Chapter 8 Assassination

  "Renaud's identity is different, Udine can't help but answer. After a moment of hesitation, he said cautiously: 'According to common sense, the throne should be succeeded by my niece, Princess Sofia, and I also support it very much. However, I asked her many times, Sofia..."

  "Because of some reasons, Princess Sofia has not appeared for a long time, even such an important dinner..."

  He sighed: "The princess is still too young, I think that in this extraordinary time, we Gasparde need a person with experience and stability to inherit the throne, and there is only one candidate."

  "As he spoke, the Duke of Marlborough bowed deeply to Udine: 'Your Highness, with the welfare of the people in mind, you cannot hesitate any longer. The sooner you ascend to the throne, the sooner the kingdom will return to normal.'"

  He was a strong supporter of Udine's succession, which is not surprising, and also received applause from some nobles.

  The Duke of Charl just finished speaking, and then heard Lorand say: "We, the Federation of Ravelt, think that since His Majesty Fagana has an heir, it would be better to let Princess Sofia inherit the throne."

  Deneke, who had been silent all along, added a sentence: "Gaspar is the country with the longest history on the Veronica continent. The city still retains the breath of the Kingdom of Saint Briman, so the succession to the throne should follow tradition."

  The words of the two men won the approval of another section of the nobility.

  Raymond noticed that when Deneke mentioned the Kingdom of Saint Bremen, Reynard's eyes flashed brightly for a moment.

  Although they were allies, they were not accommodating on such issues. Duke Charles immediately expressed his dissatisfaction: "Vice President Loran, the right of succession is an internal matter for my country, please do not interfere with the Ravite Federation."

  Lorain smiled: "As an ally, we naturally hope for a king who can make future relations even closer."

  "What do you mean, are you saying Udine is a prince..."

  "Alright, please stop arguing." Seeing a welcoming banquet turn into an argument over inheritance, Udina intervened: "As for the matter of succession, I hope we can discuss it after my brother's funeral."

  "But, Your Highness..." Duke Charles hastily said.

  Udine waved his hand: "When the time comes, if the people choose Sophia, I will unconditionally support her. If the people want me to lead the kingdom, I will not shirk responsibility either. That's it, before my brother is buried, I don't want to hear any more arguments about this matter."

  Seeing him speak decisively, Duke Charles nodded slightly and replied: "I understand."

  "So..."

  Udina was just about to speak when a loud crash was heard. The floor-to-ceiling windows on the exterior side of the hall suddenly shattered.

  In the crisp sound of shattering glass, several dark shadows suddenly jumped in from outside.

  "Thief who stole the throne, die!"

  In such a loud shout, the comer drew his weapon and rushed straight towards Udine.

  Things came too suddenly, and after a daze, the nobles who reacted issued a terrified cry, constantly retreating, and the entire banquet hall was instantly chaotic.

  At this moment, an assassin had rushed in front of Udina, the eyes exposed outside the mask emitting a terrible killing intent. In such a banquet, it was not allowed to carry weapons, and in desperation, Udina suddenly lifted up the table in front of him, and immediately heard a thud, the assassin's knife was embedded in the tabletop, the tip of the knife only a few centimeters away from Udina's face.

  Taking advantage of the opponent's weapon being restricted, Udina kicked the assassin flying away. At this time, two more assassins came to kill, but there was nothing around Udina that could be used, and he immediately fell into crisis.

  Just then, a loud crash was heard, and a fist condensed from a ray of light heavily hit the chest of an assassin. The sound of broken bones was accompanied by the assassin's miserable cry, and he flew out like a short-line kite, his face mask instantly soaked with blood spewed from his mouth.

  It was Liriana who saved Udina, she stood still with her hands raised and maintained the attacking posture, from the sliding sleeves, two segments of snow-white forearms were exposed, earlier she used the Sidonis sect's attack divine technique.

  At a young age, he was able to take the position of bishop, indeed he is not an ordinary person.

  However, another assassin had approached Udina, but before his knife could rise, a several-meter-long banquet table suddenly swung over, as if using a giant wooden board to swat flies, and the assassin was immediately knocked flying out, apparently dead.

  "Haha, you think you can take me down with this little trick? You're a bit too early for that." Goodell laughed loudly.

  This long table was specially made for banquets to hold food, all made of thick wood, and with a length of several meters, weighing over 100 kilograms. However, the sturdy Goodell held the other end of the table, effortlessly lifting it up and swinging it around, his monstrous strength was truly terrifying.

  At this time, the assassin who was kicked down by Udina got up shaking. Because all of this happened too quickly, until now, the guards outside the door rushed to come.

