Chapter 137: Castle · Treasury Battle Part I

After Baron Jandu was left to guard near the drawbridge, Dean once again moved forward into the Ancient Castle alone—

As for those Noble Guards?

When Baron Jandu frankly stated that there were at least twenty Grand Knights and four Silver Knights forming a Battlefield inside, they very firmly expressed that they would stick to the area near the drawbridge and city gate.

As for the young people of the Ferrchelen Knight Order, although they wanted to follow Dean into the Ancient Castle, they were stopped by Dean’s order right where they stood.

The battles inside were an adventure even for Dean, let alone for these young people who had just stepped onto the right path. Dean absolutely did not want to see his subordinates suffer any damage in such a battle.

Passing through that small Square, Dean stepped into the corridor of the front hall. Looking at those figures in the Darkness and heavy Shadows, Dean restrained his breathing. He approached slowly, searching for the best angle, then, without a sound, he drew the Longbow of Assist to its full extent, and then, released his fingers.

Whoosh!

Instantly, the arrow shot out like a meteor.

Thud!

In the Shadows in the distance, a Thief who thought he was perfectly concealed looked in disbelief at the arrow in his chest, and just fell to the ground like that.

Then came the second, the third…

Without missing a single shot, over ten Thieves fell to the ground just like that. Until they died, they did not understand why Dean had discovered them.

At the same time, why they could not discover Dean.

Pulling the arrow out of the opponent’s chest and wiping it carefully, Dean put the arrow back into the quiver behind him—the number of arrows in the quiver forced Dean to do this.

Otherwise, it would definitely affect the subsequent plan.

After all, against opponents of the Grand Knight level, although Dean currently had the power to fight, head-on combat was definitely the most unwise choice.

And bows and arrows naturally became Dean’s first choice at this moment—

[Ranged Weapon (Bow/Crossbow) +2]

[XP +40]

After clearing the Thieves in front of him, this was Dean’s final harvest.

As for the spoils of war?

None of them caught Dean’s eye.

Of course, this was definitely not the final harvest. Just by looking at the Corpses of the Noble Guards who had rushed in earlier, one could know that the Thieves Dean had just eliminated were only a part of them.

Moreover, they were the easiest part to eliminate.

The remaining Thieves must have been alerted by now.

And fighting the remaining Thieves in the terrain of the Ancient Castle, with its numerous terraces and courtyards, clearly increased the difficulty by more than a little.

But, no matter how difficult it was, for Dean at this moment, there was no other choice.

He had to face the difficulties!

Of course, out of caution, Dean’s speed of advancement naturally slowed down.

Sticking to the wall, Dean was like a gecko blending into the Shadows, allowing himself to approach the target slowly and silently, then, covering the opponent’s mouth, he slit the opponent’s throat—this was the basics of Thief training, and also the most advanced technique, even the key to other extended techniques.

Dean had once witnessed an Assassin who had developed this basic technique to an advanced level easily finish off an opponent a whole major rank higher than himself.

This deeply touched Dean, who was an Assassin at the time. He had more than once subjected himself to special training in stealth, and asked advice from famous Assassins and Thieves.

Of course, in the end, Dean still did not reach that level.

Although every Assassin and Thief he asked for advice had never denied Dean’s Talent, Dean’s time was urgent.

This made it impossible for him to have long-term training, and this naturally became the biggest obstacle to the improvement of his skills.

However, even if he had not reached an advanced level, it was still enough to face these Thieves from the local Thieves Guild in Vauban City.

At least, Dean could guarantee that none of them would discover him.

And what he needed to do was to eliminate the targets in front of him without being discovered, while confirming the number of remaining opponents.

Undoubtedly, the Thieves had the same idea.

The only difference was that their target was only Dean.

Search, discover, silently eliminate the target.

Almost identical behavior made the corridor in the front hall completely silent, without the slightest scene that a fight should have appeared.

But, the Slaughter was real!

As time passed, the smell of blood began to grow stronger, making anyone who walked into this front hall corridor think they had walked into a slaughterhouse—

[Opponent in Stealth/Hiding state…]

[Perception check in progress…]

[Obtained Indomitable Lv1 bonus…]

[Perception check passed]

[Obtained approximate traces of opponent…]

[Perception exceeds opponent’s Skill limit, obtained approximate traces of opponent…]

Every System determination pointed out a general direction for Dean, and this gave Dean an absolute advantage—in fact, the key point of Thief combat lay in how to hide, and how not to be discovered by the opponent.

