How come this arcanist is invincible?

Chapter 88 Murder to Silence

"Is there a problem?" Sienna asked, puzzled. "She seems to hate Ansel, and the injuries on her face can't be faked."

"Do you know about the initiation ceremony of the Demon Cult?" Kane asked.

"I know, I must kill a good life with my own hands." Sienna nodded.

"She said Faiancel killed her parents, which means two lives," Kane analyzed slowly.

"If it were just Ansel himself who converted, one life would be enough."

While persecuting more lives may be in line with religious doctrine, why didn't Ansel eliminate her completely after seizing her property and disfiguring her?

Instead, they spared her life and allowed her to continue running the chamber of commerce?

Sienna's expression hardened, and she instantly understood his meaning:

"You mean, they might be in cahoots? Those two lives were sacrifices they offered together as a means of converting to the religion?"

"That possibility cannot be ruled out." Kane nodded.

"The pus on Tessa's face is very abnormal. Ordinary wounds or magical damage could not possibly continue to ooze pus for so long. It's more like a mark left by some kind of ritual."

He paused, then added, "I'm here to follow her. It's been cloudy lately, and my water manipulation technique allows me to sense things from a distance, making me less likely to be detected."

"No!" Sienna immediately objected. "I can't let you risk your life alone."

Kane looked at her stubborn expression and shook his head helplessly.

Sienna looked disappointed, but she didn't see the fleeting apology in Kane's eyes.

His current strength has already surpassed that of his first-tier teammates, and now they have to be careful in every way when acting side by side.

Thanks to his immortality, he can act more flexibly when he is alone.

……

As night fell, a light rain began to fall, the drizzling rain enveloping the city.

Kane changed into a black robe, with a standard one-handed sword and two daggers at his waist, and then cast a first-level spell, Disguise.

Her original black hair and black eyes instantly turned into blonde hair and blue eyes, and her appearance was completely changed, making her look like a completely different person from during the day.

He quietly arrived at Tessa's Chamber of Commerce and began to use his senses, taking advantage of the damp mist.

Before long, a black carriage slowly drove up.

Tessa boarded the carriage carrying two heavy bags, exchanged a few words with the coachman in hushed tones, and then the carriage slowly started moving.

Kane kept up closely; the roads were muddy and slippery from the rain, and the carriage was moving slowly.

He used the water ripples on the ground to sense his surroundings and maintained a safe distance from the carriage at all times.

The carriage traveled all the way to the fourth district and finally stopped at a secluded tower on the north bank of the river.

An unusually tall man in black robes emerged from the tower, standing seven feet tall (about 2.2 meters), exuding a chilling aura.

Tessa respectfully handed over the baggage, bowed deeply, and then turned and retreated to the carriage.

The man in black robes took the baggage, nodded slightly, and then got into another, faster carriage, heading towards the inner city.

"The two have broken up."

Kane frowned and pondered for a moment before deciding to follow the man in black.

As long as Tessa remains in the Chamber of Commerce in the Sixth District, there will be plenty of opportunities to investigate in the future, but this tall, black-robed man who suddenly appeared is clearly more crucial.

The black-robed man's carriage moved extremely fast, passing through the fourth and third districts before finally arriving at the second district.

Kane was about to follow when he saw the sheriff on patrol.

The second district is heavily guarded, and identity checks are required at any time.

"If we display the Night's Watch insignia, we'll give away our location."

Kane pondered to himself and chose another secluded path, intending to bypass the sheriff and continue inside, but he hadn't walked far when...

Suddenly, a sense of foreboding washed over him, and he lunged forward! A crossbow bolt grazed his back and embedded itself in a stone slab!

A hooded man appeared before him, his face sinister, a dagger in his left hand, his eyes coldly fixed on him.

"Who are you? Why are you following the carriage?"

Kane shrugged, feigning ignorance: "You've mistaken me for someone else. I was just passing by."

"No need to pretend anymore." The hooded man pressed closer, his tone sharp.

"Since you refuse to talk, then stay here and let me interrogate you properly."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly rushed forward with astonishing speed, his right hand stabbing straight into Kane's chest with a dagger.

"A second-order wanderer."

Kane's expression turned grave as he dodged the dagger and simultaneously threw out two daggers.

The hooded man didn't even turn his head, easily deflecting the dagger with his dagger, followed by a horizontal slash.

Kane's blood surged, and he raised his hand to parry with his sword.

With a sharp "clang," the hooded man felt a numbness in his arm and his face was filled with astonishment.

The hooded man quickly retreated, then circled Kane rapidly, his dagger striking repeatedly like a venomous snake emerging from its hole.

Kane focused intently, continuously deflecting the opponent's attacks with his one-handed sword, while calculating his next move.

"This second-tier roamer has mastered at least two characteristics: 'reflexive evasion' and 'weakness detection.' I need to get rid of him quickly so I can continue tracking him."

But what he didn't know was that the hooded man also found him quite troublesome.

This person's speed is no less than mine, and his strength is also so formidable. What is his background?

The hooded man grew increasingly suspicious and couldn't help but shout, "Bear, make your move!"

