All the NPCs had lost their courage. Clearly, they weren"t powerful enough to a.s.sa.s.sinate Lord Arthas.
The Windchaser said gloomily, “Your Highness, please don"t be overhasty. As you know, Arthas had recruited a lot of experts in recent years. Thunder Axe is a somewhat famous general on the continent, and we know nothing about Dren the Law Controller except that he has the power of a great magician. They cannot be underestimated…”
Karinshan sucked in a deep breath before ordering, “Summon Stark, Ziyan and Lintus to me!”
The a.s.sa.s.sin Tina looked slightly surprised. “Your Highness, are you sending legion commanders to a.s.sa.s.sinate Arthas?”
The princess smiled. “What else could I do? I can"t possibly a.s.sa.s.sinate Arthas myself, can I? Hmph, it would dirty my hands to kill that tras.h.!.+”
……
It was now or never. I walked up to Karinshan with the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf by my side and said, “If you believe in my strength, then I implore you to leave this task to me, princess. I swear I"ll bring Arthas"s head back to you!”
“Oh?”
Karinshan broke into a smile. “That would be great! I"m sure that the protege of the Wind Singer will return with good news…”
I raised my eyebrows. “Er, I"m not the Wind Singer"s—”
“Heh, sure.” Karinshan chuckled before resting a pale white palm on my shoulder and staring at me with her black eyes. She whispered, “Anyone who wishes to return to Floating Ice City from here must pa.s.s through a valley called Wild Pheasant Ridge, so you should carry out your ambush there. It"ll be nighttime when you carry out your a.s.sa.s.sination, so no one will notice until it"s too late. But be careful, Arthas is guarded by many powerful men, and among them, Thunder Axe and Dren the Law Controller are especially powerful. You may have to pay a heavy price to claim his head!”
I nodded. “Don"t worry, Your Highness. I will drag him down his high horse even if I have to suffer a thousand cuts in the process!”
Karinshan: “...”
Ding~!
System Notice: Congratulations, you have accepted the quest [The a.s.sa.s.sination of Lord Arthas]! (Current Quest Rank: S+)
Description: Head to Wild Pheasant Ridge and wait for Lord Arthas to pa.s.s by. There, you will attempt to a.s.sa.s.sinate him. But be careful, no one must notice the a.s.sa.s.sination attempt, and you can only complete it by yourself. You will not receive any quest rewards if the quest is shared with other players!
……
f.u.c.k, these quest requirements were no joke. My plan to share this quest with a couple of helpers was foiled before it even began!
I sucked in a deep breath and shot a question. “How many people will be accompanying Arthas tonight?”
“I"m not sure, but it can"t be few…”
A while later, Karinshan added worriedly, “Just focus on your quest and give it your all. If you fail to a.s.sa.s.sinate Arthas at Wild Pheasant Ridge…”
The temperature in her eyes dropped suddenly. “Then I will order the five Dragon Knights to kill him at the edge of Frost Forest! Our army cannot fall into that immoderate, licentious trash"s hands no matter what!”
“Mn!”
I nodded and went out of the tent. None of the NPC adventurers had chosen to accompany me, those ungrateful b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. Whatever. One way or another, it looked like I must accomplish this quest alone.
……
I brought up the world map and gave it a look. Lord Arthas" return path was already outlined by the quest system. Checking the sky and noting that it was about to turn dark, I decided to scout out my target first before doing anything else!
The Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf and I slipped into a nearby forest and peeked at Arthas"s tent from behind cover. It wasn"t long before I saw a group of soldiers exiting the camp and travelling toward Floating Ice City!
I had to stifle my exclamation of surprise after taking just one look. s.h.i.+t, there sure are a lot of soldiers. The fat Arthas was clad in huge metal armor and riding a fierce-looking warhorse at the center of the troop formation. He was surrounded by almost a hundred elite knights, and they were all Level 105 elite mobs on average. It wouldn"t be easy to kill them.
A powerful-looking dwarf was standing at the forefront. He was only half as tall as a normal human, but the battle axe in his hand was crawling with thunderous energy. He was none other than the legendary Thunder Axe, a Level 110 Dark Gold Rank boss. Riding at the rearmost and carrying a staff was Dren the Law Controller, a magician. His eyes were closed as if he was in meditation.
Finally, the main bulk of the escort was made up by 500 sword-wielding grunts or so. The guards were all Level 100 elite mobs, meaning that they were probably the elite soldiers of Arthas" troops. It looked like the fat lord had mobilized some of his best soldiers to escort him safely back to Floating Ice City.
……
“My lord, should we make haste or travel at a normal speed?” Thunder Axe turned around and asked in a loud voice.
Arthas shook his head and said, “I"ve already sent an early letter to Viscount Trey and ordered him to prepare his daughters before I arrive, but it would be prudent to travel slowly just in case they needed more time. Once we arrive at the Viscount"s mansion, you are free to relieve yourselves from your duties and have a nice drink at the bar. I look forward to the "chat" I"m going to have with the two beauties, hehehe…”
A vulgar smile spread across Arthas"s face when he said this. Thunder Axe didn"t give a response, but he obeyed his lord"s command and slowed down his footsteps.
Even so, I only had less than two hours before my time was up. I must kill Arthas during this time!
