Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Irene and the Bloodthorn Demonic Warhorse trodded forth the ice-covered ground towards the only bamboo house that was not covered in ice located at the centre of the village.

She had exercised enough caution so as to not hurt any of the Forest Spring Spirits being held captive inside the house. "Shit...Shit..Shit..Shit… what do I do now? Those useless adventurers can't even delay the enemy long enough. If they take away the Forest Spring Spirit children, then all my hard work for these past few months would be gone. No, it cant be. These are my TREASURES, I was the one who found them. I must take them away and run".

Miser who was inside the bamboo house watched the entire exchange that was happening outside through the cracks between the window.

He couldn't believe his eyes when these strong adventurers that were left behind to guard the enslaved Forest Spring Spirits, getting impaled by what looked like crimson thorns that sprang up from the ground out of nowhere.

But what made him doubt his eyes was that alluring woman who instantly froze a part of the village along with those adventurers with just a lift of her hand. The entire occurrence seemed disbelieving no matter how many times Miser rubbed his eyes.

He even slapped himself once to check whether his brain was playing tricks on him or if it was a dream. His right cheek was currently red and swollen by how hard he hit himself, but the reality still remained the same.

When he first heard the commotion outside, he was stunned to see three intruders bargaining inside nonetheless he was soon elated to see the Royal Spirit girl among the intruders. Those unusual characteristics of her that set her apart from the normal Forest Spring Spirits indicated that even amongst the rare and precious Forest Spring Spirits, she was special.

How could Miser not be elated after all the little girl that the whole Seven Swords guild was searching for had delivered herself right to their doorstep? If they captured her here then the cut he would receive from the share would be quite big.

However, his hopes were immediately shattered when he saw the other two members of the party easily sweeping away the dozen or so adventurers confronting them.

Realising that the situation wasn't looking good, he immediately started hurrying towards the room at the end of the corridor where all the Forest Spring Spirit children were being kept.

"This is bad… very bad. I cannot allow them to take away the Forest Spirits, I must harvest their spirit orbs and escape from this place as fast as possible".

Miser ran down the corridor and was just about to approach the room when a chilling voice sounded out near his ears "What do you think you are trying to do?".

Miser immediately stopped in his tracks and looked around everywhere but couldn't find anyone. Becoming alert, he scanned his surroundings to find the owner of the voice.

Knitting his brows he asked, "Who are you? How did you get inside?".

His question was met with silence before an impassive voice sounded once again and this time from behind him.

"Did you really think you can just go in and plunder the resources of the Seven Swords guild?"

Sweat poured down his face as he realized that the voice sounded very near him and the owner of the voice wasn't one of the intruders but someone from the Seven Swords guild.

Miser gave a smile and said in a friendly tone "So it's one of the good sirs from the Seven swords guild. Haha, the situation outside was looking quite dire therefore I came here to check if anybody snuck inside the house. The Forest Spring Spirits are quite the valuable treasure after all. If we just focus all our attention in front, we might get the mats pulled out under our feet from behind".

"Snort, did you really think you change the situation around with just your words?. Weren't you trying to harvest the spirit orbs and make a run from here while the intruders hold us from the front?" the voice said.

Miser looked left and right as the voice continuously came from near him. Fear and trepidation were apparent on his face and he tried his best to salvage the situation "N-no t-this esteemed sir misunderstands. This one did not have any such evil intentions and am solely here to check on the Forest spring spirits".

Miser was aware that there are skills that can erase one's presence and make them disappear from the naked eye. Skills such as [stealth] used by some high-level assassins are one such example.

He knew that the owner of the voice was using a similar skill to juke his senses but what caused him to tremble was that the person was so skilled in stealth that even when he spoke, Miser couldn't detect his position.

One moment he felt like the person was in front, the other moment the voice came from behind him. He was clearly made aware of the gap between their strengths as well as the difference in their skills.

"Hoh is that so? Then was I mistaken when I heard you saying 'I must harvest the spirit orbs and escape from here as soon as possible?" Ted said as he circled around Miser while in stealth and looked at him with cold killing intent. He pulled out a dagger and silently stepped near him.

Miser was only a level 215 [Wizard] whose skills could hardly be called average, while he on the other hand was one of the top assassins of the Seven Swords guild. And he believed that if he went all out, there would only be a handful of people who could match him outside of the top seven within their guild.

Not to mention his skills were top tier and given a few more years, ted believed that he would be able to step on the level 400  threshold. There was no way Ted would take Miser seriously. He would play with him before dealing a lethal blow.

Miser gulped and dropped down all pretence knowing that it was useless to say anything now when the person had already learned about his intention. There was no way he would be able to take on such a person and only needed to bide for time before the intruders come knocking from the front door.

At that time he would be able to take the opportunity amidst the chaos to escape from here. It was a pity that he wouldn't be able to take the spirit orbs but his life was more important right now.

Only when one has their life will they be able to exploit the opportunities and enjoy the treasures of the world.

"I-its true that I got blinded by the greed for a moment, but doesn't the esteemed sir think that it is highly unwise to fight among ourselves when the enemy is in front of us?".

Miser needed to bide for time for as long as he could and therefore he asked the question that ted couldn't ignore. He thought there was no way a highly skilled person such as him was not aware of the situation. Since the person was sent by the Seven Swords guild, naturally he could not ignore the intruders.

But Miser was disappointed to hear an impassive and curt reply "You don't have to worry about the intruders. After I'm done with you, ill naturally deal with them too". Ted said, his voice was filled with self-confidence and not a single trace of worry could be detected from his tone. Lacing the dagger with killing intent he plunged forward.

Miser felt a sharp killing intent coming from behind him, he immediately rotated around and jumped back. Though he cannot be called strong, he was still an adventurer who had gone through a fair share of his life and death battle.

Clicking his tongue he cast "[Electro Bolt]", a thin purple bolt of lightning illuminated the corridor and charged towards the place where Miser felt the killing intent from.

BANG…

The electro bolt crashed into the wall lighting it aflame. Miser looked around cautiously, he did not think he would be able to take out his opponent with one attack. Hence he started casting another [Electro Bolt] however before the magic could take shape, he felt a stabbing pain coming from his stomach.

Turning around, Miser was stunned to find that the person was right behind him.