Chapter 17 (2/2)

“I don’t know. We lost them at a hotel. We went in, but we didn’t find them. We couldn’t find a secret passage though we searched all over for it.” The Assassin looked miserable, fear hinting at his expression. He knew that he would be heavily punished for failing their mission.

“The hotel must have a secret passage!” Holmes looked towards the building in the distance, then back at the six-foot tall Earth Hound, and cursed, “Damn hotel!”

The Earth Hound was too big to fit through hotel’s door.

But Holmes had a plan. Digging a secret passage is difficult. It won’t be too long, and there isn’t any significance to building it longer anyway. Six hundred to one thousand feet should be the maximum, he thought.

At this, he asked the Assassin, “How many of you are left?”

“Seventy-six of us,” the Assassin replied.

“And where are they now?”

“We split up to look for the humans.”

“Very good.” Holmes paced for a while. Suddenly, something occurred to him. Why should I follow behind their asses? What is the first thing they’ll do since they’ve escaped? Why can’t I just lay in wait for them?

There was another important question; where would they most likely go?

The answer screamed in the face. It was painfully obvious.

“They’re most likely going to go to the barracks of the city guard! Once they gain control of it, then it won’t be something as simple as escaping. They’ll even be able to turn the tables on us! No, that cannot happen, damn it!”

Holmes felt his heartbeat quicken. He found that it was no longer important whether the Magician or Annie Abel escaped. What was important, was that the city guard remained in chaos and useless.

Otherwise, when the human Magician and the head of the MI3 outpost entered the city guard, they would be unstoppable. They, as enemies who had infiltrated the city, would certainly die!

“Gather arms! We’re going to Horus Castle!”

Horus Castle was the family castle of the Lord of the city, Hessman Horus. It sat in a valley, the furthest valley west of the city, in the northernmost region of the Old City Quarters.

The Lord of the city, Duke Hessman, had already been done in. His womanizing ways had been the end of him.

Three hours earlier, he had died in bed, killed by a beautiful human Assassin who had been painstakingly bred and trained by the Dark Elves for more than ten years. Truth be told, every human in the Horus Castle had been wiped out.

The city guards’ barracks were quite close to Horus Castle. The Commander of the city guards had been poisoned a day ago. With most of its officers dead, the city guard was leaderless. Perhaps some had tried to restore the law and order, but they

didn’t hold enough weight to pose a threat to the Dark Elves.

But now, Annie Abel and the Magician were both prominent figures, enough so that they could easily take hold of the situation. They had to be stopped.

In every race, Magicians held very high social statuses. Though not the official commander of the operation, Holmes had become the de-facto leader when the Commander and First Officer had died. The Dark Elf Assassins, needing someone to rally behind, naturally gathered around him. There was a total of 150 of them, including the Assassins Holmes had brought from the Magic Academy.

This formed most of the Assassins who had infiltrated Gladstone City. Helmed by a Level-2 Magician, they were a force to be reckoned with.

“Hurry up! We might still have time!” Holmes roared. With a snap of his fingers, the Earth Hound crouched, allowing him to climb onto it. Then the hound sprinted off.

The Dark Elf Assassins ran behind it.

The Earth Hound was fast, very fast. Soon, Holmes left the Assassins in the dust. It was risky, but he didn’t care. Holmes believed that he had the power to deal with that human Magician, even if he had MI3 allies!

The Dark Elves, in their haste to stop Link and Annie, didn’t notice a petite figure watching them quietly from a secluded corner of the fountain square.

It was the human Assassin Mary, whom Link had saved earlier. After the Elemental Healing and more than half an hour of rest, she had regained most of her strength.

“This isn’t good. The Commander and that Magician are in danger; I need to warn them!”

Mary slipped into the hotel and down into the cellar. Deftly opening the door to the secret passage, she sped forward. She appeared at the exit, in the house within no time.

The young couple looked at her with surprise.

“Has the Commander been here?” Mary asked, rushing.

The husband nodded. “She was here. But she left not even three minutes ago.”

“In which direction did she go?”

“I’m not too sure, but it was probably towards the North.” As an external member of the MI3, he knew not to ask more than he was told.

“I understand. Seal the passage permanently, immediately. Anyone else who comes out from there is definitely an enemy!” Mary raised her voice as she said this.

The couple nodded hastily.