Alice's "mother" didn't escape either. Though for a moment, she thought she was close to succeeding.
After abandoning Alice, the female assassin hunched over, frantically running to evade the bullets fired from behind. Then, she leaped and hid behind a thick pine tree. The police officers who pursued her could no longer find any trace of the female assassin.
She had gone into stealth!
Police Captain Chris saw the helicopters circling overhead and gestured to the pilots inside.
Valkyrie, the ace pilot and captain of "Screaming Serpent," ordered the pilots in the other helicopters via radio: "Use the flare bombs, boys!"
Then, Valkyrie pulled the control stick, and the helicopter made a supersonic dive forward. This was his signature move, and he named this maneuver after himself—the Valkyrie Dive!
Then, he roughly estimated a direction and dropped a mounted flare bomb downward. The phosphorus powder in the bomb would make all invisible entities reveal themselves.
The other pilots also dropped flare bombs, ensuring complete coverage of the area.
Sure enough, not far away, a sneaky, blurry figure was stealthily moving towards the weakest point in the police encirclement. However, this assassin was now covered in phosphorus powder, making her stealth as conspicuous as a firefly in the night.
Fortunately, because Valkyrie and his team, who arrived first, were equipped with training rounds, these bombs did not ignite. Otherwise, the female assassin would definitely be in excruciating pain right now.
Less than twenty minutes after Aiden issued the pursuit order, the two assassins were brought before him.
The female assassin attempted to resist when faced with capture, so she looked somewhat disheveled, with obvious bruises on her face, and her hands and feet were tightly bound.
Then, Angel Ophiel casually tossed the Alice she had captured onto the floor as if discarding a rag doll. Aiden noticed that the perpetrator of this poisoning assassination was wrapped in golden light, which seemed to be the effect of a spell. It also served to bind her.
Aiden propped his chin, his gaze sweeping over the "mother and daughter": "Say something, like who sent you?" Upon closer inspection, he realized that the little Alice among the assassins was not a four- or five-year-old girl, but a well-trained gnome assassin—such an appearance was indeed very deceptive.
The female assassin coldly replied: "You'd better kill me before you die, or my ghost might tell you the answer."
The gnome assassin also cursed sharply and venomously: "That's right, so what if you've caught us? There's no cure for the poison you've been given. You won't see tomorrow's sun!"
"Unless tomorrow is a cloudy day." Aiden smiled, he spread his hands, "Unfortunately, I happen to have a subordinate who can cure the poison you administered. Even more coincidentally, he brought the antidote just as you were leaving. You don't believe me? It doesn't matter, I'm not planning to take your lives just yet. I assure you I will see tomorrow's sun—as long as it appears tomorrow."
"So what? Even if we fail, there will be stronger assassins to take your life! From now on, you will live in fear, waiting for the moment of death to arrive!" After being captured, the female assassin was ready to commit suicide immediately, but Chris, who captured her, was an elite SWAT officer. He immediately dislocated the female assassin's jaw and removed the poison sac hidden in her teeth, using a special technique to make her lose her strength. Now, if no one was supporting her, she couldn't even walk steadily.
The other gnome assassin wasn't doing any better, even worse. Now, she could do nothing but talk and breathe.
"Do you think you can achieve the purpose you failed to achieve with poison by scaring me like this?" Aiden looked at them amusingly, "I know your origins. Don't reveal such disdainful eyes so quickly, you must think I'm bluffing you, right? That's really unfortunate, I know you're from…" He paused deliberately, "Ravenholdt Manor. Am I right? The Assassin's League, the home of assassins, I almost forgot, there's an evil neighbor near my Durnholde!"
When Aiden mentioned the words "Ravenholdt," the faces of the two female assassins who had been cursing him so viciously were immediately filled with fear. They looked at each other suspiciously, both thinking that the other had leaked the information. They knew very well that death was not terrible, but if they violated the rules of the organization, they would face a punishment more terrible than death!
Aiden gave an order in front of the two assassins: "Captain Valkyrie, I order your helicopter squadron to conduct a carpet search of the mountains to our northeast. The target is a large manor hidden within. I want these despicable assassins to feel the Wrath of Valoran!"
The two assassins were so terrified that they collapsed to the ground when they heard him even say the approximate location of Ravenholdt Manor. So much so that they didn't hear clearly what their assassination target said later.
Lux, who had already returned, asked: "Commander, what are you going to do with this—assassin organization? What is the battle plan?"
Aiden answered as a matter of course: "Find it and destroy it!"
"…That's really simple and direct."
Aiden wasn't just joking. The assassination attempt today reminded him that he had an uneasy neighbor near his territory. The illegal activities of Ravenholdt Manor clearly wouldn't make them a trustworthy ally. No one wants a mysterious organization in their backyard, sending assassins to murder them every day. He'd already fallen victim today, and if it weren't for Singed's timely return, who knows what would have happened—he certainly wouldn't have died, but he definitely would have paid a price.