……
Swhoos.h.!.+
I used Earth Escape and slipped beneath the ground. When I was 40 yards away from Arthas, his stat screen finally revealed itself to me—
Blood Lord Arthas (Dark Gold Rank Boss)
Level: 110
Attack: ???
Defense: ???
HP: 200000
Skill: ???
Introduction: A high-rank n.o.ble of Floating Ice City with royal blood in his veins. He used to be the captain of the Night Watchers, and he lived as a soldier for most of his life. After he sank into decadence and depravity, his skill and bravery are all but gone.
……
I gritted my teeth in anger when I saw Arthas" HP. This motherf.u.c.ker has 200k HP?? This meant that my initial plan to draw Thunder Axe and Dren away and kill Arthas before they returned was impossible!
I guess I have no other choice. I"m going to have to kill every last one of these soldiers and generals to get to Arthas!
Well, a.s.suming I succeeded, this wasn"t a bad thing. The NPCs" names were dyed in red, meaning that they were cla.s.sified as “monsters” to my faction. Hence, they were worth a lot of experience.
It would be a fool"s errand to engage them by force, however. My target was surrounded by 3 Dark Gold Rank bosses and an entire battalion of powerful lackeys. I would die like a dog if I attacked them recklessly!
I spent a couple of seconds plotting before coming to a decision. First, my pet would lure away the elite troops at the front while I take out the 500 Level 100 elite mobs at the back. I was a Level 98 player with ridiculously powerful equipment, so it shouldn"t be a problem for me to slaughter them all!
My mind made up, I followed behind Arthas"s troops like a shadow and waited. The moment they left Fort Iron Bull completely, I immediately took control of the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf!
Swhoos.h.!.+
My giant pet leaped out of the forest and bit the head of an elite knight in the blink of an eye. The attack had to hurt like a b.i.t.c.h even if he somehow survived that!
A ripple of chaos affected the soldiers for a moment. Thunder Axe brandished his weapon and shouted, “Beast attack! Don"t allow it to get close to the lord! Knights, follow me!”
The Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf immediately darted back into the forest after the successful attack. Its high Agility growth gave it incredible speed, and it could"ve shaken off the pursuit easily if it wanted to. That was why it had to look back constantly and make sure that Thunder Axe and the elite knights were still chasing after it. The good news was that Thunder Axe was a brute who didn"t understand strategy, so before he knew it he had led a good half of the troops away from the lord he was supposed to be protecting!
Even Dren the Law Controller had urged his horse to chase after the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf, leaving behind only a couple of elite knights to protect Lord Arthas. Their entire formation was disrupted, and the swordsmen were left behind as a result.
There"s my chance!
I leaped out of cover and rushed toward the guards. The very first skill I used was Thousand Mirage Slas.h.!.+
Boom!
The earth quaked as nine blazing sword auras elicited terrible screams from the guards, dealing between 4000 and 7000 damage and bringing them to low health. Instead of retreating, I charged right into the middle of the troops and followed up with a thunderous strike—War Crus.h.!.+
Bang bang bang!
Thunder rumbled across the earth floor three times in a row, killing the wounded guards immediately and transforming them into streams of experience. My experience bar immediately started filling up quickly. As expected, humanoid monsters always yielded good experience, and from the looks of it, the item drop rate wasn"t half bad either!
I continued slas.h.i.+ng left and right and cutting down people like weeds. These Level 100 elite mobs only had an Attack of 1100 or so, so they couldn"t deal any real damage to me at all. Regeneration of the Undead and potions were all it took to keep my HP above 80%, not to mention that I had over 7000 HP right now. It was practically impossible for these small fries to end my life!
For a time, the place was illuminated by moonlit swords and flas.h.i.+ng skills. It was a ma.s.sacre. Killing 500 Level 100 elite NPCs turned out to be easier than I thought, especially since Purgatory Slash triggered three times during the battle. By the time I took out the last couple of guards, I discovered that only 15 minutes had pa.s.sed. Now this is what I call efficiency!
I spent a short while sweeping the battlefield, picking up seven or eight excellent items in the process. But I left no equipment behind regardless of their quality because I was a believer of the saying “a penny saved is a penny earned”. Even if no player wanted these stuff, I could still unload them at the NPC stores and earn 8 or 10 RMB per piece. Each item was worth at least a fresh pack of rice with vegetables and meat, you know?
……
Lord Arthas and his escorts had put quite a bit of distance between me and themselves by this point, so I had to run like a madman to catch up with them. Thankfully, they weren"t too far away, and the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf was constantly roaming the forest and seeking opportunities to attack them. Moreover, the NPCs were forced to slow down after entering the forest area, but my pet was faster than ever before. It could easily disengage any unfavorable pursuit if it wanted to.
I checked the enemy troops again and noted that only the three Dark Gold Rank bosses and 100 elite knights were left. The Level 105 elite knights were the greater threat here because although they couldn"t outrun the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf, they absolutely could outrun me. Therefore, it would be a good idea to take them and Thunder Axe out of the equation first!
A howl later, the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf repeated its previous taunt and successfully lured Thunder Axe and a bunch of elite knights away from the group. However, Dren the Law Controller seemed to have caught on to our tactic and stayed close to Arthas, refusing to take our bait.