Chapter 667 Book 11: Chapter 67: Coincidence

Elastor became the Silverymoon City Lord and led the Silver Marches toward unity over the years. She did not rely solely on her personal strength and her status as Mystra’s Chosen. Her wisdom and decisiveness were also exceptional.

Just as the Centaur Lord began to mutate, she already sensed something was wrong. Her attention was highly focused, and she did not even clearly hear the shouts of Laini and Annasilia not far away.

Two layers of semi-transparent magical shields spread out from her body, enveloping Elastor like a double-layered eggshell, turning her into a brightly shining large egg.

The outer layer, a pale red magical shield, was a high-rank fire protection barrier that came with her magical robe. The inner layer, a pale golden shield, was an instant-cast spell called “Mystra’s Blessing.” It was the strongest protective method the Goddess of Magic had given her.

However, the Zhentarim had prepared for this assassination plan for a long time. The Centaur Lord’s short sword and the two assassins’ daggers were clearly not ordinary items. The first layer of the fire magical shield on Elastor’s surface almost had no effect. The three blades pierced through the shield as if cutting through butter.

Only when they broke through the first layer and touched the second layer, “Mystra’s Blessing,” did they finally encounter resistance. The pale golden magical shield distorted violently, with its surface magical glow flashing wildly. The point where it met the sharp blades deeply dented inward.

The situation was sudden. When the Silverymoon City Lord was attacked, apart from Qin Lun and the others who reacted, the guests and guards around her were almost all stunned by the change, their minds blank for a moment.

“Pop!” With a barely audible soft sound, “Mystra’s Blessing” finally shattered after a tremble, dissolving into scattered pale golden lights. It had bought Elastor less than a second.

“We’ve succeeded!” The two Zhentarim assassins’ eyes revealed wild joy. The backs of their hands gripping the daggers instantly bulged with countless veins. They no longer worried about Elastor’s possible counterattack and increased their stabbing speed even more.

Meanwhile, the Centaur Lord, who was attacking the Silverymoon City Lord head-on, seemed to have received instructions from the hidden Necromancer. Its hind hooves suddenly exerted force, and its half-lying body on the ground abruptly stood up. The short sword in its hand, originally aimed at Elastor’s abdomen, slightly changed its angle and stabbed fiercely toward her heart.

“Is this it?” The Silverymoon City Lord’s originally shocked and furious expression suddenly calmed. A trace of acceptance appeared in her eyes.

“Mystra’s Blessing” had given her a sliver of time to counterattack, but Elastor knew she could not avoid this assassination attempt. The attacks from three directions were perfectly coordinated, leaving her almost no room to dodge.

At this moment, she had only two choices: one was to try to avoid her vital spots, and the other was to ignore the enemies’ attacks and unleash one last spell, taking these assassins with her before death.

“Alas!” The Silverymoon City Lord sighed softly. She almost instantly made her decision, twisting her body while using her hands to block the short sword in front and the dagger on the left side behind her head. As for the attack on the right, she could only leave it to fate.

If this were in the wild, she would not hesitate to take the enemies with her. But this was the Banquet Hall of the Palace of the High, where most city lords of the Silver Marches were gathered. Using a self-destruct type magic would not only bury the enemies but also cause heavy casualties among her friends. Lady Hope was clearly not so selfish.

However, just as the Silverymoon City Lord made her move, something unexpected happened again.

Due to the Deathbloom poison, the Centaur Lord’s soul was contaminated and lost its self-awareness. Its body was now controlled by the hidden Necromancer.

When it previously fell from poisoning, the drink in its hand had also spilled all over the floor. Because of its Centaur body shape, its lower horse body was half-lying on the ground. By raising its upper body, it could reach Elastor’s abdomen.

But during the assassination attempt, the short sword very smoothly broke through the two layers of magical shields, making the Necromancer overjoyed. Therefore, he felt the same as the other two assassins, secretly putting in more effort, urging the Centaur to stand up, causing the short sword originally aimed at the abdomen to slightly change its angle and stab toward Elastor’s heart.

In fact, the Zhentarim had prepared two types of alchemical potions for this assassination. One was the Deathbloom poison, and the other was the Dream Illusion Potion, also called the Emerald Dream Potion.

Like the Deathbloom poison, the Dream Illusion Potion did not kill the target. The Deathbloom poison contaminated the soul, turning it into a living dead, while the Dream Illusion Potion made the target fall into an endless dream from which they never woke.

Although the Deathbloom poison was sinister, there were ways to cleanse it. As long as the soul was not contaminated for too long, it could still be purified, though memories would be damaged over time. The Dream Illusion Potion, however, almost had no antidote.

The materials for this potion were even rarer than Deathbloom, and it could be said they were nearly extinct. That was because one key ingredient was the brain matter of a Titan Giant. But precisely because of its rarity, once someone was affected, even the gods were almost helpless.

