Chapter 197: Killer in the Forest

In just two days, Harribell had mobilized a merchant team of nearly two thousand men using the Boulade Merchant Association’s resources. The team was massive, with over a thousand carriages. They planned to head north toward the Rossi Empire under the guise of selling provisions.

While the merchants were being assembled, Yang Ling had recruited skilled craftsmen, some eight hundred people, including Ashnamov and his Galapagos Tortoisemen. Among them were a hundred Beastmen slaves Yang Ling purchased from the slave market. They had strong bodies, and with a little training, they could act as guards for the group along the way.

As a precaution, the merchant team only moved at night. Ashnamov, Orlando and the rest hid within the mass of merchants, some sitting in carriages half filled with food, while some acted as carriage drivers, and others posed as guards accompanying the team on the journey. The group made their way toward the city gates in a long line.

That night, in order to fool the people, Harribell had gotten many servants to stay in the villa that Yang Ling had rented. The place was filled with voices and bright lights, giving Grichie’s hidden scouts no reason to be suspicious.

At the same time, Yang Ling and Yuna had sneaked their way to a tall tower, looking on as the merchant team slowly left the city. Yang Ling had been prepared to send Yuna with Ashnamov and the rest, but she worried for his safety and vehemently declined the suggestion. Left without a choice, Yang Ling could only agree to let Yuna stay. After all, he could recall her into the Wizard’s Pagoda at any time, and he believed that she would not be in any danger.

The group of merchants was very large, but sights like them were commonplace in Montson, where there were many merchant associations around. No one found the actions of Boulade Merchant Association suspicious. But unexpectedly, just as the merchant team was about to exit the city, disaster struck.

Out of nowhere, a team of city guards wearing heavy armor and bristling with weapons swiftly surrounded the merchant caravan. They got to work, apparently checking each carriage thoroughly in turn.

Yuna became worried. The merchants were wearing good disguises, but the guards would surely notice something was odd if they checked all the carriages thoroughly.

Yang Ling tried to appear unruffled. “The enemy is smarter and more cautious than we imagined. But Harribell will have planned for this. Do not be too anxious!”

In the Livenza Alliance, whose lifeblood was fueled by the merchant associations, the city guards would not typically examine a large organization like the Boulade Merchant Association in too much detail. It was obvious that their actions were the doing of the foreign affairs minister, Grichie, behind the scenes. But it was useless to worry now and acting recklessly would only make matters worse. All Yang Ling could do was hope that Harribell, who was personally sending the merchant team out of the city, could think on her feet and adapt to the situation.

Having learned of the situation taking place at the city gates, Harribell sent her butler to stall for time. Then, to Yang Ling’s surprise, she sent one of her personal guards sprinting away into the city. He was sure the intelligent and capable Harribell knew what she was doing.

Though his orders had been to strictly examine each merchant in the caravan heading out of the city, the leader of the city guards did not dare offend the Boulade Merchant Association. Their sphere of influence was so large, he could not risk upsetting Harribell’s butler, who continued conversing with him. The leader of the city guard had no choice but to give the order to stop the guards for the time being, much to Yang Ling and Yuna’s relief.

As they waited, squinting from a distance at the action unfolding, a strange carriage appeared on the road. The carriage body was adorned with the Insignia of the Holy Flame, which was used exclusively by the royal family. Pulled by eight pure white horses, which were sprinting at full speed, the carriage moved swiftly. Behind the carriage rode knights, all wearing golden armor.

Diana?

Yang Ling soon understood Harribell’s intentions as he recognized the familiar carriage. The city guards who were carrying out the unusual search might not fear the Boulade Association, but no one would dare offend the known favored lover of the emperor, even if they had the gall of a bear.

Perhaps all it took were a few bad words from Diana to the emperor to destroy the entire future of the leader of the city guards. He might even lose his title of earl, for which he had fought so hard. It was even worse for the ordinary soldiers. Offending the woman that the emperor loved might mean that they would be trampled to death like ants, without so much as a thought.

Indeed, after Diana’s tongue lashing, the leader of the city guards ordered the soldiers to make way with haste, and allow Harribell’s merchant caravan to pass. The leader of the city guards left quickly as if nothing had happened. As a noble, he more or less knew of some inside information and understood why his superior would order the stringent checks of any traveling merchants.

The leader of the city guard considered his well being, and that of his family, and decided he couldn’t afford to offend either of the two largest factions in the country. Harribell and the Nicholas family on one hand, and the foreign affairs minister on the other, meant he had only one choice. Diana’s appearance and subsequent reprimand gave him the opportunity to back off without the fear of punishment from his superiors.

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Yang Ling and Yuna watched the caravan disappear in the distance, and then snuck back to their rented villa.

Yang Ling had been feeling like his Wizard training had hit another plateau, after his last episode absorbing so much energy from the stars. But he believed that he would be able to achieve the high Earth Wizard level with one more push. He expected with the next growth spurt that his senses would allow him to find hidden enemy scouts, no matter how well they concealed themselves.

