I was an apprentice in Ferren

Chapter 202 Hidden Assassination
At two o'clock in the morning, the carriage slowed down slightly, and all the people in the carriage opened their eyes. DuPont looked out the window at the bright stars.

Tonight, there's no wind or clouds, and under the moonlight, you can even see some birds dozing off—it's truly perfect weather!

"Are we almost there?" DuPont telegraphed the Baron. "Should we get off the train to avoid being spotted by potential enemy sentries?"

The baron, a cigarette dangling from his lips to keep himself awake, spoke somewhat indistinctly: "Don't worry, I have ways to monitor the front."

Even with divine magic, driving through the night was no easy task. He felt his back was protesting severely: "We're still three miles from the target valley. Even in peacetime, army scouts wouldn't be this far. How could these bandits be so vigilant?"

After hearing this, the group quieted down and began to reorganize their equipment and weapons.

"Your strength, physique, and agility are all beyond the reach of divine arts, so how about I grant you free movement and immunity to toxins?" Moonflower looked at DuPont and took out two bottles of potions: "I have some more here, Nikaf, take them for backup?"

“Alright.” DuPont didn’t stand on ceremony and opened a bottle and drank it all in one gulp. “You sisters should protect Jasmine and block the main gate. If any escapees get through, kill them directly and don’t take them prisoner. When you’re attacking, follow the original plan. Cui Xing, cast a spell on me and Dad. After that, you can protect yourself from behind. If anyone attacks from behind, just deal with them. There’s no need for a frontal battle.”

The sun elf nodded silently.

Indeed, as the other party said, the elves were mainly engaged in auxiliary work in this bandit suppression plan, which is why they were able to accept such a dangerous mission.

But as the moment approached, the elf's heart began to pound with anxiety as the carriage slowed down: although she was among the best elves of her age in terms of both level and strength, she didn't have much practical combat experience, and she had very few real life-or-death battles like this.

It's said there were about a hundred bandits; that number is simply outrageous.
"Can the two of you really handle this?" The Sun Elf asked uneasily. "It's said that this Jackal bandit gang has been rampant for over a decade. They must have their own unique methods to survive for so long. Even if we don't mention that their leader gets caught up in the chaos of battle, you'll probably be in for a lot of trouble."

When the Sun Elf said this, the other elves all looked at DuPont; in fact, they had the same doubts.

Although DuPont's plan was indeed meticulous, as the saying goes, even the most meticulous plans can have flaws. They only knew the approximate location of the bandits but had no idea about the situation inside. They didn't even know if there were any traps inside. If they made a mistake, it would be difficult to escape.

"There's no need to worry about that. Do you think I'm tired of living and looking for trouble?"

DuPont took out his longsword and applied sword oil to the blade to prevent it from becoming dull due to excessive blood loss: "I've already discussed it with Dad. His partner will be outside to warn us. If things get really dangerous and we can't escape, his pet will definitely give us a warning. Then you can help us."

The elves nodded, and then the carriage suddenly stopped, with a whooshing sound of wind coming from outside the window.

Just as the sun elf was about to chant a spell, the baron said, "Don't rush, I just took out a dozing scout, but it's time to get off the carriage."

"..." The group got out of the car quietly. DuPont took out the Dark Vision Ring. Although this little thing was not very valuable, it was his most frequently used item. He saw a person sitting against a tree with a bottle of wine at his feet. He was nailed to the tree stump and staring wide-eyed, but he could not say a word.

"DuPont, shouldn't these guys be fighting amongst themselves under your plan? How come they're still in the mood to drink?" the Sun Elf muttered under his breath.

DuPont was arrogant when he devised this plan, as if he had already manipulated the hearts of those bandits, and even they were fooled at the time.

“Bandits are not disciplined at all. At most, they only have a lip service to loyalty. But they do this business just to make money. If the spoils are not divided equally, they will inevitably fight amongst themselves. If we fabricate a shortfall of 10,000 gold for them out of thin air, they will definitely suspect that someone else did the job.”

"By the time we arrive, they may have already finished fighting, or if we're lucky, they might be fighting right now. We can then take advantage of the situation and benefit from the conflict between the two sides."

Thinking back to the other party's smug tone, the Sun Elf couldn't help but complain, "Big fisherman, explain yourself."

“We might have arrived a bit late; they’ve already finished dividing the loot.” DuPont slung his greatsword over his back, looking confident. “He’s still in the mood to drink, which means he’s not under any pressure. And if even the sentries are drinking, the people inside are probably already drunk. Isn’t this a perfect plan? I think you’ve lost your mind.”

The sun elf was deeply distressed by these words, but for a moment he didn't know how to refute them. At this moment, the light of divine magic was already shining in the night, and DuPont also released a group protective arrow. The baron's fingers glowed with green light as he touched the thickest tree next to him, closed his eyes, and after a while whispered.

