Chapter 442: Cornered Beasts
The assassins shouted in unison. Men and women alike, they carried all kinds of weapons, including daggers, crossbows, and even woodcutting axes. Yet they all shared one thing in common. Their eyes were filled with unwavering determination.
With tremendous momentum, they charged into the banquet hall without realizing that, apart from servants, they had encountered neither nobles nor soldiers along the entire way.
They kicked open the doors to the banquet hall.
"There are assassins! Run!"
The "nobles" attending the ball panicked the moment they saw the members of Night Owl and scattered in all directions.
"Die!"
Brinda and Joey ruthlessly crashed into the crowd, hacking left and right.
Yet the moment their weapons struck their targets, there was no sensation of actually cutting through flesh.
Both their expressions changed drastically.
"Something’s wrong!"
With a tremendous boom, the surrounding noble guests suddenly exploded, transforming into several streams of dark purple light that shot directly into the two of them.
"Tier Three Divine Art, Shattering Curse!"
The Divine Chosen mage of the Hunting Squad quickly completed his incantation.
"What happened?"
The divine power armor surrounding the two Night Owl members was weakened by twenty percent. At the same time, both of them felt their limbs grow weak, and their combat strength plummeted.
From every passage around them, countless human, Lizardman, and beastmen soldiers emerged in full armor. They stood in orderly formations, weapons gleaming in their hands. Bathed in the flickering firelight, they radiated a murderous aura.
In an instant, the assassins were completely surrounded.
"Little Lion?"
Phield stood silently behind the crowd and sighed.
"These foolish women. In the end, they still walked right into this."
He had warned them from the beginning that assassinating nobles was nothing more than a pointless act. It would accomplish nothing except provoke the nobility. The nobles had endless descendants, and unless they completely defeated the entire empire, their efforts would ultimately be meaningless.
Not to mention bringing along an unruly mob of untrained farmers. Aside from causing chaos, they had almost no combat capability.
"How did this happen? Weren’t we supposed to ambush the nobles?"
"We were deceived! We’re the ones who were ambushed!"
"Hey, you Night Owl people encouraged us to rebel, and this is where it got us? Aren’t you traitors too?"
An old farmer helplessly clutched his cleaver, completely overwhelmed by despair. He had already begun considering surrender.
"I’m sorry. I was the one who betrayed you."
A nervous-looking woman suddenly lunged forward from behind and plunged a short sword into the farmer in front of her. She then screamed, dropped the weapon, and hurried over to Simon while everyone stared at her in shock.
"Why did you betray us?"
The shock on Brinda’s face was even greater than when they had been ambushed.
"Your husband and daughter were killed by the nobles! They even took away the house and farmland you spent years saving to buy! What are you doing?"
"You despicable woman!"
"Fangs of a viper!"
"Traitor! Lackey!"
The assassins erupted into furious curses.
"I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but I... I still have my husband’s child inside me. This is the last child he left behind."
The woman covered her face and knelt on the ground, sobbing bitterly.
"I can’t let my child be born a wanted criminal."
Simon wiped away two nonexistent tears and sighed.
"Don’t worry. I’ll provide money to support you."
"I’ll help too."
Sherry shook her head.
"You were simply deceived by Night Owl."
"Stop pretending to be so kind."
Brinda was furious. A wave of despair surged through her, but she quickly forced it down.
She repeatedly opened and clenched her fists, doing everything she could to shake off the effects of her negative emotions. Then she turned her face away and forced a bright smile.
"I’ll cover you. Get out of here!"
"Retreat? Hehehe. If you retreat, then all the delightful torture devices I’ve prepared, along with the festival celebration that’s coming soon, won’t be nearly as much fun."
Simon gave a twisted grin.
"Miss Sherry, send the soldiers in first and wear them down. Otherwise, those two might go berserk and take one of our Divine Chosen down with them."
"Understood. That’s what we’ll do."
Sherry tore open the ballroom dress concealing her armor and drew her sword with renewed vigor.
"Warriors of the Empire, fight for the Empress!"
"Kill!"
The moment the word left her mouth, a rapid series of crossbow bolts rang out.
"Thump, thump, thump!"
The bolts descended over the crowd like a swarm of locusts, instantly killing a large number of ordinary people.
The morale of the survivors collapsed completely. Some wanted to fight to the death, some tried to escape, and others wanted to surrender.
Yet they all met the same fate.
The soldiers slaughtered them as easily as chickens.
"You bastards! I’ll make you pay for every single one!"
Brinda had been trying to open a path for everyone to escape, but when she looked around, she realized that in the blink of an eye, everyone had been killed except the two of them.
Her eyes turned bloodshot.
"Tier Three Divine Art, Berserk Lion Transformation!"
Golden flames engulfed her entire body, and a golden lion phantom appeared behind her.
With a furious roar, Brinda charged into the ranks of the soldiers and unleashed a barrage of punches from both sides.
With every punch she threw, the golden lion behind her became more solid.
Even the heavily armored infantry who surrounded her, clad in full battle gear and armed to the teeth, were instantly killed by a single punch.
It was like a magnificent landscape painting being splashed with ink. Wherever Brinda’s fists landed, countless streams of blood sprayed through the air.
"Tier Three Divine Art, Blade of Slaughter!"
Flames erupted from the long blade in Joey’s hand, its black surface covered in crimson patterns.
Compared to the little lion’s wild ferocity, Joey appeared far more elegant.
Her long blade, empowered by her divine art, moved effortlessly through the masses, cutting down enemies without restraint. In moments, she had slain thirty or forty people.
Her face remained expressionless, yet the demonic killing intent radiating from her was terrifying.
"They won’t last much longer."
Phield watched the two of them rampage through the battlefield and quietly shook his head.
Activating their divine arts the moment they met their enemies meant one of two things. Either they were seeking an overwhelming victory, or they were prepared to fight to the death.
"It’s about time. Divine Guard, attack!"
Lizardmen continuously poured out from the passages.
Each one radiated the aura of a Tier Three combatant. They wore armor and carried javelins and cleavers. Lizardmen already possessed naturally tough scales, and now they were armed from head to toe.
More importantly, every single one of them had mastered martial techniques, making their combat strength extraordinary.
The two members of Night Owl immediately found themselves locked in a bitter struggle.
After fighting fiercely for fifteen minutes, the two activated their divine arts for the second time. Their divine power was already more than half depleted.
"This is where it ends. Night Owl is nothing special after all."
Sherry’s Divine Chosen, Valtteri, had long since been itching to join the battle.
He summoned his armor artifact.
"Armor of the Breaker!"
The heavy armor enveloped his body, transforming Valtteri into what looked like a massive iron fortress. He planted himself directly in front of Brinda and blocked her furious punches.
"BANG!"
The collision of fist and armor produced a deep, resonant clang like an ancient bell, the vibration making everyone’s ears ache.
"Ugh, that hurts."
Brinda’s eyes nearly filled with tears when the opponent withstood her punch without suffering any apparent damage.
The other two members of the Hunting Squad, meanwhile, moved to intercept Joey.
"Are the Imperial Guards really not going to make a move?"
Phield secretly glanced at the two Imperial Guards.
"If they don’t expend some of their divine power, I won’t be able to make a move against them."