Wizards begin with Occlumency.

Chapter 126 In the Chase

Andrea Norman was dumbfounded.

This is completely different from the task details that were agreed upon beforehand.

Didn't we agree that we would just find an opportunity to report our location and then ignore everything else?

How could you do this? You broke your promise!

Andrea's chest heaved violently; she was truly enraged and conveyed her attitude in a secret message.

She didn't want to personally lead a group to kill Link Grand.

If we can actually kill them, then it's no big deal.

If the opponent manages to escape or even kills you, that would be absolutely terrible.

In this world, being defeated once simply means being eliminated from the competition; it doesn't have any particularly serious consequences.

The problem arose after the competition between the two districts ended.

Andrea had heard many rumors about Link Grand's ruthlessness and vengefulness.

Almost everyone who had a conflict with the other side died.

Having expressed her stance, Andrea waited anxiously for a reply.

A moment later, she received a reply, but she was even more dumbfounded.

"Do as I say! Or I'll kill you too!"

Trish Lucia showed no restraint whatsoever, and even disdained to use the inside manipulator's weaknesses against him, instead issuing a blatant personal threat.

The chilling killing intent was precisely conveyed to Andrea Norman through a secret code.

She felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave, the cold seeping into her very bones.

My heart felt like it was being clenched in an instant, and I felt an indescribable panic.

The image of Antoine Hilton, the once high-ranking president of the "New Blood Mutual Aid Society," lying on the ring like a dead dog, his body mangled and left unclaimed for a long time, flashed through my mind.

The panic intensified.

Andrea's forehead broke out in a cold sweat.

She knew that those people carried an alchemical artifact that could actually kill people inside.

Moreover, those people weren't joking; they were genuinely capable of killing her if she didn't follow orders.

"Don't blame me, I was forced into it!"

After muttering to herself for a while, Andrea gritted her teeth, made up her mind, got up, lifted the tent flap, and went outside.

Faced with a life-or-death decision, she chose to live and let others die.

"Koren".

Andrea patted Dalton Colum's tent and called out softly.

"You're still up, Andrea? What's up?"

Dalton poked his head out, but his face was hidden in the shadows, making it impossible to see his expression.

"Let's leave Berry and Valvez aside for now and go find your boss."

Andrea deliberately lowered her voice, seemingly not wanting Lutz Berry and Bamir Valvez, whose tents were some distance apart, to hear, "They're terrible, they don't even know how to arrange night watch. It's much better for us to be with you, Boss, than with them."

"are you sure?"

Upon hearing this, Dalton lowered his head, as if seriously considering the feasibility of the proposal.

After a long silence, he finally raised his head and asked in a rather detached tone, "Sincere unity and mutual assistance. You used to believe in that, are you going to abandon that principle today?"

Andrea was preoccupied with how to subtly persuade Dalton to take her to find someone, and didn't notice this unusual detail.

She explained, "I haven't given up. We can't unite with Lutz Berry and Bamir Valvez anymore, so why keep fighting? They were the ones who changed their minds first, the ones who broke the rules first, not me."

"All right."

Dalton readily accepted Andrea's explanation and began to consider the practical issue, "What about the tent?"

Dismantling the tent will inevitably cause a bigger commotion.

Their words may have already caught the attention of Lutz Berri and Bamir Valvez.

"Ignore them, let's do our thing."

Andrea didn't care about anything else at this point. If it weren't for not wanting to appear too anxious, she wouldn't have bothered with the tent at all.

Is a tent more important than life?

Dalton then stepped out of the tent and began to disassemble it carefully.

In no time, both tents were dismantled and packed into our bags.

Even if they moved very quietly, they still made some noise, which Lutz Berry and Bamir Valvez couldn't possibly miss.

However, the two of them stayed in the tent the entire time without coming out to check or inquire.

Dalton was suspicious and wanted to see if something had happened to them.

"Hurry up, before they come out, to avoid trouble."

Andrea then urged him on, and Dalton, after thinking for a moment, gave up the idea of checking Lutz Berry and Bamir Valvez's condition.

At this point in time, Lutz Berg and Bamir Valvez have become minor details and don't need to be taken too seriously.

The two left, and under the bright moonlight, they headed in the direction Link had gone.

"The inside man has acted."

Through the reconnaissance artifacts, the members of "Pureblood Will" monitored the movements of Dalton Coron and Andrea Norman throughout the entire process, and immediately reported upon discovering their departure.

