Everything was proceeding according to plan. Lawrence had first made arrangements to alter the protective detail from the Gryphon Legion. Emily then used the power of the Dark Mantle to restrain three out of five great earth riders by Bob Ascher's side.
Belinda and Johnny from the Calamity Church walked in and out of the crowd for a bit before disappearing without a trace. Belinda nodded at Han Shuo and Emily from afar, indicating that she had made her preparations.
"Let's go. Be careful and let's head for the secret room." Seeing that they had done all that needed to be done, Han Shuo didn't continue to linger, but avoided the guests and made his way to Bob Ascher's bedroom.
There would've been a heavy guard along the way, but Lawrence's man had made arrangements beforehand, so the three of them had an easy stroll down.
When the three of them paused behind an artificial mountain and peered at Bob Ascher's room, they discovered many Gryphon Legion soldiers standing in front of the door.
Each had solemn expressions, and the faint scent of those who had weathered multiple battlefields emanated from their tall, well built bodies. It was easy to tell from a glance that they wouldn't be easy to handle.
"Lawrence said that the soldiers around Bob Ascher were all his most trusted men and have overcome many battles and skirmishes with him. All of them are unafraid of death and won't listen to anyone else's commands apart from Bob Ascher himself. Therefore, Lawrence's man had no way to do anything about them either." Han Shuo glanced at those men and explained lowly to Emily.
Emily nodded, "Mm, the Dark Mantle knows of this as well. We must personally take out this group of people ourselves, or we'll be unable to enter at all."
Soldiers were standing on top of the roof and at every window. Unless they could fly through the dirt, even with Han Shuo and Emily's extreme abilities, they would find it impossible to avoid these people's eyes.
"Alright, we'll wait for a bit. The entire manor will be engulfed in chaos as soon as the Calamity Church makes their move, regardless of their success." Han Shuo thought for a moment and then responded to Emily.
"Honored master, what should I do in a moment?" Gilbert's face was filled with excitement as he looked towards Han Shuo.
"Master?" Emily asked in astonishment and looked at Han Shuo with considerable confusion. She then looked at Gilbert, "How can he be your master? Did he buy you as a slave?"
Looking at Emily with immense disdain, Gilbert said proudly, "A brainless bimbo alright. As a legendary dark dragon of the mighty Dark Dragon City, I, Gilbert, would never become a slave!"
"Dark… Dark Dragon City? You say you're from the Dark Dragon City beneath the ground?" Emily was greatly taken aback.
"Haha, you've heard of our great name as well?" Gilbert was quite happy to see that Emily seemed to know of the Dark Dragon City. He puffed his chest out and said solemnly, "Indeed, I am the future legend of the Dark Dragon City."
"Mm, he's not my slave, but more like my magical pet." Han Shuo smiled faintly at the flabbergasted Emily.
Gilbert immediately deflated when those words were said. As a dark dragon, it wasn't an honorable thing to be someone's pet. But that was the truth, and there wasn't much he could refute. He could only hang his head and sigh, "So darned unlucky that I was besieged by so many people the first time I left home. How would I have been afraid of you otherwise?!"
Emily had been a bit disbelieving, and the shock on her face only deepened when she heard Han Shuo and Gilbert speak thus. Her bright eyes fixed upon Han Shuo as she asked shakily, "He, he really is a dark dragon?"
Nodding, Han Shuo confirmed very firmly for her, "Absolutely. This stupid dragon was being attacked on all sides from a dark elf clan, and they paid a heavy price to wound him deeply. I was going to take advantage of it and harvest his core or something, but he was the one without the slightest bit of dark dragon dignity and shamelessly wanted to sign a master and servant contract with me, becoming my magical pet!"
"Hehe, dark dragons are the most shameless and evil of all dragons, what kind of dignity do they have?" Emily was delighted by Han Shuo's explanation and looked at the dejected Gilbert, chuckling with sarcasm.
"Beautiful women can sometimes be so hateful!" Gilbert was thoroughly incensed as he glared at Emily and spoke with gritted teeth.
A shrill scream sounded out at this moment as all sorts of panicked footsteps suddenly exploded into hearing. The sounds of horses screaming were mixed in, as well as all sorts of weapons clanging against each other.
"The Calamity Church has made their move, but we still don't know anything as of now. Why does the Calamity Church want Bob Ascher dead? Just what kind of grudge exists between them?" Joy blossomed over Emily's face as she said excitedly.
Han Shuo chuckled coldly with a sinister face, "According to my thinking, it doesn't matter whether or not the Calamity Church succeeds this time. Johnny and Belinda will be grievously hurt, if not dead. We'll capture them as well and slowly interrogate them."
"Master, you're too ruthless and despicable!" Gilbert couldn't help but cry out with excitement when he saw that Han Shuo was ready to move against his allies
"Gilbert, are you mocking me?" Han Shuo's brow creased as he flicked a frosty glance at Gilbert.
Shaking his head ferociously, Gilbert hastened to protest, "No, no! I'm complimenting you! Your methods are the same as the teachings of my wise and courageous grandpa, thoroughly embodied with the essence of the superior heritage of us dark dragons!"
