My thighs burned as I sat crouched just behind a thick bush. While the month spent grinding through hell had done wonders for my natural fitness, I wasn’t superhuman. Some days I felt barely human at all.
I blinked away my roving thoughts to glare at the tower ahead of me. It was similar in design and construction to the one we had fought through nearer the center of this area. Probably—if my vague recollection of the lore was correct—it was an outpost for the Crown, or whatever the king and queen’s royal guard called themselves. A stone wall surrounded a courtyard area, a wide-open gate sporting three figures dressed in plate and holding spears.
The red accents to their armor and sloppy crimson hand print on their breastplates gave me little pause over whose side they were on. From where I was positioned, I could see maybe a dozen of these guards positioned or patrolling around the inside of this compound. The tower itself was three stories high, and although the thin windows were darkened and offered no hint of who might be inhabiting the structure, the two guards with crossbows up in the battlements signaled that there were likely to be more inside.
Something of a hindrance for someone who could no longer cast spells or use any magic—demonic in nature or not. No shielding, feign death, teleportation, invisibility, demons, or a cannon to assist me. A smarter and more put-together Max might call this a wash, and head back home. Perhaps suggest that Ren should have been the one to carry out this assassination after all.
Unfortunately, that Max wasn’t home right now.
All I saw were audience members that needed dazzling.
I had spent ten minutes observing the tower, and little had changed. No odd noises or lights. Other than the set patrols that repeated every one minute and thirteen seconds, there was no other movement here. The System-created guards were level fourteen, which wouldn’t be an issue for me normally… but without the use of most of my repertoire—and the sheer number of opponents—I was in for quite the show.
In saying that, I doubted I would be able to bring out my Domain either. How droll. My eyes left the tower, my sluggish mind content enough I knew what lay before me. I spent a few minutes rearranging my Inventory for the new acts I needed to pull off. Despite Percius disenchanting a lot of gear, I had still kept a few decent weapons that had worthwhile effects.
Not to mention all the potions and consumables were fair game, even if the scrolls wouldn’t work. With how quickly I could cycle through my menus and manipulate items, perhaps this would even be a fair fight for a change.
I ran my tongue across my teeth and considered my entrance.
Most acts on my regular playlist were out of the picture. No easy Dazzles, appearing on the roof, or flashy showmanship. They were likely to attack on sight, which ruled out the charisma approach. I only slightly regretted using up all the [Disguise] potions with Ren. Still, where there was a will…
Much like the first tower, I chose to approach it from backstage. It was the most common way a magician arrived, of course. With the dense tree cover, I approached the back corner of the perimeter wall without those at the top of the tower spotting me. Not that it made the next part of the plan any easier.
From my Inventory I created a ladder made of stacked chairs and small tables. Barely stable, but it only needed to be utilized once. Hopefully, in addition to fixing the curse, I would be able to find whatever—or whoever—was causing this magical interference and put a stop to that. If so, then my escape was guaranteed.
Before committing to stepping out on stage, I decided sending a message over to the others would be a good idea. I was no longer able to teleport to Ren to assist them—plus I needed someone to tell me to break a leg. If only to save my skull from the effort.
[Max: About to assault the tower.]
[Max: There is an anti-magic field, so I'm working around that.]
[Ren: …]
[Tanya: Isn’t that most of what you do?]
[Quinn: What about demons^]
[Ren: He can do a lot more than that, but that doesn’t sound safe.]
[Max: I am fine. More than fine. Finest.]
[Ren: You have Trauma, don’t you, you motherfucker?]
[Max: Oh no, chat is now magical and I can’t-]
I left the message there, sure that even if I survived the tower, then the others would break me in half on my return. Unfair of me, perhaps. If it were Ren in this situation, then I’d be worried sick. I was sure she could read between the lines and knew that I couldn’t return.
With one last dust down, my suit looked in near-pristine condition. Hat fit comfortably on my hair that still needed a cut. I was smiling and wasn’t sure for how long that had been the case. Everything was in order.
I hopped on the first chair, my makeshift heap of furniture groaning and rattling as I stepped between the various layers. Just as the whole thing threatened to collapse, I reached the pinnacle and leaped over the wall. As soon as I landed, I dropped to a crouch, obscured by the shadows of some large crates.
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Without the ability to scout or otherwise glance into the courtyard proper, I instead held my breath and waited to see if any of the guards had spotted me. To my benefit it seemed as though System-created were even more blind to Players that were much higher level than them. I had first noticed when the Guild was leveling yesterday, when Wolf had to be almost upon the Monsters before they cared to attack him.
That didn’t mean I could get away with murder, especially when the guards here were already set to look out for intruders such as myself. With one of said guards just around the other side of these crates, I had expected to at least alert one of them. Yet, silence followed my entrance—something usually soul-shattering for a prominent magician such as myself—aside from the sound of the patrols going at their regular pace.