Kane's expression changed slightly, and he resisted the urge to use his shield spell, when a sharp sound of air being torn apart came from behind him.

He suddenly turned to the side, and an arrow pierced the stone slab beside him, its fletching trembling.

The hooded man in front seized the opportunity to rush forward, and the dagger made a deep cut in his left arm.

Kane looked up and saw a man carrying a longbow standing on the roof of a building on the left side of the street. It was the attacker named Belle, who was obviously also a Tier 2.

In front of him was the second-tier wanderer, and the two formed a pincer attack.

"Two second-tier units, this is a bit troublesome."

Kane secretly calculated—with his immortality and magic, he could devise a plan to kill one person, but it would be almost impossible to keep two alive at the same time, since both the Ranger and the Wanderer were extremely agile.

More importantly, revealing one's spellcasting and melee abilities could lead to immediate investigation, as spellcasters capable of melee combat are extremely rare.

"We must lead them to an environment that is favorable to me... that's the only place."

His face hardened, and he charged straight at the hooded man.

The hooded man thought he was going to fight to the death, and instinctively dodged.

Kane dodged to the side, ignoring another stab to his back, and used the momentum to rush into a nearby alley, heading towards the sewers.

The complex sewer network of the Second District is his home turf.

The hooded man and Bell immediately followed, and when they reached the end of the alley, they saw only a sewer entrance that had been pried open, the dark opening exuding a damp, fishy smell.

"He escaped inside," said Ranger Bell, frowning as he looked down.

"I'll go down and chase after them."

The hooded man shook his head, his tone resolute.

"He took two of my knife wounds and was also hit by the paralyzing drug on my dagger, so he couldn't have gone far."

"And I have darkvision, so I'm not afraid of the darkness inside."

He looked at Bell, "We must find out who he is, whether he's royalty, the Night's Watch, or some other organization, and whether he's targeting the Master."

"Be careful," Bell cautioned.

The hooded man nodded and leaped into the sewer entrance.

The rain was still falling, and Bell waited at the cave entrance, soaked to the bone, but the hooded man never came out.

Time passed slowly, and the sky gradually turned a pale white. He finally couldn't hold back any longer and climbed down the ladder into the sewer.

The sewer was dark, damp, and filled with a foul stench. Bell groped his way forward with limited vision, and after a quarter of an hour, he suddenly touched a soft object.

He bent down to help him up, and in the dim light, he saw that it was the hooded man's corpse—his body was covered with claw marks and bite marks, and there was a fatal knife wound on his wrist, clearly indicating suicide.

His eyes were wide open, and a look of resentment still lingered on his face.

"Damn it... no matter who you are, I'm going to catch you!"

Bell growled, his voice echoing through the tunnel.

……

Meanwhile, Kane had returned home, his wounds already healed thanks to his immortality.

He sat at the table, reviewing the standoff in the sewers. After entering the sewers, he immediately recovered from his injuries and intended to retreat to the Fifth District passage, but the hooded man pursued him relentlessly.

Kane decided to play along, pretending to run away and leading him into an area teeming with rats.

Faced with hordes of mutated rats, the hooded man panicked and tried to escape, but Kane risked his life to stop him.

With nowhere else to turn, the hooded man viciously chose to commit suicide, ultimately leaving no information behind.

Those rats eventually became Kane's experience points.

"The clues may seem to have gone cold, but that's not actually the case."

Kane tapped his fingertips on the table, sorting through the clues in his mind.

The three—the ranger Bell, the tall man in black robes, and Tessa from the merchant guild—must all be connected to the powerful figure behind Ansel.

The following day, Kane returned to the Night's Watch 13 headquarters and selectively told Reed about his experiences the previous night.

He concealed the details of his immortality and disguise skills, only recounting the details of the attack he suffered while being followed, and how he narrowly escaped.

Reed frowned in thought:

"The second-tier wanderers and rangers in the Second District, besides us Night Watchmen, are most likely Lanternbearers and City Guards."

"And what about the nobles?" Kane interjected.

Reed shook his head and said:

"It is very difficult for ordinary nobles in the city of war to recruit second-tier professionals. Even if they do, they have to report it to higher authorities."

Kane thought for a moment, then asked in return:

"What if it's not just ordinary nobles, for example... His Excellency Conrad Hermann, the royal representative?"

Reed paused, his expression turning serious:

"You're right. If it's him, it's normal for his ruling council guard to have several second-tier professionals. That's a privilege granted to him by the royal family."

"But you don't need to doubt him; after all, he represents the royal family... this..."

Kane nodded without refuting, but in his mind he had already listed this royal representative as a prime suspect.

Because it was too much of a coincidence.

The ghoul was handed over as soon as it was captured, and the royal representative took the opportunity to propose a large-scale ritual experiment, and Tessa's items were transferred to the Second District... and so on.

However, he won't say anything more until he has enough evidence.

"I need to figure out Bell's identity first... A second-tier ranger can't completely hide his identity in the inner city."

Just then, Sienna burst through the door, her face filled with panic: "It's terrible! Tessa...she's dead!"