Chapter 81

81 Chapter 81: Assaulting the compound (2)

With Frost’s ninth kill lying split in two at his feet the battle reached a boiling point. The focus had been redirected from Frost and his group to the outlying adventurers wreaking havoc in the back lines.

Once the so-called weakest goons were taken care of by Frost and the rest, no one else moved to attack them, granting them a reprieve. The higher-ranking goons panickily ordered everyone to attack the 14 adventurers out of fear of death.

‘Hmmm is that all?’ Frost raised his head in confusion, fully expecting to once again repel an axe aiming for his neck. What he could see however was groups of goons surrounding their reinforcements completely ignoring him.

Frost frowned; he was a little annoyed at being ignored by people he already considered as DP.

Just as he was about to move onto the offensive, he felt a large hand on his shoulder.

“It’s time for us to move young Frost, Bagua has given the signal, they can take care of the rest of these goons.” Bastion had grabbed his shoulder, reeling him out of his battle fervour. Frost was having so much fun that he didn’t even notice the change in the battle.

Bagua as Bastion mentioned was the large red furred beastmen who wielded a large spear. At some point unbeknownst to Frost he used hand gestures to let Bastion know of their current circumstances.

Bagua was one of the stronger adventurers hired by Bastion as well as one of the most respected in terms of leadership. He was assigned the role of leader; it was his job to manoeuvre the adventurers into position so as to free up the pressure on Frost and the rest.

Shortly after Frost split his last kill in two, Bastion received the signal that everyone was in place. The results spoke for themselves when Frost actually had to move towards the goons if he wished to go on the offensive.

.....

‘They were doing all that while fighting.’ Frost looked shocked, his gaze shifting between the adventurers within his field of vision. He could see that as they were fighting, they were keenly aware of their allies situation, repeatedly sending hand gestures or if possible, their voice to relay their situation.

‘So, this is what an adventurer is.’ Frost was amazed, there was such teamwork as though each of them had fought with one another their entire life.

Seeing Frost no longer absorbed in battle and instead fascinated with the actions of the 14 adventurers filled Bastion with pride. Taking Frost’s actual strength out of the question he was still only a rookie adventurer with even less experience than Leo and Luna. He still had a lot to learn when it came to being a true adventurer.

Bastion raised his chin in the direction of Leo and Luna. After regaining her composure Luna was preparing herself to move as was Leo. They were also adventurers and understood team tactics, like Bastion they were awaiting Bagua’s signal.

Frost’s valuation of Leo and Luna went up several notches.

“Time to go Frost-senpai.” Leo looked back at Frost with determination. With the goons no longer focused on attacking them, they were free to storm the manor.

“Un” Frost nodded back and prepared to move. They couldn’t be too obvious, so they moved swiftly but quietly. Ryuu covered their backs with magic spells, killing a few goons with long range magic to keep up the ruse. Of course, he aimed to target the ones that dared to look rudely at his darling daughter which gained him a thumbs up from her.

The manor’s front door wasn’t too far from their current location and luckily on a couple goons were stationed there. Whether due to receiving orders or simply hanging back from the battle due to cowardice it served their purposed greatly.

“What! Shit!” Not expecting for Frost and his group to advance towards them, the two guards were caught by surprise. Cold sweat dripped down their backs and their bodies started trembling. Frost and Bastion were pretty much covered in blood, their clothes and weapons dyed red. They had seen how Frost cleaved one of their comrades in two from his groin. As the image resurfaced, they felt a cool breeze in their nether regions and subconsciously covered their family jewels with one of their hands while their other hand held their weapons shakily at their aggressors.

Frost smiled, proud of the effect he had on the two goons. But that wouldn’t save them. He turned towards Ryuu and smirked.

Ryuu responded back in kind before the two of them channelled their mana.

“[Ice bolt]”

“[Wind blade]”

A bolt of ice materialised from Frost’s hand and swiftly flew into one of the goon’s chests, pinning him against the manor’s outer walls.

Whereas from Ryuu’s hand came a blade of wind that silently carved a deep cross into the other goon’s chest, shredding most of his organs and killing him quickly.

Frost’s target wasn’t as lucky, he was merely pinned to the wall, the ice bolt still protruding from his chest.

‘Owwwwww’ the goon groaned in pain as tears streamed down his face. He didn’t want to die but he didn’t want to die in pain most of all. He felt envious as he saw the motionless body of his comrade.

“I guess I’ll take care of the door then.” Bastion raised his massive battle axe above his before smashing it into the grand door.

Bang!!! Bang!!! Bang!!!

Adam seemed to have paid a decent amount of money on the door considering it could last more than a single strike from Bastion.

Baaaaaang!!!!!

With a fourth swing the door finally gave way, the hinges blew apart and the entire door was sent flying into the manor.

“Ahhhhhh!” Hiding behind the door was another goon who unfortunately was swiftly crushed by what was supposed to protect him.

“Haaaahhhh” Bastion released a deep breath as he relaxed his arms.

