Chapter 255 - 153: Not Good! It’s a Trap
Under the cover of night, the grass on the plains stirred, though there was no wind.
Figures darted through the shadows cast by the massive boulders launched by catapults during the day and the craters left by artillery fire.
The seemingly empty plains were, in fact, teeming with assassins moving in secret.
After the previous day’s encounter, Wei Peng was being more cautious tonight.
Besides, today’s orders were different. They had been given a great deal of autonomy; as long as they harassed the Sniper Corps, they would complete their mission.
Therefore, no one chose to act as a large group. Instead, they split up to operate individually.
"Wei Peng, should we make a charge?" The one who spoke was the same assassin Wei Peng had run into repeatedly yesterday, the one who had been lazing around on the ground.
After the battle last night, Wei Peng had sought him out, and the two had a good, long talk.
They had both come to a profound understanding of each other’s survival skills, so they decided to team up for the night.
"Paul, of course we’re charging. How else are we supposed to complete the mission?"
The two of them were currently hiding in a deep crater created by an explosion during the day. On the other side of the plain was a cluster of boulders that had been flung by catapults.
Between the crater and the boulders lay a wide, flat stretch of grassland. A few bodies were scattered across it—all assassins. Most were from the Northern Expedition Legion, with a few from the Sniper Corps.
The owners of these bodies had all believed their stealth abilities were superior, confident they could sneak to the other side. Little did they know, every assassin present had some form of ranged attack.
The moment any unusual rustle was spotted in the grass of the open field, a barrage of ranged attacks—arrows, crossbow arrows, stones, darts, hidden weapons—would fly out. And just like that, those assassins became corpses.
The assassins lying peacefully in the middle of the grassland were all elites. Unfortunately for them, both sides had even greater masters...
"So how do we charge?"
"Let’s contact the others. We’ll all throw smoke bombs at once."
"Great idea!" Paul’s eyes lit up. Although he was a slacker, he was still more than willing to do something that could earn him merit.
A short while later, the two met up again at the bottom of the crater, ready to go.
A smoke bomb was tossed into the open area in the middle, and the two immediately threw their own.
At the same time, smoke bombs were launched from shadows all around.
In an instant, the grassy clearing was shrouded in thick smoke.
"Charge! Don’t let them blow the smoke away."
The assassins of the Northern Expedition Legion rushed into the grassland, running toward the boulders on the other side. There were more of them this time; they definitely wouldn’t lose again.
Unexpectedly, the Sniper Corps assassins didn’t use Wind Magic to disperse the smoke. Instead, they also threw smoke bombs and used the cover to slip away.
A large number of Sniper Corps assassins retreated from behind the boulders. They ignored the charging assassins of the Northern Expedition Legion and ran straight back to their stockade. However, their numbers were much smaller compared to the Northern Expedition Legion’s soldiers.
「...」
Inside the Central Army Camp of the Sniper Corps, a lord asked Li Hua with a puzzled expression, "Lord Li, are we really not sending out any stealth units tonight? Even if we’re not harassing the enemy, shouldn’t we at least prevent them from coming to us?"
"Rest assured, everyone!" Li Hua looked at the other lords in the camp, all of whom commanded powerful stealth units.
"Get a good night’s rest. The next three days are when you’ll have your time to shine."
"As for tonight, just leave it to Lord Lin Yu’s men. They’ve been ready for a long time."
「...」
After charging through the smoke, Wei Peng and Paul immediately ran behind the boulders to take cover.
Then, they watched as their fellow assassins bypassed the pile of boulders and charged straight for the Sniper Corps’ stockade.
"What? They’re not going to scout it out first?" Paul was shocked.
Before the two could figure out what was going on, an assassin passing behind them saw they weren’t moving and asked, "What are you two doing here? The enemy has already pulled back. If you don’t hurry, you’ll miss out on all the action!"
"They just retreated? Why?" Wei Peng asked, confused.
"How should I know?! Maybe they saw we had more people and knew they couldn’t win." The man rolled his eyes. "Forget it, I’m not wasting any more time on you two. If we don’t move faster, by the time their assassins get back to the stockade and alert the guards, we’ll be facing a storm of arrows. I’m going to complete my mission."
After speaking, he even activated a sprint skill and shot forward at high speed.
"So, what now? Do we charge or not?" Wei Peng spread his hands and looked at Paul.
"No charge. I think something’s fishy. This isn’t like the Sniper Corps that fought so fiercely today. Something is definitely wrong. Let’s approach slowly," Paul suggested.
"Alright, let’s do that."
Although Wei Peng also wanted to rush in and claim some glory, after seeing how reliable Paul was last night, he decided to follow his advice.
The two slowed down and followed cautiously.
"Wait, don’t go any further!" Paul suddenly stopped just as they were about to get close to the Sniper Corps’ stockade.
"What’s wrong?"
"Something’s not right! How many of our comrades have gone in ahead of us?"
"Quite a few, I think. A lot, anyway."
"But why isn’t there the slightest sound from their stockade? They couldn’t have all taken a different route, right?"
It dawned on Wei Peng as well. He looked at the dark opening they were preparing to sneak through and the silent stockade on either side.
The opening felt like the gaping maw of a giant monster, exuding a terrifying aura.
Ahead of them, a few assassins saw they could enter the Sniper Corps’ stockade just by passing through the opening. They all activated their stealth and vanished from Wei Peng and Paul’s sight.
But Wei Peng and Paul waited for a long time, and still, nothing changed inside the stockade.
Instantly, cold sweat broke out on their backs.
They exchanged a look and, with a silent understanding, began to slowly retreat.
In the dark opening, the Shadow Reaper had actually seen the two timid assassins. However, since they weren’t in stealth, it didn’t move to kill them.
More assassins gradually arrived behind Wei Peng and Paul. After learning the details, they too didn’t dare to advance rashly.
But were they just going to give up on the mission like this?
Of course not!
One assassin, unwilling to retreat empty-handed, set a Magic Scroll for delayed activation, tied it to an arrow, and fired it toward the Sniper Corps’ stockade.
SWISH~
WHOOSH—
The first sound was his arrow being loosed; the second was an arrow flying toward him.
The arrow was powerful and perfectly aimed, piercing straight through his head as if the one who shot it could see him.
"Fuck, they have a Divine Archer (a Demon Race hero)? Can he pinpoint locations by sound?"
"Damn it! This is a trap!"
"Retreat, retreat, retreat~~"
Seeing this, Wei Peng and Paul didn’t linger. They cursed under their breath and began to retreat cautiously.