Thieves possess exceptional mental perception; high-level thieves even undergo a mandatory training regimen: living blindfolded.
They must live blindfolded, just like a blind person, and be as skilled and agile as someone who has been blind for over a decade. This is to facilitate fighting, stealing, and gathering intelligence in the dark, or even in completely dark, secret rooms.
As a Legendary thief, Farad had naturally received this training and was undoubtedly a master in this field.
But now that he's blind and furious, and having lived in the light for so long, holding a high position and wielding great power, and having not personally taken action for many years, how could he possibly fight a perfect blind battle?
What's more, he's facing a group of highly skilled professionals, even Legendary, who are fully aware of what's going on.
Despite his anger, resentment, and various frustrations, Farad immediately understood:
To continue fighting is certain death.
Run away immediately! There's still a glimmer of hope!
So he immediately flapped his wings, trying to escape.
Who could stop such a massive creature from taking flight?
The thieves couldn't; the Troll general's axe wasn't big enough, human arrows weren't dragon black arrows, and the Gnomes wizard wasn't Medivh. They couldn't possibly kill the dragon with a single fireball.
Duke Jorach watched as Farad rose from the ground, wondering if all his efforts were in vain. Or was he simply unprepared? Otherwise, with ballistae, giant chains, or super-powerful explosives, killing an ancient black dragon would be a piece of cake.
At this moment, who can stop Farad's escape?
Someone is blocking the way!
At this moment, Jiang Jie was already standing on the branch of a giant tree, his hands tightly gripping the divine sword. The Shadow Phoenix " Pyralis " had already flown back into the divine sword, and all the Shadowflame were condensed, turning the divine sword into a five-meter-long flaming giant sword.
As Farad struggled, finally flapping his wings and taking flight, Jiang Jie leaped down, just like in the battle of Uldaman a few months ago, and the flaming greatsword pierced deeply into Farad's neck!
Without Anveena's fusion and without Old Chen's infusion of Chi, the power of this sword strike naturally cannot be compared to that of Uldaman.
However, how could Farad's defensive capabilities compare to those of the Titan Keepers?
The neck is a relatively weak area. The scales here are not as hard and large as those on the back or head, and the skin here is not as thick and rough as other places. Its defensive capabilities are less than half that of the back.
King Varian could sever Onyxia's head with a single strike. This was because, although Onyxia was stronger than Farad, the two Varian combined had truly entered the Legendary realm. Blessed by the Wolf God, he possessed terrifying power, and the divine sword Shalamayne was far sharper than the divine sword Strom'kar.
Yes, much sharper.
Shalamayne is a sharp sword, incredibly razor-sharp, while Strom'kar is a blunt sword, known for its weight and resembling more of a door panel.
Therefore, Jiang Jie did not choose to Execute, but instead stabbed.
The contact area of a stab is much smaller than that of a slash, so the same force will create a penetrating force several times greater. Thus, this long-prepared sword slowly but firmly pierced Farad's neck.
The dragon had barely left the ground when it crashed to the ground, then struggled violently, but to no avail.
" Nicholas! I curse you with my life and soul: you will surely be..."
Farad's incredibly vicious curse, however, was abruptly cut off as soon as it began.
On the dragon's neck, Jiang Jie knelt on one knee and thrust again with all his might. Then, a large amount of Chi surged into the divine sword, mixed with the Shadowflame, and transformed into countless tiny flame sword beams that pierced through the dragon's neck and head, which were completely unobstructed!
In an instant, Farad's mind went blank, and his raised head finally tilted back in frustration, crashing to the ground like a tank with a deafening roar.
The black dragon is not Undead; having its head riddled with bullets means certain death.
Jiang Jie drew his divine sword, and dragon blood gushed forth.
He was splattered all over, looking like a war god. This scene caught the eyes of more than a dozen high-ranking Assassins' League, but they were not the only witnesses.
The sky echoed with the cries of griffins and the exclamations of Dwarves; these were the Wildhammer Gryphon Rider, the hosts of the Hinterlands, responsible for patrolling the forest.
