There are many mansions and compounds in the suburbs of the Royal City of Erathia. Most of these are residences built here by businessmen or adventurers who have come out of retirement. These wealthy but low-status nouveau riche like to settle here.
It seems that by being as close as possible to the royal city, you can get a little bit of the aura of nobility.
Mr. Isis's mansion is also one of them. As we all know, although Mr. Isis can still be regarded as a nouveau riche, he is also a poor guy among the nouveau riche. He originally had a prosperous industry and family in Ironfast, but an accident happened
Not only did he lose all his family, but it also turned him into an ugly cripple. In grief, he left his hometown with all his property and settled here, relying on his relationships with old friends in Ernfast.
He started a business of selling treasures, often selling large quantities of treasures that were said to be sold by his friends from Ironfast. It also seemed that many adventurers came to sell rare items to him.
His business must have been very good during this period, as many strangers could often be seen coming in and out of his mansion. Judging from their appearance, they were probably adventurers. Like other times, the owner did not make any fanfare.
When it comes to entertaining guests, these people usually don't like to be lively and conspicuous.
In the basement of the mansion.
Just like the owner's seemingly simple but actually absolutely shady background, the unknown vastness and complexity of this underground place far exceeds the architectural parts on the ground, and can almost be compared with the residence of Negan's underground minotaurs. Dozens of different sizes.
The rooms are criss-crossed, connected by hundreds of passages, and there are more than a dozen passages leading to hidden exits on the ground, enough for the people inside to escape in case of emergency. This is the largest lair of the Shenmushi Thieves Group.
Of course, there are more than one such den in other places, but this one is the largest.
The largest room in the basement is now crowded with people, elbow to elbow. Under the light of butter torches, hundreds of people have gathered here. Although the ventilation ducts are designed very cleverly, the excessive number of people still makes the place look...
Very depressed.
If an officer of the Knights of Erathia could take a look at the scene here, he would be absolutely shocked and overjoyed. Robbers, killers, thieves, lone thieves, liars...all the types of criminals imaginable are here.
It is as dazzling as an exhibition. Hundreds of criminals with bounties on Erathia gathered here, whispering under the light of torches. Every head here is worth dozens of gold coins, and the blood on each hand is more than the blood.
More in the body.
But these thugs who licked the blood from their swords and lived with their heads in their hands did not show any restlessness. Although they were huddled together in this relatively stuffy underground cave, no one made any noise, because the leader of Silika did not
I like people to make noise. Someone once had his head crushed because he spoke too loudly when the leader was not in a good mood.
There are also many new people who have just joined here, but these people are also not making any noise. One is because they have already heard about the temper of the leader Silica, and the other is because there is something going on in this already crowded space.
It is a special ritual among the Shenmuxi thieves. Four big men carry two objects and walk through the crowd, stopping for a while in front of everyone.
To be precise, what the four big men were holding was not an object, but two people who did not look like humans. These two people had no hands and feet, no ears and noses on their faces, and only their eyes.
There were two big bloody holes, and the only thing left intact was a mouth, because they still had to talk.
These are two newcomers who joined temporarily during the last sneak attack in Tularion Forest. On the way to retreat from the captured elves, these two perverts couldn't help but make a move on one of the female elves, and this was Silika.
The leader had told them that it was strictly forbidden, so these two people must be punished according to the old rules. After cutting off everything that could be cut off from their bodies like this, they must also carefully tell each member of the group the mistakes they made and why they happened.
After receiving such a punishment, no one has ever been so stubborn that he could not speak or find an opportunity to commit suicide. The talents of the Shenmushi Thieves Group in torture are definitely the best in Erathia. It is guaranteed that every member of the group can hear the confessions of these people.
.
The old members were chatting in whispers, obviously used to this kind of routine. The new members were quite shocked and uneasy. In the past month, the strength of the Shamushi Thieves Group has greatly increased, and new people are constantly joining.
The number of people and strength have reached a peak that is about to explode. The joining of these newcomers is of course due to the deliberate recruitment of the two leaders, but the bigger reason is that several large thieves groups in Erathia have been wiped out in this month.
, those who were lucky enough to escape joined the Shenmxi Thieves.
Among the conversations among these people, the most popular topic was the knight who single-handedly wiped out several gangs of thieves, or the female knight.
