How come this arcanist is invincible?

Chapter 87 The Clues Have Not Ended

As the blood mist dissipated, Kane, Gavin, Talia, and the others breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that each other was unharmed.

Ansel, the sorcerer standing behind the warrior, turned completely grim.

The death of Quassam means that others can now fully join the battle and form an encirclement.

Footsteps drew closer.

Reed and the others also rushed over from the church.

Surrounded by two squads, Ansel patted the one-eyed warrior with the shield on the shoulder, then looked at the others:

"Wait a minute."

"What do you want to do?" Hans stopped his attack, his gaze fixed on Ansel like that of a hawk.

Ansel slowly raised his hands and clearly said:

"I surrender and demand that I be treated as a prisoner of war."

Reed frowned, clearly weighing the pros and cons.

Hans stepped forward and stared at Ansel:

"Yes, but you must provide intelligence of sufficient value."

"That scumbag got off easy," Sienna muttered resentfully.

Kane remained silent, observing quietly, sensing that the other party had ulterior motives.

The one-eyed warrior slowly lowered his shield, the metal striking the ground with a dull thud.

He and Ansel exchanged a glance, and at the same time they released their weapons, the short sword and staff clattering to the ground.

They walked step by step toward Reed and the others, allowing the Night's Watch to come forward and put shackles on them.

The cold iron rings locked the wrists and ankles, making a harsh grinding sound.

The one-eyed warrior stopped and turned to look at Ansel, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something.

Ansel whispered, "...I'm sorry."

Kane frowned; he felt that all of this had come too easily.

Just as the group was about to leave, Ansel suddenly looked up, a strange smile playing on his lips, and called out to the crowd:

"Oh, right... I have one more piece of information to share."

"What intelligence?"

Reed immediately became alert and raised his hand to signal his teammates to be on guard.

Ansel's smile grew increasingly manic as he spoke, enunciating each word clearly:

"That's—Magic Explosion!"

"not good!"

Kane charged forward almost instinctively, chanting rapidly, "Shield!"

An invisible shield suddenly unfolded, pressing tightly against the front.

At the same time, the one-eyed warrior's face suddenly contorted, his body swelled uncontrollably, and then there was the sound of flesh tearing apart.

The next moment, he and his armor were blown to pieces.

Hot, scalding flesh fragments mixed with metal debris flew in all directions.

Everyone instinctively ducked to avoid the shards, even though the shield spell blocked the most fragments.

However, many small fragments still cut the arms and cheeks of several team members, but fortunately the injuries were not serious.

Ansel, being the person closest to the epicenter of the explosion, was naturally not spared.

He lay in a pool of blood, his body covered in wounds.

Several deep, bone-revealing wounds pierced his torso, and the blood gushing from his arteries stained the ground beneath him. Several sharp pieces of armor were deeply embedded in his chest.

But there was no sign of frustration on his face; instead, he exuded a kind of morbid fanaticism.

Reed rushed forward, grabbed his blood-stained collar, and demanded:

"Who exactly is this 'big shot' you're talking about? Since he abandoned you, just tell me!"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Ansel laughed loudly, blackish-red blood gushing from the corner of his mouth, his eyes filled with a manic madness.

"You... will never know... you... the hyenas of the kingdom..."

Reed wanted to ask more, but Kane gently patted his wrist.

He looked down and saw that Ansel had already stopped breathing, only the mocking smile on his face seemed to still be mocking everyone's futility.

Seeing this, Reed and Hans's faces darkened considerably.

With Ansel dead, the trail went completely cold, and the mission was essentially a failure.

Hans whispered a few words to Reid, then turned and left with his squad.

Reed stared at the lingering, smirking face on the ground. Kane patted him on the shoulder: "The mission may not have failed. We still have a chance."

"Don't try to comfort me," Reed shook his head.

"I have no interest in comforting you," Kane said calmly.

"People have social relationships. If this follower of evil wants to contact the person behind him, he must do so through some channels."

We can start by examining his past network of contacts and the chambers of commerce he has run—the more people he has been in contact with, the more clues he may leave behind.

Even if the hope is slim, it's worth a try.

Reed fell into deep thought upon hearing this, and the frustration on his face gradually faded: "You have a point."

Just then, an old man with a hunched back and tattered clothes slowly approached.

He was thin and emaciated, as if a gust of wind could blow him over. His tattered robes were stained, and his exposed arms were as thin as withered branches.

The old man ignored the vigilance of his surroundings.

He walked straight to Ansel's body and stared down at his cold face.

Suddenly, he laughed. The laughter started weakly, gradually grew more shrill, and finally, tears streamed down his face as he choked back sobs and repeated:

"Finally...he's finally dead."

Kane and Reed exchanged a glance, and Reed stepped forward to ask, "Who are you?"

The old man looked up, his gaze falling on the Night's Watch badges on the people's bodies, his voice hoarse:

"I'm just an ordinary resident living in the slums."

