The night was deep, and all was silent.
On the towering walls of Fort Jacqueline, a faint, almost imperceptible scraping sound arose. On the dusty stone platform, half a footprint suddenly appeared for no apparent reason.
Yet outside the wall, there was nothing at all—no human figure could be seen.
Extremely faint sounds traveled upward along the main fortress, level by level. Footprints kept appearing on various windowsills, as if something were searching for something.
After an unknown length of time, the footprints stopped at a certain windowsill. The curtain hung half open, and under the combined illumination of moonlight and lamplight, the messy room inside could be seen—clothes and miscellaneous items were thrown everywhere.
On the bed not far away, two figures slept embracing each other, covered by a thin silk quilt. One could vaguely make out the outlines of their bodies.
The two of them were probably not wearing clothes—at the very least… they were not wearing armor.
A faint scraping sound rang out, then abruptly stopped. Seeing that the two people inside the room showed no awareness at all, the faint footprints began to move along the clean windowsill.
The window opened soundlessly. A gentle night breeze flowed in, lifting the curtain and stirring a faint rustling sound.
Immediately afterward, clear footprints appeared on the soft carpet, silent as they avoided the scattered items, step by step approaching the bedside.
There, a spell orb radiating four-colored rainbow light floated beside the bed, particularly eye-catching.
Moonlight fell like a thin veil. The room looked no different from before.
Ding—
In his hazy state, Anser sensed the dice beginning to spin rapidly. His heart jolted—this was the prelude to a check being triggered.
He immediately activated the True Sight Ring hanging around his neck and suddenly opened his eyes. A pale, delicate face came into view, strands of hair resting against the neck, breathing steady, still asleep.
His gaze shifted.
A blurred figure was bent over beside the bed, already assuming an attacking posture.
He had clearly seen Anser open his eyes as well. Suddenly swinging his arm, a flash of cold light fell upon the back of Anser's neck in an instant.
It was too fast. Anser did not even have time to speak. Instinctively, he activated Shield, and before the blade touched his resilient scales, he triggered Shield of Faith.
But with a turn, the blade stabbed toward the completely defenseless Iris.
That, however, also gave Anser time to react. He raised his arm to shield Iris.
Clang—
Shield shattered in response. A section of the light blade struck the dragon scales and, after sliding away, burst out in a trail of sparks and elemental radiance.
[You are attacked by a Shadow Thieves Master. The psychic blade is deflected by resilient scales imbued with Genie's Splendor...]
His Armor Class was already 22 points to begin with. With Shield and Shield of Faith enhancing it, it was pushed close to thirty, and it was not so easy to break through.
Anser did not take the chance to flee, because he knew very well the reaction speed of a high-level rogue. In the time it took to roll off the bed while holding Iris, he might take two more strikes. He could endure them; Iris could not.
Surging magic power roared out within his body. His eyes widened, and spiritual light flashed forth.
Metamagic: Quickened Spell, Heighten Spell, Subtle Spell + Banishment!
An invisible wave instantly enveloped the now-revealed assassin. After an extremely brief moment of stiffness, the black-clothed assassin vanished.
[You cast Banishment on the Shadow Thieves Master. The Shadow Thieves Master failed the saving throw and has been banished to another plane.]
"Banishment?" Iris was already awake. Seeing the vanished figure, her face was full of shock.
Holding Iris, Anser rolled to the bedside. He grabbed her chest once, then picked up the shield by the bed. "Go, quickly. I'll deal with him."
Iris had no time to pay attention to him. With a beckoning motion, the flying carpet skimmed over along the floor. She pulled the quilt around herself, sat on the flying carpet, snatched up her wand, and flew out through the window.
"Lead him outside," her voice said urgently.
As soon as she finished speaking, a Fire Bolt struck the bronze bell in the watchtower, and its long, drawn-out ringing resounded throughout Fort Jacqueline.
A moment later, the castle alarm bells rang out loudly.
Inside the room, Anser pulled a cloak over his shoulders. Then streaks of spell light descended one after another—Fly, Fire Shield, Divine Favor…
Afterward, he took out the Dragon Gold Slashing Swords from the Avaricious Dragonhide Pouch, shield in his left hand and sword in his right, crouching several meters away as he waited quietly.
