Chapter 13 (2/2)

These were, of course, Dark Elf Assassins who had been in hiding. They had been forced out by the fire.

Five minutes later, the flames grew stronger. One by one, the Dark Elves were forced out of their hiding places. The fountain square was in chaos.

That was good enough. Link said to Ardivan, “Come with me. Let’s rush in.”

“No, you don’t know the way—!” Link rushed out before Ardivan could finish. Under the effect of the Cat’s Agility, he was lightning fast.

Speechless, Ardivan had no choice but to follow.

But before long he found that Link seemed to know the square’s layout like the back of his hand. Ardivan was astounded. From one hiding place to another, even while using the flames to shade themselves from sight, Link seemed as familiar with the place as if it were his backyard.

Already halfway through, the Dark Elf Assassins still hadn’t noticed them!

He was unable to explain it, but the worry he’d held disappeared. More at ease, he focused on following Link.

They reached the iron gate in front of the outpost very quickly. The fire hadn’t spread there yet, nor was there a place to hide. The Dark Elves had finally noticed them.

They were out of the range of the hidden Dark Elf Archers, so the elves just charged at them.

Link didn’t even stop. He continued running towards the iron gate, yelling at Ardivan, “They’re still more than 100 feet away from us! Ignore them, just keep going!”

With his agile movements from the Cat’s Agility spell, he darted forward. Right before the iron gate Link leaped up more than ten feet into the air. Reaching out, he grabbed a drooping branch from one of the ancient trees within the courtyard and swung himself into the compound.

Ardivan, seeing that, stopped trying to be stealthy and quickly flipped over the gate.

There were also Dark Elf Assassins within the courtyard. Three of them came at Link before he even landed. Link, still in mid-air, prepared to cast Fireballs at them.

But just then, a figure flashed behind the window on the second floor of the stone building. With a single, loud twang, three arrows flew out of the window, each one shooting out towards the Dark Elf Assassins, forcing them to retreat.

It was an ally!

Thanks to that, Link and Ardivan managed to land safely.

Ardivan covered Link as they charged forward. Link leapt up to the window where he had seen the mysterious figure. With the effects of Cat’s Agility still in play, he managed to jump to a height of more than ten feet. Link grabbed onto the window-sill and flipped through the opening.

An Assassin of the MI3 had appeared in this window earlier. That meant that it was safe. That was why Link had chosen to enter the building from here.

Ardivan didn’t have the explosive power that Link had. Though unable to jump to the same height, climbing up to the second floor was easy for a Level-2 Elite Assassin like him. Building on the momentum from his charge, Ardivan leaped up and pushed off the crevices in the walls, ultimately managing to enter the window.

As Ardivan stood, he was shocked by what he saw.

Hastily, he shouted, “Commander, this is Magician Link Morani. He’s here to help!”

Annie Abel had her dagger held to Link’s chest, mistaking him for an enemy. Link had anticipated this, and so he froze with his hands held high above his head.

Of course, he didn’t really think that Annie would harm him. During this moment he took a good look at the future Legendary Assassin before him.

She was very young, only about twenty-three or twenty-four-years-old. She was about 5’5” in height. The dark green, figure-hugging armor she wore outlined her slender figure. Though she was masked, the contours of her face were perfect. The exposed skin was a flawless, milky-white. Her dark-blue eyes were framed by thin eyebrows that fanned up towards the end, making her look somewhat handsome instead of just pretty. She sported a head of bright golden hair, cut short in a blunt and bold style.

Compared to the tortured, scar-faced Legendary Assassin he had seen in the game, Annie Abel was now a flower in full bloom.

Link looked around the room. There were only four MI3 Assassins left. Each of them had been wounded to varying degrees. The most seriously injured Assassin couldn’t even get up. The room was filled with the thick scent of blood.

Hearing Ardivan’s words, Annie knew that she had been mistaken. Though she lowered her dagger, she still remained cautious. She looked towards her subordinate. Her motive was clear. “Has the news been sent out?”

“Twenty-three homing pigeons, all labeled with scent. They won’t be attacked by the Blood-eyed Owls and will probably reach the Black Iron Garrison in an hour’s time!” Ardivan reported, straightening his back.

“Very good!” The lines of Annie’s face softened. Turning towards Link, she said, “Introduce this Magician.”

Ardivan kept his reply short and sweet. “Commander, he’s from the Magic Academy. It was he who destroyed the Portal Tower.”

At that, all the Assassins in the room turned to look at him, their gazes full of respect.

The Portal Tower had been crucial to this battle. Only because the Portal Tower had been destroyed, did the Norton Kingdom stand a chance at saving Gladstone.

If Gladstone managed to overcome this disaster, Link would have contributed the most. What he did was what allowed everything else to be possible!

Annie relaxed completely. “I am very sorry for my rudeness earlier, Mr. Link.”

Link wouldn’t take such a small thing to heart. The situation around was very dire. He cut straight to the point. “Commander Abel, what is your plan?”