Chapter 184: The Return Journey · Ambush (Part 2)

The trip to Vauban City had allowed Dean to complete his basic planned objectives, gain some fame, and also acquire some friends and enemies. Of course, there were also those who were neither enemies nor friends but harbored ill feelings towards him.

For example, that Good-for-nothing Baron.

Without the companionship of Miss Baron from Baron Tier’s family, Dean naturally did not receive a grand welcome.

Even the escort provided the next day, compared to Baron Jandu’s sincere efforts, fell short by countless levels.

Dean looked at the dozen or so lazy guards beside him and seriously doubted their combat strength. He suspected that the young men under his command could easily defeat four or five of them each.

When they reached the edge of Janel Territory, the leader of the guards bowed slightly to Dean, gave a respectful report, and then hurriedly departed.

“Baron Janel… Tsk!”

Watching the man’s retreating back, Dean muttered vaguely—In fact, Dean had lost any desire to mock the Good-for-nothing Baron.

The man’s cowardly nature, combined with his occasional attempts to show off his dignity, only to kneel down at the slightest glare from Dean, had long drained Dean’s interest in sarcasm. After all, mocking him repeatedly only made the man proud and indifferent.

For such people, ignoring them was the best approach.

“Giddy up!”

With a light flick of the Whip, the carriage continued its journey toward Tier Territory.

Having passed through Janel Territory, the distance to Tier Territory was less than a day’s travel. If they pushed hard, they could arrive at Tier Town by late afternoon or early evening.

This was also the last, and best, opportunity for the ambushers.

Neither Baron Defendi nor Bishop Deholl would let this chance slip by.

The former was driven by hatred.

The latter acted out of political alignment.

However, their desire for Dean’s death was identical.

Therefore, certain situations were bound to arise. Dean had been mentally prepared for this—

The carriage moved forward, and Dean’s eyes scanned the surrounding woods. This was the ideal spot for an ambush on the way back to Tier Territory; in fact, they had encountered an attack here on the way to Vauban City.

However, compared to the previous encounter, these ambushers were clearly amateurs.

Dean did not even need to use Perception to make any judgment; he could already see the dense figures of people in the distance. Instinctively, Dean gripped his Longsword.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…

A volley of over ten arrows was fired from afar. The ambushers, who had tried hard to hide their positions but failed miserably, held their Crossbows at waist level and launched their attack.

Then came the second wave.

Followed by the third.

Arrows rained down densely like heavy rain, enveloping Dean!

This was a standard three-stage Crossbow volley. If the shooters were truly skilled, a formation of fifty could easily slaughter opponents several times their number.

However, these ambushers, while mimicking the stance of a three-stage volley, completely lacked the essence of the technique.

Not only was there a gap between each volley, but after the third shot, the Crossbowmen who fired first had not yet reloaded their weapons.

At this moment, Dean was only a dozen yards away from them—

Facing the previous rain of arrows, Dean did not dodge. Instead, he jumped directly out of the carriage and charged forward, using his Longsword to deflect the arrows.

This was not difficult for Dean, whose Strength was 3.61 and Agility was 3.29.

After all, it was just an unskilled three-stage volley, with only a dozen shooters at a time.

If the enemy numbers were doubled and their volley technique were more skilled, Dean would absolutely not choose such a direct charging tactic.

However, clearly, this was the strongest force Baron Defendi had at his disposal.

Nearly fifty Crossbows were quite impressive for a Baron Lord. Without iron ore in his Territory, he could not have formed such a unit.

This worked entirely in Dean’s favor!

“Stop him!”

A leader shouted loudly. The surrounding ambushers temporarily put down their Crossbows, drew the Longswords at their waists, and closed in on Dean.

If Dean had previously needed to divide his attention to handle the arrows,

Now, he let loose completely. His footwork spun, his body rose and fell, and Dean easily dodged each attack. His Longsword cut through the air with swishing sounds, executing horizontal slashes, straight thrusts, and diagonal chops.

The Light Sharp Knight Sword swept through layers of sword light in Dean’s hands, easily reaping the Health of these ambushers.

With every swish of the wind, a gasp of shock and agony followed.

With every sweep of sword light, a splash of Blood bloomed brilliantly.

The white snow on the ground was dyed red within just a few breaths.

Scalding Blood easily melted the snow, eventually forming red snow-water that flowed outward.

However, quickly, under the cold wind of the Snowplains Dense Forest, it refroze into ice.

