Chapter 59 (2/2)

There were characters in movies on Earth who could still run around after their arms had been blown off. But in reality, the pain of limbs getting amputated was unimaginably debilitating. The wounded thief now had a deathly pale face, and he couldn’t stop wailing. Not only was he unable get up and run, he couldn’t even manage to keep himself conscious.

Jacker walked up to the thief and tore up a piece of cloth from the thief’s underclothes, then wrapped it around the stub of his arm to prevent further blood loss. Then he slapped the thief twice in the face, and the thief immediately swallowed his cries and came to his senses.

Link took a step towards the thief and pointed his wand at his skull. A faint icy aura appeared at the tip of the wand. “Tell me, where is the woman held?”

This was just a Level-1 thief, not much different from any other common folk, so he was easily awed and stunned by signs of magic. Naturally, Link’s threatening method worked well with him.

“She’s… she’s in the cabin on the Silverfish riverbank,” said the thief laboriously due to the pain.

“Silverfish riverbank?” Link had never heard of the place.

“My Lord, I know the place,” said Jacker.

Link was relieved. This would make their mission much easier.

“Who ordered the kidnapping?” Link asked the thief.

“It…It was Andy. He’s a Level-3 Assassin, a terrifying person,” said the thief, gulping. He was hesitant to answer Link’s questions but was even more scared of the magic coming from the wand.

Andy? Link blinked a few times while recalling where he had heard such a familiar name. It was in the game. Andy was one of the members of Morpheus’s core group, and the first boss a player would encounter in the mission to defeat Morpheus. When he was playing the game, Andy was already a Level-5 Assassin.

Link was surprised to learn that Andy was only a leader of the small Girvent Forest division of the Syndicate now.

Andy had no particular strength or power that stood out in the game, the only thing that was infamous about him was his ruthlessness and cruelty, as well as the fact that he was a perverted man through and through. If he was a man from Earth, he would have been a sadistic and psychopathic serial-killer, like Leatherface of the movie Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The thing that worried Link the most right now was how wealthy and powerful the Syndicate was in comparison to the Dark Brotherhood. They would be able to afford a myriad of special equipment and potions, so even though Andy’s own strength might not be that impressive, with some aid he could still be a terrifying opponent.

“What schemes did they set up in the cove?” asked Link. He feared for Lucy’s life now because he knew that Andy’s brutality was something not to be trifled with.

“I don’t know, I’m just a lowly thief, please have mercy,” said the thief, his face contorting in pain.

Link could sense that he really didn’t know, so he didn’t wait for him to finish talking before using Magician’s Hand to break his neck. It was war between them and the Syndicate the moment they captured Lucy. Should he have granted the thief mercy and let him go back to report on them? Absolutely not!

“Let’s go now! To the Silverfish riverbank!” Jacker knew the place, so he lead the way. Along the way, Link used the Aura Detection spell and he uncovered three more scouts. He attacked each one with his Glass Orbs, interrogated them, and finally killed them all!

By the time the Silverfish riverbank emerged on the horizon, they had formed a rough idea of what to expect from the opponent.

Andy would not be there waiting for them. He had assembled elite members of the Syndicate, armed them with special gear, and ordered them to lie in wait near the cabin, ready to ambush them.

As for what kind of special gear it was, Link had no doubt that it was one that was often used to fight against Magicians – anti-magic armor.

The four walked along the rugged path until a cabin on the riverbank came into their view. The information they gained from their interrogations was that Lucy was held inside the cabin, but the moment they reached there, they were faced, instead, with an atrocious scene.

Lucy was not inside the cabin; she was dangling from a tree outside the cabin. Her arms were hung in chains and her body was stripped naked and covered with bloody lacerations all over. Thick blood still dripped slowly from her toes down to the ground. From afar, she seemed completely lifeless, and her head hung down limply from her shoulders while her face was covered by her red hair. It wasn’t clear at all whether she was still alive. It was an abhorring sight!

Jacker’s face reddened, and he gripped the hammer in his hand so tightly that it squeaked. Gildern gritted his teeth in silent wrath. Even an outsider like Annie was enraged.

“Those savages!” said Annie, “We must make them pay for what they did in kind!”

There didn’t seem to be any changes in Link’s expression, but his eyes had grown much darker and his breathing had slowed down considerably–he was already in the focused state of spellcasting!

Lucy was still alive, Link could sense that through Aura Detection. But now Andy’s barbaric schemes had managed to ignite the flame of fury in him, and this flame could only be extinguished by Andy’s blood!

“You’ll get a taste of my magic powers, just you wait and see,” said Link, as Mana surged through his body.