CHAPTER 184: A VIOLENT RESCUE AND A SECOND PERPETRATOR

"Wait a moment," Avia called out to Wang Yu just as he grabbed his gear, ready to head out.

She took the Spellweaver's Tome from his waist, opened up its outer casing, and installed a small alchemical component she had been working on.

"I've made a dual-core optimization, which will refine the tome's magical circuits for spellcasting. Now, when casting a higher-tier spell, you can simultaneously cast a lower-tier one as well. Be careful, though—it'll increase the burden and consumption of the mana crystal used as a power supply. Don't cast too many spells in quick succession."

Avia handed the upgraded tome back to Wang Yu and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Good luck!"

"Got it." Wang Yu secured the upgraded Spellweaver's Tome to his waist before rushing toward the location provided by the magitech communication device.

"I do hope he'll be more careful..." Avia watched his departing figure and let out a quiet sigh.

Wang Yu's combat style always made her heart race—either he was already injured, or he was getting there. His strength lay in his remarkable regenerative ability, allowing him to trade blows with enemies at a cost others couldn't afford. Whereas his opponent would die, he would "merely" be gravely wounded.

Even knowing this, Avia still didn't like seeing Wang Yu hurt.

She placed a metal sheet on the table, picked up an alchemical lens, and carefully examined the intricate details on the sheet as she used an engraving knife to meticulously inscribe complex magical runes.

She was laying out the groundwork for the fourth-tier Gate of Phases. This would be her first attempt inscribing a spatial displacement spell into the Spellweaver's Tome.

In theory, any spell Avia could cast could be transcribed into the Spellweaver's Tome after structural analysis, but putting this into practice was far harder than it sounded.

Deciphering a spell's three-dimensional structure, converting it into corresponding mathematical formulas, and then engraving the spell model onto a thin metal sheet with runes—this was just the first step. This process merely created a disposable spell scroll.

To enable repeated use, Avia needed to optimize and modify the spell model, making the task exponentially more complex.

The sheer amount of magical knowledge and calculations involved was immense—only someone of Avia's genius could even attempt this without being a recognized mage.

Of course, the advanced mathematical knowledge that Wang Yu brought from Earth played a crucial role.

While technology varied between worlds, mathematics was universal...

"What's the situation this time around? Has another noble been attacked?" Wang Yu asked Sieg, who hadn't yet relayed the full details.

After Viscount Glenn's murder came several other noble assassinations.

The culprit, a grand knight cloaked in black smoke, had overwhelming martial prowess and a mysterious shroud that disrupted detection. He had now killed two more viscounts and a baron, slipping past guarded defenses each time.

What made him even more alarming was his uncanny ability to predict the movements of the city guards and Nightblades.

Despite city-wide patrols being intensified, the limited manpower meant some gaps remained.

The killer always seized these tiny vulnerabilities, ensuring that he could escape after each assassination.

Strangely, though more nobles had been murdered, the royal family seemed remarkably indifferent to their deaths.

After deploying a few elite knights to guard the highest-ranking nobles, the royals took no further action. They adopted a rather ambiguous stance.

The ones panicking the most were the nobles themselves. Those who had seized power feared losing it even more.

In response, alliances of nobles spent vast sums hiring mercenary bodyguards and setting up defensive enchantments in their manors, desperate to avoid sharing the same fate.

The assassin's presence cast a pall of terror over the noble circles—the thought of being targeted by a grand knight was terrifying.

If a mage were to target them, they would be forced to flee the capital entirely. But if it were a grand knight instead, it didn't matter where they hid. One mistake, and their heads would roll.

"If these nobles weren't so convinced the royal family had nothing to do with it, I'd suspect the assassin was working for them," Wang Yu remarked to Sieg.

As the situation escalated, Captain Hugin and Sieg had personally joined the pursuit for the culprit.

Sieg was now stationed in the Gap, serving as a communications officer and feeding Wang Yu and the team real-time intelligence.

"It's not the royal family," Sieg replied. "Even if these nobles are useless in war and governance, the monarchy wouldn't destabilize the noble hierarchy right before the Elder Council elections. Right now, it looks more like internal noble rivalry—some enterprising nobles are eliminating their competitors."

The pattern was clear: all the murdered nobles were contenders for Elder Council seats.

This cast a new light on the noble assassinations, making them seem less like rogue killings and more like targeted political purges.

If this theory held true, it explained the royal family's silence—the royals were merely watching from the sidelines.