And undoubtedly, Dean did well enough.

So, he became the final winner.

When Dean left that front hall corridor, at least six Thieves had their throats slit by him, and no fewer than five Thieves began to retreat towards other areas—like Mercenaries, Thieves did not have the so saying of fighting to the death without retreating.

Clearly, in other areas, there were still companions of these Thieves.

However, Dean did not have time to bother with these Thieves anymore, he didn’t even bother with the escaping Thieves.

Because, Dean knew where his target was—

[XP +30]

After glancing at the gained experience, Dean continued to advance towards Marquis Vauban’s Treasury.

The Path afterwards appeared unobstructed.

After all, even if the local Thieves Guild came out in full force, plus the Core and elites, there would be no more than fifty people. And if these fifty people were distributed in the two target areas, one real and one fake, there would be at most twenty to twenty-five people in one area, which was already a limit. If one counted those scattered around, the number would be even smaller.

And what Dean encountered before matched this number very well.

Marquis Vauban’s private Treasury was a corridor’s distance away from Dean, but even at such a distance, Dean had already heard the sound of weapons clashing.

It was clear even fifty yards away; Dean could fully imagine how deafening it would be if he stood right in front of it.

And undoubtedly, the existence that could make such weapon clashing sounds was naturally at the Grand Knight level.

Therefore, in the following approach, Dean became even more cautious.

And when he bypassed the corridor, the scene of the battle clearly appeared before Dean’s eyes—

Marquis Vauban’s private Treasury, for safety reasons, was not connected to the Castle complex, but was a separate building. From the outside, it looked more like a bell tower, and only those who knew the inside story knew what this place was for. Usually, there was a full squad of fifteen Guards on duty here.

And now, the number of people here was even greater.

There were twenty people just on the outside, and inside the Treasury, there should be no fewer, or even more people.

The people outside were from the ‘Brotherhood’.

Dean could confirm this with just one glance; unlike the directness of Mercenaries, and the secrecy of Thieves, the ‘Brotherhood’ was more like a combination of both, and at the same time, carried a murderous intent that neither possessed—that kind of murderous intent that would make one feel fear as soon as their gaze swept over it.

And among these twenty people, the leading Grand Knight was undoubtedly the one that attracted Dean’s gaze the most.

Not only because of the opponent’s status as a Grand Knight, but also because the opponent was currently blocking the entrance of the Treasury. With the Strength of one man holding the pass against ten thousand, he made it impossible for the people inside to rush out—the entrance of any Treasury would not be built with a wide and large gate. After all, once something unstoppable happened, retreating into the Treasury to defend and wait for reinforcements was definitely an excellent choice.

However, the same principle applied; the narrow Treasury entrance, while blocking the enemy, also blocked oneself!

Just like now—

Clearly, there were many people in the Treasury, but they were blocked by one person.

Through some gaps, Dean had already seen some situations in the Treasury. There were not only many Guards holding bows, but also two Knights in full steel armor.

One of them was fighting the leader of the ‘Brotherhood’ in front of him, while the other was staring anxiously.

Undoubtedly, the narrow entrance could only make this Grand Knight anxious, but unable to lend a hand!

Compared to the anxiety of Marquis Vauban’s subordinates in the Treasury, that ‘Brotherhood’ Grand Knight was calm and composed; after all, although there were two opponents of the same level as him inside, due to the terrain restrictions, none of them could truly threaten him. As long as he persisted, victory would naturally be his.

As for reinforcements?

This Grand Knight smiled contemptuously.

That Marquis Vauban, who thought himself clever, had not figured out at all what their target was. Moreover, in such a situation, he still held back his manpower and set up traps. It was really too ridiculous!

Under such circumstances, how could there be any talk of reinforcements!

You mean those Noble Guards outside the Castle?

They definitely won’t even be able to cross the drawbridge!

This Grand Knight thought with such certainty.

But, the next moment, a sound made this Grand Knight’s certain face stiffen—

“Dean, Regiment Commander of the Ferrchelen Knight Order from the Tier Territory, has come to support!”

Following the sound of the voice came the sound of arrows breaking through the air.

The hairs on the back of this Grand Knight’s exposed neck stood up instantly. He immediately shouted, turned around, and slashed at the rapidly shooting arrow with the Longsword in his hand.

Undoubtedly, a Grand Knight was far stronger than ordinary people, but such Strength was not enough to allow them to ignore attacks from sharp blades and arrows.