosted her speed.
Charging at breakneck speed like this was usually Thalia’s most reliable move.
But against a nimble assassin who could outspeed, running blindly in was an amateurish mistake.
A mistake that the dagger-wielder had every intention of exploiting. He rushed forward to meet her charge head-on, his dark-coated daggers raised and ready.
Right before the heavy shield could crash into his chest, he fluidly slipped around its edge, aiming to attack her from the side and drive his blades into the opening behind her shoulder.
“Huh–?!”
…Unfortunately for him, Thalia wasn’t there behind her shield.