Chapter 16

Those brain-dead invaders were easy to hang; they only managed to invade the entrance hall before only three of them were left alive, but the aftermath became my trouble.

Thanks to Elisa, the explosion of those "safe" goblin devices echoed through the clouds, audible even in the quiet night from three blocks away. This place was already known as a haunted house, and now it would surely become even more notorious.

And as I had fully expected, upon discovering that the alarm location was the legendary "Toxic Lich's" residence, the city management team unhesitatingly woke up the sleeping sisters and dispatched a luxurious lineup of thirty elite knights.

A legendary paladin leading a team of thirty paladins, all of whom were at least of silver rank, was enough to challenge an adult dragon. It was clear whether they were there to rescue or to take the opportunity to eliminate the "Toxic Lich" who influenced social morals.

"That damn lich, we can never catch him in the act. This time, Yawen will lead Team A for the rescue, and I will lead Team B for the assault. Haha, even though I don't know why the law enforcement office always protects him, I don't believe this lich has no contraband. If we can take him down this time, I'll buy everyone drinks."

"Oh, take him out! For my classic magazines in the warehouse... they were all blown up!"

"Haha, first being hung up by ropes, then spun until vomiting, and finally being slammed into walls by ghost horses... Sisters, it's time for revenge!!"

"For Momo's teddy bear!"

"For my dowry! Charge, knights! Attack!"

From these intense slogans, it was clear that this person had done no small amount of mischief... The grudges were not ordinary.

Although the brain-dead lich had no major crimes, if it came to the mental torment caused by pranks to the city management, perhaps all the criminals combined wouldn't amount to half of it.

This time, if they could take down the opponent, they would not only receive the captain's reward but also avenge their lost camp and past grievances. From the start, the knights charged with the speed of cavalry, running like infantry.

But when the city management arrived, they unexpectedly found their top boss, Ironface Steelguard (Snowhoof), already there. Seeing the bodies on the ground, their faces turned pale, and the idea of causing trouble for the lich was immediately forgotten.

"Dark elves? Why?"

The dead were all of their own kind. Seeing the shadowy headgear that enhanced shadow movement, the thick-skinned cat boots that reduced footstep sounds, and the daggers and short swords that glowed green, even without considering their terrible reputation, it was clear what they were there to do.

"This is the standard equipment for an assassination mission by the Poisoned Spiderfang. These second-stage assassins need the blessing of the Spider Queen, and only the great families of the dark elves can afford them."

On the surface, just being a dark elf could be considered a crime. Even in the underground world, many places would arrest dark elves first and ask questions later. Of course, if it were demons or devils, they would burn them first and ask questions later...

In this world, sometimes race itself represents good and evil, and the alignment of the faction. The city of Sulfur Mountain uses "evil, chaotic" dark elves as city guards, which is rather peculiar.

If it were just a crime committed by their own kind, the captain of the city management team, Diana, would be used to it, but the gasp behind her made her heart stop.

"It's Karlos of the Seventh Family, a candidate for the position of Master of Arms. He came with the diplomatic delegation from Menzoberranzan."

"Menzoberranzan?" Just the mention of her homeland's name made Diana smile bitterly. As a freak who believed in holy light, they had no good memories in the Spider Queen's domain. "The Spider Queen never forgets her enemies, and there is no word for forgiveness in the dark elf language. They will never let us go."

All dark elves, even those who believe in holy light, do not forget the tricks of the underworld. This is one of the reasons why the dark elf knights of Sulfur Mountain are so difficult to deal with for criminals.

Alenita planned to eliminate these traitors of the Spider Queen, and the dark elf knights were always on guard against these "diplomatic envoys" from their homeland. At least, the sentries outside the hotel where the delegation stayed never stopped.

But clearly, they had underestimated the elite from their homeland. They successfully evaded the surveillance they had set up, and it was possible that the recent series of murders were also their doing...

"Hey, isn't that Captain Diana? Long time no see."

This lich, as usual, was lying with his eyes wide open, but now, the worried Diana had no mood to bother with him. She was still concerned about what would happen when the case was brought to light at dawn, and how Menzoberranzan, which never takes a loss, would react to the death of the diplomatic delegation, and whether this loss would be passed on to her and her sisters.

Even without considering the reaction of her homeland, the recent series of crimes committed by dark elves in the city had already put additional pressure on the city management. Now, with the dark elves who attacked the lich's residence dead at the scene, it was as if they had been caught red-handed.

But this was already within her expectations. What she was more worried about was that when the citizens learned that the serial killer was indeed a dark elf, it would be even harder to find evidence, given her understanding of her own people.

If she couldn't solve the case soon, the reputation of the team would be affected. After all, several major merchants had already been assassinated, and the case had not been solved, putting the city management under a lot of pressure.

