Chapter 15 (2/2)

Sensing the impending danger of the daggers before him, he was filled with dread. It’s over! he thought to himself.

Ting! Pshhh. He managed to block the stab towards his heart, but despite extending his neck as far back as he could, he was unable to duck the attack to his throat since Annie had adjusted her blade accordingly.

The cold dagger sliced through his throat, dissecting his trachea. Destructive Battle Aura surged around his wound, making a mess of the surrounding tissue.

Blood spurted out, but Annie had already backed off. Not a drop landed on her. By the time she had retreated to the second floor, the Dark Elf Assassin Leader, clutching his throat, had fallen to his knees with a thud. Then, his upper body landed heavily on the ground.

He was dead.

There was no need for Annie to check the results. The sensation of her dagger slicing through his flesh had told her all she needed to know. Back in the room, she said quietly, “It is done!”

Immediately, Link ordered, “Let’s go. Now!”

The moment the Dark Elf Assassin Leader died would be the moment of chaos for the Dark Elf Assassins and also the best time for Link and the other MI3 agents to break through.

As he charged, Link shouted in his mind,

Purchase Spell: Lesser Hailstorm!

Lesser Hailstorm

Level-2 Spell

Mana Cost: 30 Points

Effect: Summon an icy draft that spins around the spellcaster like a whirlwind. The radius is more than ten feet. Any opponents that go within ten feet of the spellcaster will be attacked by drafts and ice shards. The spell lasts for 5 minutes or until the spellcaster cancels it.

If Level-0 Spells were just large firecrackers and Level-1 Spells were able to crush normal defenses; Level-3 Spells, which cost as much as 30 Mana Points to cast, were enough to make the average person cower in fear.

Link’s Lesser Hailstorm and Master Holmes’ monstrous Earth Hound were both formidable forces that never appeared in normal lives.

Link still had 48 Mana Points left after using five Fireballs and 10 Mana Points during Annie’s battle. It was enough for him to use the Lesser Hailstorm once.

When he had successfully purchased the spell, Annie had already reached the stairway landing where she came face to face with the two Dark Elf Assassins from earlier.

The two elves were both Level-2 Elites. They were powerful, but to Annie, they were as weak as newborn kittens.

Annie moved in a flash, the daggers in her hand flitted like butterflies, leaving one Assassin clutching his chest and the other grabbing at his throat as he fell to the ground.

The rest of the MI3 Assassins rushed to the first floor where they first entered the hall.

The six Dark Elf Assassins positioned there attacked them from all directions.

Annie had no problems dealing with two of them—but six, she would be putting her life on the line if she tried to fend off six of them. No matter how strong she was, it would be difficult to guard against so many.

But she wasn’t alone.

Her five Assassins, including Ardivan, formed a circle around Link, protecting him against the Dark Elf Assassins that came at them.

It was now was six against six. Though two of their own Assassins were still very weak, they had Annie, a Level-3 Assassin with Battle Aura, and Link, who used Fireballs to stall them.

Annie killed three Dark Elf Assassins single-handedly. Link cast two Fireballs to save his teammates when they were in danger.

With no one in the hall left to stop them, they rushed towards the door. Outside, there would be more than 90 Dark Elf Assassins. Their hidden guards would be everywhere. Silent arrows could come at them from any dark corner.

They would be in true danger.

All of them turned to look at Link. He took a deep breath and calmly told them, “Gather around me. Don’t go further than six feet from me. I’m going to cast a spell!”

If they stood too far away from him, they would get attacked by the Lesser Hailstorm.

The Assassins nodded. They were all well-trained fighters. The six of them formed a circle around Link, leaving less than two feet of space in between each other. Luckily, the circle was less than six feet in diameter.

Link raised his wand. The Mana within him surged into the wand in the form of a cold, clear glow from his hand. The new moon that embellished the tip of the wand glowed a piercing, icy-white.

The white light lit up the night. As it did, cold winds seemed to appear out of thin air.

Fwoosh! Violent winds, snowflakes, and ice-shards rapidly grew to form a whirlwind more than 15 feet wide.

Within it, sharp shards of ice danced around like daggers, ruthlessly cutting anything that entered their paths. As the whirlwind blew through the room, ice shards broke with crashing sounds as they smashed into the objects in the room.

In that moment, Link, holding his wand up high, looked just like the God of Wind.

Even the Assassins of the MI3, who had seen many things in their lives, were stunned. They stood still, full of awe.

“What are you waiting for!? Charge!!” Link cried out harshly. He could only hold the spell for five minutes. Every second was precious.

The Assassins were brought back to their senses. Gathering tightly around Link, they charged out of the MI3 outpost and out into the open fountain square.