Chapter 44: Seven Hundred (Fourth Update, Monthly Ticket Bonus)
The inspection in the imperial capital ended three days later. Although it had been turned upside down, no culprit was found.
At night, the evening wind whistled past. Tonight, the imperial capital was exceptionally quiet.
Su Xiao took out that tarot card. He felt somewhat familiar with this tarot card.
"A contractor, huh? Able to kill Fashion and Lan silently. Interesting."
Su Xiao arrived at the outskirts of the imperial capital. With no one around, he summoned Bubuteni.
As soon as Bubuteni appeared, it frolicked around Su Xiao. Su Xiao placed the tarot card in front of Bubuteni's nose.
"Track the scent on the card."
Bubuteni sniffed the tarot card carefully for a while, then began to capture scents in the air.
Bubuteni started running, heading toward the imperial capital.
Su Xiao was stunned. The other party dared to stay in the imperial capital after killing someone? Half an hour later, Su Xiao was speechless. Bubuteni led him to the front of Heitong's house. Heitong had also come into contact with this tarot card.
Su Xiao's face darkened.
"Look for other scents."
Bubuteni's ears drooped, as if sensing Su Xiao wasn't very happy.
This time, Bubuteni searched around the imperial capital for over two hours. Just as Su Xiao was about to consider a long-term plan, Bubuteni suddenly barked.
"Found it?"
Su Xiao was pleasantly surprised. Several days had passed since the incident, yet Bubuteni could still capture the other party's scent.
Bubuteni barked happily and lowered its body, signaling for Su Xiao to ride on its back.
Mounting Bubuteni, this creature that perfectly blended wolf and dog began to show its formidable side.
Bubuteni alternated between running and stopping in the forest. Tracking a scent from several days ago was somewhat challenging even for it.
After circling the outskirts seven or eight times, Bubuteni arrived at a forest far from the imperial capital.
"Woof woof~."
Bubuteni barked loudly ahead but refused to take another step forward.
"What's wrong?"
Bubuteni paced anxiously on the spot but wouldn't move forward.
Su Xiao began to inspect the surroundings. Under the moonlight, he noticed something unusual—faint, barely detectable cyan reflections in the forest, the glint of metal wires.
"An alarm set up by Cross-Tail? This place is..."
Su Xiao suddenly thought of something, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth. He seemed to have discovered a very remarkable location.
"Bubu, let's go back."
Su Xiao didn't proceed further. Instead, he had Bubuteni return the way they came.
Back in the imperial capital, Su Xiao dismissed Bubuteni and walked straight into a residence.
...
The next day at noon, in the meeting room of the Esdeath residence, four members of the Hunter unit and Esdeath herself had gathered.
"White Night, share what you found."
Esdeath spoke first.
"Last night, I discovered the headquarters of the Night Raid unit on the outskirts of the imperial capital. More precisely, I found the defensive barrier set up by one of Night Raid's members. I chose not to alert them. If I'm not mistaken, there's a ninety percent chance Night Raid is stationed there."
The meeting room fell into dead silence.
"We must seek justice for our fallen comrades."
Will slammed the meeting table. The righteous young man's eyes were bloodshot, clearly having been investigating the deaths of his two companions recently.
"If the intel is correct, Night Raid currently has seven members. Based on White Night's previous encounters with them, even though we only have five, we have an advantage in combat strength. Decision made—the entire Hunter unit will mobilize."
Esdeath gave the order, never once mentioning the word "revenge."
In Esdeath's view, death only signified weakness, not something worth avenging. Night Raid was merely a target to be eliminated.
"Boss, should we bring the army along for the assault?"
Will asked.
"No need. This is a surprise attack. An army under a thousand would be useless, and over a thousand would be too easy to expose.
We'll act as the vanguard to pin down Night Raid, then have the army move in, surround them completely, and tighten the encirclement."
Esdeath's strategy was sound: first have the Hunter unit stall Night Raid, then bring in the overwhelming force.
Following Su Xiao's directions, the Hunter unit quickly arrived outside the forest. The combat members were:
Leader: Esdeath, Su Xiao, Heitong, Will, Bols.
"So this is Night Raid's headquarters. No wonder we couldn't find it before—hidden here all along."
Esdeath held a map showing the forest's terrain.
The terrain was excellent, surrounded by valleys, rivers, and other complex features.
"Heitong, you'll cover the rear."
Considering Heitong's Eight-Fang ability, Esdeath assigned her to cut off the enemy's retreat.
"Bols, Will, you two will act together."
Given Bols' weak close-combat ability, Esdeath paired him with Will.
"White Night, prepare to infiltrate. Once the battle starts, hold down Akame, the user of Murasame."
"Move out!"
The Hunter unit sprang into action. The members charged into the forest from different directions. A few kilometers away, tens of thousands of troops were already poised, ready to surround the forest once the battle began.
As the Hunter unit entered the forest, they immediately triggered Cross-Tail's alarm.
Inside the Night Raid headquarters, Lubbock, the user of Cross-Tail, sensed it at once.
"Unknown enemies approaching."
Lubbock shouted. The other Night Raid members quickly gathered near him.
"How many enemies?"
Najenda wasn't present, so Akame was the acting leader.
"Five in total, entering the nearby forest from four directions. They're fast. What do we do?"
Leone and the others looked grim. Their hideout had been exposed.
"Same strategy as always. First, test the enemy's strength. If things look bad, retreat and regroup at the temporary base."
Night Raid currently had six members, not the seven Esdeath had anticipated.
The six were: Akame, Tatsumi, Mine, Leone, Lubbock, and Sheele.
There was actually one more person, but that individual wasn't a core member of Night Raid.
Night Raid chose to fight. This would undoubtedly be a life-or-death struggle.
In the nearby forest, Su Xiao stood still. He didn't rush toward Night Raid's headquarters because an old acquaintance stood before him.
"It seems fate has brought us together again sooner than expected."
A man in a suit, fiddling with a tarot card, stood opposite Su Xiao. His name was Kort, a member of the Phantom Troupe, ranked 11th.
"Who knows."
Dragon-Slaying Flash appeared in Su Xiao's hand. When contractors from different factions met, there was only one outcome: life or death. Besides, there was only one key to complete the main mission, and the competition was fierce.
"Since we can't be teammates, let's have a fight. Let's see how luck treats us today."
The tarot cards in Kort's hand floated before him.
"Water, wind, and fire—three elements? Not bad. It seems you have a deathly aura today."
Kort surveyed the hundreds of tarot cards in front of him, a faint smile on his lips.
As a member of the Phantom Troupe, Kort was naturally no pushover. He was a mage who had mastered over seven hundred spell techniques.
That's right, over seven hundred.
Mobile users, please browse and read for a better reading experience.