In just a few days, the news of the fall of an ancient black dragon will spread throughout the entire world!
Transporting such a massive dragon corpse back to the Ravenholdt Manor by manpower alone is simply impossible. The best way is to inscribe a teleportation array and teleport it back directly.
Even so, the difficulty is still extremely high.
After all, the teleportation array that could cover the entire ancient black dragon would take several days to inscribe, so apart from the High Elf ranger and the two great thieves who returned to the Ravenholdt Manor, everyone else stayed behind.
While inscribing the magic array and protecting the dragon corpse, they also need to deal with the Aerie Peak lord who will be arriving soon after hearing the news.
Without a doubt, the dragon carcass could not have been transported to the Ravenholdt Manor intact. The Wildhammer Dwarves would definitely have tried to leave some souvenirs, such as the dragon's head or the dragon's skeleton.
You ask us, on what grounds?
What about the damage you caused to the natural environment by waging war on our Wildhammer Dwarves territory? What about the destruction of so many ancient trees that had lived for hundreds or thousands of years? What about the countless small animals that died or were injured? What about the psychological trauma you inflicted on us Wildhammer Dwarves?
Should compensation for emotional distress be paid?
Okay, even putting all that aside, there should at least be hush money, right?
What? You're saying the Wildhammer Dwarves can't keep their mouths shut, and it'll definitely get out?
I'm sorry, but the outcome of sending this out a day earlier or a day later would be completely different. Should we notify the Syndicate members now? Or perhaps we could use special channels to notify the Dark Iron Dwarves or even the Dark Iron Orcs, and then have them inform Nefarian, believe it or not?
Believe it or not, messages can be delivered within a day?
What? Still not giving it to us? Do you believe we'll just rob us?
Hinterlands is Wildhammer Dwarves territory. If hundreds or even thousands of Wildhammer Gryphon Rider were to come out, do you believe they could blast your Ravenholdt Manor to smithereens?
Don't underestimate the fighting power of the Wildhammer Dwarves; after all, they are a race, and the Barbarians possess a third of the Dwarves ' strength!
Since they would definitely need to deal with the Wildhammer Lord, and the other people's status was not high enough, Duke Jorach had to stay behind himself, and Jiang Jie also had to stay behind to discuss the next steps of cooperation with Duke Jorach.
Of course, before that, he went back to the Ravenholdt Manor to pick up Lilian and, at the same time, pieced together Nightbane had been half-dead by Farad, and brought it to Hinterlands, where he left it on a nearby mountain peak to await orders.
The Assassins' League may be ruthless and heartless, but it depends on the person.
There's no need to be polite to ordinary people, but it's a different story when it comes to powerful figures like Jiang Jie.
Needless to say, the Assassins' League, being a business, certainly wouldn't want to offend the rising power of Lordaeron.
The consequences of offending Jiang Jie are probably far more serious than offending the Wildhammer Dwarves!
But the commission will still be collected.
Yes, the Syndicate is the Assassins' League' archenemy, but why is it?
Because the Syndicate has also been operating its own business for years, taking away business from the Assassins' League.
The Assassins' League would love for everyone in the Syndicate to die, but after all these years, has the Assassins' League ever taken the initiative to attack the Syndicate?
No, because nobody's paying them. Who would kill someone if they had no money?
Therefore, if you want to cooperate to deal with the Syndicate, you have to pay.
Since Lordaeron's efforts to destroy the Syndicate were more forceful than those of the Assassins' League, Duke Jorach naturally wanted to collect a commission on the basis of cooperation.
However, in the end, Jiang Jie still didn't give them any.
Besides relinquishing his rightful share of the ancient black dragon's corpse, he also granted Duke Jorach's request.
Thus, Jiang Jie transformed himself into the second-in-command of the Assassins' League, taking over Farad's position.
It must be said that Duke Jorach is truly cunning and shrewd. He used a "second-in-command" position with no real power to bind Jiang Jie and the Assassins' League together.
This is a really good deal!