"Send out all the reconnaissance magic tools to conduct thorough investigations, in case of any trap."

Trish Lucia frowned slightly, sensing something was off, so she steadied herself and gave the order.

"Yes."

The two "Pureblood Will" members in charge of reconnaissance received their orders and immediately began operations.

Three circular flying saucer-shaped reconnaissance devices and two bionic eagles hovered high in the sky, covering a vast area of over ten kilometers in radius around them.

Dalton Cullen and Andrea Norman's movements were tracked and broadcast live throughout the entire incident.

"Report: No abnormalities found."

A moment later, the two reported almost simultaneously, without any difference in timing.

The arrow is on the string, and it must be released.

"action!"

Trish Lucia waved her right hand, issuing the command, "Search forward, beware of ambushes."

In a mountain hollow, inside a cave.

Link and Iris Clark had already discovered Trish Lucia and her group's whereabouts through the perspective of the bionic eagle.

To avoid being exposed, Link had Iris recall the bionic eagle.

Then, he began the next step of the ambush plan: luring the enemy into a trap.

Link tidied up his gear, leaving the large bag in the tent.

Over the cloak of the "Defender 3202" suit, another cloak with extremely special functions was put on, ready to set off.

"Hey."

Iris Clark called out, and seeing Link turn around, she tossed him a sphere. "This is a one-time-use magical artifact for escape. Before using it, drip a drop of your own blood into it, then activate it with your mental power to create a temporary clone for easy escape."

Thanks.

Link took the ball without hesitation and stuffed it into his pocket.

Iris laughed maniacally again, "No need to thank me yet. I'm just giving you a heads-up: when the time is right, I don't care if anyone gets hurt. I'll just blow it up, okay?"

According to Link's ambush plan, the two had a clear division of labor: Link would lure the enemy, and Iris would detonate the trap.

As we all know, there is no perfect plan in the world.

Link's impromptu plan had many flaws.

The biggest problem is that there's no guarantee that only the enemy will be injured when the trap is triggered.

It is highly likely that Link will have to use himself as bait to lure the enemy into a trap and keep them calm.

Iris had heard from the wizard Celine that Link Grand was a suspicious and paranoid man.

As teammates, it's much more effective to clarify things beforehand than to explain them afterward.

She had just given him an escape device and given him advance notice, indicating that if she did blow up Link, it would be an accident, not intentional.

"Yes, don't worry about me."

Link nodded, giving his opinion.

His life-saving equipment is not limited to the "Defender 3202" suit.

The tiny, belated reward from the wizard Celine was truly a tiny bit.

In addition to exchanging for a chance to draw cards, purchasing four reconnaissance golems and a powerful weapon, Link also found a special cloak and a second-hand, one-time-use life-saving magical artifact at the West District black market.

After verification by the wizard Paro, it is indeed genuine, usable, and highly effective. It can completely withstand a blow from a powerful weapon, so it's like finding a bargain.

When Link turned the tables on the pureblood trio, he dared to fight so fiercely because of the life-saving magical artifact he possessed.

This time, Link's confidence also stemmed from this.

Therefore, he dared to use himself as bait, unafraid of being bombed, and unafraid of Iris Clark's backstabbing.

At worst, they'll just run away.

Before leaving the cave, Link put on the special cloak, and he quickly blended into the surrounding environment.

Not only are they difficult to distinguish with the naked eye, but they also cannot be detected by various reconnaissance modes of round flying saucers and bionic eagles.

This is the top-of-the-line version of the optical invisibility cloak that Link used at the academy; it can defend against the detection of most reconnaissance artifacts.

Unfortunately, there are only two uses left, so it cannot be reused indefinitely.

Link's figure disappeared into the night.

Iris Clark stared intently at the direction Link had chosen, remaining motionless for a long time.

After a long while, a bright, sunny smile bloomed on her face.

However, combined with her gaze, it all seemed very eerie.

It's a contradiction.

Although she was smiling happily, she gave off an overwhelming sense of sorrow.

This is an old problem.

When you get too excited, you can't control your emotions.

Iris snapped out of her daze, raised her hand, and wiped away the sorrow and inner turmoil from the corners of her eyes and mouth.

In the darkness of night, under the "moonlight," Iris Clark exuded a fiery and indomitable fighting spirit.

Link quickly stealthily arrived at a pre-selected spot suitable for setting up camp and made some initial arrangements.