There is no need to inquire carefully. The radiant armor on the female knight and the white magic she casts at random have already revealed her identity. She is a temple knight sent by Celeste. The annihilation of each thieves group is exactly the same.
In a large-scale collective action, this temple knight rushed out of the sky and took the leader like a tiger entering a flock of sheep. The thieves leaders who were also well-known in Erathia were immediately decapitated without any resistance.
place, and then only one-sided pursuit and escape are left.
Naturally, some people have organized resistance, but unfortunately it has no effect. The temple knights who have blessed themselves with white magic and have reached the pinnacle of martial arts can no longer deal with these thieves like a tiger among sheep, but more easily than a tiger among chickens. In addition to immediately disarming
Except for those who surrendered, only one or two tenths of them were able to escape, and the rest were all killed on the spot. When the thieves talked about her, they completely lost the slightest contempt and ambiguity towards animals like women in the past, and even had no trace of them in their eyes.
Think of her as a person. If she didn't come from a church that believes in the God of Light, the metaphor of a life-seeking evil ghost in hell would be very suitable.
This knight comes and goes like the wind alone. He is not as obvious as a large group of officers and soldiers and is easy to guard against. Moreover, the timing and location of each appearance are chosen very well, and he is undoubtedly well prepared. Not to mention Celeste's temple knight, who is just
This name is enough to make most people lose their fighting spirit. It is said that if Celeste's Templar Knights and Templars gather together, a small group of less than a hundred people can wipe out a country.
Many people temporarily joined the Shenmushi Thieves Group with the idea of doing one last thing and then quitting. This time Silica paid a large price to recruit people, and those who were approved to join received a few gold coins first.
, and promised more benefits after the event was completed. There are also many people, especially the old members of the Shenmuxi Thieves Group, who are very confident in the leader's ability and so many manpower.
No matter what their thoughts were, so many people had been waiting here for a long time, but Silica was nowhere to be seen.
In another basement, Silica and Isis were facing eight people.
They ignored the more than a hundred people over there, because if necessary, the eight people here would never take more than ten minutes to kill that group of criminal elites. These eight people were the masters they really needed.
These eight people have different shapes, including a hunched old man, a young man in his prime, and a woman wrapped in a black robe with only a pair of charming eyes exposed. The only thing in common is their strength.
With the help of these people, Silica even had the urge to compete with the Kingdom Knights. These eight people can be said to be the strongest people wandering among the folk and shadows of Erathia.
"I need you to take action, you can give me a price." Silica's words were simple and direct. If you were a businessman, you would undoubtedly like this kind of customer.
"Price usually has meaning for living people. The first thing I want to know is whether your plan really has a chance to succeed this time." A wretched and weak person, who seemed to be an old rat who was several decades old, was transformed using the transformation technique.
The old man said, "You are not the first person to have ideas about elves, but in the past hundreds of years, the Tularion Forest has almost never lost a single plant or tree. Why do you think we will take advantage of it?"
"With this." Isis carefully took out three scrolls like a believer showing off his sacred objects.
"This is..." The old man's squinted rat eyes were as big as a bull's eye.
"You must also know that we captured five elves some time ago. And let me tell you honestly, it was just an experiment we did for this operation, and we only used a very small amount of force. The reason why we were able to succeed is
Relying on this scroll, we completely broke the magic barrier of the elves. This time we are more prepared and have three scrolls. You should be able to see the weight of these three scrolls. As long as the layout is reasonable, with your help
, our plan will definitely have a great chance of success."
The old man's fingers gently brushed the scroll in Isis's hand, and he sighed with envy. Then he returned to his wretched appearance and said feebly: "Then I want all the magic items of the elves."
"Impossible." This time Isis's eyes were even bigger than the old man's. "I'll give it all to you, so what should we do?"
"You still have so many elves. There are so many magic items that you can hardly sell, so how dare you sell them to the church?"
"You don't have to worry about how to do it. We can give you three more elf girls." Isis immediately bargained.
"At such an old age, I have no interest in women for a long time. There is no need to use this to deal with me." The old man yawned without interest and did not give in at all. "I want magic items."
"Everything after dismantling the teleportation magic circle will be given to you. We have to keep the rest for ourselves." Silica spoke, her deep voice like two iron rods hitting each other. "I will only say it once. I never
Bargain with people."
