[Island of Bones, Dwarven Mountains Underground Level 4]
Lewis' party was progressing swiftly, taking a different route than usual. This pattern allowed them to prevent ambushes to some extent, the trails of a clay golem being easy to be tracked.
However, that was only true if they were not followed from the start.
"We are being followed", Orianna said with a worried tone, "And they look to be pretty strong"
Lewis nodded, having noticed the lack of magical beast on their path, as if they had been all killed by some predator. He quickly pried for more information: "Acolytes or magical beasts?"
Orianna closed her eyes and focused: "Acolytes. They did not leave any smell behind, which any beast would have done. This is the work of professionals too..."
Jorg raised his shield and hammer, just in case, while Raon stopped his tracks.
'From the information I remember, there used to be an assassin among the ranks of the Blue Wolf Mercenaries, Vanessa Ryneflower. The woman was very powerful, she was an heir of the Shadow Guild. Although the Blue Wolf Mercenaries lost as well in his past life, the Crimson Clan had suffered a huge setback as well in skirmishes. The most dangerous enemy, at the time, was neither Darius nor Ice Countess Sheila, but Vanessa Ryneflower', Lewis thought
'If I remember well, she defected from the Shadow guild to avoid the bloody succession war in the Shadow Guild to determine the next in line, and chose the Blue Wolf Mercenary Group for its freedom. Eventually she joined the Shadow Guild again after the succession war was finished, her whereabouts completely vanishing afterwards. Most likely she became an elder there.'
As if to confirm his suspicions, an eerie voice reverberated: "Truly worthy of the Longlost Magus Family...To detect us after we took so much precautions. Unfortunately, it will not be enough"
It was a familiar voice, one that haunted Orianna for quite some time.
Ice Countess Sheila.
The woman that had killed Jack Blast in an ambush.
The acolyte who had successfully escaped both her and Jorg despite a numerical disadvantage.
===
From a distance, Vanessa bit her lips in frustration, seeing that her ambush had failed. She had even used the Scentless Brewage on her and her teammates to eliminate any sign of their presence. Yet, the instincts of a powerful bloodline type acolytes were not to be underestimated, which resulted in a prompt response from their leader, each one of their enemy now on their guard.
"Truly worthy of the Longlost Magus Family...To detect us after we took so much precautions. Unfortunately, it will not be enough", Ice Countess Sheila shouted next to her
Vanessa's mouth dropped, completely flabbergasted.
This was an ambush, yet her teammate had revealed her presence to the enemy by shouting.
Without hesitation, two spells were cast in their direction.
[Blood Arrow]
[Thunderbolt]
Spells that were cast by Lewis and the golem master Raon respectively.
Fortunately, Edwin had somehow gotten enough time to cast a protective spell:
[Wall of Flame]
The thunderbolt was completely absorbed the raging fire in front of them, but the rotating blood arrow still pierced through and hit Sheila's shoulder.
*SPLASH*
At this moment, Vanessa realized that she might have underestimated her enemies