Chapter Sixty: Frenzied Sniping

With expressionless faces, Ya and Ling stepped out from the solid gold gates of the Golden Rose. The middle-aged driver followed closely behind, gripping Enzo by the collar, never leaving their side. The doors slammed shut behind them, followed by several loud sounds of bolts being drawn. Soon after, faint glowing patterns traced across the rose petals on the gate, signaling the activation of a protective ward.

Ya and Ling both snorted coldly, seething with anger. It was the first time they had ever been so unceremoniously expelled; the owner of the Golden Rose, Jin, had flatly declared them unwelcome guests and forcibly thrown them out. What infuriated them further was that their hired agent, La Fontaine, remained inside the Golden Rose, groveling and pleading with Jin, ignoring his employers altogether. Ya and Ling shouted angrily at La Fontaine, but he seemed determined to stay, forsaking even his commission, solely to plead his case with Jin.

What drove them to near madness was Lin Qi’s vicious curse as he left, which left Ya and Ling utterly stunned. Born of noble blood, with powerful connections in the Church, Ya and Ling could influence the fate of minor kingdoms across the continent with a single word, and yet someone dared to insult them with such filthy and vulgar language! It was as if two pure, spotless night-blooming flowers had been sullied by a bucket of sewage from the gutter.

With all these affronts piling up, Ya and Ling were beside themselves with rage. They crushed the tracking array hidden in the corners of their sleeves to prevent Alham, from the Emerald Hotel, from witnessing their humiliation. Never before had they been treated in such a manner. Alham was their childhood companion, classmate, and now their partner in completing this mission. In their shame and fury, they dared not let Alham glimpse their disgrace through the water orb mirroring spell.

With the tracking array destroyed, Alham could no longer use divine spells to locate them, nor could the water orb mirroring spell function. Cutting off Alham’s gaze, they finally breathed a sigh of relief—such disgrace could not be seen by anyone.

"Lin Qi, that damned, despicable criminal, he must suffer the harshest judgment," the two women spat, their eyes aflame, their bodies trembling with fury as they walked. The blaze in their brows grew brighter, radiating waves of heat that turned the biting wind sultry. Within ten meters, every snowflake evaporated at once.

The middle-aged man holding Enzo asked in a low voice, "How should I deal with this one, madams?"

He had already seized Enzo by the throat; a twitch of his fingers would shatter Enzo’s neck.

Ya and Ling paused in silence, then waved dismissively. "He’s less than an insect. Leave him here to his own fate."

In their eyes, Enzo—born to a common family, a mere knight, lacking any backing or prospects—was utterly beneath their notice. Like roadside refuse, once used, why bother trampling it further? Proud as they were, Ya and Ling would never stoop so low.

The middle-aged man nodded and tossed Enzo to the roadside, where snowflakes rapidly settled on him, forming a thin layer in moments.

Midway down the alley, a doorway opened into a small stable, where dozens of carriages stood, tended by staff caring for the valuable horses and vehicles. This was the private stable of the Golden Rose Lounge, accessible only to its patrons.

The middle-aged man summoned servants to ready the carriage for their return and respectfully assisted Ya and Ling aboard. At his command, four black stallions neighed, their silver-shod hooves striking the ground with thunderous force, scattering sparks. The carriage rolled out to the sound of crisp hoofbeats, soon leaving the alley behind.

No sooner had they emerged onto the avenue than the middle-aged man’s expression shifted. The entire coastal road was pitch-dark; every streetlamp along its mile-long stretch had been extinguished. The air carried a faint scent of lamp oil, evidence of deliberate sabotage—the lamp covers smashed, oil spilling out.

Dropping the whip and releasing the reins, he murmured, "Madams, something’s wrong."

Lin Qi stood atop the lookout of a fishing boat in the distance, watching them intently. Far away, the deep roar of a tiger reached his ears. As its tone shifted, Lin Qi understood the meaning—it signaled that Enzo had been found and was safe.

"Then, let’s begin!" Lin Qi growled with a sinister sneer. "Let these outsiders learn that this is Dunkirk, the Black Tiger Clan’s territory. If they dare provoke me here, they must pay in blood!"

He waved his hand in a chopping motion and chuckled coldly. "Uncle Baal, that man—turn him into fish feed. As for the two women inside the carriage, do as you see fit, but their gold notes and jewelry are valuable—I want half."

Shrouded in a black robe, the sea wind whipped Baal’s cloak wildly. With a nine-foot scythe strapped to his back, Baal, Death’s right hand, let out a chilling laugh. Pursing his lips, he whistled sharply, then declared coldly, "Two little beauties, are they twins? The beasts on the Five Linked Isles will fancy them; among their royals, human beauties are highly prized!"

Boom, boom, boom—three thunderous blasts sounded. Three jet-black flashes shot into the night.

The Monoceros Leviathan stretched over thirty meters in length, its hide tougher than steel, its vitality surpassing that of serpents. Whaling harpoons, specially crafted to hunt these beasts, packed immense power. Driven by fire element arrays, forged from special alloy and inscribed with destructive runes, these harpoons could pierce a foot of solid steel from three hundred paces, and their subsequent explosions could obliterate a cottage.

The three harpoons, each nearly two meters long, were launched from less than one hundred paces from the carriage—their optimal range for maximum impact.

The harpoons struck almost simultaneously, splitting the air as they flew. Though the middle-aged man had been wary, he never expected such a swift and ferocious assault. His fists moved in a blur, enveloped in a deep blue-black radiance, with a dense blue aura shimmering around it, nearly edging into indigo.

A pinnacle knight, only a step away from the threshold of the celestial rank.

But his foes were three harpoons meant to hunt high-tier magical beasts.

His hands struck two harpoons coming in from the flanks. With a thunderous explosion, both harpoons detonated, shredding his arms to pulp. The third, fired from behind, pierced his chest and nearly blasted his upper body away.

The four black stallions in front of the carriage were blown to pieces, and the carriage itself was hurled more than ten meters by the blast before crashing violently onto the ground.