Arcane Emperor

Butler Ralph twisted his head in horror, and despite having drawn the thin sword from his waist, it was already too late to stab into the leaping Leon.

Elder John, with a great adventure of lost souls behind him, cleaved a mutated fishman in two with a slice of his sword, and shouted, "No!"

Underneath the mask, his face turned ghastly pale, as Captain Sean's head reeled, with countless terrible thoughts flashing through his mind.

He felt that Leon, whom he usually valued a great deal, had become so alien in this moment, striding with all his might to rush over.

"I can die, but not my loved ones!"

It has to be said, Leon's swift leap, coupled with his exceedingly sly upward sword technique, caught Matthew off guard.

"Indeed, it's the White Wolf Sword Technique. When launched head-on, it's so fierce that one cannot dodge it in time, and can only bear the brunt!"

"So this is the action proving oneself, the 'protagonist expends companions' characteristic, huh? Truly unique!"

In the data display, a direct visual appeared above Leon's head.

"Controlled!"

Matthew didn't know who was controlling Leon or when he had been controlled, but he had to admit that the enemy chose a perfect timing.

He had already released several spells, and his scrolls for preserving life had also been exhausted, using up far more mana points than a Level 1 Arcanist should possess.

Even judged by the standards of a super-genius, Matthew was now utterly drained, reaching the pinnacle of what a Level 1 Arcanist could achieve!

The cunning attacker didn't want to take action personally, opting instead to control Leon in this most unexpected way!

In reality, Matthew had not noticed the change in Leon's display data in time, thereby giving the enemy an opportunity.

"Indeed, one must never blindly trust the data they see..."

"Fortunately, this lesson has not come too late!"

Matthew did not feel despair because he had a life-saving ace up his sleeve—Yaya!

Even a newly hatched young dragon has a challenge level that most mortals cannot reach—Level 5!

Though Yaya was not a true dragon, Matthew could sense its uniqueness; ever since it hatched, it had been steadily growing in strength.

In just under a day, the challenge level had already elevated from 5+ to 6+!

Sensing Matthew's danger, Yaya did not hesitate to leap into action.

Its head rose high and crashed into Leon's chest.

The longsword hacked at Yaya's grey-black back, sparking only a few flakes of fire.

However, the forceful power within the sword blade caused the adorable creature some pain, eliciting a grimacing "Yaya" sound from it.

In pain, Yaya exerted strength to knock down Leon, the despicable opponent, and they both fell into the foul stench of the sludge below.

Even though stained black by the sludge, Yaya quickly scrambled up energetically.

The instinctual hunting skills allowed it to swiftly pounce onto Leon's chest, snapping its jaws shut on the bewildered, wide-eyed Leon.

Crack!

Everyone in the team experienced a tumultuous plunge into despair, and then a surge into ecstatic relief as if they were climbing a mountain to heaven.

Yaya, showing its teeth with a fierce grin, was just too cool, too adorable!

Just as everyone felt immense relief, a lethal shadow had already silently crept up behind Matthew.

A dagger, gleaming with a deep blue luster, viciously thrust towards his lower back!

The strike was exceptionally cunning and venomous!

Furthermore, it was launched brazenly at the moment Yaya, Matthew's last line of defense, was too far to return in time.

Should Matthew be stabbed, his vulnerable kidneys would suffer a fatal blow.

The severe bleeding and the deadly pain would render Matthew completely powerless to resist at the very first instant.

This deadly kidney strike was merely the first step in a coordinated assassination.

As soon as the dagger entered Matthew's body, the assailant would instantly twist it, while his other hand would hammer down on the back of the skull.

Finally, two daggers would meet expertly at Matthew's throat, completing the last moves—slashing the neck, severing the throat!

Lethal!

The sudden attack plunged everyone into panic.

They could hardly believe that there was a second, extremely well-hidden assassin in the team!

They had not expected it, but Matthew had!

At the moment the shadow pounced from below, Matthew, sensing the crisis had not dissipated, had already stepped forward in advance.

Matthew did not die a bloody and miserable death as people might have imagined.

He turned around smoothly, facing the sudden shadow that had appeared before him.

Surge after surge of mana burst forth, piercing into the shadow that could not dodge in time, like a tide through the dark green lenses.

"Spellcasters are indeed like this, always hiding their trump cards, but your best efforts are in vain without mana points!"

The disdainful sneer arose from the heart of the shadow, under the cloak the glow spell twisted constantly, obviously equipped with very precious magical tools to protect against lethal spell attacks.

Paired with the assassin's professional skills and killing capabilities, the mastermind had made a determined decision to execute Matthew.

No matter what spells Matthew cast, even the recently impressive Fireball Technique, nothing could stop him!

All because in his embrace, there was an unactivated Berserk Potion!

Just waiting for an attack or a restraint to trigger it, he would immediately shake off all negative states and break free from all constraints, gaining even greater explosive and destructive power?

Enough to chop off Matthew's head in a blink of an eye!

How deadly this was!

And how meticulous!

A web of deadly attacks had calculated all of Matthew's chances of survival, seemingly awaiting his ultimate fate—death alone!

However, when the surging wave of mana collided with the shadow, the magical defense gear was not triggered.

For the attacker, it felt as though Matthew had failed to cast his spell in his panic.

But that couldn't be possible!

"Consume 1000 Experience Points to upgrade the Arcanist level to LV2!"

"Consume 5 skill points to enhance the Sleep Spell to LV5!"

In a daze of confusion, the attacker gazed at Matthew's silver mask, feeling an indescribable terror.

An unspeakable drowsiness swiftly overwhelmed his entire mind.

Theoretically, specially trained shadow assassins possessed a willpower far surpassing their fellow professionals.

He had a considerable success rate in resisting and saving against common hypnosis spells or even psychic spells.

But the expected confrontation of willpower he had imagined yielded absolutely no signs.

He only felt an unspeakable sleepiness emerging from everywhere in his body.

His eyes slowly closed, and he fell asleep!

"Unluckily for you, I'm no longer a Level 1 Arcanist, and you may have even contributed to this upgrade!"

"After leveling up, my mana points have been refreshed, now I have plenty!"

"Surprised? The freshly upgraded LV5 Sleep Spell, unless you have a +10 willpower bonus or possess the Iron Will feat of Legendary Level, you won't possibly resist or save against it!"

"You mongrel, at last, I've got you!"

"What a pity, you did not manage to force out my final trump card..."

Stepping back skillfully, avoiding the residual force of the sharp dagger, Matthew turned around, raised his Magic Wand, and pointed it directly at the approaching Captain Sean.

The latter immediately reacted, dropping his weapon and half-kneeling on the ground, fearful of making a move that could be misunderstood by the surrounding warriors.

Angela, who had rushed to Matthew's side, had eyes full of self-reproach and panic.

After repeatedly checking and confirming that there were no injuries on Matthew's body, she glared murderously at the stationary shadow.

She lifted her Longsword, ready to cleave off the latter's head, but Matthew stopped her with a wave of his hand:

"No need to rush, first direct the battle, Butler Ralph will handle this side."

Butler Ralph, who stood behind Matthew, nodded silently, his eyes flickering with a brief trace of unsettled fear and ruthlessness.

In front of everyone, he dragged the shadow assassin into the carriage.

Matthew, looking at the attribute panel where luck returned to 0, commonplace as always, thoughtfully pondered:

"So that's how it is..."

"Butler seems to have his own story, hopefully, it will bring me some surprises."

"Ha, indeed, players always like to uncover hidden storylines..."