But was that really the case? Breaking the nobles' established rules of engagement—was that truly beneficial for them? Would plunging all nobles into a constant state of mortal peril really be worth securing an Elder Council seat?

"Charles's Wheel of Fate readings provide random and limited insights. We still don't know if all the murdered nobles were truly evil.

"Viscount Glenn and the baron were, and definitively so at that. But as for the other two, who knows? Is the culprit's goal really justice... or something else?"

Wang Yu pondered these thoughts as he picked up speed, leaping between the capital's rooftops as he rushed toward the crime scene.

In the distance, flames illuminated the skyline. Smoke billowed from a lavish mansion.

From his vantage point, Wang Yu saw city guards and Nightblades converging on the site, though they moved far less efficiently than he did.

"Can you hear me, Wang Yu? There's an intense battle happening inside. I'm in Viscount Nichols' estate. He hasn't been killed yet, and his guards are fiercely fighting against the assailant."

Edward's voice was relayed by Sieg through the special ops team's real-time communication network. With the help of the Gap, Edward had arrived outside Viscount Nichols' estate slightly before Wang Yu.

"How's the battle going? Can those noble guards hold off a grand knight?"

As he leapt from the rooftop of a building, Wang Yu spotted Edward waiting outside the main gate of the viscount's estate.

"It's hard to say. Someone deliberately set a fire inside the manor, and it's spreading rapidly. We can't observe what's happening inside—we'll only know once we go in. But even if the noble guards aren't dead yet, I doubt they'll last much longer.

"Wang Yu, I'll head in with you and do my best to stall. Even though the culprit's a grand knight, with my potential and your skills, we should be able to stay alive. Let's try to hold out until Captain Hugin arrives—he's already on his way."

"I'm coming as fast as I can," Hugin's voice came through the special ops team's comms.

"I'm traveling via the Gap, but I'm too far away. Damn it, I might not make it in time," came Charles' frustrated response. When he received the call, he had been far from the location. Even with the Gap's assistance, he wouldn't arrive for at least another ten minutes.

"I'm here. Edward and I are going in to take a look."

As he slid off the rooftop of the last building, Wang Yu landed on the street where Viscount Nichols's estate was located. Activating Storm Stride, he used the strong air currents arround him to stabilize his descent.

He exchanged a glance with Edward at the gate. The two Nightblades acted in unison. Wang Yu took the lead, smashing through the wall and charging into the burning building.

The fire raged fiercely as it consumed the wooden structure of the mansion. The heat was causing the framework to carbonize and collapse, with burning bricks occasionally falling from the ceiling and crashing into the hallways below.

"This manor won't last long. Judging by the fire's intensity, the entire structure will collapse in fewer than five minutes. If the Nightblades team arriving later doesn't have a magician with them, even if Viscount Nichols isn't killed, he'll die when his manor caves in."

Assessing the fire, Wang Yu shot straight toward the source of the most intense conflict, guided by his sharp senses.

Edward, having activated his potential, forged an invisible barrier around them, allowing them to ignore falling debris and leaping flames.

Wang Yu handled the brute-force demolition—he smashed through doors without hesitation, blasted through walls with second-tier Fireball spells, or coated his fists with Penetrative Resonance to punch them into dust.

As they neared the most heavily burned part of the manor, Wang Yu activated the Spellweaver's Tome and conjured ice to encase his fists.

With a mighty punch, his massive fists of ice shattered all obstacles in their path, momentarily suppressing the surrounding flames with their chilling aura.

With a thunderous crash, several brick walls blocking their way collapsed under Wang Yu's punch, sending shards of stone flying. The opening allowed Edward to follow closely behind.

Wang Yu burst through the final wall as he smashed a nearby bookshelf into nothing more than splintered fragments.

Swirling chips of wood framed his entrance to the fight between the assassin and the noble guards. The structures in this part of the manor were made of higher-quality brick and stone, meaning the fire hadn't spread as quickly and the combat continued uninterrupted.

Scanning the scene, he saw several noble guards sprawled on the ground—some with broken arms, and others with caved-in chests. Most were incapacitated, with only a few struggling to rise.

A man, presumably the viscount, was huddled in a corner, guarded by four remaining noble guards. His gaze was fixed nervously on the shrouded figure fighting the guards.

The figure wreathed in black smoke was incredibly fast and strong. Even while fending off multiple noble guards attacking from different angles, the figure seemed to have the upper hand.

Dodging the incoming strikes with minimal movement, the figure wreathed in black smoke avoided each attack by the narrowest of margins.