  "What kind of people are you? Why did you want to assassinate His Highness?" Duke Charles asked loudly.

  On this side, Raymond and Freddy exchanged a look, both of them were shocked. Tonight's dinner party was full of unexpected events, unexpectedly even the assassination scene was staged at the end.

  Confronted with the Duke of Charlie's inquiry, the assassin swayed his body and suddenly reached into his pocket. The guards behind him saw this and hastily stabbed him with a spear.

  As his body was pierced, the assassin pulled out a scroll, unfolded it and muttered a few words in his mouth, and threw it to the ground. In an instant, a large patch of fog emerged from the scroll, spreading rapidly in all directions.

  What is this guy trying to do? I thought it was an attacking scroll, but it just released some smoke. Just as Raymond felt strange, he suddenly woke up with a start.

  At this time, Deneke had already shouted loudly: "Be careful, there is a second wave of assassins!"

  Before the words had fallen, cries of alarm were heard from the nobles in the area shrouded in thick fog. Then, a figure flashed by, and indeed an assassin emerged from the fog, rushing straight at Udina, and judging from the situation, there was definitely more than one.

  The entire banquet hall was now shrouded in thick fog, with chaos everywhere. Even the area where Raymond and his two companions were standing was gradually being enveloped by the mist.

  It seems that I can no longer be a bystander. Raymond said to Javier and Freddy, "You stay here and don't move." Then he turned around, grabbed a small dinner knife from the table, and rushed into the fog.

  This fog created by the magical scroll was very dense, and as one walked into it, their field of vision narrowed to just a small area in front of them. The nobles who had been frightened were running wildly in the thick fog, providing excellent cover for the assassins.

  Raymond didn't dare to be careless, he estimated the direction, calmly and slowly walked in the thick fog, with his right hand holding the dinner knife hanging by his side, maintaining a posture that could attack at any time.

  After a while, he suddenly saw a figure flashing by in the thick fog in front of him. Whoever had such speed must be an assassin. Raymond's heart skipped a beat, and he also followed the direction of the figure.

  The dense fog was like layer upon layer of white curtains, constantly parting in front of Raymond and closing behind him, leaving only a small space in front of his eyes. What was once a spacious hall suddenly turned into this enclosed environment, feeling quite strange.

  In such an environment, people are prone to becoming impatient and eager to break free from the shackles of fog, and their actions will also become blind.

  But Raymond remained calm and composed, his footsteps neither fast nor slow, as if he wasn't in a hurry to find the assassin from earlier.

  Suddenly, the fog in front of him parted, and a man's back appeared out of nowhere from the thick fog, standing before Raymond. Judging by his attire, it was undoubtedly that assassin.

  Thanks entirely to Raymond maintaining his pace, the opponent had no idea he was now right behind him. After all, in such thick fog, assassins would also be affected.

  He took a slow breath, and Raymond slowed his pace, silently approaching the assassin from behind. At the same time, his right hand made slight adjustments to his grip on the knife, preparing for the most convenient attack.

  As he approached the assassin, he also saw the target of the assassination, a figure in white robes, who was none other than Ririana. Apparently, she too had not noticed the assassin behind her.

  Thus, the mantis catches the cicada, and the oriole is behind. Raymond and the assassin are slowly approaching their respective targets. Who would have thought that just as Raymond was about to make his move and take care of his opponent first, a noble burst through the thick fog and crashed into him.

  "Ah!" The noble let out a cry of surprise, which also startled the assassin.

  He turned around instantly, and the sword in his hand stabbed towards Raymond's chest.

  Raymond's eyes flashed, and he twisted his waist to the side. As the assassin's sword tip brushed past his chest, Raymond's left hand grasped the assassin's arm and pulled him towards himself. His right hand plunged a dinner knife into the opponent's temple, killing him instantly.

  Relliana only then realized, she turned around and just saw Raymond throwing the assassin's corpse to the ground. The young bishop's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise, but his face remained unchanged, this composure was also impressive.

  Just as Raymond was about to reveal his identity, he suddenly saw another assassin rush out from Relliana's right side. Relliana was still staring at this side, completely unaware.

  In a flash, Raymond didn't have time to think much, and with a fierce leap, he pounced on Relliana. His right hand encircled her slender waist, using the momentum to roll into the thick fog, almost at the same time, the assassin's sword swept over the top of their heads.

  With Lirien on the ground beneath him, Raymond pinned her down, his finger raised to his lips in a silencing gesture.

  Leliana opened her mouth, but knew the machine had made no sound. Then Raymond half-knelt up, his right hand holding a dinner knife in reverse grip, vigilantly paying attention to the movements around him.