Judging that Dalton Corren and Andrea Norman were about to reach the area where the early warning devices were set up,

He immediately pulled back his special cloak, exposing himself to the "Pureblood Will's" reconnaissance.

Crouching low, he darted out of the camp and sped towards the mountain hollow.

The only items left at the deliberately created campsite, marked with signs of sleeping outdoors, were the captured functional rune items.

Link pretended to have spotted members of the "Pureblood Will" group, but believed that these functional rune items had exposed his whereabouts.

Whether they believe it or not, we'll just create a cloud of doubt.

"Something's up; the target appears to have been spotted."

One of the "Pureblood Will" members in charge of reconnaissance noticed Link's actions and quickly reported it.

At the same time, he made a quick decision and deployed a bionic eagle to keep track of Link's figure the whole time.

Another bionic eagle was dispatched to descend to a lower altitude and get closer to scout the place where Link had come out.

The typical campsite terrain, signs of sleeping outdoors, and carelessly discarded rune items were all suspicious.

"How is the situation?"

Trish Lucia pressed on coldly.

"Report."

The reconnaissance team projected the image of the camp, zoomed in, circled several runic items discarded on the ground, and reported to the leader, "We've found some suspicious items."

Trish Lucia turned her head and immediately recognized that these were the equipment of the missing trio.

The person moving quickly away from them appears to be Link Grand.

Judging from the various signs, the other party must have discovered them somehow and then fled in a hurry.

Considering that the missing trio also carried a circular flying saucer-shaped reconnaissance device, this hypothesis is highly likely to be true.

But Trish Lucia instinctively felt that things were going too smoothly.

She had a feeling that there was a trap ahead of them!

However, what troubled her most was that even knowing there might be a trap ahead, she still had to keep chasing.

Otherwise, if we let our target slip away and miss the opportunity, who will take responsibility?

Trish Lucia thought it over carefully and made arrangements.

She had a circular flying saucer and a bionic eagle lock onto the target from different directions.

The other two circular flying saucers searched diligently for any other reconnaissance magical artifacts.

The last bionic eagle circled near their group, patrolling and keeping watch to prevent an ambush.

"Be careful, everyone. The target isn't easy to deal with. Watch out for traps and ambushes."

Trish Lucia finished her adjustment but still issued a warning, emphasizing the importance of caution.

"Yes."

The six members of "Pureblood Will" responded in unison.

Then they automatically split into two groups, one on the left and one on the right, forming a pincer shape, and slowly followed Dalton and Andrea behind them.

Instead of rushing past the two men, they directly pursued the person suspected to be their target.

Since two reconnaissance devices have already locked onto the other party and are monitoring their movements in real time, there's no need to rush.

First, follow the inside man and see if you can trigger any more situations.

The more information you have, the greater your chances of success.

Under the "moonlight," the three groups split into three segments, each with different thoughts and paces, making their way through the night.

Link returned to the mouth of the mountain pass, put on the special cloak, and activated it.

The figure immediately became undetectable.

This sudden change caught Trish Lucia completely off guard, who was slowly following behind Dalton Collen and Andrea Norman.

"屮!"

Trish Lucia couldn't help but curse out loud.

The target didn't disappear earlier or later, but chose this terrain, which is perfect for setting traps and ambushes, to pull off this stunt. It's no longer a conspiracy, but an open scheme.

It was practically a blatant question to her: I've found out about you guys, do you still dare to keep pursuing me?

Trish Lucia is faced with a difficult choice.

If we continue to pursue them, we are very likely to be ambushed or fall into a trap at the target's designated battlefield.

If we don't pursue them, since the other party has such a magical artifact that can evade detection, it will take a lot of time and energy to find their whereabouts again, and we may not even be able to find them in time.

"Notify our contact to go to the place where the target disappeared and investigate the situation."

Trish Lucia pondered for a moment, then made her decision and issued the order.

Regardless of whether there are traps ahead, this battle is inevitable.

Rather than barging in without knowing anything, it's better to send an inside agent to scout ahead first.

Anyway, this mole has most likely been exposed, so his death is no big deal.

"Yes."

The reconnaissance member who had been in contact with the inside agent responded.

He took out his communicator and sent the latest instructions to his inside contact via coded language.

Andrea felt the earring vibrate, received the message about the transformation of the emerald, and was dumbfounded once again.

What?

I not only need to lead the way, but also explore the path.

A chill ran through my entire body.