Chapter 123: Night Raid
Night fell.
The sea was pitch-black as a large cargo ship sailed slowly.
Under the scattering moonlight, the island ahead looked like a colossal Demon Beast crouching on the inky surface of the sea, sinister and terrifying.
"We’re getting close!"
Garrot and the others stood on the deck, inexplicably excited.
They had discarded their Shields, and some hadn’t even worn their Armor, all for the sake of moving quickly.
"Ma’am, it’s up to you!"
Garrot turned his gaze to Selena.
The Level 4 Female Mage took a deep breath. The hesitation and worry in her eyes were ultimately overcome by her support for her lover.
She raised her hands, and purple Arcane Patterns materialized on her palms. Amidst a brilliant glow, they formed a blue gate of conversion. Her body’s Arcane Magic Power passed through this gate and transformed into Water Magic Power.
This process was a common technique used by Level 4 Arcane Mages—Shaping.
An Arcane Mage uses a Shaping Magic Model to reshape Arcane Magic Power into Elemental Magic Power.
Immediately after, she used her Spiritual Power and the Water Magic Power to construct the Spell Model for the Water Mist Technique.
In just three to five seconds, a watery mist rose around them. As time passed, the fog grew thicker and its range expanded.
Soon, visibility was reduced to less than ten meters.
Garrot ordered the Captain to continue forward for a short distance before lowering several small boats. He had a few Warriors go ashore first to secure the ship to anchor points like trees with hemp ropes. The rest of the men then slid quickly to the shore along the ropes.
"Hold on to me!" Brison said.
The Female Mage lacked the physical stamina, and a difficult maneuver like this could easily cause her to fall into the water.
Although everyone thought it was a matter of course, this was still the first time Selena and Brison had embraced in public. The short slide was an unforgettable moment for them both.
It took a little over ten minutes for all thirty-odd people to get ashore.
"We head straight for Duane’s courtyard at top speed!"
Garrot lowered his voice. "During this time, we’ll have to trouble you again, ma’am."
Selena nodded slightly. "But I can’t move as fast as you."
Garrot looked at Brison. "Then we’ll have to trouble you to carry her. Don’t worry, if it takes too much of your stamina, you don’t have to fight when the time comes."
Brison smiled. "She’s not heavy. With an Advanced Warrior’s endurance, it won’t consume much stamina."
"Good!"
Garrot looked at Selena. "Then we’ll have to impose on you, ma’am."
Selena remained expressionless, but inwardly she was thinking, ’This isn’t an imposition at all.’
Tonight’s raid on Duane was certainly giving them some unforgettable memories.
Without further delay, the group began to sprint toward Duane’s courtyard.
They chose not the main road, but the small paths between fields, which were completely deserted at this hour.
Whenever they reached a place with a higher risk of exposure, Selena would cast her Magic again, using the Water Mist Technique to obscure their movements and reduce the chance of being discovered.
The process was filled with both anxiety and the excitement of closing in on their target.
After about forty to fifty minutes, the group arrived in the fields near the Baron’s villa.
They looked all around but saw no one on patrol. In the courtyard, several buildings still had candlelight glowing from within.
"Just as we thought, Duane let his guard down. He didn’t even post any sentries."
"He has some strength himself, and everyone on Black Forest Island is his man. He probably thinks he doesn’t need guards."
"Heh, this lack of defense will be the death of him!"
The men mocked him one after another, as if they could already see Duane dying by their Swords.
"But just in case, we’ll need to trouble you to use the Water Mist Technique one more time, ma’am, so we can get closer to the courtyard."
"I can only manage to cast it two more times."
She didn’t have a natural Water Affinity, so she had to rely on Arcane Shaping to use Water Magic. But doing so consumed a massive amount of Magic Power and Spiritual Power.
Along the way, she had already cast the spell four times, and her Magic Power was now running on empty.
"That’s enough! This one last time will be plenty!"
Selena nodded and cast the spell again.
Soon, a watery mist rose up, and under Selena’s deliberate control, it spread to a radius of several hundred meters.
"Brison, you protect her. Only act if something changes."
Garrot made the final arrangements. "Everyone else, with me!"
They rose from the fields and advanced toward the courtyard.
Their pace wasn’t fast, and they kept their footsteps quiet, moving like ghosts in the night.
Meanwhile, in the mountain forests surrounding the courtyard, a group of Guards and Militia lay in ambush.
In Duane’s view, if the enemy was truly planning to raid Black Forest Island, they were unlikely to land at Black Forest Port. That was why Kaelon had said that defending the port would be of little use.
As the saying goes, to capture the rebels, you must first capture their king. The most likely target for this raid was his villa.
Therefore, Duane had Kaelon dismiss all the servants from the villa under the pretext of training soldiers for nighttime combat. At the same time, he gathered all the Guards and Militia to lie in ambush in the nearby mountains.
This approach had two advantages.
If Garrot and his men actually came, they could be surrounded.
If they didn’t come, Duane would have a convenient explanation.
After all, mobilizing so many people for half the night only to find no enemy would only serve to diminish the Baron’s prestige.
Using night training as an excuse, on the other hand, was a perfect cover.
Time ticked by. The soldiers, eager to perform well and make a good impression, remained almost perfectly still, gritting their teeth and enduring.
Just as Duane was beginning to think he might have miscalculated, a thick fog suddenly rolled through the mountain forest.
"Why is fog rolling in?"
He frowned. The fog had appeared very quickly and was growing thicker by the second.
Duane found it very strange.
It had been rainy lately, so fog wasn’t unusual.
But a fog this dense would normally take thirty minutes to an hour to form. It couldn’t possibly appear so fast.
"Be careful!"
Simone whispered, "I fear the Baron’s suspicions have been confirmed. This fog is likely the Water Magic spell, Water Mist Technique."
He had encountered such things before.
Raymond and Kaelon nodded. This was one of the common tactics used by Mages to support Warriors in a surprise attack.
If they had been inside the house, or had failed to notice how quickly the fog was rising, they could have easily overlooked this detail.
Instantly, everyone became vigilant.
At that moment, Garrot and his men had already closed in on Duane’s courtyard.
He stared at the wooden building in the courtyard, its windows glowing with candlelight, and couldn’t help but lick his lips.
"Ready!"
Garrot raised his hand, then swung it down fiercely. "Kill!"
Cameron took the lead, kicking the main gate directly.
The immense Strength tore the gate apart, sending it flying before it crashed heavily into the courtyard.
A loud ROAR echoed far into the night.
"Kill!"
Cameron roared and was the first to charge into the courtyard, with Hall, Blake, and the others following close behind him.
Garrot came up from behind, leaping several times to land directly beside a candlelit window, which he shattered with a single punch.
"Duane, die!"
He looked into the room, only to find it empty.
Garrot froze for a moment.
As for the others, they had charged into the courtyard with the intent to kill anyone they saw.
But after bursting into several rooms, they didn’t find a single soul.
A strange, ominous feeling of crisis washed over them.
Garrot felt a chill run down his spine.
If the Baron wasn’t here, that might be one thing.
But for all the servants to be gone as well... that couldn’t be explained.
Brison, bringing up the rear with Selena, saw this and immediately sensed that something was wrong.
"Selena, let’s go!"
He grabbed Selena, turned, and was about to flee.
But just then, deafening war cries erupted from all directions.
Everyone’s expression changed drastically.