“There is a cave 120 meters to the north that is their main entrance, with two sentries and one hidden sentry there. There is a hidden door behind a tree 90 meters to the northwest of this cave. There are few people there, so it is obviously not a commonly used door.”

"Plants talking?" The sun elf glanced at the baron; this old man seemed to have some skills. "Shall we enter through the secret door? There shouldn't be any traps in this kind of place, and even if there are locks, I can use knocking spells to break them. It feels safer."

“Hidden doors are rarely used, but they are usually heavily guarded, after all, they are your escape route.” The Baron quietly cast a spell, and the group immediately felt much lighter on their feet: “If the enemies are all drunk, it’s best to sneak in directly, while we can set traps at the back door to kill as many as possible.”

"When the time comes, you cast advanced invisibility spells on us all. Dad, you have a good sense of direction, so go straight in, kill the spies, put them in your spatial bag, and head straight for the secret door to wait. I'll rush in from the front and kill as many as possible."

As he spoke, he took out a scroll and gave his father an invisibility spell: "If there are too many enemies, retreat. Kill as many as you can, and it won't matter if a few escape."

"And what about you?" Moonflower looked at DuPont: "You're all staying there by yourself?"

“Most of the bandits in Harua are human, and they don’t have dark vision. In a panic, even if I’m dressed in this bandit outfit, they might not recognize me, not to mention I have other preparations.” DuPont smiled confidently. “Of course, I will try my best to take these people out silently. Maybe if I get lucky, these guys will all die in their sleep?”

"I hope you stay calm once you're inside." Moonflower stepped forward and straightened DuPont's collar. "Keep going! If you can't hold on, remember to cast a fireball or a lightning bolt to make a big commotion. We'll definitely come in to rescue you then."

"It's just a simple task, why make it sound like a life-or-death farewell?" DuPont shrugged, beckoned to the Sun Elf to hurry forward, and after the Moon Elf nodded in response, she followed. Watching his dashing departing figure, the Moon Elf couldn't help but stare blankly into thought.

Just like when we first met, this guy's confidence was overflowing, and it wasn't an act.

Where does this guy get his confidence from?

While a level 5 mage and a level 3 barbarian are indeed formidable, these two classes are not simply one plus one equals two; in fact, they can even counter each other. It's fair to say that they're neither one nor the other, and their actual combat ability is generally inferior to that of a proper fourth-ring mage.

But this guy is clearly not one of them. He even has a record of killing a fifth-ring mage and a priest head-on. The two of them killing a vampire is a task that even her team would find difficult to accomplish.

It's not that they can't be defeated; defeating them would be a piece of cake. The problem is that vampires are just as intelligent as mortals. If they sense something is wrong, they will simply run away. Killing such cunning monsters is a very difficult task.

She still doesn't understand how she did it.

After these days of getting to know him, she found that although DuPont was not exactly lazy, he could at most be considered diligent. However, he studied a lot of different things, which made him seem like he was not doing anything productive.

For example, the Nine Swords Manual that he often looked at in his spare time, in her memory there were people on Yongju Island who studied it, and their combat strength was also quite good. The most powerful one was called a master, a sword master who could fight three level 16 rangers at once. His strength in actual combat was so great that it would not be an exaggeration to call him a sword saint.

The problem is that the master is over 300 years old. Although he is still at his peak, his strength has not improved for a long time. He has high requirements for selecting disciples. Can this guy rely on self-study? Meanwhile, the moon elf is wondering if her childhood boyfriend has gone astray. At this moment, DuPont and the others have arrived at the cave entrance, about 30 meters away, and are pinching their noses.

The stench here is unbearable.

The area around the grove outside the cave reeked of urine, and there was vomit and ubiquitous "Oli Gei" (a type of spicy snack). Some people had even drunk too much and collapsed in the bushes, while the sentry at the entrance was fast asleep on the ground.

The sun elf frowned in disgust: "These guys don't even care about hygiene, and why do they insist on living in caves?"

"It's probably a place we've seized. These kinds of places are perfect – warm in winter and cool in summer, much more comfortable than building our own house." DuPont said, standing on tiptoe as the sleeping creature in the bushes slit its throat. "Let's stay here. Is this a sentry post?"

"That's right, but it seems they don't have any hidden sentries; they're just a drunkard."

Under the moonlight, a giant golden bird with a wingspan of eight meters glided silently through the air. The baron drew his bow, and a terrifying arrow with a blood groove struck the sentry's heart with pinpoint accuracy. The man instantly opened his eyes and cried out in pain. The person next to him opened his eyes groggily upon hearing this, but the next second, another arrow had already pierced his heart, and the splattered blood stained the wall red.

While demon hunters receive the most bonuses from their nemesis, humanoid creatures, who often appear as cultists, are naturally also among the ranger's nemesis choices.