Emily had just said that the dark dragons were evil and despicable dragons, but Han Shuo finally understood her words after he'd heard Gilbert's praise. It sounded like he's both praised and cursed Han Shuo.
Several places within the manor suddenly lit up in flame before Han Shuo had a chance to lecture Gilbert. The manor had already been engulfed in chaos beforehand, and now it was suffused with all sorts of panicked screams. The guards from the Gryphon Legion appeared as well, frantically trying to deal with the situation.
"Phoebe and Candice have also made their move, it's our turn now." Han Shuo stopped bickering with Gilbert and set his sights on Bob Ascher's room with a serious expression.
Emily's charming face was equally grave as she took out a magic staff and lowly sang out a dark magic spell. Several shadows that looked like demons started soundlessly approaching the guards.
The Demonslayer Edge danced through the air according to Han Shuo's thoughts, swiftly approaching a man at the door. Just as it reached the point where the person might discover the weapon, Han Shuo's magical yuan suddenly exploded and greatly increased the Demonslayer Edge's speed. A howling sound rose as it punched through the neck of the now alarmed guard.
"Assassins!" Someone screamed shrilly. The eight Gryphon Legion guards hastily raised the longswords and spears in their hands, planning on handling the danger that would appear at any time.
Emily's dark magic spell landed into the two guards it first encountered, causing them to bleed continuously and then fall down bonelessly after a while. The five guards behind them released their fighting auras in time, destroying the effects of this spell and weren't injured.
Because of Lawrence's man, the immediate surroundings had been cleared. No matter how the guards called out, no one answered them. Han Shuo and the three others didn't continue hiding after this blow and directly rushed out from the darkness.
Contrary to Emily's expectations, Gilbert's speed was the fastest. Even though he was in human form, the ferociousness of a dark dragon wasn't something that an ordinary person could imagine. Gilbert rushed out excitedly and acted like a bulldozer, grabbing the spear of the first guard Han Shuo had killed and charging the other people.
Although his target was a journeyman swordsman and was releasing an uncommon fighting aura. Gilbert stabbed through him with a single thrust, sending him flying to one side, dead before he hit the floor. When his fighting aura crashed onto Gilbert, Gilbert only grunted softly and wasn't injured at all.
Emily was sorely surprised by this blow, and finally truly accepted Gilbert's identity as a dark dragon. Han Shuo knew of this already and so wasn't surprised, walking over leisurely and directing the Demonslayer Edge to dance wildly, using a bewildering pattern to kill another two Gryphon Legion soldiers.
These soldiers were mostly journeyman or senior swordsmen and knights, and were actually not terrible. Their job was to thoroughly defend this place, and to summon greater experts when enemies came knocking.
If it hadn't been for Lawrence's man within the Gryphon Legion, the first cry of "assassin!" would've been enough to summon vast troops of the Gryphon Legion. If this had been the case, Han Shuo and the others would only be able to flee for their lives.
As Emily attacked once again with dark magic, the remaining two guards finally fell down. Seeing that the obstacles had been cleared, Han Shuo spoke to Gilbert, "Stay here on guard, notify us if anything happens."
Han Shuo flung a look at Emily after speaking and the two of them carefully pushed open the door, walking into Bob Ascher's room.
Bob Ascher's room was exceedingly opulent and luxurious. Expensive furniture dotted the room, the carpet was made from the fur of a rare magical creature, and the paintings on the walls were all worth cities.
"This Bob Ascher knows how to enjoy life alright. The decorations of this house are already enough to prove that his sources of income aren't clean." Han Shuo immediately said after walking in and looking around at the surroundings.
"Of course, otherwise with his identity as the chief of the Gryphon Legion, he never would've been able to afford such a place." Emily nodded and headed towards the inner chamber as she responded.
There was a secret doorway to another room within his bedroom. This was a bit of intelligence that the Dark Mantle had spent a lot of effort before finally obtaining. Han Shuo and Emily immediately made for the inner chamber as soon as they entered the bedroom.
Emily immediately lifted the covers on the bed in the room and ran her hand along the edge for a bit, looking for something when the boards of the bed suddenly split open to reveal a cave with stairs.
"Within the Lancelot Empire, the Dark Mantle can manage if we absolutely must learn of some intelligence. Although the secret chamber is hidden quite well, we still learned of this place's existence and how to enter because Bob Ascher would bring his mistress in to exult in his glory." Emily smiled at Han Shuo in explanation before they went down.
Nodding, Han Shuo expressed his understanding. "Indeed, someone like Bob Ascher would find it hard to control his desire to show off. If someone wants to keep a secret hidden, they'll have to pass through their own hurdle first."
"Come, let's go and see what lies in Bob Ascher's room?" Emily said.
Han Shuo followed behind her and suddenly heard soft, breathing sounds from someone before they'd reached the bottom.
"Someone's there, be careful!" Han Shuo's heart tightened as he grasped Emily, proceeding forward with even more caution.
When the two got to the bottom, Han Shuo looked towards the source of the breathing and suddenly discovered that Caspian was being held tightly within a cage enclosed by a magical boundary. Caspian was likewise looking at the two with a face full of surprise.