After returning from the cemetery of death, Han Shuo discovered that Emily was standing next to him as soon as he reappeared from the secret chamber.
"So you've seen your little lover?" Emily immediately asked when she saw Han Shuo.
"Regarding those siege weapons that Bob Ascher asked for, Phoebe is completely out of the loop. Moreover, I told her everything and she will cooperate completely with our work. I think, we can conceal the fact that Phoebe is implicated in this." As he walked out of the transportation matrix, Han Shuo retrieved the six magical sticks one by one while explaining to Emily.
"If Phoebe is truly ignorant of the situation, then she won't be implicated in this matter. We of the Dark Mantle will definitely not treat a good person with injustice. In the future, you will know of this," Emily resolutely replied. Then she smiled tenderly and said, "You entered her room in the middle of the night, did she not mistake you as a rapist and beat you up?"
"Of course not," Han Shuo replied with a straight face.
Emily stared intently at Han Shuo, trying to decipher something, but she realized that Han Shuo's expression was bland with absolutely no particular changes.
"Alright alright, let's leave this matter as it is. I just received a message. That Belinda that you released contacted me using your method. I don't know what happened." After Emily realized that she could not read anything from Han Shuo's expression, she dropped the matter and continued to talk about proper business.
Before he released Belinda, Han Shuo had left her a means to contact him and told Emily about it so that she could keep an eye on it for him. Now, when he heard her say this, he immediately replied, "That's good. Then let's go meet Belinda right now to see what she wants."
Han Shuo traveled with Emily to the Dark Forest where he had previously killed the two Gryphon knights. Although he had already left some insurance on Belinda's body, Han Shuo continued to be very cautious. He had been utmost vigilant on the way here, afraid that he would fall into one of Belinda's schemes.
When Han Shuo entered the forest, he suddenly felt an enormous presence concealed inside.
This energy clearly did not originate from Belinda. Han Shuo immediately focused his attention and spoke softly to Emily who was right beside him, "Be careful. There's something unnatural inside."
Emily nodded her head and replied, "Indeed. It seems that Belinda isn't in the forest alone. It'll be better if we take precautions to avoid being lured into one of her traps."
"Relax. If Belinda dares to raise a finger against us, I will make her suffer the consequences," Han Shuo's expression was calm. He retrieved the Demonslayer Edge from his space ring and walked towards the depths of the forest.
Suddenly, a streak of blinding lightning, as thick as a man's arm, violently launched towards his body like a soaring dragon, zig-zagging in midair as it exploded with brilliant radiance. As it moved, some large trees around its path began to smoke with a chaotic creaking noise.
Han Shuo's brows furrowed as the Demonslayer Edge shot out at will. With a whoosh, it leapt past the trees that blocked his path and instantly stabbed towards the top of the streak of lightning.
Amidst a string of thunderous explosions, Han Shuo's Demonslayer Edge could sense a storm of vengeful sword aura infused with the power of lightning. Not even the Demonslayer Edge infused with Han Shuo's demonic power could continuously withstand this kind of incredibly violent and chaotic energy. In the blink of an eye after making contact, Han Shuo was visibly unsettled as he hurried to compel the Demonslayer Edge back to his palm.
"Who's there?" Emily, who was also very cautious at this point, called out delicately. She gripped her magic staff, her bright eyes affixed to the soaring lightning overhead.
"Calamity Church Thunder Magic Knight Johnny! I only wanted to see if the two of you have the qualifications to work with me!" From the mysterious depths of the forest, a deep voice suddenly shouted.
After this shout, a middle-aged man in black armour with with ash-silver hair emerged from deep within the forest alongside Belinda. An ugly scar ran from his forehead to his nose, adding even more harshness to his already ugly visage.
The moment he stepped out from the Dark Forest after speaking, his body had already launched rapidly towards the soaring lightning. With a luxurious flourish of his right hand, a milky white fighting aura flashed into existence. The suspended lightning seemed to be steered by a titanic force into the palm of his hand.
