CHAPTER 181: Found It

Metal chains bound all four limbs of the great druid Caspian in a cube-shaped cage around which lightning crackled and sparked. An icy mist hovered around the chains, freezing the man to the bone and making it difficult for him to even breathe.

When Han Shuo and Emily found Caspian in this room, they rushed to the druid in shock. Emily took just one look before making a quiet diagnosis. "There are both electrical and water elemental magical boundaries at work here. In addition, the cage limits his power. I need some time to disassemble the spells."

Glancing quickly at the ice that was beginning to form on the tips of the druid's hair, Han Shuo said, "I am confident that my weapon is sharp enough to penetrate the cage directly."

Emily held out a hand to stop Han Shuo, she shook her head sternly and explained, "This is a magical boundary made of both electrical and water elements that has been set up quite intricately. If you don't know the proper technique and try to break through the cage with brute force alone, you might end up killing him by electrocution or hypothermia."

Han Shuo was far from Emily's equal when it came to knowledge of magic in general, as necromancy was different from the other types of magic. After hearing her explanation, he didn't push his own thoughts any further: "Very well. You work on releasing him from the boundary, and I'll look for evidence against Bob Ascher."

With that, he left Emily and began to examine their surroundings. Crowded with numerous shelves of various sizes containing many strange, fascinating items, the room did not seem very spacious.

On one of the shelves were many glittering badges, each marked with some symbol describing its meaning. These were the awards that Bob Ascher had received over his many years of service, which had helped him rise to the position of Chief of the Gryphon Legion, and they were the items that he could show off for the rest of his life.

There was another shelf that held a few cavalry helmets and weapons. Some were shiny, others obviously damaged. Underneath each piece was a small piece of paper, detailing the battle in which the helmet or weapon had been used.

The rest of the shelves of varying sizes contained either old books or obviously exorbitant swords and spears, not the pearls, jewels and jade Han Shuo had expected.

Emily had been working on dismantling the druid's imprisonment in the distance when she happened to see Han Shuo bored by the items on the shelves, his mind even wandering a little. She couldn't help but scold him, "A man like Bob Ascher wouldn't keep ordinary jewels in his secret chamber, so rid yourself of thieving thoughts. Wealth has long since ceased to be his aim. The things here represent his glory and memories, nothing that gold can compare to."

At this reminder, Han Shuo sighed dejectedly. "Here I thought I would find a ton of gold and wealth in his secret chamber. I had even planned to reward Gilbert after this mission, but I guess I was ignorant and ill-informed".

"Go look through the other things." Emily rolled her eyes and urged Han Shuo. "We need enough evidence to nail him for good!"

Taking a deep breath to focus, Han Shuo quickly walked around the shelves looking for any hidden items, but after going around once and looking through every single shelf, he still didn't find anything of value.

"Looks like we're out of luck!" Han Shuo walked back to Emily with his palms open and said with some resignation.

"Just a second." Emily was at a crucial point in her work. A shadowy cloud of magic pulsed between her hands and she pressed it firmly against the cage.

Snap! Snap! The cage began to sizzle and crackle as Emily's cloud of magic made contact with it, disappearing in an instant. Caspian's trembling also subsided.

"All right. Now that the magical boundary has been broken, you can use your weapon to save him." Emily let out a small sigh and turned around with a graceful smile before sashaying towards the shelves. "Leave the search for evidence against Bob Ascher to me. My experience in the Dark Mantle has made me an expert at this kind of work."

"Thank you!" The druid shakily expressed his gratitude to Han Shuo as he slowly regained his body heat after the magical boundary dissolved.

"Hehehe, you're just lucky we ran into you!" Chuckling, Han Shuo picked up the Demon Slayer's Edge and directed his magical yuan into it, swinging it in the air.

With a loud crack, a few obsidian metal bars snapped under the Demonslayer Edge's swing. Han Shuo reached out and forcefully bent the bars aside, allowing the druid to step out.

Upon leaving his confinement, Caspian stretched his body and took a few deep breaths before asking Han Shuo, "Where is Angelica? Is she in danger?"

"Rest assured. We left her in the care of the Battlefire mercenaries before we left. I don't think she will get into any trouble, but she is very worried about you." After answering, Han Shuo looked at Emily without asking why Caspian was imprisoned there in the first place.

Meanwhile, Emily took out a certain magical item and played with it in her hands until she forced open a hidden compartment in the corner. After rummaging through it, she fished out a small book.

"Ah hah, I found it."

"Hidden compartments are common in secret chambers, but they are concealed with space magic that an average person can almost never discover. Only a grand magus of space can sense these magical ripples and deactivate the disguise, but the Dark Mantle does this sort of thing so often that we've developed a special magical tool. With it, I could detect the slightest magical activity in this room and get whatever we needed. Emily explained proudly with the book in her hand.

"Does that mean our mission is complete?" Han Shuo asked with a grin after a pause.

Nodding rather happily, Emily replied, "That's right. . As long as we can leave Valen City, Bob Ascher is a dead man!"

At that moment, they heard a series of hurried knocks from above.

With tensed expressions, Han Shuo and Emily exchanged a quick glance before the former finally spoke, "That was Gilbert's signal. It means someone has noticed our presence and is on their way here. Let's go back up and leave this place."

With that, Emily went up the way they had come. The great druid had not yet recovered from his recent escape from the cage. His face was still pale and his steps stiff and awkward.

Nimbly manoeuvring to flank Caspian, Han Shuo threw the druid onto his back and dashed out behind Emily, returning to Bob Ascher's bedroom.

Just as they arrived, they heard the sounds of battle from outside the door. Emily shared a quick, concerned look with Han Shuo before reaching for the bed. Returning the bed to its original form, the two of them raced out the door.

On the other side, Gilbert was holding off an attack from several Gryphon Legion soldiers, spear in hand. Another squad of Gryphon Legion troops was approaching. Some were equipped with bows and arrows and had positioned themselves to shoot Gilbert down.

"You're out at last, honoured master. I'm afraid I can't hold them off much longer." Spotting Han Shuo, Gilbert jumped back after parrying a spear blow and called out to his master.

All three of them, Han Shuo, Emily and Gilbert, had their faces and identities covered, unmistakably the appearance of no-gooders. Even the great druid had been disguised with a black mask before Han Shuo carried him out. The group looked more like a group of sneaky bandits.

"Let's get out of here!" Han Shuo shouted as the stream of Gryphon Legion soldiers closed in on them. He sprinted out through an opening before the enemies could seal them in.

The bowmen and crossbowmen had already finished reloading their weapons. If Han Shuo and Emily were to flee, they would be easy targets without any cover, so they were forced to take cover behind the artificial mountain and plants in the villa.

Without wasting words or even a nod, Gilbert charged behind Han Shuo. Flames had completely engulfed the mansion and screams now filled the air. Belinda and Johnny had stormed through a wall with the help of the three-eyed golem and were running as if their lives depended on it. Johnny even appeared to be wounded, with an arrow sticking out of his bum and blood dripping from his chest.

"This way!" Spying Han Shuo's party, Belinda waved rather loyally, signalling for them to join her. However, Han Shuo ignored her and ran towards the opposite wall. He shouted back, "Are you joking? I don't want to die fighting all those soldiers behind you, thank you very much!"