I was pretty sure that at some point I had acknowledged that I was not built for stealth missions. It was almost an opposite of how I preferred to do things. I wanted to be seen. I wanted to impress. I wanted to eat the other half of that sandwich.
My hunger could only be quelled by the bedazzlement of my foes. A tale as old as time.
From my Inventory, I pulled out a gold coin, shifting myself slightly to fling it over against the back wall behind me. There was a sharp clink of the metal hitting the stone wall, before the flat circle bounced across the short grass.
As if acting to the script I had written out, I heard the guard nearby grunt and shuffle in his armor. Into my right hand, I withdrew a slim blade, whereas my left held a thick cloth. I listened intently as the guard walked around the crate, his metal armor scraping slightly against the brickwork as he moved through the gap toward the sound.
Through the shadows of the nearby canopy and crates here, he stepped out from the gap, his eyes looking at the back wall where the coin had struck. Before he had the chance to look to his right where I had been hiding, I was there upon him.
Slim blade cut through the small space between his armor, just above his clavicle and into his neck, as my left hand wrapped around him and covered his mouth with the cloth. His muffled surprise was drowned out with his own blood as I pulled him to the floor. Not quite silent, but it didn’t take him long to be out of the picture.
I went to loot him, pulling out some low tier magical gloves, as well as two bottles of water and a handful of gold coins. Pretty much as expected, although that gave me something else to consider.
Most of my equipment was magical in nature—providing stats and other such benefits—did the aura affecting this area also prevent those from being used?
A quick check of my Stats screen showed that I was still receiving the benefit of everything I was wearing, so thankfully, whatever spell had been cast here did not mess with gear. Silver linings.
It was unlikely that I’d be able to repeat the same process with the rest of the guards here. Other than one of the patrols, nobody else really came close enough to get distracted by something so simple. Not only that, but as soon as I ran out of space for corpses, it would only take one of them getting spotted for the alarm to be raised.
Even exhausted and slightly insane, I still had an ego about me. This was still an easily winnable situation. As much as the sensible part of me still clinging on to the edges of whatever wits I had left knew that getting inside the tower would be difficult once I had been found out, I still felt there was a way as long as I was still breathing.
I held my breath and drew out a crossbow into each hand. There were three more loaded ones in my Inventory, and the majority of the guards didn’t looked to have ranged capabilities. My favorite kind. Aside from the ones on the roof and perhaps a few others. Without my usual defensive skills, I’d need to be careful about taking too much damage.
Exhaling, I stepped into the gap where the guard come from. Sunlight illuminated the courtyard ahead, the silver and red System-created standing around a stark contrast to the dull grass and shadows provided by the tower.
My hand went up, and I fired the first bolt. The guard ahead of me reacted by instinct, twisting to the side to dodge the attack. Unfortunately, the skill I had stolen earlier from the dog-like troupe wasn’t a spell. The dodged bolt bloomed with critical energy as it struck my actual target slightly downrange from the closer one, the extra power enough to drive the sharp projectile through their helmet.
Second crossbow had already been fired as soon as the man had spun to the side, this bolt striking him in the inner elbow where it was less protected. Clutching at the wound, he dropped his spear as his arm became limp.
Enter stage right. Before he had the chance to recover and yell out, I was upon him, my [Dagger of the Trickster] finding an eye socket with ease. Of course, this amount of open violence caught the attention of the rest of the crowd. Three bows were drawn on me as the rest of the outside guard turned and started to make a beeline toward my position.
I ran my tongue across my teeth, a wide grin cracking through with electric mania.
This was what I lived for. What I killed for. That, and sandwiches.
With a quick flourish, I swooped a cape around me, obscuring me from my detractors. Their arrows found a place within the thick velvet which a series of hard thunks. I spun away from the wooden door I had withdrawn to protect myself, almost stumbling straight into the first guard with his spear held at the ready.
I rolled backwards across the soft soil, the sharp end of the guard’s weapon piercing the air above me. As he approached for the follow-up, he paused and yelped in pain as a bear trap snapped shut on his leg, denting the metal graves into his skin.
Wolf had been pretty annoyed at me for looting the trap considering its name, but I had then snuck it away when he wasn’t looking. System-created Crimson Shadow Corrupted Guard Trap didn’t have the same ring to it. Just as effective, however.
The guard crouched to grab at the trap, and I swung around with a sledgehammer, striking him in the top of the helmet with a dull clang. As he clattered to the floor, I brought out a shield into my left hand, swapping the heavy hammer for a flail in my right.
Dazzle icons were few, but for once in my life, I didn’t care.
As the next arrows were drawn at the ready, and another ten guards consolidated on my position, I held back a wild laugh.
The fans were eager for my autograph, and I was desperate to oblige.