"Diana, we had good luck this time. The case of the merchant Xiaowen was solved directly."

"Solved? That serial killer targeting merchants?" Hearing this, the dark elf knights were stunned and full of surprise and disbelief.

"Is there evidence!?"

Diana was somewhat surprised. Even though she had already guessed that the culprits were the members of the delegation, dark elves were hard to leave evidence behind. As the law enforcer of Sulfur Mountain, especially since the other party was a diplomatic delegation, she couldn't act without evidence, and was instead restrained to only peripheral surveillance.

"Yes, that guy actually brought the assassination list with him. Now, the evidence is solid, and we can use this opportunity to protest to Menzoberranzan."

At this moment, the usually taciturn and towering Ironface was so happy, which was quite rare. After all, as the head of the law enforcement office, the pressure of the unsolved serial killings was even greater than hers.

"By the way, are the Beia brothers still in detention?"

"Huh? Beia?"

"The goblin bomb maniacs."

"Oh, those green-skinned bombs. To save money, they actually used black powder (a powerful explosive used for blasting mountains) as the power source for their engineering devices. How could that not explode? They are still insisting on their innocence, saying it's their family secret recipe, absolutely safe and reliable. They are unwilling to pay the bail and fines, and we are still collecting evidence to file a lawsuit for manufacturing dangerous and substandard products, but unfortunately, we can't find any evidence. Their products are all blown to ashes..."

"Evidence is here! Look at these dark elves. The crushed goblin devices, aren't their causes of death familiar?"

"Snowhoof, you look so honest, but you're not afraid to sell out your teammates." Hearing the enthusiastic speech of the minotaur law enforcer, I couldn't help but draw a cross in prayer for the Beia brothers, and then, without hesitation, I stepped forward to join the ranks of those selling out their teammates...

"Sir, it's all the fault of those greedy goblins. I am a good citizen. Recently, my maid bought some household items from the safe goblin devices, and they all exploded. Fortunately, those kind people shielded me from the disaster, or I would have died. Sir, please do me justice!"

"Dark elves are kind people? The lich is already dead, can he die again? And you, a menace, really dying would be strange." Seeing the two law enforcers with their eyes twitching, I already knew what they were thinking.

At least, the way they looked at me was as if they were saying, "Are you taking us for fools, or are you a fool yourself?" This distrust was very unpleasant, especially since I was limited by the curse of a minor artifact, and I was telling the truth... I didn't know about this, and those dark elves did indeed shield me from the disaster.

Hey, if you don't take me seriously, be careful, I'll complain, and I'll secretly give you a hard time, sending you to the sulfur mines as overseers!

"Cough, the Beia brothers' devices shouldn't have much killing power, right?" Finally realizing that this gaze was very impolite, Diana looked elsewhere and started to change the subject.

Seeing her top boss here, she knew that the plan to cause trouble for the lich was off, but she had also experienced the power of those explosives. The elite of Menzoberranzan wouldn't die from such a small, unplanned explosion.

"It's this." Snowhoof took some fragments from the wounds of the bodies. They were silver particles.

"High-purity holy silver particles, embedded in the engine of the engineering devices. Once the engine explodes, it's like a dwarven musket. The explosion provides the initial force, but the real killer is these fragments."

Seeing these holy silver fragments, my lips started to twitch. "Elisa... you really are thorough."

"It seems it's not your doing. Did you offend the Beia brothers, and they planned to murder you?"

Now, without me having to say much, my suspicion was cleared. Holy silver, known as a blessed artifact by the gods of order, is extremely lethal to demons and the undead. Just touching it would cause severe burns, and it would directly damage the soul. I couldn't use it at all.

"Is it really necessary to go to such lengths?" I thought of Elisa's fingers wrapped in bandages, unable to work properly, surely to load these holy silver fragments. Even as a half-demon, touching this stuff wouldn't be pleasant.

"To avoid a meaningless resurrection, I'll just pay her two years' salary first..."

"Boom!!" Suddenly, a series of explosions, and a massive figure burst out.

"Stop him!"

"Who is that?"

"Roar!"

At this moment, how could they let a suspicious person escape? The city management surrounded him, but the response was a wild orcish war cry!

But a flash of silver, and the giant sword moved like a dragon, cutting down all around. In the disbelieving eyes of the crowd, their fine weapons were directly cut in two.

"How is this possible! Ah!"

"Be careful, his weapon is wrong! Don't engage him head-on!"

"Clang, clang, clang!" The sound of the city management's thick armor being cut like paper, and the screams and blood splattered everywhere as the blade moved.

Taking advantage of the momentum, the berserk half-orc charged through the encirclement!

"Orcu, how is this possible?!"