The Silverymoon City Lord was powerful, the Silver Marches had countless capable people, and she was the Chosen of the Goddess of Magic Mystra. Killing her with one strike was not easy. If she was only injured and not dead, it would be useless—she might be up and about the next day.

Therefore, the Zhentarim settled for the second-best option: only requiring her to be injured, then letting the Dream Illusion Potion take effect. As long as Elastor remained in the dream state long-term, it would be no different from death.

However, at this stage of the event’s development, the several Zhentarim assassins suddenly found the entire plan going unusually smoothly.

Although the Silverymoon City Lord seemed prepared and had secretly arranged for three Legendary Powerhouses, including the Storm Queen, by mere coincidence, they were all lured away by “Crow.”

And Elastor, relying on her own status as a Legendary Powerhouse, had not arranged for other guards around her, leading to her dire situation.

Thus, the hidden Necromancer’s thoughts began to stir. Being trapped in a long-term dream was indeed like being dead, but it was not actual death. Since things were going so smoothly now, he thought he might as well kill Elastor directly.

But sometimes, reality is stranger than fiction, often filled with unexpected drama.

When the Centaur was lying on the ground, it could not exert force, and the short sword could only point at the Silverymoon City Lord’s abdomen. When the Necromancer controlling it wanted to go further and urged it to stand up, the Centaur’s hind hooves happened to push off on the drink it had spilled on the floor.

“Whoosh!” After a strange sound, it slipped…

The Centaur’s huge body fell toward Elastor, its arm swinging up instinctively. If it were any other Zhentarim assassin, such a small mistake would not matter—their strong combat awareness would instinctively adjust the attack angle, not affecting the result.

But the Centaur was now merely a living dead controlled by a Necromancer. It did not have such fine control ability, especially since Elastor also pushed its arm upward.

As a result, the short sword in the Centaur’s hand was raised, not only missing the Silverymoon City Lord’s heart but also passing over her shoulder, stabbing toward her back.

“Clink!” With a crisp sound, the short sword cut off a strand of hair near the Silverymoon City Lord’s temple. Although it did not hit the original target, it clearly struck something else.

The assassin on the right side behind the Silverymoon City Lord showed an unbelievable look in his eyes. The dagger, originally only an inch from the back of her head, was quite coincidentally knocked off course by the Centaur’s short sword…

“Go!” A soft shout came from behind the crowd. At the same time, the Centaur, controlled by the Necromancer, finally steadied itself. It spread its arms, its large body swinging the short sword in a sweep, pressing toward Elastor again.

However, the Silverymoon City Lord, who had just narrowly escaped, would not give them another chance. She made several complex hand seals, countless magical glows shimmering over her body. With a “boom,” a wave of energy burst from her whole body, actually sending the Centaur—whose weight was several times that of a normal person—flying backward.

At the same time, the two Zhentarim assassins behind her took the opportunity to jump up, splitting left and right, and dashed toward the Banquet Hall windows.

“Still trying to run?” A cold light flashed in Elastor’s eyes. She hesitated for a moment, then turned to the right, spread her hands, made a virtual grasping motion, and fiercely pulled downward.

Compared to the assassin on the left, whom she had just blocked, the Silverymoon City Lord clearly hated the one on the right more—the one who had almost made her fall for it.

The assassin on the right felt his ankle tighten, as if a large hand was gripping and pulling him down. His body, leaping in the air, was forced to sink back to the ground.

This basically sealed his fate. The guests and guards in the Banquet Hall had already reacted and were swarming toward him. At the very front was the red-eyed Female Knight—Annasilia.

The other assassin successfully reached the wall, jumped out through the window broken earlier by the Dwarf powerhouse, and disappeared into the night.

“Roar…” The Centaur, thrown back by Elastor, now stood up again. White foam dripped from its mouth, the red glow in its eyes growing stronger. It let out a roar toward the sky, then charged toward the crowd with its short sword.

However, some sharp-eyed people in the Banquet Hall had already noticed that behind it, a cloaked figure slipped out through the door, using the Centaur’s large body as cover.

Elastor clearly saw that figure too. Her nails dug deeply into her palms. She hesitated but did not choose to chase after it. Since the Centaur Lord was not dead, she needed to save it.

Besides, there was still another assassin on the other side. The entire Banquet Hall was in chaos, and she needed to stabilize the situation here.

“Lady Elastor, do you need my help?” Qin Lun calmly parted the panicked crowd and walked toward her with a smile. Hill and the others who had been beside the silver-haired Elf were now nowhere to be seen.

“Just now… thank you!” Seeing Qin Lun approach, Elastor hesitated for a moment, then showed a slight smile and nodded in gratitude.

Her gaze involuntarily fell on Qin Lun’s tightly clenched hand. In Lady Hope’s eyes, she could clearly see the golden light emanating from the silver-haired Elf’s palm—a divine light ordinary people could not see.