Thrust!

Dean severed the throat of the last ambushers. The man fell down, but in his last moment, he still tried to swing his sword at Dean; however, Dean easily dodged it.

“Dead Soldiers? No, that’s wrong, they are not Dead Soldiers… It must be, a suggestion from a Psychic Sorcerer!”

Recalling the fierce, fearless resistance of these ambushers during the previous fight, Dean couldn’t help but furrow his brows. He immediately associated this with Baron Defendi’s identity as a spellcaster.

“Was the number of people you could suggest the limit of your control?”

Dean counted the number of Corpses on the ground, silently memorizing it in his heart—Regarding the strength of his opponents, Dean never hesitated to gather more information. Knowing oneself and knowing the enemy had long become a habit for Dean.

[XP + 70]

For a group of nearly fifty people, this amount of experience value was not much. On average, each person gave only a little over 1 point. For Dean, whose character level had not yet reached five, this was almost equivalent to the experience value of a properly trained soldier.

“Not even a guy close to Knight strength… Clearly, the strength of those Defendi could suggest is limited to this tier. If he increased their strength, the number would decrease. And my displayed strength made him believe that one or two Knights could not succeed, so he chose more soldiers, then equipped them with Crossbows, hoping to kill, injure, or at least drain my Stamina through such means!”

Dean thought silently, and his eyes involuntarily glanced back at the carriage in the distance.

Like someone cleaning up a battlefield, Dean inspected the Corpses. However, it seemed he found nothing. He picked up a seemingly decent Crossbow and walked toward his own carriage.

His steps were light, but his breathing was slightly hurried.

Clearly, although he had not been injured in the previous battle, it had consumed a great deal of Stamina.

Thus, he approached his carriage eagerly, wanting to rest for a moment.

This was the appearance Dean presented.

This was also what the remaining ambushers saw.

However, compared to the ambushers sent by Defendi, this ambushers had considerable patience. He lurked there, waiting for Dean to approach.

Even when Dean dragged the carriage back to the previous Battlefield, preparing to truly clean up the area, he still did not move.

When Dean picked up several Crossbows and walked toward the carriage again, opening the car door, this long-lurking ambushers finally moved—

A thin Longsword, like a venomous snake, stabbed out from the opened car door.

Surprisingly, the ambushers had hidden himself inside the carriage cabin at some unknown time.

The Longsword thrust silently and directly at Dean’s throat, its speed extremely fast.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Dean was no less quick. In fact, with the aid of Perception enhanced by the Talents Heart of Vigilance and Indomitable, Dean discovered the attacker almost immediately.

However, Dean, who was also proficient in assassination, did not act immediately.

Just as the opponent waited for a surprise attack, Dean waited for the same opportunity—The way of the Assassin, stripping away everything, is not its most basic and core principle surprise attack?

The moment Dean opened the car door, according to the ambushers’ estimation, this was the most unexpected time.

Similarly, Dean, who should have been completely unprepared, had prepared himself and counterattacked, becoming the surprise attack for the ambushers.

Pfft, pfft!

Two Crossbow bolts pierced the opponent’s chest before his Longsword could reach him, pinning his body firmly against the opposite side of the carriage cabin.

Facing the ambush-style attack, Dean, who had counter-killed his opponent, acted like a startled cat. He threw the two Crossbows in his hand directly forward and his entire body rapidly flew backward.

The moment Dean threw the Crossbows—

Crash!

The side of the carriage facing Dean, along with the roof, was blown off. Splinters and wood chips flew in all directions. This not only blew away the two thrown Crossbows but also a Black Shadow used the chaos of flying debris to rush desperately toward Dean.

A Longsword with a blade glowing blue, carrying several sword shadows, moved at extreme speed, about to envelop Dean.

Dean acted caught off guard, his entire body retreating continuously.

One party charged forward, the other retreated backward.

In an instant, they separated by over ten yards.

At this moment, the ambushers’ accumulated sword momentum inevitably weakened slightly.

Clang!

Dean, having waited for a long time, drew his sword again.

Seeing Dean draw his sword, the opponent immediately wiped the Ring on his index finger. Immediately, an unusual force field appeared around his body. The corner of his mouth, hidden under his mask, sneered disdainfully as he anticipated another opponent falling into his trap. But the next moment, his eyes widened—

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Without any Flame invasion, instead, a Hand Crossbow had appeared in Dean’s left hand at some point, firing three shots in rapid succession.