When he heard the word teleportation magic circle, the old man's eyes lit up and he swallowed. He looked at Silica's face and nodded. "Okay."
Silica focused her eyes on the second person and asked in a deep voice: "What do you want?"
"Thirty female elves." The answer was as concise as the question. This was a lean man in his thirties, wearing a black tights and an S-shaped serrated blade on his back. The huge size and the cold light of the blade reflected
This dark basement still makes people shudder.
"Ten." Silica replied.
"If a large number of elves appear on the market, the price will definitely fall sharply, so I can't give you more." Isis immediately added next to him.
The man thought for a moment and nodded. "Okay."
The next five people also quickly negotiated their own weird but absolutely amazing prices. Until the seventh person. This is a very handsome young man. He is dressed lightly and has only a long sword on his waist.
.If you just look at his appearance, he is just an ordinary and good-looking young man.
But since he can stand here, there must be enough reasons. These people were selected by Isis, and Isis has always had good vision. So Silica asked: "What do you want?"
"A thousand gold coins." The young man replied. "Pay half first."
This is the first person to ask for real money. Others know the huge risks and benefits behind this operation, and the conditions they ask for are as difficult to measure in terms of money as the old man. And people like them usually come
He said that he would never be short of money, at least he would not be so interested in money.
"Oh?" Silica showed a somewhat surprised look. It was very rare for such a human expression to appear on his face, because he did not see the light of fascination with gold coins in this young man's eyes.
Even if he doesn't see that kind of light often, he can definitely feel it from his eyes all the time. So he asked again: "Do you like money?"
"I didn't like it very much before, but now I like it very much because I am useful." The young man's expression was lukewarm.
"Okay." Silica showed a ferocious expression of appreciation on her face. "I like people who are so frank and love money."
The last person is an ordinary-looking man. A face that disappears immediately when mixed in a crowd. Even his age is not easy to tell. It can only be said that he is between 20 and 40. It can only be judged from taller.
There are some extraordinary clues in his upright figure, the strong and well-proportioned limbs without any fat exposed outside the clothes, and the weapon wrapped on his back.
"What do you want?" Silica asked.
"Let's see what you can get first." This man's voice sounded extremely ordinary, without the slightest murderous intent or anything else that attracted attention, but the content of his words shocked everyone. "Then I want half of it.
”.
Everyone's eyes fell on this person, and some of them were quite hostile. This tone and statement not only despised Silica, but also despised the other seven people here.
"Why?" Silica let out a laugh that sounded like a knife cutting into the bones, and her eyes that were originally fierce were filled with curiosity.
"I'm worth this price. It's worth more than the seven of them put together." The man replied calmly, without any fireworks in his voice, and his dark eyes looked at Silika's eyes.
But the expressions of the seven people next to them immediately changed. Some eyes were spitting fire, while others were as cold as knives sharpened by ice.
"I know you are very good. You can defeat a reconnaissance team of the Kingdom Knights by yourself. But let me tell you, everyone here can do the same. Even though you were introduced by the old friend of Isis
Yes, but he didn't explain who you are. So you have to prove it yourself." Silica pointed at the other seven people one by one with his thick fingers. "Prove why you are more valuable than the seven of them."
The man in black with a serrated blade on his back suddenly sighed and said to Silica: "How dare you hire such an expensive person? How about I kill him and let you get more. You just need to give me more."
Five elves will do."
"Of course." Silica smiled as if she wanted to eat people. This man in black was the most famous and ruthless lone thief in Erathia for more than ten years. More people died at his hands than most people would ever see in their lifetime.
There are many people there, and one encounter once turned the elite knights of the three kingdoms into pieces of meat. It is very suitable to be used as a touchstone in this situation.
The man in black shook his hand, and the huge serrated blade behind his back was already in his hand. Several other people stood aside, and the old man and Isis simply retreated to the door. This weird weapon must be weird and weird to use.
It has great lethality and will be affected if you are not careful. Only Silica did not move.
With a low cry, the whole basement was instantly filled with the scream of the serrated blade tearing the air. The man in black turned into a dancing black shadow, and the serrated blade turned into a bright ball of light. The black shadow and the ball of light
They flew across each other and slid along the weird trajectory very quickly.
