Chapter 67: Unshakable 10
Click. The hour hand points to 3.
Assassin landed lightly on a protruding balcony. Then, he half-crouched down, holding the cold iron railing tightly with one hand, ready to use the force to jump at any time to escape in time if he was discovered.
There was no light in the room a dozen meters away, and the heavy curtains blocked the outside world from peeping, making it impossible for Assassin to immediately judge the situation inside the room.
Are they out on the move? Or are they sitting back and watching the situation?
Assassin thought about it and confirmed that he had not observed the three people in Fuyuki City before coming here, so it was the latter possibility.
It was normal for an outside magician who intervened midway to be cautious tonight, but in this way, he would not be able to successfully confirm the existence of the Rider.
We must find a way to find out what's going on inside the house.
Assassin raised his arm, holding several silver hidden weapons between his dark fingers.
Assassin was not good at direct combat, and he did not want to provoke an attack, but now he had no choice but to test the existence of the Heroic Spirit in this way.
Before taking action, he looked around and calculated the possibility of escape - there were fewer shelters outside the high-rise buildings, but there were many footholds for him to jump and dodge in the air; the hotel and nearby residential buildings were full of citizens, and according to the principle of "secrecy", skills that would cause large-scale damage could not be used here.
Therefore, as long as he is more maneuverable than his opponent, he can escape successfully.
Speed is Assassin's strength, but there is one more important point:
Weber Velvet, a magician with the power to summon, is undoubtedly a "low-quality lord".
In addition to their own strength, the strength of a Heroic Spirit is also closely related to the magical qualifications of their protector, that is, the amount of magic power they provide. Assassin's protector, Matou Kuran, once observed Weber Velvet during the Fourth World War and ultimately concluded that he had no more than five magic circuits.
As for the two magicians beside Weber, Assassin didn't pay them much attention. Humans and Heroic Spirits are fundamentally different, and most of them cannot compete with Heroic Spirits.
After rationally analyzing the pros and cons, Assassin looked toward the window again.
Magicians usually set invisible traps outside the room to both alert themselves to incoming enemies and buy time for counterattacks.
...Let's get started.
Assassin flicked his wrist and threw out several sharp hidden weapons in the blink of an eye. The thin silver light attacked as swiftly as a snake, making a small but sharp sound of breaking through the air.
“Bang!”
Something unexpected happened. Without any hindrance, the flying knife pierced straight into the glass. With a crisp sound, spider-web-like cracks quickly spread.
It was as if the magician in the house had not considered it as a base or equipped himself with weapons.
Assassin's thoughts paused for a moment.
In those few fleeting seconds, a blinding white light flashed in the afterglow, so fast that it was impossible to catch its trace. Assassin was startled, and his instinct reacted faster than his reason, manipulating his body to respond - Assassin's body suddenly tensed up, and he used his feet to exert force, leaping with the help of the railing, and jumped directly onto the outdoor unit of the air conditioner diagonally opposite!
Warm liquid flowed out of the wound. Assassin raised his hand to cover his right shoulder and finally looked at the young man below him seriously.
Brown hair and golden eyes, his clothes fluttering in the wind like a dragon, the spear in his hand is exquisite and unusual, the edge is as smooth as jade, but it is a thousand times sharper than jade, the dark brown blood flows along the edge, like water without leaving a trace.
A magician who is good at close combat? But the attack just now did not contain any magic power. How could he achieve such speed and power without the blessing of magic?
Assassin realized that he had misjudged the magician's abilities.
"...What a superb stealth skill." He didn't even notice the other party approaching.
Zhong Li shook his head: "In terms of stealth level, you are better than me."
Assassin: “?”
How can this person lie with his eyes open?
However, Zhong Li was telling the truth.
Time goes back to a few hours ago, when night had just fallen.
Hoshino Nozomi sat in the room, thinking about countermeasures.
The [Stealth] skill points on Zhongli's character card are not high, and his skills cannot surpass those of a professional assassin hero. Fortunately, he has the support of the system. Once the roll is successful, his stealth will not be discovered by the opponent regardless of the skill points.
Of course, the premise is that the opponent does not conduct [reconnaissance] and activate [stealth confrontation].
Assassin's stealth value was probably around 80. If he were to fight him, he would most likely lose. Therefore, he had to focus Assassin's attention on the room in front of him and make Assassin ignore the back for a while.
It doesn't need to be clever, just buy a few seconds.
So he turned off the lights and drew the curtains. In order not to block his view, he shielded Weber and Gray and rented a room far away to separate from them temporarily.
At first, Hoshino Nozomi was worried about whether he could spot Assassin in the first place, and he even prepared to keep his shield on to avoid sneak attacks, but after a few hours, he realized that he was overthinking.
With the system's thermal imaging plug-in, Assassin, who possessed the skill [Breath Concealment] and blended perfectly into the night, shone like a large light bulb in his eyes.
Xing Yewang: “…”
It would be rude to pretend not to see it.
After alerting the other two, he activated stealth identification, found an opportunity to get behind Assassin, and successfully cut the Heroic Spirit's right arm.
The black cloth covering the entire body was torn, revealing the covered right arm - twice as wide as the left arm, as if the arm was too long and folded up, and was wrapped in a black bandage.