After the lightning had receded, Han Shuo realized that it was actually a long silver sword. Only, even now the sword was still covered by electricity that had yet to disperse, sparking occasionally with light.
The milky white fighting aura of this man spoke of the strength that he had as either a swordmaster or an Earth Rider. Combining this kind of potential with the lightning demonic arts that this person had cultivated, it was no wonder that this person was so powerful to the extent that even Han Shuo's Demonslayer Edge couldn't handle it.
From behind thunder mage swordsman Johnny's figure, the veil-adorned Belinda walked out slowly. When she reached Han Shuo, she first apologized briefly before turning around to Johnny. "Uncle Johnny, I already told you. Their potential qualifies them to work with us. Otherwise how could I have miscalculated?"
This man, Johnny, of the Calamity Church looked to be an extremely egotistical person, but he was still somewhat respectful towards Belinda. When he heard her say that, he could not help but nod and say, "Their potential can be considered passable, but cooperating with them will not benefit us much. Bob Ascher of the Gryphon Knights is a sky rider. These two people are no match for someone of his potential. Our only opportunity is if you can only use your golem to obstruct the surrounding people while I execute him."
Emily couldn't help but speak up when she heard this person's arrogance, "Apparently, apart from the Gryphon Legion Chief being a sky rider, there are five earth riders by his side. Add to that Clark's master, great swordmaster Gabriel, and two other water and earth archmages."
"Just based off of this alone, it has to be a divine swordmaster and a magister, or a divine knight acting in concert, or it'll be an empty dream to try to kill him alone. Heh heh, I see that although Mister Johnny is a thunder mage swordsman at the level of swordmaster, it won't be that easy for you once you truly start fighting Bob Ascher, not to mention the followers on his side."
Most people would know that Bob Ascher had a few followers by his side, but wouldn't know to the level of detail that the Dark Mantle was aware of. When Emily started describing all of Bob Ascher's followers in detail, even the arrogant Johnny's face changed drastically.
"Then, what aid can you bring us?" Johnny stood there silently with a stone-cold face and looked at Emily.
"No matter your goals in fighting Bob Ascher, I just want to tell you not to make moves lightly. Otherwise not only you, but even we will be dragged in as well. If we work together, we can provide you the intelligence on the people by Bob Ascher's side and can help you distract them for a short period of time, creating the appropriate moment for your assassination attempt." Emily revealed a confident smile and softly described what the Dark Mantle could do for Johnny.
"Uncle Johnny, this is precisely what we need!" Belinda suddenly spoke up beside Johnny.
"You're likely members of the Lancelot Empire?" Johnny wasn't an idiot and naturally made out Han Shuo and Emily's identity at this point.
Nodding, Emily admitted, "That's right. I hope you can keep this secret for us if we work together."
'Humph. You people are so fake. You'll cooperate with us when you need us, but will pretend you don't even know we exist when the matter passes. You'll come at us with everything you have." Johnny sneered with utmost sarcasm.
"Then the matter's settled then. We'll tell you if we find a suitable time to kill him in the next couple days. We'll let you know when the arrangements are made. You can make use of the time to find more helpers, otherwise it won't be that realistic in wanting to kill Bob Ascher." When Han Shuo saw Johnny's experience, he knew that although the latter didn't care for those who worked for the country, he seemed to be used to using others. He looked like he'd agreed to work together.
With the Calamity Church's current level of strength, it wasn't feasible to assassinate Bob Ascher alone. Han Shuo and Emily had agreed to work with them not because they hoped they could kill Bob Ascher, but they wanted to make use of the chaos to slip into his manor and obtain the information they needed, and then use the Dark Mantle's power to take him down.
"Alright, then this matter is settled. I hope you two don't get up to some tricks, or you'll regret it." Johnny finally agreed with a darkened face.