Chapter 614 - Deduction

Shang and Ice Princess came closer to the target.

At the moment, Ice Princess didn't act in any suspicious way, but Shang knew that it was only a matter of time.

However, even if he was quite sure of his deduction, he still waited for the confirmation.

In the end, the Keeper hadn't told Shang that he was supposed to kill Ice Princess. They might have had an implicit understanding, but such implicit understandings couldn't be trusted. After all, none of them ever verbalized their stance on the matter. 

As soon as they reached a distance of about a hundred kilometers from the target, Shang noticed that the target had moved a bit.

While normal Archmages only had Spirit Senses with a range of 50 kilometers, there were still talented Archmages with a greater range. After all, Shang also had a far bigger Spirit Sense. It was logical that there would also be others that could achieve something like that.

Ice Princess was powerful, but Shang didn't think that she had a 100-kilometer-wide Spirit Sense. This probably meant that the target had such a big Spirit Sense.

"Stop," Ice Princess said coldly.

Shang stopped.

"The target should be close. Do your job," Ice Princess said coldly.

Shang's job was to scout out the target and give Ice Princess information on their whereabouts.

Shang didn't turn to Ice Princess. "I've already completed my job," Shang said.

Ice Princess' eyes turned colder.

"My Spirit Sense is greater than yours," Shang said. "I can see our target right now."

"And she can see us," Shang added.

Ice Princess didn't react.

"She is alone, and there are no Magic Circles," Shang said slowly as he slowly turned toward Ice Princess. 

"You can attack whenever."

Silence.

"I don't need you to tell me what to do," Ice Princess answered coldly after a couple of seconds. "I will complete my task. You wait here."

Ice Princess moved past Shang.

"No," Shang said. "I am also part of this mission, and I will keep watch. I will accompany you while staying hidden."

"If there is a good opportunity, I will strike," Shang added with an emotionless voice.

Ice Princess looked at Shang with cold hatred in her eyes.

She wasn't sure if Shang had meant their target or her with that last remark.

Silence.

The atmosphere between the two became tenser and tenser.

Several seconds passed.

SHING!

And at that moment, their target summoned her Focus and used Mana Step to quickly travel toward the two of them.

However, she still would take a bit to arrive.

"Our target has noticed us," Shang transmitted to Ice Princess. Voice transmissions were nearly instantaneous. "If you want to kill your target, you should get ready and attack her."

Ice Princess didn't answer, and she kept focusing on Shang.

A moment later, the target reached a distance of about 50 kilometers from them. 

"Well, if you won't do it, I will," Shang transmitted to Ice Princess.

SHING!

Shang used Ghost Step and vanished from Ice Princess' view.

At that moment, Ice Princess gritted her teeth, summoned her Focus, and readied several Spells while charging toward their target.

Their target was also readying several Spells while charging toward Ice Princess.

Both of them narrowed their eyes and scanned their surroundings.

Best

Obviously, if they were enemies, they wouldn't do that. They would be too busy focusing on each other instead.

A moment later, the green-haired Mage closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Ice Princess had already told her about White Ghost and his abilities.

They both knew that they couldn't find White Ghost with their Spirit Senses, which only left sight.

Of course, that was only true for average Mages.

However, the green-haired Mage wasn't an average Mage.

She closed her eyes so that she could focus more on her instincts. Over many dangerous battles, she had honed an incredibly advanced and precise instinct, and this instinct had saved her life several times already.

This time, she was using it to feel Shang's approach.

At the moment, Ice Princess hadn't shown any direct signs of betrayal yet. 

Because of that, Shang couldn't attack Ice Princess yet, which meant that he would attack her first.

At least, that was what the green-haired Mage thought.

Would Shang actually care about something like that?

The green-haired Mage kept focusing on her surroundings as she came closer and closer to Ice Princess.

By now, both of them had readied several Spells.

The short instances of time seemed to stretch into eternity as both of them waited for Shang's attack.

Yet, it never came.

And before they knew it, they arrived at each other's side.

Both of them had several Spells, but they weren't unleashing them at each other. Instead, they were just looking into each other's eyes.

Surprisingly, White Ghost hadn't attacked the target, even though this had been his best opportunity to do so.

It would be a stupid idea to let both of them meet up and combine their powers.

But that was exactly what White Ghost had done.

The two of them were a bit confused, but they decided to just accept the new situation.

This was actually good for them.

Inside the forest on the ground, Shang focused on the two of them.

Usually, he would have attacked Ice Princess first and then focused on the green-haired Mage. After all, he didn't care whether Ice Princess showed signs of betrayal or not.

However, things were very different this time.

All of these suspicious signs…

The fact that the Keeper knew about the mission several months before it appeared.

The fact that the Keeper specifically wanted Shang to do it.

The fact that the Keeper knew about Ice Princess' upcoming betrayal.

The fact that the Keeper didn't send a Sweeper.

The fact that she seemingly trusted Shang with her life.

And, lastly, the fact that Shang knew that the Keeper didn't want to hurt or kill him.

There was only one possible explanation.

'This is a test.'

'Someone from the Temple of Blood is watching me at the moment.'