Chapter 160: Pulling the Wool Over Everyone's Eyes

Outside the Forgotten Castle

Falcon and I braved the relentless attacks of Skeleton Mages and large swarms of undead creatures, pushing forward at maximum speed toward the gates of the Forgotten Castle!

Both of us knew very well that the time we originally had in abundance had dwindled to almost nothing due to our encounter with the members of the Dark Legion. If we failed to enter the Forgotten Castle within the shortest possible time to investigate whether the rumored disappearing Lost Chamber would truly materialize at night, we would both be forced back to Frostrime City by the searching parties of the Dark Legion trailing right behind us.

Therefore, to maximize our time, we refused to stop unless absolutely necessary. We pressed forward nonstop, dodging the chaotic, intertwining streams of green phosphorus fire that shot through the air like tangled threads, weaving through the gaps between the undead creatures.

Since our magical defense was already high enough to withstand the Skeleton Mages' attacks, as long as we were careful not to let the undead strike our unprotected body parts, we would practically take no damage.

However...

The further inward we pushed, the denser the undead creatures became.

Often, a group of Skeleton Mages would target us simultaneously, instantly summoning a horde of skeleton soldiers. Like a dense military formation, they blocked our path so thoroughly that we had to make massive detours—fighting such a massive number of summoned beasts was simply a waste of life.

After taking numerous twists and turns, with nearly half of my MP depleted, the looming dark silhouette of the Forgotten Castle finally began to take shape in the darkness before our eyes...

Judging by my estimation, however, there was still a distance of at least fifty meters between us and the castle.

Fifty meters—a distance that normally took only three to four seconds to cover with the Sprint skill activated. Yet these damn undead mages, who had stayed quite far from the castle during the day, gathered at night like participants in a massive slave convention, crowding together so tightly they practically stacked on top of one another.

The green phosphorus fire shooting from the heads of countless undead mages wove into a veritable wall of ghostly flames right before our eyes. Although it couldn't pierce our defenses, it still kept Falcon and me in a state of continuous cold sweat.

This overwhelming, all-encompassing offensive was simply terrifying!

No wonder that damned noble old man had said the adventurers hired by the Forgotten either died or failed. In such a perverted place, if your equipment's magical defense was even slightly low, you would be instantly killed—once your defense was broken, just 1 point of magic attack translated into 4 points of damage, and right now we were facing far more than a dozen or twenty streams of phosphorus fire.

Yet this very situation at the Forgotten Castle further confirmed my inner suspicions!

That's right!

With Skeleton Mages gathering in droves at the Forgotten Castle, there had to be a hidden secret within the castle at night!!

Discovering a secret was one thing, but whether we had the ability to uncover it was clearly tied directly to our own capabilities...

***

Looking ahead, the undead creatures surrounded us so tightly there was practically no gap left, making it completely impossible to continue pushing through.

Moreover, within just a few short minutes, the fiery glow in the direction of the Maple Leaf Forest suddenly flared intensely! Immediately afterward, I noticed dozens of balls of fire rapidly scattering, like a giant net of flames spreading out swiftly. Expanding wider and wider, they began to encircle the direction of the Forgotten Castle.

"Damn it, our situation here has been spotted!" Seeing this, I decisively signaled Falcon to stop: "Forget it, we're out of time. Prepare to flash!"

With that, taking advantage of the moment before the undead creatures in the rear could close the encirclement, I whirled around and bolted.

"Tch! We've already come this far, how..."

Falcon was initially somewhat puzzled, but when he looked back and saw nearly a hundred magical torches from the direction of the Maple Leaf Forest rapidly swaying as they charged toward us, he immediately panicked:

"What the hell! Do these little bastards from the Dark Legion really need to make such a massive fuss over just you alone? Looks like they called out the entire guild... Are they planning to wash the Forgotten Castle in blood?"

Muttering in exasperation, Falcon hurriedly activated Sprint, following closely behind me as we broke away from the pursuing undead creatures.

Fortunately, the movement speed of undead creatures was generally slow. Within ten seconds, we successfully shook off the Skeleton Mages trailing behind us...

However, the members of the Dark Legion were already rapidly tracking the light of the phosphorus fire, closing in on us. Nearly a hundred balls of fire were converging on our position like flying meteors! The distance was shrinking fast!

Seeing this, Falcon and I both let out a sigh. At that moment, Falcon suggested:

"There are too many of them... Let's use a Town Portal Scroll and head back! We've already secured a few pieces of equipment today, so we're in the positive. Let the Dark Legion keep searching if they want; if we wait any longer, we might not be able to leave at all."

Having the exact same thought as Falcon, I suddenly paused: Town Portal... wait...

"I've got a way!" An idea flashed through my mind, and a bold plan immediately took shape. Without another word, I urged Falcon to use his Town Portal Scroll.

Falcon's eyes lit up as well, as he began to grasp what I was thinking. Nodding, he pulled out his Town Portal Scroll and opened it!

