Jonathan had spent more than a day hiding in a towering ancient tree.
Before long, he saw a dozen or so people, all clad in armor, emerge from the woods on the other side.
A small lake lay between them.
Blazing Rhinos often came here to drink or rest.
At that moment, about twenty Blazing Rhinos, large and small, were by the lakeshore, some resting, others playing.
The large ones were adults, fifteen or sixteen of them, all at level five or six. The smaller ones were still young, around level three or four.
Jonathan was about half a mile from the Iron Armor Mercenary Group. His eyes had been specially trained and were exceptionally sharp. At a glance, he spotted their leader: a burly man in bright crimson armor, with fiery red hair and a thick beard.
But his eyes were bright and alert. He was clearly more shrewd than his appearance suggested.
"He must be Ge Lieyang, the mercenary group's leader."
Based on the portrait Xue Yan had shown him and the blood-red great axe, Jonathan identified him.
"Big brother, we've found the Blazing Rhinos. Should we go over now?"
A thin, middle-aged man in brown armor beside him smiled. "There aren't many of them. With just the dozen or so of us, we've got a good chance of wiping them out, even if we fight them head-on."
Ge Lieyang pondered for a moment. "We could certainly wipe them out, but I'm worried we'll take casualties if we charge in."
Someone in the group chuckled. "Leader, if we were facing dozens of Blazing Rhinos, then of course we'd need to proceed cautiously. But there are only this many, and we're not afraid of getting hurt. We've already gathered the herbs. Once we deal with them, we can head back."
"We can just take some time to recover."
"Exactly, Leader. Let's do it."
Those who spoke were all on the thin man's side. They were trying to persuade Ge Lieyang to go all in. He believed that, given the Saber Organization's reputation, its assassins must already be lying in ambush nearby.
All they needed was a chance to create chaos.
Thinking they had a point, a few people who weren't on the thin man's side spoke up as well.
"If everyone thinks it'll be fine, then I'll lead the charge. Once I make my move, all of you can rush in."
"Understood, Leader."
The group charged straight at the Blazing Rhinos. The beasts spotted the humans and immediately went on alert. A dozen or so adult Blazing Rhinos moved in front of the young ones and launched the first attack.
They opened their enormous mouths, and bright crimson light gathered inside. With a roar, they spat out fireballs about the size of washbasins.
Ge Lieyang swung his blood-red great axe and spun around. The axe blazed with crimson light, which finally took the shape of a gigantic Fire Lion. It roared and charged into the dozen or so fireballs.
BOOM!
A series of violent explosions rang out, and smoke billowed in every direction.
"Charge!"
The Iron Armor Mercenary Group immediately surged forward. Every member was a skilled fighter, with strength at level five or six.
But the Blazing Rhinos were no pushovers either. Except for Ge Lieyang, the two sides were evenly matched. The group could easily be wiped out.
With a furious roar, a crescent of crimson light flashed through the air, and a Blazing Rhino's enormous head went flying.
"Glory to the leader!"
The Iron Armor Mercenary Group's spirits soared, and their fighting fervor grew stronger.
The thin man kept scanning the area, wondering if anyone from the Saber Organization would show up.
"What are the people from the Saber Organization doing? I've already created an opening. Why haven't they shown up? At this rate, the Blazing Rhinos will be nearly wiped out before they get here."
Just then, a mass of thick black fog drifted in.
Ge Lieyang's expression changed. "Everyone, be careful! There's someone else here. It might be a mage!"
The fog instantly shrouded an area hundreds of meters across, gathering without dissipating.
Jonathan was hidden in the black fog, not far from them.
He stamped his foot and raised a hand. A Magic Array appeared on the ground around Ge Lieyang.
"Gravity Spell! An Earth Magic mage!"
He called out another warning. "There's more than one enemy! Besides the Dark Magic mage, there's an Earth Magic mage too!"
Jonathan smirked. He had cast two spells in quick succession: an ordinary Gravity Spell, and an Anti-Gravity Spell he had modified. The Anti-Gravity Spell, however, was affecting him.
He had originally wanted to develop a spell that could freely change the direction of gravity, but with his current level of insight, it seemed beyond him.
Changing it along the vertical axis was much simpler. Thanks to his own insight, he had managed to modify the spell over the course of several years.
However, his modified Anti-Gravity Spell had a flaw: it calculated gravity based on the weight of a human. As a result, only creatures much lighter than humans could float.
Everyone caught in the Gravity Spell's Magic Array was pulled downward by a vertical force. Every movement felt as though they were wading through a swamp, and their weapons swung far more slowly than before.
Jonathan then made his move.
He darted forward without making a sound. In the blink of an eye, he appeared behind Ge Lieyang, dagger in hand.
"Leader, watch your back!"
Someone happened to see him and shouted a warning. That person was promptly impaled by an adult Blazing Rhino.
Ge Lieyang swung backward. Jonathan retreated, tapped the ground with his toe, and vanished on the spot. When Ge Lieyang turned around, Jonathan was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he spotted a group member lying dead nearby.
He flew into a rage, and crimson battle aura burst from his body, igniting into Blood Flame.
Jonathan could feel his aura rising rapidly. In no time, it went from the late seventh level to the peak of the seventh level.
"Who's there? Show yourself!"
Jonathan took a closer look. The Blood Flame seemed dangerous to touch, so he casually conjured a dense swarm of Poison Blades and sent them raining toward Ge Lieyang.
At the same time, he split his focus and cast Earth Spike Spell with a stomp. The ground churned as spike after spike thrust upward.
Meanwhile, he suppressed his own aura to the utmost and crept toward Ge Lieyang again.
As long as a mage didn't get close to a warrior, magic gave them a huge advantage in a fight.
Faced with Dark Magic and Earth Magic on this scale, even after reaching the peak of the seventh level, Ge Lieyang was thrown into disarray. Wounds appeared all over his body.
Green fumes rose from the places struck by the Poison Blades. They were clearly poisonous, but he had no time to treat the wounds.
The Blood Flame around him quickly dwindled.
Just then, a streak of black light flashed in front of him. His eyes widened, and he clutched his throat. With disbelief written across his face, he slowly fell to the ground.
He had thought there were only two mages. It never occurred to him that a third enemy was there, an assassin skilled at concealing his aura and striking from the shadows.
One moment of carelessness had cost him his life.
With the mission complete, Jonathan passed the thin man and used the Voice Transmission Technique to say, "Pay the rest of the fee as soon as possible. Otherwise—"
The thin man's expression changed. When he turned around, he couldn't find a trace of Jonathan.
Soon after, the black fog gradually dissipated.
Seven or eight Blazing Rhinos had escaped; all the others were dead. Only five or six members of the Iron Armor Mercenary Group remained. The rest were wounded, and their losses had been disastrous.
"Leader!"
Amid cries of grief, Jonathan was already long gone.
He had no interest in watching the brothers put on a show of loving one another.
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