Diana, of course, recognized the half-orc with red eyes. This criminal was cunning and vicious, and the city management had to work hard to capture him.

"That's not right, how could he be so strong."

Half-elf, half-orc, bronze-rank professional killer. Even with red eyes and swollen muscles, as if he had entered the berserker state unique to orcs and barbarians, a bronze-level warrior should not be able to charge through a group of silver-rank and above grand knights. It was unbelievable.

"It's that sword! There's something wrong with that sword, don't let it touch you!"

Soon, everyone realized the situation was wrong. Even though their weapons were already very good, in front of the dragon-patterned giant sword, they often split in two after just two collisions.

"Move aside!!"

A good weapon can indeed challenge a higher rank, but the gap between the legendary Diana and the others was too great. The epic holy sword, Silver Avenger, was no less powerful than a dragon-slaying sword.

"Clang!"

The sword and the holy sword crossed, and the Silver Avenger was unfortunately split in two. But Orcu's tiger grip was directly cracked, and with no defensive stance, he was kicked away by Diana.

Diana used her strength skillfully, clearly intending to take him alive to ask questions. But Orcu, after being tortured, then overextended by the berserker state, and then controlled by the sword, was kicked in the chest by the legendary knight. He spat out two mouthfuls of blood on the ground and was about to die.

By the time the holy knights realized the situation was wrong and planned to use their once-a-day holy healing to save him, Orcu was already without a pulse.

"I need an explanation! Why was Orcu, who should have been in the Sulfur Mountain City prison, here? Why did the dark elf assassins attack here!"

The remaining half of the Silver Avenger was already pointing at me. It seemed that today, she wouldn't let it go without an answer.

But I smiled... Everything went as expected, the fish took the bait.

After exchanging a glance with Snowhoof, I remained silent, and finally, he stepped forward.

"It's like this, actually Roland has a bit of a secret relationship with our judicial system. He is a master of soul studies and interrogation. If we encounter a stubborn prisoner, we sometimes ask him for help..."

These explanations were actually true, at least, what Snowhoof knew was true. And Diana had a vague sense that something was wrong. The judicial system was too lenient with the lich in front of her, and the encounter with the Lord of the Sleepless was also strange, and the arrival of the head of the law enforcement office was also strange.

"Yes, we are actually all on the same side." I couldn't lie, and this statement was absolutely true. In fact, I was the Lord of the Sleepless myself, but in front of the holy knights, they thought I had a deal with the judicial system. At this moment, Diana, as I expected, showed a look of enlightenment.

"Hmph, no matter who protects you, don't let me catch you committing a crime! Otherwise, no one can save you! Retreat!"

As she left, she threatened me fiercely in front of her boss, truly a typical stupid knight, so simple, so easy to use!

And as I smiled and watched them leave with the bodies, a familiar voice sounded in my ear.

"Orcu's forced confession has already been confirmed by the experiment subject named Alenita. I have copied two copies and sent them to Margaret and Adam through secret channels. But, sir, spending so much effort to put on a show, and even exposing your relationship with the judicial system, was it worth it?"

"Of course it was. To be honest, I underestimated that perverted killer. He actually had such important secrets. To calm those restless guys temporarily, Orcu had to die, and he had to die in front of everyone. This way, as long as the experiment subject really escapes, the news of the diplomatic delegation fleeing in the middle of the night will seem real. After that, as long as the experiment subject obediently delivers the false information, they shouldn't suspect that the information has leaked."

"Just to麻痹 those guys, you put on such a show? And even sacrificed an epic divine weapon?"

"That dragon-slaying sword? It's a piece of junk. That 1% chance of berserking actually increases by 1% per second, meaning it will inevitably berserk into a state of not recognizing anyone after 2 minutes. Isn't that a piece of junk? It's better to give it away, besides, I remember the city management has someone who can use this sword, and the city management is my arm, their strength is my strength."

"......I feel like you're protecting them out of affection, cutting off the investigation线索 to avoid involving them too deeply and making them cannon fodder."

"Ha, your imagination is really vivid." I laughed and looked up at the sky.

"There's no such thing. This matter involves the alliance of the underground city lords and the elemental evil gods, and it also involves the traitors in the council. They have good combat abilities, but some things require thinking. Their political skills are so low that getting involved would make them even less than cannon fodder. It's a pity to sacrifice the Holy Light Knights I worked hard to create. I still plan to make them work hard for me for a few more years."

Saying this, I felt inexplicably excited.

"Ancient evil gods and the lords of the underground city, finally, there are enemies worth going all out against. Haha, perhaps this is a sign of the arrival of a new era."

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PS1. I couldn't edit, so I deleted and re-posted.

PS2. New book, need support... Friends with votes, please support. Squirrel will have more motivation to write.

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