Chapter 279: The First Wave of Assassins
Outside the Imperial Capital, just as Legate had said, the army was already prepared. A black mass of soldiers moved out in an orderly fashion like a flood of steel.
This was the Southern Unified Empire's elite vanguard legion. Among them was the Court Mage Corps, distributed at key nodes within the formation. Their clothing differed from ordinary soldiers, resembling specially crafted robes from which mana could be sensed.
Rhodes and Serie were arranged in the middle of the legion.
The Empire provided them with a spacious and luxurious carriage. Under the guise of treating esteemed guests well, it was more like a disguised form of surveillance and isolation.
Around the carriage, personal guards—clearly more elite than the other soldiers—rode alongside, cutting off any possibility of contact with ordinary troops.
Serie sat by the window, her golden eyes sweeping coldly over the marching army outside. Her lips curled slightly. "The formation looks nice, but the marching speed is sluggish. At this rate, by the time they reach the North to support, everything will be too late."
Rhodes sat with his eyes closed, resting, but his detection magic had quietly spread out, encompassing the entire vanguard legion.
"They are deliberately controlling the speed. Moreover, the supply wagons aren't fully loaded with provisions."
"Doing a play but unwilling to commit to the full set?" Serie chuckled.
"Perhaps they never intended to go the full distance." Rhodes opened his eyes. "Legate's target was never the demons in the North."
His magic focused on the mages within the army. There were quite a few of them, and judging solely by their mana capacity, none were weak.
Furthermore, hidden within this army were many special mages.
They deliberately suppressed their aura, mixing in with ordinary soldiers while maintaining concealment spells at all times. They were likely trying to avoid detection by him and Serie.
Unfortunately, trying to use concealment magic in front of Rhodes was a bit naïve.
"It seems our escort lineup is quite luxurious," Rhodes teased.
Serie had naturally sensed it too. She revealed an eager expression. "Good. Saves me from boredom. I just hope they are a bit stronger."
The army marched by day and camped by night.
For several days, all was calm.
The Imperial officers were polite enough on the surface, but beneath that formal respect lay obvious alienation and wariness.
When camping at night, Rhodes and Serie's tent was deliberately placed at the very edge of the camp—clearly to make it easier for someone to make a move.
On a night devoid of moonlight or starlight, the mages hiding within the legion finally couldn't hold back any longer.
Rhodes was sitting inside the tent, while Serie was beside him, casually flipping through several magic books she had "borrowed" from the Empire.
Suddenly—
Rhodes and Serie looked up almost simultaneously, exchanging a glance.
"They are here," Rhodes said flatly.
In his detection magic, several figures were approaching rapidly.
Before his voice faded, all sound from the world outside the tent vanished. An extremely secretive soundproof and isolation barrier silently enveloped the area.
Almost in the same instant, several black shadows attacked the tent from different directions with speeds hard to track with the naked eye!
Their goal was very clear: against a legendary mage like Serie, closing the distance to secure a one-hit kill was the best option.
They had trained specifically for this to achieve the perfect ambush effect.
As long as they killed the Elven Saint first, the human male would be of no concern. Moreover, if they succeeded, there would be no need for the Holy Sword wielder to act.
After all, that person hadn't fully mastered the Holy Sword yet and couldn't unleash its true power.
"I leave them to you."
After carefully sensing the strength of the incoming assassins, Rhodes handed the matter over to Serie without hesitation.
Although these assassins were decent, thinking they could kill him and Serie just like this was a bit too whimsical.
Serie nodded. Facing the incoming assassins, she activated her mana. A soft white-gold light instantly unfolded with her as the center.
Immediately after, a golden barrier perfectly enveloped the entire tent.
The assassins slammed into the sudden barrier and were instantly bounced back. Even their attacks, imbued with anti-magic effects, had no effect whatsoever.
Clearly, the mana shield Serie deployed possessed resistance in that regard. Ordinary anti-magic attacks couldn't hope to break her defense.
The attackers paused for a split second due to their blocked assault, their eyes full of shock.
Their joint surprise attack was blocked so easily?
While they were stunned, Serie made her move.
She didn't even stand up. She simply raised her left hand, and a magic circle unfolded.
Hum!
Countless arrows of light appeared outside the tent. They had no flashy trajectories; they simply shot toward every attacker with precision and speed surpassing any reaction time, sealing off all routes of retreat.
Thwack!!!
The dull sounds of light arrows slicing into flesh rang out in succession, accompanied by several short screams.
The attackers' arms, shoulders, thighs, and other parts were pierced by the light arrows. This was only because they had deployed magical shields immediately; otherwise, they would have been blown to pieces by the power of the spell.
From start to finish, they hadn't even seen the Elven Saint's face before being effortlessly subdued.
Truly worthy of being the strongest mage of the modern era.
The attackers exchanged glances and already had thoughts of retreating.
Facing such a terrifying existence, a head-on confrontation was impossible. They could only look for another opportunity to ambush—but by then, the attackers wouldn't be them.
However, Rhodes wouldn't agree to let them run.
Using simple spatial teleportation magic, he appeared silently behind an attacker attempting to retreat.
Then, picking up a rock he found nearby, he smashed it into the back of the guy's head.
No matter how powerful a mage was, their body was still soft.
Of course, with the exception of certain physical mages.
The attacker didn't even grunt. His eyes rolled back, and he slumped to the ground.
Rhodes deployed spatial magic again. In the next moment, he appeared in another direction, subduing another person just as casually.
The entire process was suffocatingly fast. From the launch of the attack to all attackers being neutralized, only a few seconds had passed!
The Imperial guards not far from the tent seemed to have only just reacted, watching the scene before them in horror.
They hadn't even seen clearly what happened. They only saw the sudden attackers screaming and falling, while the black-haired Mr. Rhodes appeared behind them like a ghost, knocking them down one by one.
Serie dispelled the barrier and walked slowly out of the tent. Moonlight spilled onto her long golden hair and cool face, giving her a hazy beauty that was also chilling.
She looked coldly at the late-arriving Imperial officers, waiting to see how they would explain this.
"Damn it! Assassins! Protect Lady Serie quickly!"
Sure enough, seeing the attack fail, although the Legion Commander's face was ugly, he immediately chose to shift the blame while gathering soldiers to capture the attackers.
"Do not move! Or bear the consequences!" Rhodes stopped them.
He walked up to an attacker who had eaten a brick from him but hadn't fainted yet. Crouching down, he placed a finger on the man's forehead.
Faint spiritual power probed in, attempting to search his memories.
However, the moment his spiritual power touched the core memory area, a violent surge of mana erupted from within the attacker's body, like a bomb set to self-destruct.
"Gaaah!"
The attacker on the ground let out a miserable scream, then bled from all seven orifices. The light in his eyes vanished instantly into dead silence.
Rhodes tentatively probed the brains of the other assassins, but they died instantly in the same manner!
Rhodes withdrew his hand and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "A mental restriction. Once the core memories are touched, it triggers directly. A rare magic."
"What now?" Serie looked at Rhodes.
In her view, these attackers were too weak. If the Emperor thought he could solve her with them, he was somewhat delusional.
What she was considering now was whether to tear up the facade with these officers right here.
"No rush. Let's wait and see."
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