  The dense fog surrounded them, and the assassin seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving no trace. But Raymond knew that at this moment, the two of them were just as invisible to the assassin.

  At this time, he suddenly felt that the hem of his clothes was lightly pulled, and Raymond lowered his head to see Liriana whispering: "I can use magic to dispel the fog, can you protect me when I cast the spell?"

  Raymond nodded, then stood up again, vigilantly paying attention to the surroundings. But unexpectedly, Liriana pulled him lightly once more, Raymond felt a bit strange, aren't you going to cast a spell, why not act yet?

  But Leliana's face turned slightly red, and she said softly: "Please let me through, okay?"

  Raimon suddenly came to himself and realized he was still pinning the other person down, couldn't help but feel embarrassed, nodded slightly, and rolled over to leave.

  Liriana stood up, not forgetting to nod at Raymond. Even in such an environment, the long-term immersion in religion made her maintain a elegant and calm demeanor.

  Closing her eyes and focusing her mind, Liriana began to recite the incantation of the Sidonius Church in a low voice, preparing to cast a spell to dispel the thick fog in the banquet hall.

  Raymond had to think of a way to get rid of the assassin. After some thought, he took off his formal attire and, as the guests were running around in all directions, there were many overturned tables and chairs on the ground. Raymond picked up a chair and draped his clothes over the back of it, making it look like a half-crouching person in the fog.

  He then stood as far back as possible and hid himself in the fog.

  Although Liriana's chanting voice was very faint, the assassin must have been able to hear it, and Raymond waited for the moment when the other party would be attracted over.

  However, as time passed, the fog around them churned and rolled, but there was still no movement. Occasionally, a mournful cry would come from an unknown place, or the dull thud of something falling to the ground, indicating that they were not alone.

  Leliana remained focused and undistracted by any commotion, whether it was due to her trust in Raymond or simply being impervious to anything.

  Suddenly, Leliana's closed eyes snapped open. At the same time, a swirling gust of wind rose in the middle of the hall, like the hole in an hourglass, and the eye of the storm began to suck in all the surrounding mist.

  It was at this moment that the assassin who had been hiding in ambush finally made his move.

  Out of the fog, he lunged forward, his dagger thrusting straight into Liriana's back.

  The timing of this attack was extremely clever, the sudden and violent gust of wind would definitely distract people, so even if they were on guard, they would inevitably reveal a moment of relaxation. For an assassin, that one moment is enough to decide life and death.

  At the same time, Raymond also moved. He kicked one foot towards the chair, and the chair with his dress coat on it slid out immediately, the legs of the chair scraping against the floor and making an unpleasant screeching sound.

  The assassin was startled, and due to the cover of the fog, in his eyes it seemed like someone was rushing towards him from the thick fog. Before he could think twice, he threw out a dagger, and his reaction couldn't be said to be slow.

  However, when the chair slid in front of him, the assassin realized he had been deceived, and his eyes involuntarily revealed a terrified expression.

  At that moment, Raymond made his move. He emerged silently from the mist beside the assassin and before the latter could react, he raised his hand and slashed the dinner knife across his throat.

  Blood splattered everywhere, the assassin's eyes widened in disbelief, a gurgling cough escaped his throat as he slowly collapsed to the ground.

  As the whirlwind in mid-air continued to swirl, the mist in the hall gradually thinned out, and visibility was once again restored.

  Fortunately, when the fog just started, Udine cleverly hid in a secluded corner of the banquet hall, letting most of the assassins make a futile attack. Without the cover of the fog, the remaining few assassins were killed one by one by the arriving guards, and the brief **finally subsided.

  "Your Highness, are you all right?" Duke Charles asked hastily.

  Udina waved his hand calmly to signal that he was fine, and then walked towards this side. But just as he was passing by a group of nobles, one of them suddenly pounced on him!

  This was the last insurance left by the assassin, who would have thought that there was still a fish that had slipped through the net at this time. Udina was shocked and stared blankly as the assassin rushed in front of him.

  "Long live Princess Sofia, death to the usurper!" Amidst the cheers, the assassin raised his sword.

  At the critical moment, a sudden whistling sound came from mid-air, and at the same time, an arrow pierced through the left chest of the assassin who had just jumped up. The force brought by the arrow made his body tilt to one side, and he flew out with a large splash of blood.

  From the appearance of the assassin to his sudden killing, everything happened in a flash, so that until the assassin's body fell to the ground, the remaining people reacted and exclaimed in unison.

  That feeling of death passing close by left Udine frozen in place.