Assassin's Chronicle

Reputation can be very convenient at time, but it can also cause a lot of trouble. Anfey wasn’t the most famous person, but he wasn’t unknown, either. If he had been more famous, maybe convincing the mercenaries to join him would have been much easier. He could move through the sea of death because he wasn’t famous enough for everyone to know.

The necromancers did not pay much attention to him. They were more worried about Suzanna. They did not know the mercenaries had a top level power until they saw the blinding combat power.

Whether he wanted to or not, Anfey knew this was his only chance of breaking through. Fernando could press ahead without any concerns, but the necromancers needed to spare part of their force to attack the mercenaries. The fight for the Book of Life was almost as important as the entire battle itself.

A few dark figures appeared in midair. Six necromancers arrived to assist in the battle. Anfey and Suzanna had already separated and were heading in different directions. One was stopping the Knights of Death, while the other was dealing with the floating specters.

Suzanna was under a lot of pressure. It wasn’t easy facing hundreds of Knights of Death alone. Anfey’s job wasn’t easy, either. He needed to kill of the specters. The priests were gone and the mercenaries could not take care of those specters by themselves. If the specters reached the city, it would mean chaos and disorder.

Anfey saw the necromancers, but he couldn’t let himself be distracted. The specters were way too fast. Luckily, the specters did not try to attack the mercenaries. The specters howled as they swooped towards Anfey, bombarding him with mind magic, then quickly flying away again, waiting for their next chance to attack. If it had been another system of magic, Anfey would have to use his mind to control the elements. However, he was almost immune to the specters’ magic. It was almost impossible for the specters to defeat him unless they all attacked him at the same time.

The necromancers arrived and observed the battle. They had not come to kill anyone. Their goal was to take the Book of Life. If they must kill someone, they would rather focus their energy on the swordswoman. If they could turn her, it would be an invaluable addition to their forces.

Anfey ignored the necromancers as well. He turned and ducked the attack from a specter, then thrusted at it with his Fire Sword. Specters were very strong and very hard to destroy. However, because Anfey knew their weaknesses, it became an easy task for him.

One of the necromancers suddenly turned and, with a wave of his hand, sent a bone lance towards Anfey.

Anfey jumped aside and dashed away from the spot where a bone cage suddenly appeared. Anfey waved his Fire Sword and sliced through the bone lance. He jumped towards another specter and sliced through the creature’s body, turning it into mist.

The necromancer spat angrily.

"Hans, what are you doing?" another necromancer stopped and asked.

"He killed my specter!"

"Hans! Get your priorities straight," the necromancer said angrily.

"Go ahead," Hans said. "I’ll catch up." Anfey had destroyed another specter and the necromancer called Hans grew even angrier. He was very close with his specters.

Anfey dashed through the zombies. Every time he waved his sword, he could kill a few zombies, though they were not his target. The specters were fast, but he was not slow. The necromancer’s magic did not bother him, and he largely ignored it.

Hans released two bone cages and missed Anfey both times. He grew frustrated and released the Touch of Death.

Touch of Death was a very powerful spell with a large range. The dark fog it created could cover a large area in a matter of seconds. The fog was very corrosive and everything it touched, including the zombies, would turn into dust.

Anfey had his eyes on another specter when he felt a sudden change in the elements. He knew this must be a powerful spell, and he needed to avoid it. Anfey ducked, releasing a magic shield around himself and quickly summoned a wall of earth.

The corrosive black fog appeared out of nowhere and began spreading quickly. The magic shield, however, had already formed and blocked the advance of the fog.

The necromancer frowned. He had seen people avoiding his spells, but he had never seen anyone avoid it in such a strange way.

The magic shield began shaking and exploded. The Touch of Death was too powerful a spell for a small magic shield to defend against, but it gave Anfey enough time to get away. By the time the magic shield disappeared and the fog began moving again, Anfey was already out of the way of the fog.

The specters must have felt the anger of their owner and surrounded Anfey, trying to take him out. Anfey pursed his lips and swept his sword around himself, taking out several specters at a time.

Hans spat. He now knew that whoever was killing his specters was not someone he could easily deal with. He held out his bone wand and began chanting. The specters all stopped streaking through the air and began shaking. The specters gathered and sent a strong but hard-to-detect wave of mind magic towards Anfey.

The specters were using the Touch of Dread, a powerful spell even top level powers could not defend themselves against. It would bring back the most painful thing in anyone’s memory. The spell itself could not harm anyone, but it would send people into their own minds.

Anfey suddenly stopped moving.

Before Hans could celebrate, though, Anfey lifted his head and his eyes found Hans. The calmness in his eyes was replaced by anger.

If the spell was used on Suzanna, she would recall her time with her mother. That would effectively deter her and give the necromancer a good opportunity to injure or kill her. For Anfey, the spell brought to mind the spook that once killed him. It was painful, but it was not enough to stop him.

He grew angry because he did not know if the specters caught a glimpse of his memory. As the specters approached him, Anfey’s body began shaking, and he let out a loud roar. The specters stopped as if they were frozen, then all exploded at the same time.

"Dear god," Hans whispered. "That’s a forbidden spell from the abyss!"