The very instant the hexagram magic array appeared, I swiftly scanned my surroundings, keeping well out of the perception range of the Skeleton Mages, and dashed off into the distance.

***

In the dead of night, the blindingly bright white light of the hexagram magic array was utterly conspicuous. They clearly saw a figure enveloped in the white light, which then rapidly vanished.

The group of Dark Legion members instantly halted in their tracks and began cursing in unison:

"Damn it! Cowards!"

"Crap! And here I thought he was some kind of hotshot! Seeing our numbers, he still had to run away like a coward! Noob!"

"Cut the crap, look at how pissed Leopard Man and his crew are..."

"What's there to be pissed about? Fifty-odd people couldn't even take down a level 30 noob. Just thinking about it makes me feel pathetic. When has our Dark Legion ever lost face like this?"

"Exactly! Last time he dragged us right into a pile of magical beasts, and they even claimed a level 30 bow warrior had over 160 agility. Who knows if that's even true... Yet the big bosses actually take him seriously, I honestly don't know what they're thinking. If it were me, I'd die of shame. Damn it!"

"Alright! Shut up, all of you!!"

***

After a somewhat authoritative voice rang out, the chatter finally came to an end. However, the expressions in their eyes remained filled with the same disdain as before; clearly, a single remark from the Dark Monarch hadn't changed their opinion of Leopard Man.

At that moment, Leopard Man and the rest of the crew who had first discovered Scavenging Qilin stood there with red faces and swollen necks. Had the Dark Monarch not been present, a full-blown internal conflict might have broken out.

Seeing this scene, the Dark Monarch also looked somewhat troubled. He hadn't expected Scavenging Qilin to dare leave Frostrime City at a time like this, nor that he would become so arrogant upon just being promoted to a Tier 3 Iron-Blood Magic Archer that he completely ignored the existence of the Dark Legion.

Even more unexpected was that Leopard Man's group of over fifty people had failed to handle Scavenging Qilin and had even lost a dozen brothers at his hands... which in turn triggered so many guild members to return to the city and a thousand people to flood into the Maple Leaf Forest.

That was what ultimately scared Scavenging Qilin away.

Now that so many unbelievable things had happened, to be honest, even if he wanted to put in a good word for Leopard Man, he wouldn't even know where to begin.

At that moment, 'Star Lord' beside him suddenly sighed:

"What a pity..."

The Dark Monarch nodded, understanding the meaning behind his words.

It truly was a pity. If Dark Glow had managed to complete his mission and arrive a step earlier, perhaps he could have snuck past unnoticed and avenged tonight's humiliation.

Yet they hadn't anticipated that so many people would impulsively use Town Portal Scrolls, rushing all the way to the Maple Leaf Forest to make such a huge spectacle and frightening Scavenging Qilin off.

However...

The Dark Monarch had already made arrangements and swiftly issued an order to the guild:

"Tell the brothers outside the group to keep watch—ambush Scavenging Qilin the moment he steps out of the city! If they go red-name, just tell them to hide out in the Black Wind Forest... Are the men in the Black Wind Forest all in position? Excellent!" From Leopard Man's encounter, he had learned a lesson: trying to deal with Scavenging Qilin head-on using a bounty wanted poster would only result in a loss for his own side. Initiating malicious attacks, though carrying the risk of dropping gear upon turning red-name, was far more direct and much more likely to catch the opponent off guard.

Yet, he had no idea that while he was leading over a thousand Dark Legion members away from the Forgotten Castle and deploying hundreds of men to set up ambushes on all four sides outside Frostrime City, Scavenging Qilin had already quietly bypassed them and circled back to the rear of the Forgotten Castle...

***

Just as I had anticipated, it never crossed their minds that 'the person using the Town Portal Scroll might not be Scavenging Qilin.' Thus, no matter how hard they racked their brains, they would never find me.

As for Falcon, after returning to the city, he immediately stepped back out, taking a route that avoided any potential encounters with the Dark Legion, and swiftly returned to the Forgotten Castle...

This time, Falcon and I got smart, pulling monsters in rotation—one aggroed while the other took over. Like a rolling snowball, we gradually lured batches of the massive herds of 'Skeleton Mages' gathered at the rear away from the vicinity of the Forgotten Castle, slowly advancing toward the castle's 'moat'...

However, just as I lured the final batch of Skeleton Mages and reached the moat... a sudden change occurred!

A skeleton completely different from the ordinary skeleton soldiers suddenly burst forth from the towering piles of bones lining the moat...

Its entire body was pitch-black as ink, clad in heavy metal armor. Eyes flickering with a gloomy green light fixed upon me for a moment, before it swiftly bent down, groping among the chaotic piles of bones at its feet, and snatched up a massive black bone greatbow like a magician performing a trick! It rapidly drew it back toward me...

Dark magical elements rapidly condensed and took shape at the tip of its arrow!