Ambush

Kane Family Estate

After returning from Arsen's place, Li Si headed straight for the Underground Laboratory as soon as he entered.

After locking the door, Li Si needed a quiet space to sort through the important information he had just obtained.

He wrote down all the names, positions, and demands on paper. His right index finger tapped against the wooden table as he silently calculated.

What Arsen had said had indeed helped him understand many things.

It seemed this war was unavoidable. The only questions were when it would break out and what would light the fuse.

Looking at the information Arsen had provided on the paper, Li Si felt a headache coming on. Far too many people were involved.

Duke Ramu of the Eastern Border indeed had enough power to secretly push all this forward, but at most, he could stir up trouble at the border. His strength alone was not enough to manipulate everything in the capital, Can Guang City.

As for the kingdom's Minister of Finance, it was not that Li Si looked down on him. That old man, with neither title nor influence, was merely a mouthpiece for the person behind him.

Then there were the many court nobles. Their demands certainly carried great influence, but Li Si knew that Duke Hardt was the leader of the court nobles.

If Duke Hardt had wanted to arrange this, Arsen would never have told him this information.

What a headache!

Since it was not any of the people Arsen had mentioned, then who could it be?

Someone capable of plotting an assassination during the Sacred Festival in the royal capital, and wealthy and powerful enough to manipulate the prices of major commodities like grain and weapons throughout the kingdom?

Who was it?

Where else could he obtain intelligence?

Li Si shook his head with a headache, feeling as though he had overlooked something.

Then inspiration struck, and Li Si slapped his thigh.

Right, how had he forgotten that person?

Camus from the academy!

He had thought there was something suspicious about that man before. Thinking about it now, Camus should be able to provide information about the identity of the mastermind.

What should he do?

Have Welf kidnap Camus and bring him back?

That would be too outrageous. What if it really alerted the person behind everything, and they got him killed in advance?

Take it slow, take it slow.

He still had time. There were still two months until the Sacred Festival.

He needed to plan this carefully.

As Li Si considered how to get the information he wanted out of Camus, he had no idea that Camus had already been driven to the point of coming to him on his own.

A few days later.

Li Si spent several more days at home studying arcane arts, never stepping outside, as if he had returned to the days of grinding games in his previous life.

That was why a hardcore grinder like Li Si was perfectly suited to becoming a mage.

They were all homebodies, able to sit still and pull all-nighters without feeling a thing.

But Li Si finally emerged today. Arsen had sent someone to notify him to make a trip to the villa on Ge Duo Street.

Perhaps there was more news about what they had discussed last time?

He changed out of the clothes that had been blasted into a riot of colors by arcane experiments, cleaned himself up, and prepared to leave.

As usual, he had Welf check the area first. Once he confirmed that no one was watching the estate, Li Si waved for Welf not to follow and casually slipped out through the back door.

After several consecutive days of torrential rain, the entire Fes Street had been washed clean, though the air still carried a damp scent.

Should he develop an arcane art for keeping out the rain next time? Last time, he had been in too much of a hurry to find Arsen. Even with a raincoat, it had been no match for such heavy rain, and he had returned nearly soaked through.

Over the past few days, he had developed several new arcane arts. Feeling rather pleased with himself, Li Si's confidence had swelled, and he even wanted to spar with Arsen again.

Heh heh~

Just as Li Si reached the mouth of the alley and was about to turn toward Ge Duo Street—

A figure in a black cloak flashed out from the adjacent alley and sprinted to a spot five meters in front of Li Si.

The person first pressed his hands together, then slammed his right hand onto the ground. A complex magic array glowing with white runes enveloped both Li Si and the black-clad man.

The black-clad man was overjoyed. I finally caught you alone, Li Si!

To avoid being discovered by that Gold Warrior, I've been lying in wait in alleys far from the estate for days!

Li Si's expression changed sharply when he saw the familiar setup on the ground.

"Damn, a Short-Range Directional Magic Teleportation Array?"

Though he had deliberately wanted to give potential enemies an opportunity, he had never expected them to open with a killing move.

He did not even spare a glance at the prompt the system had displayed. He could not waste a single moment. There was no telling where he might be teleported to.

And there was no possibility of escaping. Once the array locked onto him during activation, even if he immediately fled Can Guang City, he would be dragged back at once to complete the teleportation.

A flash of green light appeared, and the Emerald Staff materialized in Li Si's hand. A wind blade immediately slashed toward the black-clad man.

Without waiting to see whether the wind blade had any effect, three blue fireballs radiating a dangerous aura condensed beside Li Si and shot toward the black-clad man.

Then he casually tossed away the Emerald Staff. Another flash of light appeared, and a longsword with an unmistakably chilling gleam appeared in his hand.

After obtaining the Proficiency in All Weapons specialty, Li Si had specifically asked Welf to prepare this longsword for him. Though it was not enchanted, it was sharp and sturdy enough for the current Li Si.

Li Si raised the sword and slashed viciously at the white magic runes on the ground.

Fragments of stone flew everywhere as the centimeter-thick magic runes were cut open by Li Si's sword, leaving a small gap.

There was a chance!

Li Si's eyes lit up. This Teleportation Array seemed to have only the most basic rune protection. He had a chance to destroy it before it took effect!

This appeared to be a low-level Teleportation Array. Its activation would take at least fifteen breaths. There should be enough time!

At the same time he attempted to destroy the array's magic runes, the spells he had cast in advance reached the black-clad man.

The leading wind blade struck the defensive spell the black-clad man had cast beforehand and shattered without causing even the slightest ripple.

But Li Si had never expected a single wind blade to interrupt him. The important part was the three Blue Ball Spells behind it.

The first blue fireball struck the black-clad man's defensive spell and exploded. Blue flames spread along the edge of the magical shield, and the first defensive spell was quickly overwhelmed by the blue fire.

What is going on? Isn't he a Novice Mage?

How could a single blue fireball so easily shatter the spell shield cast by me, an Intermediate Mage?

Something's wrong! This isn't right!

But the black-clad man had no time to think it through.

He only had one layer of Elemental Shield left in front of him, and it could not possibly block the remaining two blue fireballs!

Unfortunately, he still needed to maintain the activation of the Teleportation Array and had no free hand to cast another spell.

Gritting his teeth, the black-clad man took two magic scrolls from his Storage Ring with his left hand. Ignoring the pain in his heart, he directly poured mana into them and activated the spells recorded within.

"Fourth Circle Spell: Greater Elemental Shield!"

"Fourth Circle Spell: Greater Protective Field!"

In truth, the Greater Protective Field was poor at defending against magical attacks, but the black-clad man could no longer worry about that. He had already paid the enormous price for this Directional Teleportation Array. If he still failed to complete the mission, he would truly have no way out!

One Fourth Circle Spell scroll was nothing.

Under the black-clad man's tense gaze, the second blue fireball struck the remaining layer of Elemental Shield. That low-circle spell shattered with a boom, having done almost nothing.

The blue fireball continued onward and crashed into the newly formed Greater Elemental Shield.

Boom!

Please keep reading, please add it to your favorites!

The data from these past few days is very important to Ting Yu's chances of getting another recommendation next week. Thank you, bosses!

The recent updates have involved advancing the main storyline, so Ting Yu needs to think things through carefully. Updates have been a little unstable, and I hope all you esteemed readers will forgive me.