...If this is the case, then the right arm is twice as long as the left? Is Assassin's ability related to this special arm?
"It's one of the Hassans," Weber said in a deep voice as he opened the soundproof barrier that he had set up in advance. "Assassin's advantage lies in surprise attacks. It's best not to let him get close."
As soon as he said this, Webber paused, realizing that both Zhongli and Gray were fighting in close combat and it was impossible for them to maintain a safe distance.
Assassin above also scoffed at his words. His Noble Phantasm [Delusion Heart Sound] can ignore distance and defense and take out the enemy's heart. For him, there is no such thing as a "safe distance".
There was still one girl who had not appeared yet. She was probably hiding in the dark, waiting for her chance to strike. Assassin concluded that since the Heroic Spirits had not appeared yet, they probably had not summoned Rider either.
Assassin turned around and tried to leave, but was blocked by a sickle from above.
The blade cut out a crescent moon in the night, and Assassin dodged it, and with a few leaps he distanced himself from it. He looked at the girl's face, which was similar to Saber's, and couldn't help but feel surprised.
Knowing these things is worth the trip.
The question now is, how is he going to get out?
Zhongli, Gray, and Weber were positioned in a triangle, cleverly forming an encirclement. No matter which side the enemy broke through from, the other two could quickly provide support.
The treasure [Delusion Heart Sound] is his last weapon. Although the Lord of Protection did not order them to be killed, it is still important to save his life at the critical moment. As long as Weber's life is spared, it will be fine.
Having made up his mind, Assassin quickly threw several knives at the three parties, trying to disrupt their actions, but an illogical scene appeared -
The fragile wizard Weber shouted "Assassin, get ready to run up" without blinking; Gray ignored the flying knife that was close at hand and rushed forward towards the tip of the knife.
Assassin: "???"
The moment the blade was about to touch the body, a translucent barrier suddenly appeared and blocked the attack!
Assassin's eyes fixed, and under Gray's nimble pursuit, his right arm suddenly turned a bright orange-red, as if magma was flowing in his blood vessels!
The bandages wrapped around it fell apart, and [Delusion Heart Sound] was ready to go, and the devilishly skinny and slender right arm suddenly stabbed out -
"Puchi." The sound of weapon piercing through flesh and blood.
Pain spread from the palm of his hand, and the jade-like tip of the gun pierced Assassin's palm, nailing him to the wall.
"Thank you, Mr. Zhongli." Weber breathed a sigh of relief. Although he didn't know what Assassin's Noble Phantasm was, if it was a type that ignored defense, Gray would be in danger.
"No need to thank me," Zhong Li said softly as he retracted his hand after throwing the gun. "It is thanks to your reminder that I was able to keep a safe distance and support Gray in time."
Assassin: “…”
In the end, Zhongli took action and threw Assassin, who was hanging on the wall, into the magic circle set up by Weber earlier and sealed the treasure. During the process, Assassin was unusually quiet and had no intention of struggling any further.
Escaping with an arm cut off is almost equivalent to completely destroying the Noble Phantasm, which is tantamount to suicide in the Holy Grail War. It is obviously impossible for Assassin to do this.
The Heroic Spirit and the three looked at each other: "I will not betray the Lord."
Zhongli: "He is a loyal and righteous man."
Assassin: “…”
Although Assassin was successfully arrested, Hoshino Nozomi was not completely relieved. He asked Gray and Weber to go back to their room to rest, while he and Assassin remained silent - mainly because Hoshino Nozomi didn't want to talk anymore.
He usually has a good work and rest schedule, but suddenly he stayed up all night and couldn't help feeling sleepy.
The system suggested that he drink some coffee to refresh himself. Xingye Wang thought it was bitter and tried it reluctantly. As expected, he frowned after taking a sip and put the cup aside.
After a while, relying on the fact that the Rock God would not get sick, he added ten sugar cubes into the drink. After taking a sip, he still frowned and said he didn't want to drink any more.
The system complained that he was so fond of sweet things that he couldn't stand the slightest bitterness. Hoshino Nozomi retorted, "It's super bitter," and didn't want to pay any attention to the system anymore.
It was getting light.
*
Matou House.
Matou Rankan, who couldn't wait for the heroic spirit to return, couldn't help but frown.
The connection between him and Assassin was not severed, proving that the Heroic Spirit was still alive. If he was alive but did not return, it could only mean one thing - Assassin was captured.
In the fierce Holy Grail War, if a hero is captured but not killed outright, it often means that the other party has other intentions.
This was not a good sign of cooperation, and his adopted granddaughter Sakura Matou did not respond to his call for some reason. This made Matou Ruoyan feel that things were gradually out of his control and he felt a little uneasy.
But he definitely didn't want to lose the qualification for the Holy Grail War just like that.
The next morning, when the truce time set by the supervisor arrived, Matou Ruoyan walked to the hotel in person with heavy steps and met the three people who were dining in the restaurant.
Gray: "Mr. Zhongli, this is delicious."
Weber: “It’s nice to have money…”
Zhong Li: "As long as Gray likes it."
A complete sense of relaxation.
After being nervous all night, Jian Tong Ran Yan: "?"