Over the next few days, Yang Ling roamed aimlessly around the city as planned, trying his best to stall for time by interrupting Grichie and the Banto Empire’s emissary at every possible opportunity. He planned to sneak out of Monston once the merchant caravan had made it to the Livenza Alliance’s border.

While he moved through the capital city, Yang Ling could feel many people following and watching his every move. Many of them were accomplished, agile experts. Other times, he felt a distinct sense of impending danger. If his senses were correct, his opponents ranged from Sword Saint level to perhaps that of Heaven-ranked Assassin.

As the days passed, more hidden scouts appeared near his villa. Yang Ling could always feel a powerful fighter following him closely every time he left the house. It seemed to Yang Ling that Grichie was gradually losing his patience. If not for the fact that killing Yang Ling in the city would alert the emperor and create unnecessary complications, they might have taken action a long time ago.

There were many people in the merchant caravan, but they travelled fast after they emptied the carriages, according to the orders Harribell had given them. News of them reaching the border arrived just five days later.

Harribell was intelligent and decisive, and had ordered her men to prepare high quality carriages and warhorses at the border in advance. Once they made their way across the border, Ashnamov would lead his men to hurry into the Wilderness of Siberia as quickly as they could. They would then make their way toward the faraway Magical Beast Territory.

Yang Ling left Montson in secret, under Harribell’s expert eye. As he had suspected, he had been unable to fully shake the people tailing him, despite taking many convoluted detours. But he believed that the people tailing him would not be able to keep up with the Unicorn once he left the city. But as he made his way to the city’s outskirts, he realized that the situation was more complicated than he expected.

Unbeknownst to Yang Ling or his cohorts, Grichie had architected an intricate trap. Yang Ling had been able to shake the people tailing him using his Unicorn, but Grichie kept track of his position using Germite Vultures, which circled high overhead. In this way, his enemy was able to deploy assassins at regular intervals, who pursued him relentlessly. He’d only made it a few miles out of Monston, and yet he had to avoid powerful assassin attacks several times.

Yang Ling fought his way through a few encounters, but decided to turn back toward Monston. He didn’t believe it was feasible to continue away from the city, with little hope for long term cover. Instead, he would make his way into the Kanda Mountain Valley, which spanned thousands of miles, and take a detour directly into the Wilderness of Siberia.

He arrived in the Kanda Mountain Valley and recalled his Unicorn so it could rest. Thus unburdened, Yang Ling took out his sharp dagger and moved quickly into the lush greenery of the valley. He frequently jumped from tree to tree, choosing the path with the highest concentration of greenery to obscure him.

Yang Ling felt at home once he was in the Kanda Mountain Range. Looking at the forest covered in white snow, he felt refreshed. Every tree, every shrub, every blade of grass was releasing an energetic ripple that he was familiar with.

“Hmph, you’re asking for death!” Yang Ling thought to himself playfully. He saw the Germite Vulture circling above him, and sensed the assassins hot on his heels. He hoped to arrive in Wissen Town as soon as possible, but he didn’t mind killing a few of the people blocking his way. He began crafting a few perfect counterattacks.

The winding roads of the mountains and the thorn filled forests were all great obstacles to his pursuers. But to Yang Ling, whose abilities had reached mid level Earth Wizard, these not only posed no trouble to him, they were actually a massive advantage. In the vast forest, with his Tree Eyes abilities, it was like he had grown wings, his battle abilities heightened to the fullest potential.

Germite Vultures were fairly small, and had no powerful offensive capabilities, but the height at which they could fly was unparalleled. Even the Tarantula King, that evolved into a Flying Spider, was unable to get close to it. The Horned Bee Beasts and Vampire Bats couldn’t get close. There was no way that they could strike the vultures down.

Even though he couldn’t eliminate the Germite Vultures for the time being, Yang Ling believed that he would have no problem dispatching the assassins. Unless his opponents were Heaven-ranked, they would stand no chance against his Magical Beast army. He summoned them and instructed them to lie in ambush. Then Yang Ling patiently waited for the people tailing him.

As a Heaven-ranked Assassin, Salvador, who was leading the group, was cocky and confident about his mission. He had heard that Yang Ling had killed Santiago during the banquet. He’d fought his way out of the city, through his opponents along the way, and escaped to the Kanda Mountain Valley from Montson. But Salvador believed that Yang Ling would be unable to escape from his pursuit.

Ten years, or was it twelve?

Salvador had already forgotten the last time he made a mistake. Over those years, he had become a top notch killer in the association. His battle records held the details. He killed the highly influential Leader Gerbite five years previous. Two years ago, it was the reputable Magical Tutor Kurma that had fallen by his hand… He had killed each of them with a single strike. It had caused a commotion. They were all perfect successes!

Looking at the dozen elite assassins behind him, then looking at the blood red sunset just before nightfall, and then looking at the forest spanning thousands of miles, he believed that this mission would be no different.