His voice was dry.

"Ever since this 'Lord Ansel' came to our area to hold a charity event and distribute barley porridge... my son ate it and died; my neighbor ate it and also died."

Today...they told me that my grandson also died.

"grandson?"

Kane's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately thought of the little boy Ruan who had been detonated by Ansel.

Looking at the old man's face, he didn't see the expected collapse and despair, but rather a numbness of relief, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

"Since you knew there was something wrong with the food, why didn't you stop it? Why didn't you tell anyone?" Sienna couldn't help but ask.

The old man slowly raised his cloudy eyes:

"Sir, we slum dwellers are merely struggling on the edge of life and death."

Since some people say that eating it can help them survive, there will always be people who take a chance and try it.

After all, in the face of hunger, luck is the only hope.

Everyone fell silent.

The old man smiled sadly, then suddenly bent down, picked up a stone, and smashed it down on Ansel's head with all his might!

His skull shattered, and blood mingled with rainwater, splashing onto his already filthy robes.

Kane and the others did not stop them.

Gavin has already examined the body, but there are no clues they are looking for.

The rain poured down harder, washing away the bloodstains on the ground.

Everyone turned and left, Sienna with her head down, her face somber.

Kane remained calm, walking alongside Reed and discussing in hushed tones the direction of the investigation.

Back at base, Reed retrieved the files and convened another meeting.

"Ansel previously founded a chamber of commerce named after himself, and employed more than a dozen people in total."

We've now divided the work, each of us contacting these people to find out if Ansel is hiding any secrets, and to trace the connections behind him.

Reed quickly assigned tasks, and Kane learned that he and Sienna would once again pretend to be a couple and go to the merchant guild where Ansel's ex-wife worked to investigate.

The next day, the two arrived in the sixth district.

The guild's storefront was small, mainly dealing in daily necessities such as flour, salt, cloth, and farm tools, with some pelts of monsters from the Dark Forest piled up in a corner.

The store was bustling, and Sienna pretended to select items.

A middle-aged female shop assistant sized them up for a moment, then smiled and said, "If you two don't mind, could we discuss this further in the back?"

Sienna and Kane exchanged a glance, and Sienna followed her into the simple reception room at the back. The waiter served bitter root tea and then left.

Soon, a woman wearing a black mask walked in, sat down opposite them, glanced at the two of them, and got straight to the point:

"You two aren't here to buy anything, are you?" The woman's voice came through her veil.

Why do you say that?

Sienna picked up her teacup and asked in a seemingly calm manner.

"Those who purchase supplies in the Sixth District will not wear clothes worth twenty silver coins."

She glanced at Sienna's collar, then turned to Kane. "You're here for Ansel, aren't you?"

Sienna looked at Kane, who nodded slightly and looked directly at the woman.

"Yes. You are Tessa, Ansel's ex-wife and his former business partner."

Tessa didn't deny it, nodding slightly, her voice coming through the mask, a little hoarse: "Is he... dead?"

"He was killed by us in the southern part of the Seventh District as a follower of the devil."

A low chuckle came from beneath the mask, sounding like relief or a sense of satisfaction.

"Good riddance... He killed my parents, and he ruined my face too."

She pulled down her veil, revealing her right cheek covered in hideous scars, the wounds still oozing pus, a horrifying sight, clearly caused by a vicious spell or potion.

A hint of sympathy flashed in Sienna's eyes, but Kane's expression remained unchanged, though many doubts swirled in his mind.

"Why didn't you report it to the sheriff?" Sienna couldn't help but ask.

Tessa gave a cold laugh.

"A sheriff? Ansel has given countless gifts to the noble lords in the second and third districts."

I was originally from the Third District, but he squandered all my family's wealth... By the time I found out the truth about my parents' deaths, it was too late.

I paid a heavy price to get rid of him, but I was also disfigured.

She bowed slightly to the two of them. "Regardless, thank you for killing him."

"Do you know who he might associate with? Anything unusual is acceptable."

Tessa frowned, lost in thought, and shook her head: "Sorry, I don't know... Wait, let me think."

Sienna looked at Kane with a questioning look in her eyes, but seeing his expressionless face, she turned to Tessa:

"What did you remember?"

"He seems to frequently sneak out of the city, and also..."

Tessa paused, her tone uncertain, "He seems to have had dealings with the Dark Forest."

The two chatted with Tessa for a long time. Although she talked about many things about Ansel's past, they were all trivial details and mostly just speculation.

Even if they are Night's Watchmen, they cannot search a nobleman's mansion based on mere speculation.

Sienna was filled with disappointment, but Kane kept his eyes fixed on Tessa's wound, his dark eyes deep and thoughtful.

After leaving the Chamber of Commerce, Sienna couldn't help but sigh, "The trail has gone cold again."

"It's not broken," Kane said confidently. "Tessa has a problem."