Chapter 23: The Messenger
Outside the ancient castle, Su Xiao stood waiting in the black mist. The first, second, and third floors of the castle had been cleared, with only a small number of enemies on the fourth floor still putting up a desperate resistance.
The underground first and second floors of the castle had also been cleaned out, while the third underground floor was currently being cleared, with no enemies found there yet.
Su Xiao wasn't worried about any enemies escaping. Compared to combat, the Black Curse Crows had stronger reconnaissance abilities, and they were responsible for clearing out the slave traders and other ruffians associated with pirates on the island.
The entire Sinking Ship Island was completely sealed off. Even if enemies could burrow through the ground, it wouldn't matter. The island was surrounded by the sea, and a total of ten Cursed People had transformed into shadows within the waters, patrolling the surrounding sea area.
The Doom Number was also at sea. In the bottom hold of the ship's bow, one Cursed Person was controlling the bow cannon hidden within the hull. If any enemy ship approached, they would immediately fire a shot.
Su Xiao looked toward the fourth floor of the castle. Two contractors were hiding inside, but their specific details were still unknown.
After waiting for a few minutes, the contractors hidden in the castle finally couldn't hold out any longer. The Parasitic Insect Guards were almost all killed. Once they were gone, it would only be a matter of time before the contractors were discovered, and then they would be surrounded by the Cursed People.
With a loud bang, a window on the fourth floor of the castle shattered. Two figures burst out. The taller one charged straight toward Su Xiao, while the shorter one fled into the distance.
"Amus, I want him alive."
Su Xiao spoke. Behind him, within the black mist, one of the Cursed People nodded. Compared to the others, Amus Murray had a clearer consciousness and could execute commands that weren't too complex. It could only be said that he was worthy of being the ancestor of General Murray.
Amus led five Cursed People as they vanished into the black mist to pursue the fleeing short figure. The sky was filled with Black Curse Crows, and Baha, who had just returned, was mixed in among them. This situation was the most desperate. Even using spatial-type items wouldn't allow escape.
A female contractor dressed in a white robe stood before Su Xiao. She wore a hood and had golden pupils.
These pupils seemed somewhat familiar to Su Xiao. He had encountered someone similar before and had slain that person.
A subtle fluctuation spread around the female contractor. Sensing this fluctuation, Su Xiao was quite surprised. This fluctuation was... a Spellcaster.
A Spellcaster had actually entered a Primordial World. Even if it was a fully open Primordial World notarized by the Void Tree, Spellcasters were basically unable to enter, unless it was a special situation like the Strongest Warrior Tournament.
Alternatively, could it be that the contractor had inherited the abilities of a Spellcaster? This wasn't impossible, just very rare. The key to inheriting a Spellcaster's abilities lay in Arcane Eternal Star and the plundering of natural elements.
Su Xiao looked at the female contractor a dozen meters away. He had a very strong feeling that this was a Spellcaster, one from Arcane Eternal Star. This was his instinct as a Shadow of Law Destruction. Even the Cyan Steel Shadow Energy within him had become slightly more active.
How had a Spellcaster entered a fully open Primordial World? The possibility of obtaining entry qualifications was first ruled out by Su Xiao. The other party had a mark from some Paradise. This wasn't a mistake. The fluctuations of different Paradise marks were too distinct. When two contractors met by chance, a preliminary perception could determine which Paradise the other came from, precisely because of the different fluctuations between the marks.
A Spellcaster with a Paradise mark, and one from Arcane Eternal Star at that—this combination made Su Xiao think of one person: Huishenshi.
Huishenshi could manipulate many "puppets," meaning contractors controlled through special means. The Illusionist encountered in the Primordial Continent back then was one of Huishenshi's half-abandoned "puppets."
This might seem like Huishenshi's strongest ability, but that wasn't the case. Huishenshi's most heaven-defying ability was that he could, through some method, strip the mark from a defeated opponent. The several marks in the Mad Doctor's hands were gifts from Huishenshi.
If Huishenshi had gifted one of those stolen marks to Mage Sage Seraphilia, and the two had reached some kind of cooperation, then that mark would eventually be implanted into the female Spellcaster before him.
A bolder conjecture was that this ambush had nothing to do with Mage Sage Seraphilia. It was planned by the female Spellcaster before him. If that were the case, many things would be explained.
Although Mage Sage Seraphilia's first two assassination attempts had both failed, they had clear purposes. The first was sending an assassin unrelated to magic, and the second was having her disciple test whether the Li Element could fight evenly with a Law Destroyer.
Though they failed, both attempts were purposeful, allowing Seraphilia to gather quite a bit of intelligence.
This time was different. Su Xiao couldn't see what benefit this assassination attempt could bring to Mage Sage Seraphilia. Even if she wanted to fail, it couldn't be this pointless.
To put it simply, this matter might have nothing to do with Mage Sage Seraphilia. It was likely planned by the female Spellcaster before him.
She knew Huishenshi. After paying a certain price, Huishenshi helped her implant a mark, allowing her to enter the fully open Primordial World. However, she would gain no benefits from it. Moreover, she was constantly at risk of being discovered by Hunters, Battle Angels, and others.
This female Spellcaster was an Eighth Rank combatant. Unless she held a very high position in Arcane Eternal Star, it would be impossible for her to offer compensation that would tempt Eighth Rank contractors.
Alternatively, she might have disguised herself as Mage Sage Seraphilia and promised something to the hired contractors, such as magical items from Arcane Eternal Star or the yield of the Black Maple Tree.
Mage Sage Seraphilia held a very high position in Arcane Eternal Star, in the first tier. Above her was only the Supreme Being.
This assassination attempt was planned by the woman before him, with Huishenshi assisting. And judging by Huishenshi's intentions, he was only offering advice and not directly participating.
If it were a Spellcaster from Mage Sage Seraphilia's generation, Su Xiao would be very wary. But as for a new-generation Spellcaster coming to assassinate him, he wasn't particularly concerned.
It could be said that Su Xiao and the younger generation of Spellcasters had experienced completely different things.
Su Xiao had fought and killed in various worlds, facing opponents like the Old Lion, Monarch Harold, Ironfeather King, Alien King, and Source Guardian. Among these, some were super old schemers, some were incredibly powerful, sweeping everything with a hooked spear, and some had guarded an object for a thousand years for the sake of a promise.
Besides these strong individuals from Primordial Worlds, Su Xiao had also clashed with many contractors from various Paradises.
In contrast, the new-generation Spellcasters basically trained within the Void. The Black Abyss was already a dangerous place for them. Beyond that, they engaged in battles of wits and courage with the new generations of other major Void races. Winning made them outstanding, and the probability of dying if they lost wasn't high.
At this moment, the key information was fourfold: