Chapter 172: Successful Raid

Chapter 172: Chapter 172: Successful Raid

Jeremy did not use the soul mark immediately.

Right now, he still couldn’t be certain whether those two were the real Lucius and Phoenix or not.

If they were merely being controlled, stripped of their personal consciousness, then him personally killing them here could very likely equate to killing their true selves in real life.

Not having reached a dead end, he didn’t want to risk that price.

However, the task left by the totem still had to be completed. That [Death] button was no empty threat.

Counting only the children of the current Ice Dragon King alone was nearly thirty people, not to mention the prince’s lineage on the collateral branch. Therefore, changing targets wasn’t an impossibility. It was just harder to handle than initially expected — because the others weren’t all lying in a dilapidated house guarded by no one.

Jeremy shifted his gaze to Evelyn.

From the lesson just now, he didn’t immediately tell her about the soul mark.

Not because of suspicion. But because a trump card only holds value when no one knows it exists.

Seeing Jeremy’s gaze constantly lingering on her, Evelyn slightly tilted her head.

Jeremy raised his hand pointing to the totem mark on the back of his hand, asking: "Did the totem left by the array caster assign you any task?"

Then he went ahead and stated his part: "My task is to hunt any member belonging to the Ice Dragon royal family, completing the Mermaid race’s coming-of-age ceremony."

Hearing this, Evelyn was slightly surprised: "I’m the same."

She raised the back of her hand, passing it through the gap in the iron bars for him to see.

As expected. Completely different from its initial gloomy appearance, the totem on her hand was currently radiating a dim halo, the Ashbloom Flower in the middle tinged with pale red.

Jeremy asked again: "Since when did your mark react?"

Evelyn replied with a timeframe.

It perfectly coincided with the day his mark appeared. Even the task deadline was exactly identical — one month.

And previously in the Aetheris Holy City, Lucius’s answer was the same too.

Same day. Only the task content was different.

As for Phoenix, he hadn’t had the chance to ask carefully at the time. But just glancing over, he saw the totem on Phoenix’s hand bore the same anomalous sign. He must have received some task as well.

If he and Lucius were both Ice Dragon princes, then the task was probably the same too.

Hunt the Sea race.

He feared the "Sea race" Lucius mentioned in the Aetheris Holy City was exactly referring to the Mermaid race. And Lucius had stated it directly, right in front of his target, without bothering to hide it.

Initially, Jeremy was still leaning towards the hypothesis that they were fakes.

But now he truly couldn’t understand anymore.

If they were purely illusions molded by the illusionary realm, why would they receive a task from the totem — something inherently belonging to the array caster, not the illusionary realm?

And if they were real people, why would they bear identities hostile to him right from the start?

Unless... the array caster deliberately placed them into two opposing factions.

...It seems only by breaking this illusionary realm could he know the truth.

Currently, only Leon was the one with no trace at all. Unknown what race he had been thrown into, what place, whether he was safe or not.

With his give-up mentality, if he fell into a situation like his right now...

Jeremy let out a breath, raising his hand to rub his temples to suppress the irritable feeling.

Overthinking was useless anyway. The immediate priority was to live first.

After confirming there was no one monitoring the surroundings — the guards had just passed by, and according to the rhythm he counted, it would be another fifteen minutes before they returned — he took out a magic potion and tossed it through the gap to Evelyn.

Evelyn did not refuse. Under the restriction of the short chain, she had to use both hands to catch it, clamping the potion bottle between her two wrists before she could remove the cork.

She was slightly puzzled: "Captain, can you use spatial artifacts now? Didn’t they seal it?"

"...It is sealed."

Jeremy took in Evelyn’s expression completely. He couldn’t catch any anomaly — there was no probing, no glint of someone who had just fished out information.

He replied half-jokingly, half-seriously: "But right now I can still barely pull out one or two ordinary magic potion bottles."

"I see." Evelyn didn’t ask further, merely downing the potion.

Jeremy also didn’t probe anymore.

He retreated into the corner of the cell, leaned his back against the wall, drank the remaining portion of the magic potion, and began to adjust his breathing to rest his mind, borrowing magic power and medicinal properties to accelerate the healing speed of his wound and recover his stamina.

The task deadline had less than half a month left. And the Ice Dragons’ seven-day deadline was even shorter.

The most urgent matter right now was to readjust his condition, then wait for a suitable opportunity to leave this wretched place.

Initially, Jeremy was still worried the opportunity would arrive too late, later than the day they dragged him out before the shrine.

But fortunately, on the third day of his imprisonment, an excellent opportunity dropped down.

The Ice Dragon King celebrated his birthday.

The entire dragon palace and the whole Ice Dragon realm were immersed in a celebratory atmosphere.

Even down in the dungeon, the sounds of war drums and bugles could be heard echoing down through the stone crevices.

Although the prison guards were still very strict, during the shift change, there would be a gap of about two minutes.

Jeremy had been counting that rhythm for three whole days. Six shift changes a day. Eighteen counts. The number always fluctuated between one minute forty and two minutes ten.

Those two minutes were undoubtedly the best opportunity.

Because of overall considerations, Jeremy didn’t tell Evelyn the plan. If he failed, at least she would still have a chance. And if she were interrogated, she wouldn’t have anything to confess.

He intended to go take the risk himself.

When late night fell, he borrowed the illusionary mist smoke from his spatial bracelet to create an illusion layer masking the eyes of all his fellow inmates — including Evelyn.

Afterwards, he unlocked his ankle shackles using a small magic needle, then cast the Mirror Image Prison skill.

A clone stepped out of his body, sat down exactly in the wall corner he had just sat in, leaned its back against the stone, and closed its eyes.

In this illusionary realm, having an additional tier-five cultivation level, the quality of the illusion was also elevated a notch.

As long as the corresponding amount of magic power was expended, not only could the clone communicate normally, but it could also share all sensory perceptions with the main body.

That also created the condition for him to monitor the movements in the dungeon remotely.

Having prepared thoroughly, Jeremy did not hesitate, downing an invisibility magic potion bottle, then quickly leaving this wretched place right during the two-minute shift change.

The Dragon King’s birthday celebration lasted three days. Counting from one day before the birthday, celebrations had begun across the country, lasting right up until late night of the day after the birthday before officially concluding.

Currently, it was late night of the first day. Daytime would be the liveliest time — which was also when defenses would be the laxest.

Jeremy acted strictly according to the plan he had mapped out in his head over the past two days.

First, he found a few water sources they most commonly used, along with the storage rooms and provisions warehouses, to "add a bit" of poison.

This poison was not lethal. But it severed the right to use magic power in an instant, simultaneously pushing the victim into a passive deep sleep state.

Even tier-six could not resist it for more than half a quarter of an hour.

It had no effect on higher tiers. The higher the cultivation level, the stronger the resistance. Even if struck, the majority could self-neutralize it within a few breaths.

Therefore, this poison didn’t affect the Light Guards at all. It only cleared out the ordinary guards — meaning clearing out the minor troubles.

But on a night like tonight, any bit reduced was a bit gained.

Silently finishing that much work without alerting the snake in the grass, three hours had passed.

While the sky was still not bright, Jeremy originally intended to execute one more raid — returning to the rear harem.

But perhaps due to the lesson from last time, this time there were hidden guards keeping watch around the palaces of the Ice Dragon princes and princesses. He lay concealed and observed for half an hour, counting at least eight people hiding just around one palace building.

Left with no choice, Jeremy had to change direction.

He left the perimeter of the dragon palace, making his way to the palace of a subordinate prince located outside the royal palace walls — meaning the residence of the Dragon King’s biological younger brother and his children.

The coming-of-age ceremony for the Mermaid royal family did not stipulate it had to be a biological child of the current Dragon King. It only needed to be a legitimate royal bloodline.

According to the rules on the Mermaid side, the children of a prince should definitely count too.

But currently, there was no precedent recorded in the historical records. Therefore, whether it worked or not required trying to find out.

And perhaps after being unlucky to the very end, luck would also descend.

Everything in that late night went a hundred times smoother than expected.

Jeremy had just slipped past the wall of the prince’s estate, before he even had time to find the way, he immediately bumped into a young prince drowning in wine and women.

And he was playing an extremely cruel whipping "game".

The scene was a chaotic mess. Blood dyed the mattress red. Several Mermaid men and women were chained in the corner of the room, their bodies crisscrossed with whip marks. Miserable wailing and crying rang out incessantly — but no one outside bothered to care, because tonight the entire city was noisy.

Jeremy slightly furrowed his brows.

Not wanting to dirty his Sacred Weapon, he used his will to summon the water-patterned bone blade as a replacement.

First, he released sleeping smoke, causing the state of the people in the room to become chaotic, then quietly closed in from behind.

To guard against contingencies, he additionally unleashed the Silence skill from the Order card, completely covering the room.

After everything was thoroughly prepared, while the fool in front was still swinging the whip, not yet realizing anything had changed, Jeremy raised his hand and thrust out a stab.

In a flash, the bone blade edge wreathed in lightning magic power severed his throat.

The blood vessel was cleft in two. Fresh blood spurted out frantically, spraying all over the curtain behind him.

But the surrounding people, having lost consciousness due to the sleeping smoke, were still staggering in a chaotic state. Coupled with Silence — not a single cry of alarm could escape anyone’s throat.

The entire room fell into absolute silence. There was only the sound of blood dripping onto the floor.

This young prince was an Ice Dragon after all. Having his windpipe severed still didn’t result in immediate death.

His pupils constricted in fear. His hand reached toward a jade pendant hanging at his waist — a thing used to send distress signals.

Jeremy did not give him that chance.

With a speed that dazzled the eyes, he snatched the jade pendant from his hand.

Simultaneously, the bone blade pierced through the heart.

Under the lightning magic power attached to the blade, he stopped breathing in the blink of an eye.

The body collapsed with a thud onto the blood-soaked mattress.

Jeremy pulled out the blood-dyed blade.

Then barehanded, he plunged into the chest cavity of the freshly deceased corpse, digging out the heart and dragon orb.

He began to absorb.

The bluish-white dragon orb, freezing cold, rested snugly in his palm. The light from it seeped through the skin, flowing backward into his meridians — and immediately, he felt a wave of cold air creeping deep into his marrow, repelling something that was inherently residing in his blood.

The bloodline curse. It was being washed away.

Whether the first dying wish task designated by the totem could be completed or not depended entirely on this moment.

The heart and dragon orb must mandatorily be absorbed within five minutes after the owner stops breathing to be effective. And the absorption process itself also consumed nearly ten minutes.

Ten minutes standing still in one spot, amidst a prince’s estate, with a royal corpse at his feet.

Jeremy silently counted every beat in his heart. Every passing second was spent in a state of apprehension.

He feared nothing else. Only feared being discovered once more.

However... sometimes a thought really did seem capable of summoning bad luck.

Jeremy hadn’t even finished absorbing before he realized someone was heading this way.