If he didn't have the antidote, the only two ways he could think of to remove the poison were: one was to use the energy of the Heart of Valoran to exchange for the legendary artifact that could remove all negative statuses, the "Quicksilver Sash," and the other was to use the time magic "Rewind Time." Both were obviously not good options. The Quicksilver Sash wasn't cheap, and using time magic would consume his lifespan.
To eliminate this hidden danger, he had to destroy it before the other party reacted, or at least conquer it!
Moreover, there was another important factor: the employer of this assassination was Kel'Thuzad. Clearly, the owner of Ravenholdt Manor knew where their employer was. Defeating them would not only eliminate a troublesome neighbor but also gain information about another powerful enemy, killing two birds with one stone!
So, after Vayne and Quinn returned, the new task he assigned to them was to find the location of Ravenholdt Manor together with the Howling Serpents and then destroy it!
...
Duke Ravenholdt learned of the capture of his two subordinates that same day. However, his informant reported seeing the target indeed ingest the poison sent by the employer. In other words, the sacrifice of these two subordinates was still meaningful; at least their mission had been accomplished!
So he had the contact report to the employer: the target had already ingested the poison he provided.
In other words, he had accomplished what the employer had asked him to do.
But the next day, the employer questioned him: the poison he provided would kill a person within twelve hours. But now, that target was still alive and kicking. Ravenholdt's assassin had deceived him! If Jorach admitted his incompetence, returned the commission according to the contract, and compensated tenfold for the loss, he would no longer pursue this act of deception.
Tenfold!
That was indeed what the contract stipulated. A surge of anger rose in Duke Ravenholdt's heart. He was unwilling to spit out the benefits he had already swallowed, so he prepared to send better subordinates to complete the assassination—he believed his informant wouldn't lie to him; that lord had definitely ingested the poison given by the employer. And now that the lord hadn't died, it meant that the employer's poison wasn't potent enough, and it wasn't his assassin's fault at all!
Tch, that young mage even boasted that no one in the world could cure it except its creator!
Waste!
Duke Ravenholdt cursed in his heart. Poisoning was just one method of assassination. Now he would use his more proficient method to kill the target: direct assassination!
He walked out of his dark hut and gave this order to his best assassin:
"Falstad, my most trusted brother, I have a task for you!"
In a place out of the Duke's sight, a giant eagle was circling above the manor. And the Wings of Demacia—Quinn—saw all of this through the eagle's eyes.
...
After the end of the Second War, the paladin Turalyon brought the young Varian Wrynn and the people who had fled to Lordaeron back to their homeland, and with the assistance of the various nations of the Alliance, they rebuilt Stormwind, which had been destroyed by the orcs.
Now, more than ten years have passed. Varian, who was just a child when he went to Lordaeron, has grown into adulthood and married and had children. However, the events of the past few years have tormented this ambitious king.
When rebuilding Stormwind, VanCleef, the leader of the Stonemasons Brotherhood, whom he had praised to the leaders of the Alliance and who presided over the construction of Stormwind, launched a labor rebellion. His beloved wife, Queen Tiffin of Stormwind, was killed in that shameful rebellion, leaving behind an infant in swaddling clothes.
And those traitors are now gathered in Westfall. That kingdom's land is now almost completely under the control of the rebels. Under Van Cleef's leadership, they call themselves the Defias Brotherhood, rooted in Westfall, and constantly infiltrating other lands of the kingdom.
Varian, in his prime, was a powerful warrior himself, but he was unable to protect the people of Westfall, and even failed to protect his own wife. His SI:7 agents reported to him that he, the king, had almost completely lost the support of the people in Westfall. Under VanCleef's propaganda, the people there completely regarded him as a tyrant!
But only he himself knew how much he loved his people.
The SI:7 agents' report on the rebellion showed that it originated from the deceit and concealment of some corrupt nobles: they withdrew a large amount of wealth from the national treasury, which was supported by the Alliance countries, to rebuild Stormwind, but secretly deducted the construction funds of the Stonemasons Brotherhood.
All of this money was embezzled by a group of parasites!
This ultimately triggered the dissatisfaction of the Stonemasons Brotherhood, and then they began to protest and strike. In order to cover up their greed, the nobles wanted to violently suppress these troublemakers. In the end, the situation finally developed to an irreversible point.
Varian always felt that he was like a puppet as king, and his will could never be implemented by the people below. They disobeyed him openly and secretly, corrupted and degenerated, making a good kingdom smoky. Varian couldn't wait to push them all to the guillotine to apologize!
Just as he was extremely depressed, a messenger brought a letter from the Kingdom of Lordaeron.