Every punch or kick with which the figure countered boasted enough strength to break the guards' swords.

And if a blow connected with a guard, the result was inevitable: the guard would be left with shattered bones and ruptured muscles, the same fate that had befallen the ones now on the ground.

Something was off. Based on his previous encounter with the culprit, this fight should have been over in a matter of moments—the noble guards, composed of a mix of official knights and knights-in-training, should have been quickly eliminated against a grand knight..

While the figure wreathed in smoke was still clearly powerful, there was something about that figure that felt lacking.

"Move!" Wang Yu quickly shouted, alerting the noble guards as he launched his massive fists of ice at the figure.

His timing was perfect—he aimed at the exact spot where the figure was dodging, having anticipated the movement.

The noble guards reacted swiftly, retreating as the fists flew past them and smashed into the figure mid-dodge.

"Hold that figure off a bit longer—I'll get the viscount out of here!" Wang Yu called out, knowing that his ice attack wouldn't seriously harm the assassin but would help buy the guards some time.

The figure chuckled while blocking the fists of ice with crossed arms. Though pushed back a great distance and leaving skid marks on the ground, the figure remained unharmed.

The noble guards seized the opportunity to surround the figure once more and buy Wang Yu more time.

"Far weaker than before... But I suppose it's a good thing," Wang Yu murmured.

In their previous encounter, the grand knight he had faced would have shattered the fists of ice with a single punch, charged past everyone else in just a few steps, and killed Viscount Nichols instantly.

Wang Yu rushed up to the viscount. "I'm from the Nightblades. Pardon the offense—I'm taking you out of here."

He grabbed the visibly anxious middle-aged nobleman as the guards around him stepped aside.

"Edward, can your Bastion withstand a third-tier spell?"

"It can. At full power, it can even withstand a fourth-tier spell," Edward replied. Understanding what Wang Yu was about to do from experience, Edward didn't hesitate. He activated his latent ability and enveloped the viscount in a solid barrier.

Wang Yu then placed his hands on the barrier and activated the most powerful third-tier offense spell currently stored in the Spellweaver's Tome—the Infernal Cannon.

A massive explosion of fire erupted from his palms. With the high concentration of ambient fire mana, the attack's potency surged.

With a flash of flames and a deafening blast, Wang Yu fired the shielded viscount straight out of the mansion.

Like a cannonball, the viscount was sent hurtling. He obliterated multiple walls in his path and punched a gaping hole through the burning building as he flew out into the street.

Amidst the shocked stares of the noble guards and Edward alike, the viscount crashed into a nearby building, leaving behind a massive crater of debris.

The execution seemed lacking, but Wang Yu had, technically, managed to send Viscount Nichols out of the battle. And he was probably fine—not dead, at least.

Everyone in the vicinity, except for Wang Yu and Edward, was left in shock. The sudden turn of events was too simply absurd. Viscount Nichols had, after all, vanished in a flash of explosive flames.

"Evacuate! Get out of here! This place is going to collapse soon!" Edward shouted, urging the noble guards to escape through the massive hole their impromptu projectile had created in the manor's crumbling structure.

Meanwhile, he and Wang Yu readied their weapons as they moved cautiously toward the shadowy figure, who had been momentarily stunned by the unexpected chaos.

Wang Yu and Edward excelled together; keeping those inexperienced noble guards around would only serve to hinder them.

"Buy as much time as possible, but prioritize your safety," Sieg's voice rang out in their ears.

"I'm on my way. Don't act recklessly. A grand knight is not something you two can handle," Hugin emphasized once again.

"Understood," Wang Yu responded. Recklessness wasn't his style. If things turned south, he wouldn't hesitate to flee.

The two of them advanced toward the shadowy figure. Facing a grand knight was an immense challenge, even if they were only stalling for time.

However, to Wang Yu and Edward's surprise, despite the fact that the figure possessed the strength of a grand knight, the figure immediately turned and bolted without hesitation, rushing into the blazing hallways of the mansion engulfed in flames.

Both Wang Yu and Edward were momentarily dumbfounded. But Wang Yu's body reacted a split second faster than his mind, and he instinctively sprung into pursuit.

Yet the moment he dashed into the burning corridor, Wang Yu abruptly halted. His eyes widened slightly at the sight before him.

Inside the hallway, one figure held another identical figure by the throat, lifting the latter high into the air. The second figure thrashed violently but futilely.

Dimly glowing eyes embedded within the swirling smoke turned to glance at Wang Yu, the figure's expression unreadable.

Were there... two killers?