CHAPTER 410: THE TARGET

A flying ship was soaring through the sky. On the deck, two handsome young men stood, gazing into the distance.

What was strange was their clothing. Despite clearly being very wealthy, they wore old and plain clothes.

Even their faces looked a bit dusty.

"Tell me about the target." Daniel spoke lazily without changing his line of sight. He really disliked the clothes he was wearing.

Not because they were ugly or anything like that, but simply because he felt uncomfortable in them—they were far too irritating.

Still, there was nothing he could do. This was their disguise for now, and he had to endure it.

"Our target is Arden Peacewing, son of Torin Peacewing. At the moment, he’s in the city of Bloodmere, a desert city, mostly a place where you’ll find thugs, criminals, and lowlifes." Andreas explained calmly.

"Tell me about this Torin. Who is he, and why are we supposed to assassinate his son?"

This was a mission assigned to Andreas by the Lionheart family for the succession competition. It was definitely not something simple and had to hold great value.

Also, the White Whale was emphasizing something for the very first time, and that alone surprised both Daniel and Andreas.

"Have you ever heard of the Golden Tooth Bandits?"

"Yeah, I even joined one of their auctions recently." Daniel replied with a smirk.

"Well, Torin is one of the leaders of that group. And that’s only one of his identities. The man is among the leaders of more than thirty notorious criminal and bandit groups spread all over the world."

"There are even rumors he might be the leader of the Blood Mountain Bandits. But there’s no real evidence for it—it’s mostly speculation and guesswork." Andreas continued.

"So the guy’s really a big shot, and we’re supposed to assassinate his son? You sure we won’t run into trouble? Someone like that definitely has tons of guards around him," Daniel said.

"That’s the mission. And even if they outnumber us, would it make any difference to you?" Andreas laughed, remembering those majestic yet terrifying creatures Daniel could summon.

"As for why we’re supposed to kill his son, I don’t know much either, except that this request came from Torin himself."

"Wait... Torin actually wants his own son killed? Why would he want something like that?" Daniel felt for a moment that he had misheard.

How could a father want his son dead? It made no sense at all.

"I don’t know either. Aunt didn’t explain much. She only told me that we’re not the only ones sent to assassinate him. If we want to succeed, we have to be the first ones to kill him."

"She didn’t say who else was sent? From the Lionheart family? Or did other forces send people as well?"

"She didn’t say. But I think it’s the other forces. We should be the only ones sent by my family." Andreas thought for a moment, then replied.

"I see. I’d like to know what exactly this Arden has, that his own father wants him dead." Daniel muttered.

He had a few ideas and possibilities in mind, but until he saw the man himself, he couldn’t be certain. Whatever the reason was, it definitely wouldn’t be simple.

"How far are we from the destination?"

"We should arrive in about two hours. But around here, we’ll need to stop and continue on foot." Andreas pulled out a map from his inventory and glanced at it.

He then used mana to bring the flying ship to a stop and slowly landed it. Once it touched down in the desert, both of them disembarked.

After they left, the ship gradually shrank smaller and smaller until it reached a size small enough to be easily hidden beneath the sand.

"Hope no one finds it." Daniel said. Even though they had hidden it, it wasn’t truly safe. Anyone with spiritual or divine senses could easily detect it.

"How are we supposed to cover the rest of the way? On foot, it’ll take forever." Andreas glanced at the map again.

"You idiot, you’re the one who’s supposed to think of that, not me." Daniel sighed, but then summoned Vorak.

"We can ride this."

"Perfect." Andreas laughed and the two of them mounted Vorak. Daniel gave directions to his Fallen One, and Vorak began to run.

Its speed had greatly improved compared to before—at least a hundred times faster, and it even seemed its rank had increased.

It took about an hour to reach their destination—the marked location on the map that was supposed to be the entrance to the city of Bloodmere.

"Are you sure this map is correct?" Daniel scanned the surroundings. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but sand and dirt.

The desert seemed endless, stretching on without end.

"I’m sure. Aunt gave me this map." Andreas frowned, got off Vorak, looked at the map, and then at the area around them.

Clearly, they were standing right at the spot marked as the entrance to Bloodmere. But here, there was no entrance—no city at all.

"Could something have happened? Maybe the city was destroyed?" Andreas asked, frowning in confusion.

"I doubt a city could be destroyed this quickly—especially one in the middle of a desert. Besides, if it had been destroyed, your aunt would’ve told us, right?" Daniel dismissed the idea. His reasoning didn’t support it.

"Then where the hell is this city?" Andreas grumbled.

Daniel gave a bitter smile without answering, though suddenly he noticed something. He jumped down from Vorak and activated his spiritual senses—but found nothing.

Yet he was certain he had just heard something. Then again, he heard it once more. It was wrong to call it a sound—more like tremors and pulses.

His frown deepened as he looked at the ground beneath his feet, then scanned the area around them. His expression shifted slightly.

"There’s a problem." He turned to Andreas.

"What problem?" Andreas, who had been focused on the map, raised his head and looked at Daniel.

"If I’m not mistaken... we’re surrounded."