As soon as Lux gave the order, Draven and King Leoric made their move.
They were the two in charge of capturing Lucius, while the others were on standby to deal with any situation that might arise if they failed on their first attempt.
Since Draven had marked Lucius' shadow, he knew the exact location of the merchant, so they didn't hesitate to infiltrate the Merchant Guild in order to find him.
However, as someone who had offended many people in the past, Lucius made sure that his living quarters were well-protected from any kind of assassination attempt.
The merchant's personal room was actually deep underground, surrounded by many Elite Guards as well as Traps for those who would even attempt to harm his life.
Draven and the Wraith King worked hand in hand in order to neutralize these obstacles along the way. When they finally arrived underground, they found themselves in what seemed to be a maze, which was made to confuse any assassin lucky enough to go past Lucius' first line of defense.
"What a tricky fellow," Leoric said. "And here I thought that there wasn't someone more paranoid than my brother in the past."
"Good thing it doesn't run in the family," Draven replied. "Now, follow me."
The Shadow Lord and the Wraith King didn't need to wander around the maze because Draven could sense the lingering life force that Lucius had left behind. The two of them advanced for five minutes before facing a wall, which seemed to be a dead end.
However, Draven wasn't fazed and simply pressed his hand on one part of the wall.
A moment later, a narrow passage appeared, wide enough for only one person to pass through.
After entering the passageway, Draven and Leoric found themselves in an open space, where several Guards were positioned to intercept anyone who was lucky enough to stumble upon the hidden doorway.
"I knew it," Ferron said with his arms crossed over his chest. "Two Assassins, and from the look of it, you're not Dwarves."
Lucius' right-hand man narrowed his gaze as he held a short sword in each hand.
"What organization do the two of you belong to?" Ferron asked. "Who ordered you to assassinate my employer?"
Draven and Leoric were wearing black robes and masks to cover their entire beings. Lux had already anticipated that the possibility of a confrontation was there, so he made sure that his two subordinates were wearing masks to hide their identity.
"Make a guess," Leoric replied before charging toward Ferron.
Now that a battle was imminent, the only thing he needed to do was deal with the defenders who were blocking their path.
"Fool," Ferron replied before stomping his foot on the ground.
Immediately, a ringing sound reverberated in the surroundings, alerting all the guards, as well as their hired help, that intruders had appeared inside the Merchant's Guild.
A barrier of light then flashed between Leoric and Ferron, which protected the Dwarf from Leoric's sword strike.
When the sword hit the barrier, the underground shelter shook due to the impact of the Wraith King's attack.
This single strike made Ferron's face turn solemn, now understanding how powerful the assassin was.
'This bastard is stronger than me,' Ferron thought. 'Fortunately, this barrier has the ability to withstand three full strikes of a Dreadnaught-Ranked Monster. But, it will not last for long.'
King Leoric, who had his attack blocked by the barrier, only smiled beneath his mask.
In the past, he was a Saint.
But after dying and getting corrupted by the Abyss, his Rank degraded, and he had even turned into a monster.
Even so, the Wraith King persevered and waited for the day when he and his people would be liberated from the eternal prison that prevented them from crossing over to the next life.
This was why, when Lux appeared, he had vowed that he would repay him until his debt was fulfilled.
"Fool," King Leoric muttered as he once again raised his sword to slash the light barrier in front of him. "Only children would think that this barrier of yours is indestructible!"
King Leoric's second strike was stronger than the first, causing the barrier to shatter completely.
Even Ferron, who thought that the barrier would survive two more strikes, was surprised to see that it was destroyed by the intruder's second blow.
However, the barrier was only a stop-gap measure for what he and Lucius had prepared for any strong assassins that would come to assassinate the Head Merchant.
When King Leoric was about to unleash his strike against Ferron, he sensed five more powerful presences that were about to attack him from different directions.
Because of this, the Wraith King didn't hesitate to distance himself from Lucius' right-hand man to better assess the situation.
'Five additional High-Rankers,' Draven thought. 'It seems that Lucius secretly asked for reinforcements without me knowing.'
Since Draven could only monitor Lucius' location as well as hear things around the Merchant, he didn't notice that the Merchant had written a letter and given it to Ferron earlier in the day.
This was a request asking for their Guild Leader to send some strong fighters to help him get rid of the offenders who seemed to be targeting him personally.
As one of the important Honorary Elders of Twilight Rain, the Guildmaster of the Dark Guild took his request seriously and ordered the Rankers and High-Rankers that were near Whitebridge City to assist in eliminating those who were targeting his undercover agent.
Aside from the High-Rankers, who were now facing off against Leoric, twenty more Rankers ranging from D-Rank to C-Rank entered the room from the back.
This proved just how important Lucius was to Twilight Rain and that the organization couldn't risk losing him anytime soon.
'Master, Plan A has failed,' Draven reported. 'It seems that they were expecting assassins to infiltrate the Merchant Guild tonight.'
'Is that so?' Lux's words, which were filled with regret, resounded inside Draven's mind. 'Very well, time for Plan B.'
High above the sky, Lux glanced in the direction of the inn where Nevreal and Robin were staying.
He said earlier that he wouldn't fight in the city, but after the middle-aged Dwarf subtly told him that the surrounding area near the Merchant Guild was owned by Lucius, he made a backup plan just in case things went south.
"Sorry, but things are going to get a little noisy around here," Lux said as he ordered his Named Creatures, as well as the members of his Covenant, to infiltrate the Merchant Guild and reinforce Draven and King Leoric.
He then summoned his Undead Warriors to surround all the exits in the residence, preventing anyone from escaping.
Eiko, who was on top of Lux's head, giggled before summoning her Slime Army and Terrorist Squad.
Since peace was no longer an option, it was time to blow things up.
Lux's first fight against the Rankers of Twilight Rain using his own army was finally about to unfold.
And thus, a night battle that the residents of Whitebridge City would remember for years to come was about to blow up, and wake them up from their peaceful slumber.
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