Chapter 488: Mr. Viper: So what did I actually stab?

With a successful strike, Mr. Arezzo was a mix of shock and joy.

He was happy that he had completed the mission so smoothly and apparently without alerting anyone, ready to make his getaway.

But he was shocked too. Could it really have gone this smoothly? Given how the Magic Council prioritized the target, besides the original two bodyguards, was he only protected by his magical shield?

If not for the dagger piercing through two layers of magical shields—the second layer of about third-tier strength, likely activated automatically once the first was breached—he would have doubted whether the target was someone else in disguise!

The target remained rigidly kneeling, silent and unmoving. The person he struck in the back would be in too much pain to scream or fight back for a short time, an ideal spot for an assassin.

The dagger was thin, not even enough blood to notice, any blood that was there was masked by the bloody smell from the ground. Mr. Viper looked around carefully, listening intently, seeing no one alerted, he pulled back his dagger—

It didn’t budge!

Stuck?

How? The spot he struck was precisely right, it couldn’t have lodged in the bone!

Nor could it be the magical shield, as his dagger had an anti-magic effect, which meant it could be drawn out as easily as it went in. An activated magical shield wouldn’t just change its properties like that...

So what was going on? What was trapping his dagger?

Mr. Arezzo had no time to examine it closely, he let go of the dagger and swiftly retreated. A weapon was just a tool; losing it was acceptable, delaying escape for a dagger and risking his life would be foolish. Run, quickly run!

Even while fleeing through the crowd, he had to be careful not to slip into the throng, to avoid drawing attention. Mr. Arezzo’s body slightly lowered, he sidestepped, stepping lightly, his body slightly angled. Just as he was about to push off, a hard, smooth, yet not too cold chain, silently wrapped around his palm.

What was that?

Mr. Viper didn’t look down, just glanced with the corner of his eye. In an instant, his heart skipped a beat:

The target of his dagger wasn’t the previously locked-on target, but a skeleton! The bones were dense, dark gold in color—clearly high quality and troublesome...

Moreover, it was a skeleton that could disassemble into pieces, each part transforming individually.

At this moment, the skeleton’s hands clutched the dagger, arms turning into chains, wrapping around his right arm;

Front and back, 12 pairs of ribs symmetrically splayed open, rushing towards him, as if to clamp around his upper body and arms;

The pelvis fell to the ground, with legs and feet already circling his shins, closing behind...

The only idle part was the head, rolling around on the ground, tilting back, its dark hollow eyes looking straight at him.

The jawbone moved up and down, the rows of snow-white teeth clacking, as if issuing commands to the body parts, or mockingly laughing at him.

【Viper】Arezzo: !!!

I was stabbing the target! Not a skeleton! I had locked onto the target’s mental strength, when they were chewing leaves behind the booth, when the target walked away coiling around the snake bones, and right before I struck, I had checked each time!

How could it turn into a skeleton in the blink of an eye!

Wait, did the target switch, or am I in an illusion? If it’s an illusion, I can’t just run; I need to mobilize mental strength to dispel the illusion. Otherwise, I’ll be diving right into their trap...

【Viper】Arezzo, having ventured far and wide, carrying out numerous stealth, reconnaissance, and assassination missions, was also very familiar with dispelling illusions. He did not panic but bit his tongue sharply to clear his mind.

His left thumb hooked under a ring on the inside of his middle finger, pressing it. The gem on the ring, now facing the palm, suddenly burst forth a clear light, enveloping his entire body—

Break the illusion!

Reveal the truth!

But the extra reality did not materialize. The arm bones wrapped around as they should, the ribs clamped him as they should, the leg bones firmly locked around his knees as they should.

To add insult to injury, a swath of red light, with golden threads sparkling, brilliance overflowing, descended. It was from the lady who had fallen to the ground, her bright red skirt suddenly enlarged tenfold, enveloping both Mr. Viper and the dark gold skeleton.

And the lady herself shrank down, stepping out of her dress. Dressed in a tight combat suit, wielding dual daggers, she lunged fearlessly.

Beneath the red light, Mr. V

iper glanced up only to see the lady’s expression blank, her black pupils motionless. Occasionally, a cat-eye-shaped arc of light passed over her rounded pupils, made of gemstones.

!!!

A puppet!

It was a puppet!

The rescued was also fake! That blood was deliberately spilled to trick me!

So, that 【Healing Serious Wounds】 divine magic, was it cast by someone else to let down my guard? What a luxury, to cast this divine magic at close range, even though the skeleton wasn’t hurt, this skeleton must be high-tier!