The Baron silently deployed a detection trap, allowing him to proceed unimpeded.

This is truly a good omen.

"Miss Suisei, let's begin."

The Sun Elf nodded, her hands moving swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, the father and son had vanished without a trace.

She only felt a gust of wind, and knew that the two had left. She stared at the dark cave entrance, feeling a strange mix of emotions.

Although this was nothing for an elf with poor vision, the thought of fighting a hundred people, even if it was a sneak attack, made her legs tremble.

If they fail and are captured, death would be the only possible outcome.
Just as the sun elf was sweating and feeling dizzy, she suddenly noticed a few spots of blood on the ground not far away. A surprised voice came from in front of her, but quickly disappeared.

That man was DuPont.

However, the advanced invisibility spell only lasts for one minute. DuPont didn't bother to figure out what the elf was thinking and simply moved into the next room to quickly find out the fate of the others.

The bandits' dwellings were similar to cave dwellings, with no doors or windows, only a curtain for privacy. However, it was much cooler inside, though the smell of alcohol still lingered in the air.

The Elf Boots are silent, and DuPont's legendary white deerskin boots are even more waterproof, making assassinations incredibly convenient. As long as he doesn't kick the bottles and other debris, his only concern is his kill speed.

Even if you slit their throats, some warriors' powerful vitality might still allow them to shout out. Twisting their necks to kill is completely useless against some exceptionally gifted, neckless monsters. Only hitting their heart is the most effective way to kill them.

But his longsword was clearly too cumbersome for this task, since these bandits were all sleeping in beds, and his old dagger was also getting tiring. In the end, DuPont picked up the mace he had looted from the church to deal with the enemy.

This was the method that Man Shi taught him when he first slaughtered the cow: a human skull is not harder than a cow's, and a hammer can easily do the job.

Although the skull makes a sound when it hits the hammer, it only produces a dull thud. The victim kicks before they can even fart, making it incredibly efficient.

However, due to their strong vitality, these bandits would convulse before they died. Fortunately, even if they slept in the same room, they mostly slept in single beds, so they rarely disturbed others.

He easily took down eight people in a minute, but even after collecting their bodies, the stench of blood on DuPont grew stronger, causing him to frown.

It seems he still needs a magical item to neutralize his aura; otherwise, his exposure is likely inevitable sooner or later.
However, when DuPont opened another door after dealing with the 14th target, the barking of a dog made him frown.

Damn it, bad luck. If his cheapskate father had entered this room, he probably could have calmed this animal down instantly.

It seems that the profession of the wandering knight is not without its merits.
"Big Yellow, what are you yelling about in the middle of the night?"

The man sleeping inside groggily got up and cursed, but when he opened his eyes, he saw a "one of his own" wielding a blood-dripping hammer attacking him. The horrifying sight filled him with terror, and he grabbed the sword beside the bed: "Someone's here."

Before he could finish speaking, DuPont had already launched a fierce straight slash with his greatsword. The bandit instinctively tried to block, but how could his still-unconscious body keep up with the long-planned attack? His body, which was not protected by armor plates, was instantly cut in two.

The screams were deafening, and another person inside the room instinctively drew his sword, but before he could even get up, DuPont beheaded him.

But he knew that this was probably the last enemy he could easily defeat.

The tunnel was in complete disarray. The unspoken words left them bewildered, but they knew that the enemy had arrived.

While they shouted and tried to intimidate the enemy, they quickly put on their equipment, but DuPont was in no hurry. He simply activated a scroll quietly in the corridor.

Second-level Evocation spell: Darkness

To DuPont's surprise, the scroll failed immediately, and the burst of fire almost burned his eyebrows. He took out another one to activate, but the result was the same. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that it was a product from Huangsha Town.

Damn it, the sorcerer in this town actually sold him substandard goods to use as military supplies. Wait till I get back, I'll get my hands on him!
Activating the supplies left behind by the dark elves, thick, inky darkness instantly filled the tunnel. DuPont sheathed his greatsword, swapped it for a longsword, and pushed open a curtain: "My God, someone's rebelling!"

"A rebellion? Who is it? Could it be Jassim who escaped?" The man was shocked, but before he could ask any questions, a sword flashed and he was immediately terrified: "There's a traitor infiltrated!"

As he was speaking, a fan-shaped flash of fire streaked past. The sudden light made him instinctively close his eyes, but before the burning sensation could even reach him, the pain in his abdomen rendered him unable to utter another word.

"Jassim has escaped! He's going to kill us all!" Although he didn't know who this person was, since the other party had mentioned it, it meant that he had planned it all along, so he might as well take advantage of it.

DuPont shouted as he shook the blood off his sword and, in the blink of an eye, lifted the curtain to another room.

The night is still long.
(End of this chapter)