CHAPTER 173: Not Enough Right To

After returning from the cemetery, Han Shuo found Emily standing next to him as soon as he emerged from the secret chamber.

"So you've seen your little lover?" Emily asked as soon as she saw Han Shuo.

"Regarding the siege weapons Bob Ascher asked for, Phoebe is completely out of the loop. Besides, I told her everything and she will cooperate fully with our work. I think we can hide the fact that Phoebe is involved." As he left the transportation matrix, Han Shuo retrieved the six magical staffs one by one while explaining to Emily.

"If Phoebe is truly unaware of the situation, then she won't be involved in this matter. We of the Dark Mantle will not treat a good person unjustly. You will know that in the future," Emily replied firmly. Then she smiled tenderly and said, "You entered her room in the middle of the night, did she not mistake you for a rapist and beat you up?

"Of course not," Han Shuo replied with a straight face.

Emily stared at Han Shuo intently, trying to decipher something, but she realised that Han Shuo's expression was bland, with no particular changes.

"Alright, let's leave this matter as it is. I just received a message. That Belinda you released contacted me using your method. I don't know what happened." After realising that she could not read anything from Han Shuo's expression, Emily dropped the matter and continued to talk about real business.

Before releasing Belinda, Han Shuo had left her a way to contact him and told Emily about it so that she could keep an eye on it for him. When he heard her say this now, he immediately replied, "That's good. Then let's go meet Belinda right away to see what she wants."

Han Shuo travelled with Emily to the Dark Forest where he had previously killed the two Gryphon Knights. Although he had already left some insurance on Belinda's body, Han Shuo continued to be very cautious. He had been extremely vigilant on his way here for fear of falling into one of Belinda's schemes.

As Han Shuo entered the forest, he suddenly felt an enormous presence hidden within.

This energy clearly did not come from Belinda. Han Shuo immediately focused his attention and spoke softly to Emily who was right next to him, "Be careful. There's something unnatural in there."

Emily nodded her head and replied, "Indeed. It seems that Belinda isn't alone in the forest. It's better if we take precautions to avoid being lured into one of her traps."

"Relax. If Belinda dares to lift a finger against us, I will make her suffer the consequences," Han Shuo's expression was calm. He retrieved the Demonslayer Edge from his space ring and walked towards the depths of the forest.

Suddenly, a blinding bolt of lightning as thick as a man's arm shot violently towards his body like a soaring dragon, zigzagging in the air as it exploded with brilliant radiance. As it moved, some of the large trees around its path began to smoke with a chaotic creaking sound.

Han Shuo's eyebrows furrowed as the Demonslayer's Edge shot out at his will. With a whoosh, it leapt past the trees blocking its path and instantly stabbed at the top of the lightning bolt.

Amidst a series of thunderous explosions, Han Shuo's Demonslayer Edge could sense a storm of vengeful combat aura imbued with the power of lightning. Not even the Demonslayer Edge imbued with Han Shuo's demonic power could continuously withstand this kind of incredibly violent and chaotic energy. In the blink of an eye after making contact, Han Shuo was visibly unsettled as he rushed to force the Demonslayer Edge back into his palm.

"Who's there?" Emily, who was also very cautious at this point, called out softly. She grabbed her staff, her bright eyes fixed on the thunderbolts flying overhead.

"Calamity Church Thunder Magic Knight Johnny! I just wanted to see if you two had the qualifications to work with me!" A deep voice suddenly shouted from the mysterious depths of the forest.

After this cry, a middle-aged man in black armour with ash-silver hair emerged from the depths of the forest alongside Belinda. An ugly scar ran from his forehead to his nose, adding harshness to an already ugly face.

The moment he stepped out of the dark forest after speaking, his body had already started to move rapidly towards the soaring lightning. With a luxurious flourish of his right hand, a milky white combat aura flashed into existence. The floating lightning seemed to be guided into his palm by a titanic force.

After the lightning had receded, Han Shuo realised that it was actually a long silver sword. Only, even now, the sword was still covered in electricity that had yet to dissipate, sparking with light from time to time.

The milky white combat aura of this man spoke of the strength he possessed as either a swordsman or an earth rider. Combining that kind of potential with the lightning demonic arts that this person had cultivated, it was no wonder that this person was so powerful that even Han Shuo's Demonslayer Edge couldn't handle him.

Behind the figure of Thunder Mage Swordsman Johnny, the veil-clad Belinda slowly walked out. When she reached Han Shuo, she briefly apologised before turning to Johnny. "Uncle Johnny, I already told you. Your potential qualifies you to work with us. How else could I have miscalculated?"

This man, Johnny of the Calamity Church, seemed to be an extremely selfish person, but he still had some respect for Belinda. When he heard her say this, he could only nod and say, "Their potential can be considered passable, but working with them will not benefit us much. Bob Ascher of the Gryphon Knights is a sky rider. These two people are no match for someone with his potential. Our only chance is if you can just use your golem to distract the surrounding people while I execute him.

Emily couldn't help but speak up when she heard this person's arrogance, "Apparently, apart from the Gryphon Legion chief being a Sky Rider, there are five Earth Riders at his side. Then there is Clark's master, the Great Swordmaster Gabriel, and two other water and earth archmages."

"Based on that alone, it has to be a Divine Swordmaster and a Magister, or a Divine knight acting in concert, or it's an empty dream to try to kill him alone. Hehehe, I can see that even though Mister Johnny is a thundermage swordsman at the level of a swordmaster, it won't be so easy for you once you really start fighting Bob Ascher, not to mention the followers on his side.

Most people would know that Bob Ascher had a few followers on his side, but they wouldn't know in the detail that the Dark Mantle knew. As Emily began to describe all of Bob Ascher's followers in detail, even the arrogant Johnny's face changed drastically.

"Then what help can you bring us?" Johnny stood silently with a stone-cold face and looked at Emily.

"No matter what your goals are in fighting Bob Ascher, I just want to tell you not to make moves lightly. If you do, not only will you get involved, but so will we. If we work together, we can provide you with information about the people on Bob Ascher's side and help you distract them for a short time, creating the right moment for your assassination attempt." Emily smiled confidently and quietly described what the Dark Mantle could do for Johnny.

"Uncle Johnny, this is exactly what we need!" Belinda suddenly spoke up next to Johnny.

"You are probably members of the Lancelot Empire?" Johnny wasn't an idiot and naturally guessed the identity of Han Shuo and Emily at this point.

Nodding, Emily admitted, "That's right. I hope you can keep this secret for us if we work together."

Huh. You people are so phony. You'll cooperate with us when you need us, but pretend you don't even know we exist when the matter is over. You'll come at us with everything you've got." Johnny sneered with the utmost sarcasm.

"Then the matter is settled. We'll let you know when we find a suitable time to kill him in the next few days. We'll let you know when the arrangements have been made. You can use the time to find more helpers, otherwise it won't be so realistic to want to kill Bob Ascher". When Han Shuo saw Johnny's experience, he knew that while he didn't care for those who worked for the country, he seemed to be used to using others. He looked as if he'd agreed to work together.

With the current strength of the Calamity Church, it wasn't possible to assassinate Bob Ascher alone . Han Shuo and Emily had agreed to work with them, not because they hoped to kill Bob Ascher, but because they wanted to use the chaos to sneak into his mansion, get the information they needed and then use the power of the Dark Mantle to take him down.

"Alright, then this matter is settled. I hope you two don't get up to any tricks, or you'll regret it." Johnny finally agreed with a darkened face.