‘That was a bit more strenuous than I thought.’ He scowled at the door lying flat on the floor, it was no ordinary wooden door. Given the weight he felt on impact as well as the difficulty his axe had in penetrating, it had to have been made with 3 star materials at the very least.

‘I’m getting to old for this shit!’ Bastion’s face twitched as he felt a pang of pain in his right shoulder, he lamented his age and grumbled under his breath.

With access to the manor now open the group could focus on the next part of their operation, hunting down Adam.

Due to Adam’s arrogance and Leo’s past knowledge of the compound they had a rough idea where he might be. Even if Adam was confident in his goons coming out victorious, he wouldn’t simply return to his bed chambers. No, he’d be in the safest place within his manor, his fortified basement. The problem was finding access.

Frost knew they’d encounter a problem in this regard, so he chose to keep his goon alive, hopefully he’d be able to enlighten them and if not...well there’s bound to be more inside.

Frost smiled evilly towards the goon still pinned against the wall. The ice bolt still embedded in his body was actually keeping him alive, this way he wouldn’t bleed out. He’d also find it difficult to fall unconscious, perfect for some interrogation.

Taking a step forward he blocked the goon’s vision making him see only him.

“You’re going to answer a few questions and if I like the answers, I’ll end the pain you’re currently feeling and if I don’t... well.” Frost suddenly looked like a devil especially with his mask covered in blood and his white teeth showing. The goon continued to cry; he was terrified.

“I promise you the pain you’re experiencing now can be amplified ten times over and for ten times as long.... the choice is yours, but I suggest you decide quickly we’re in a bit of a rush you see.” Frost slammed his hand against the wall bringing his mask close to the goon like a terrifying kabedon.

Pssshhhhh

The goon pissed himself in fear releasing a foul smell.

“Tsk seems you want the painful option.” Frost clicked his tongue in annoyance, the goon leaked urine on his shoes and stained his robes.

Crack!

The wall next to the goon’s face suddenly cracked under the pressure of Frost’s hand and a strong burst of killing intent was sent his way. At the same time Frost reeled back his other arm intending to strike with his bare fists. He’d could crush dozens of bones without endangering his life, only amplifying the pain he felt.

Seeing Frost tense up and reel back his fist the goon squealed.

“W...w.... wait I.... I’ll talk.” The goon would do anything to end this pain.

“Then get talking, where’s Adam?” Frost didn’t put down his fist, waving it in the goon’s face as a constant threat.

“H.... he’s in the third basement. It’s heavily fortified and has access to escape routes. He’ll definitely be down there.” The goon spoke as quickly as possible, momentarily forgetting the pain caused by the ice bolt lodged in his chest.

“I already know that; how do we get there?” Frost scowled and caused the wall to crack even more under the pressure of his hand causing the goon to shiver.

Leo and the rest were patiently waiting at the side, taking a short break to regain some strength before moving on. Originally Ryuu was going to be the one to do some ‘investigating’ given his talent in that area and persuasive nature however since Luna was with them, he didn’t wish to engage in such actions. It was unbecoming of his doting father image; thus, Frost was employed to do it.

“b...b....bookshelf, there’s a bookshelf in the second basement. In the last room there’s a switch that’ll give you access.” The goon shivering in fear shouldn’t actually be privy to such information given he was an external guard, not part of Adam’s inner circle. However, he was friends with a few goons that defended the basement area. While chatting with them one night he witnessed people coming out of the third basement via the secret bookshelf.

It wasn’t Adam but some of his smuggling clients, so they just assumed that the goon was supposed to be there and was privy to this secret route information.

Once they exited the last of the smugglers pulled on one of the books to close the bookshelf door all in front of the goon now within Frost’s grasp.

At the time, the goon feared for his life, he suddenly gained secret knowledge with he shouldn’t have access to. Knowing Adam, it was only a matter of time before he was silenced. Ironically that same information that placed his life in constant danger was now the information that would end his current pain. He silently prayed in thanks for his comrades inviting him the hang out in the second basement.

“Hoh” Ryuu commented at the side.

‘That was easy.’ Frost barely had to do anything, yet they already had the information they required and from the very first goon.

Ryuu smiled and turned towards Leo with a knowing look.

Leo nodded in response before speaking.

“Perfect now we know where to look, uncle Bastion are you ready to move?” Leo turned towards his uncle who was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. Breaking through the manor door was hard work so Bastion was taking the short respite to rest his muscles as much as possible.

Unlike Ryuu and his magic, Bastion relied on his body to fight and given his age every swing he took generated a burden on his muscles far more than when he was in his prime. At his current level he’d probably still have the strength of a B-rank adventurer albeit an entry level one and only for a short time. He couldn’t maintain his strength for a long drawn out battle.

Bastion opened his eyes revealing a look of strength and determination. He knew his own body’s limits and could roughly gauge the abilities of his future opponents; he couldn’t afford to be any less than 100% battle ready. As of yet Bastion had yet to use any skills so as to preserve his strength.

He released a deep breath and picked up his large battle-axe before looking towards Leo.

“I’m fine little Leo, I’m back at full capacity, let’s move.”