Chapter 175 – Uninvited Guest

Just as this dark imp leaped from Jack’s shoulder into mid-air with nowhere to gain leverage, a pitch-black dagger silently thrust toward its right chest—the precise location of the dark imp’s core spell model.

As a purely summoned creature, no matter how severely other body parts were damaged, it would only result in diminished combat capability. However, if the spell core were destroyed, this summoned being would truly meet its end.

Although the summoned dark imp lacked the intelligence of a real dark imp, its summoner was after all a Formal-Level mage, granting its virtual soul sufficiently sharp reflexes.

The very moment the blade descended through the air, the dark imp abruptly twisted its body. The lightless blade that was originally aimed at its right chest instead pierced through its chest, narrowly avoiding the vital spell core.

Having dodged the first assassination attempt, the dark imp emitted two sharp “chirps” before rolling several times on the ground to evade the subsequent throwing darts.

“Clang, clang!”

This was the sound of two steel darts embedding themselves into the ground in quick succession.

The dark imp with its chest sliced open appeared severely injured, but in reality, it hadn’t suffered significant damage. Not a single drop of blood flowed from the wound.

Poor Jack, however, was a different story. This boastful fellow had borne the brunt of misfortune in place of the dark imp. Jack now had a dagger pierced through his skull, deader than dead.

“How is this possible? A summoned creature?”

A clearly astonished female voice emerged from the darkness, the assassin having recognized the dark imp’s nature as a summoned being and finding it utterly unbelievable.

In fact, the young female assassin hidden in the shadows was not only shocked but also terrified. Beads of cold sweat had already formed on her forehead.

This female assassin who had struck without warning was an Apprentice-Level Stalker. Initially, she hadn’t discerned the dark imp’s true nature as a summoned creature, only realizing it when the dark imp began activating its energy model to prepare an attack.

Her original mission had been to retrieve someone “searching for unusual food” from the slums, but now, upon discovering that the dark imp she had ambushed for so long was actually a summoned creature, the Assassin Girl immediately realized she had stumbled into serious trouble.

This Apprentice-Level summoned creature not only appeared completely genuine to her eyes but also possessed unexpectedly formidable combat skills. Such a being was hardly something an Apprentice-Level professional could summon.

“Could my luck really be this bad? To encounter a Formal-Level master on my very first reconnaissance mission?”

At this thought, the Assassin Girl’s fingers gripping the dagger hilt trembled slightly. She even felt as if the sky were collapsing.

Her master had specifically warned her not to be discovered, particularly by beings of the good alignment or Formal-Level powerhouses. Yet… on her very first “unobtrusive” reconnaissance mission, she had provoked a Formal-Level mage. If she returned, she might not face death, but she’d likely be severely punished.”No no, my master dotes on me so much, surely there wouldn’t be such a terrible punishment… Regardless, I need to leave this place quickly, otherwise if I encounter a Formal-Level monster, I won’t be able to escape!”

The girl thought anxiously in her heart.

Although the Assassin Girl had thoughts of retreat, the dark fairy who had been inexplicably stabbed wasn’t about to let things go so easily. After all, he was just a rigid summoned creature. Since Punk had given the order to “capture all enemies alive,” this fellow didn’t hesitate at all – scrambling up and charging forward bare-handed, the tightly clenched little fists showing exposed veins, enough to see how much force this little creature was exerting.

However, dark fairies were ultimately just reconnaissance-type combat units, especially since this dark fairy didn’t have any weapons in hand. Moreover, he persistently adhered to the “capture alive” command, so the fairy transforming into an afterimage threw a straight punch at the Assassin Girl’s waist, perfectly avoiding all vital spots.

Naturally, this resulted in no significant outcome. This time, the enemy ruthlessly endured the dark fairy’s little punch, then sliced through and shattered the dark fairy’s summoning magic model.

Amidst a burst of black mist, the dark fairy’s corpse decomposed into countless energy ions in the air, dissipating without a trace.

But the tearful Assassin Girl couldn’t muster any joy at all. Just as the dark fairy’s energy dissipated, the last bit of hope and fantasy in the Assassin Girl’s heart was shattered along with it.

Even if a summoned creature’s strength could be enhanced by the summoner using some secret technique, the Formal-Level mana still lingering in the air couldn’t possibly be fake.

So now only one thought remained in the girl’s mind: “I’m in trouble, I’m in big trouble.”

Not caring about the two awakened starving civilians behind her who were looking around in confusion, the girl assassin quickly tore off her black mask, revealing a beautiful face with wheat-colored skin. Then, flustered, she pulled out a pale yellow crystal from her pocket, pressed it against her forehead, and began sending a message to an unknown recipient.

“Master, as expected, I’m not suited for reconnaissance missions. Now it’s all over, what should I do since I’ve caused trouble, meow?”

————————Division Line——————

At the exact moment the dark fairy died, in the garbage piles deep within the Slums, a pair of azure blue eyes suddenly snapped open.

As the master of the summoned creature, Punk had sensed the dark fairy’s death immediately.

He quickly stopped his deep meditation and immediately dispelled all other dark fairy summoning spells. This was to prevent enemies skilled in divination magic from tracing his location through the magical traces.

Over five years had passed since this Base was established. Although these five years had been peaceful, with Punk not only successfully advancing to become a level thirteen mage but also learning the “Mana Compression” super magic technique as desired, his increased strength hadn’t made him relax his vigilance in the slightest.

Although he couldn’t understand why the attacker would target his few insignificant dark fairies, this didn’t prevent Punk from immediately entering combat mode.At this moment, in the pitch-black basement, only the wriggling sounds of the shadow maggots cultivated by Punk could be heard, accompanied by the occasional groans and screams of the experimental subjects. The alarm spell set up outside the laboratory showed no signs of being triggered.

After a long while, only when Punk was certain that no enemies had invaded his base did he begin to cast one divination spell after another.

“So, a scout sent by someone? Who could have dispatched them? Someone from the Dillon Kingdom? Or the lunatics from the Church? Or perhaps a ‘fellow’ hiding from the light? It seems… I have no choice but to venture out.”

After receiving the results of the divination spell, Punk picked up the Emerald Staff with a grave expression.

Unconsciously, the glow of magic began to slowly swirl in his pupils once again.

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(End of Chapter)