A skeleton and a puppet, both with combat abilities of level 10 or above, teaming up against me...

There must be at least two high-ranking mages behind this! Two high-ranking mages from different schools, hidden somewhere!

【Viper】Arezzo shuddered. Without another thought, he unleashed a burst of darkness, enveloping the entire area—a supernatural shadow of six to seven meters radius instantly fell, causing a sudden burst of terrified screams in the exhibition center.

A good opportunity!

Time to flee!

Arezzo cast another spell, silently merging into the shadows. As a high-ranking assassin, he was very familiar with manipulating shadows, enough to slip through the shadow plane for several hundred meters, leaving the exhibition center. He couldn’t go further; after all, he wasn’t a professional caster.

It should... be enough to escape—right...

Everything darkened, then brightened, followed by a blast of red light. The deep shadow magic was dispelled, and his shadow jump failed—who knows how many anti-teleportation spells were set up around, the dark gold skeleton still clinging tightly, the puppet swinging dual daggers charging at him.

A bone cage rose from the ground, enclosing him along with the dark gold skeleton and the puppet. Then, a massive onslaught of spells rained down from all directions.

A human paralyzing spell made Mr. Viper stiffen slightly. A sticky glob followed, ensnaring his entire body, as if he were trapped in a giant blob of glue. Spells like Feeblemind, Weakening Ray, Shadow Spray...

Finally, Mr. Viper saw a huge hoof raised high, coming down towards his face.

He knew no more.

"Caught him!"

"Good job!"

"We did beautifully!"

The mages high-fived in celebration. Their followers, knights, and warriors close at hand also beamed with joy:

A high-ranking assassin! Level 10 or above! If he had slipped through their fingers, they would have had to go in themselves!

Who knows how many would have been cut, how many limbs would have been lost at the scene, how many paths would have been cut short!

Garrett took the most pats on the shoulder. The mages, especially the necromancers, crowded around him, each one giving him a pat:

"Little Garrett, nicely done! Quick response!"

"That control over the dark gold skeleton was superb!"

"You haven’t disappointed His Excellency the Immortal with this skeleton! Many young necromancers can’t control a skeleton to this extent!"

"The last move, breaking the skeleton into pieces to act separately, was really imaginative!"

"The front was also very convincing... perfectly deceived the target..."

After watching Mr. Viper chew the leaf, and when he withdrew from the crowd, Garrett slipped into the restroom, switching places with his dark gold skeleton. Disguises and all, the seasoned necromancers handled it, instantly completed, indistinguishably.

In other words, what Mr. Viper saw later, Garrett walking away with the elf maiden looking at long dresses and coiling around snake bones, was already the dark gold skeleton, not him. It was only because the skeleton bore his master’s mental imprint, and Master Grom had stuffed a magical device that amplified this imprint, that it had fooled Mr. Viper’s senses, not giving away immediately.

Using the vision of Arcane Eye, Garrett crouched upstairs, controlling the dark gold skeleton walking, turning its head, viewing exhibitions, being pulled along by the silver dragon maiden. The skeleton given by His Excellency the Immortal was of a high enough rank, controlled smoothly and effortlessly.

A two-way communication device was buried in the skeleton’s collar, allowing Garrett to hear the surrounding sounds, responding on-site, with the device transmitting his voice out. The transmission was slightly delayed, so Mr. Viper always felt the voice was a beat slow...

Special operations came out to clean up the scene, calming the audience. Another group skillfully approached, packing up the limp, wide-eyed, drooling Mr. Viper, boxing him up, and carting him away—

A rare captive! A high-ranking assassin! Caught deep in the heart of Nevis City!

This definitely called for a thorough interrogation to extract as much information as possible!

Then, if magical means could convert him into their personnel, they would; if not, they would use him for experiments. High-ranking combat professionals were rare experimental

material, to be cherished...

Master Grom wasn’t in a hurry, watching from the sidelines, letting the operations team transport the man. This operation, he owed quite a few favors, having dragged four great mages to assist: one from the transmutation school, one from the abjuration school, one from the illusion school, one from the divination school.

—The shaping school’s Archmage Carlisle didn’t count, that was little Garrett’s kin, no favors needed there.

Six great mages each with disciples and grandchildren, along with combat followers, had been ambushing in the venue for three days. This rare experimental material, after the interrogation, would first be used to repay debts...

Of course, in the end, the experimental material would still end up in his hands. Whether broken or whole, as long as it was dead, it was useless to other schools. Left to the Black Crow Swamp, it could be dissected, used to make skeletons, every inch utilized.

The School of Necromancy might become the greatest winner (not really)

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