Banishment was rather special. After being hit, the target would be banished to another plane and enter an incapacitated state during that time. When the spell ended, aside from special creatures such as aberrations and fiends, other targets would reappear at the position where they had been before the banishment.
Therefore, Anser only needed to wait for the prey.
'Damn dog thing, actually trying assassination.' His gaze grew cold as he decided to let the other party taste his petrifying light.
However, he had also prepared to retreat. If a Shadow Thieves Master could evade the magical detection and alarms of Fort Jacqueline, he certainly had some tricks. If petrification failed, Anser could only widen the distance.
Fighting a high-level rogue in close combat was not wise.
He did not end Banishment voluntarily. Dozens of seconds later, the spell effect ended. A flash of light appeared by the bedside, and a figure fell out of thin air.
The Medusa relief on Euryale's Aegis quietly opened its eyes. Amber-like pupils shot out a bright beam of petrifying light.
"Hey, look here—"
The Shadow Thieves member, who had just regained the ability to move, decisively turned his head and closed his eyes, neither listening nor looking. Yet before his feet had even touched the ground, the petrifying light had already fallen upon him and penetrated his body.
Petrification magic did not require eye contact.
The Shadow Thieves member's body stiffened. At once he felt he had been tricked. If he had truly turned his head to look, he might have relied on his rich combat experience to recognize the petrifying light and prepare in advance, even if only mentally.
[You cast petrification magic on the Shadow Thieves Master. The Shadow Thieves Master failed the saving throw.]
With a thud, the Shadow Thieves member collapsed onto the ground. His limbs were rigid, and even standing up was difficult.
But he did not sit there waiting for death. A section of translucent, gleaming blade shot out at high speed, passing through the window and disappearing into the night sky.
The next moment, his body vanished into thin air and appeared in midair outside the window.
'Soul Blade!'
This was the Soulknife rogue subclass's Psychic Teleportation. It could be activated with a thought, and restraints could not affect their actions.
A flash of silver mist passed, and Anser teleported outside.
Psychic Teleportation consumed a great deal of psionic power, and the distance was not far. It was mainly used for sudden attacks; trying to rely on this to escape was basically impossible.
However, with teleportation combined with invisibility, if one did not watch closely, it was indeed possible for him to escape.
The Shadow Thieves member fell straight toward the ground, apparently intending to flee from the ground.
Whoosh—
Tiny meteors fell from the sky, smashing down as they pursued the Shadow Thieves member's figure.
The Shadow Thieves member's body was stiff and he could not dodge. He would rather curl up and endure the impact than waste Psychic Teleportation.
With a boom, his body was knocked flying and accelerated toward the ground.
Anser stood suspended in the air. Magic power surged again as he cast another spell.
"વ્યક્તિગત"
Innate Spellcasting + Metamagic: Heighten Spell + Hold Person!
The spell was cast instantly and struck immediately. The Shadow Thieves member failed the Wisdom saving throw, lost control of his body, and went limp in midair.
'That move again!'
Terror surged in his heart. Failing one saving throw could be blamed on bad luck, but failing again and again was hard to understand. He was only an elite Sorcerer, yet was it really necessary to be this outrageous?
This time, he could not move at all.
Worst of all, the petrification magic inside his body erupted again. Caught off guard, he failed the saving throw once more!
In the corner of his eye, gray-black stone patterns rapidly spread along his skin. He felt his body grow heavy, his five senses disappearing one by one. Soon everything went dark before his eyes, and he could see nothing.
Seeing this scene, Iris immediately stopped attacking. She did not want to damage her own castle.
With a heavy thud, the completely petrified Shadow Thieves member slammed onto the stone floor. His hard, brittle body could not withstand the impact. Half an arm separated from his body and flew far away.
The knights and guards of Fort Jacqueline gathered around, looking at each other, unsure how to handle it.
"Is this petrification?" With the wind whistling around her, Iris, wrapped in the silk quilt, flew to Anser's side.
"Yes. Petrified for twenty-four hours." Anser waved his hand. "Go get dressed."
After saying that, he quickly descended and approached the Shadow Thieves member with his shield raised.
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