"The art of shadow dance." The woman wrapped in a black robe lowered herself and exclaimed. This martial skill, which was originally only used by the legendary night elves, actually appeared on a human, or a man. And the night elf woman
The dagger was replaced with a weird serrated blade, which was undoubtedly a weapon specially made to match the shadow dance technique.
The man in black was completely invisible, leaving only a blurry shadow moving and jumping quickly throughout the room. He did not underestimate the enemy and attacked directly. He wanted to use his shadow dance skills to the limit, and then use the best
Take action at the opportunity. The steps that the night elves transformed from the sacrificial dance are extremely magical, and the explosive power of the men is far stronger than that of the elf women, and they also maximize their ability to change positions and blur their body shapes. Isis, standing at the door, worked hard
He opened his eyes wide, trying to find any trace of a human figure.
The ordinary-looking man did not move. He just stood there and took out the weapon he had been carrying. It turned out to be an ordinary knife that could be made by any blacksmith shop.
He raised the knife. Every movement he made was very slow, which was in sharp contrast with the rapidly rising and falling shadows around him.
The shadow moved faster and faster. It was as if the entire space was filled with his faint and blurry figure, and the whistle from the serrated blade had begun to pierce the ears. His body pace had reached the limit, and all that was left was an immediate thunder strike.
.
The light of the knife just flashed, and the figure and roar that filled the entire space disappeared. There was no collision of gold and iron, only the sound of the clean blade inserting into muscle and cutting into pieces of bone, followed by a hoarse scream.
Silika's pupils shrank suddenly. He had been standing not far from the two of them since the beginning of the battle. When the man in black danced across the room with a serrated blade and flew past him, he remained still and remained motionless.
He stood still, not even the tiniest muscle on his face twitched, like a mountain of flesh made of steel. It was only then that he had an expression.
Not just him, every onlooker's expression was surprised and frozen, and their eyes were looking at the same place, at the feet of the man in black.
The man in black had recovered his figure from the fast-moving shadow, and he suddenly stopped. The knife in his opponent's hand shot out, and passed through the soles of his feet, locking him directly in place.
The two-foot-long blade had been completely submerged into the sole of the foot and the masonry below, leaving only a short handle on the sole of the foot. His body was still swinging half a circle around the fixed foot due to inertia.
Even the pitiful roars could not cover up the sound of the soles of his feet being twisted by himself and shattered inch by inch.
"Your dancing is really ugly." The man shook his head.
The man in black roared, and the serrated blade in his hand turned into a whistling light and was thrown towards the opponent. The man just flicked his hand, and the serrated blade turned in the direction and flew out. I don't know if it was a coincidence, but he changed.
The serrated blade in the direction flew directly towards Silika who was very close at hand.
Silica did not dodge, but only waved his hand. There was a loud noise, and the serrated blade struck his hand, then bounced off and embedded itself in the rock wall next to him. Only a white mark was left on his arm, which was as thick as a normal human thigh.
.
No one paid attention to him, everyone was looking at the two people in the center.
Throwing his weapon is the last relatively normal action of the man in black. His whole body is shaking now, and he is making meaningless sounds. But everyone here is familiar with it. It is a sign of suffering.
Weird serious injuries, the sound of lungs twitching before death. But there are no fatal wounds on his body now. For a person who has been hanging around in the killing fields for so many years with his head raised, the injury and damage to his feet are like this.
There is no difference if you peel it off.
The man who threw the knife walked straight to the man in black, bent down and pulled out his knife.
As soon as the knife left his feet, the man in black immediately fell down. But the posture he fell to the ground was very strange. Such a man who was so strong and agile just now, as agile as a leopard, was already as weak as an empty cloth bag. Moreover,
His body kept shrinking, his skin and muscles quickly lost their luster and shape, and became dented like a deflated ball.
A low strange buzzing sound filled the basement. The knife that had just been pulled out from the man in black's foot had turned dark red, and the dark red on it was still flowing on its own as if it was alive. The man inserted the knife
The buzzing sound of the scabbard behind his back immediately disappeared.
"A top-grade magic weapon..." Isis' voice was trembling at the door.
"Is it the legendary vampire fang..." the old man added with a sigh, while the others couldn't even make a sound.
"How is it? Is it worth it?" The man turned his head and looked at Silica.
Silica's pupils had shrunk into a small black dot, which was the eyes of a beast. After a long while, he uttered one word: "It's worth it."