Catastrophe Card King

The exceptionally well-forged heavy armor boasted excellent defense against physical and magical attacks. Leonard Churchill believed that even an A-rank Catastrophe would struggle to inflict a fatal blow in a short amount of time.

The weak point of Tracy Garcia, the Spirit Communicator, was her physical form.

Leonard wasn’t entirely clear about the conditions of this A-Level Plot,

but he anticipated that the difficulty posed by an A-rank Catastrophe would be multiple times that of a B-rank.

Providing her with this armor was purely for survival.

Other than Liam Martinez, who wore heavy armor, no one could withstand a direct blow.

If they couldn’t slay the A-rank Catastrophe in a short amount of time, the protective barrier of the Sticky Monster from before wouldn’t last much longer either.

Although wearing such heavy armor meant a Spirit Communicator like her would be condemned to stay in one place and await death.

Leonard believed that it was still better than being instantly killed.

Tracy looked at the card Leonard handed to her in mild surprise, blinked her big eyes, and asked, “…for me?”

Leonard simply nodded, “Yes. You are the doctor. If you survive, others in the team have the best chance to make it out alive.”

Even though he had a hunch about the plot,

the threat of the A-rank Catastrophe was undeniably lethal.

Before the key to the solution was found, he wasn’t confident that he would survive.

“Oh.”

Hearing his words, Tracy didn’t comment much nor fully understand, only instinctively accepting the card and placing it in her own card slot.

The scattered werewolves didn’t pose much of a threat to them. Soon, Leonard and the others arrived safely at the third level of the mine.

The surroundings remained dimly lit.

The dark elements were even denser.

The quality of the ores here was evidently superior, and Mithril ores were more common.

In the overturned mine carts scattered around, valuable ores worth thousands could be found without difficulty.

Amongst the equipment strewn on the ground, Black Iron Quality equipment would occasionally appear.

This place was a treasure trove for hunters.

Yet, understandably, it carried significant risks as well.

Originally, a B-rank Catastrophe and some Elite Werewolves resided on this level, a force hard to take down even for a large team.

But now that Leonard’s team had slain them, the place seemed a bit empty.

Since there was no description of the third level of the mine in the Black Wolf Group’s information, it was fortunate there was a mining path guide.

With Liam leading the way, the team of four continued their exploration deeper into the mine.

Soon, they arrived at the bottom of the third level and saw a cave that was clearly not the result of human excavation.

Shattered rocks littered the area, as if a collapse had occurred there.

The strong presence of dark elements rolled out from this cave.

All four understood that this was undoubtedly the path leading to the fourth level of the mine.

Without much delay, they cautiously proceeded into the cave.

However, it didn’t take long for the natural mine to transition into an underground tunnel with signs of human carving.

A stone stairway leading deeper underground appeared before them.

Only then did they understand that this was an ancient relic that predated the mine by countless years.

Leonard walked the path, observing the details on the tunnel walls as he carefully laid traps in the form of Mysterious Thunder.

Liam’s Fire Sword illuminated a corner of the cavern as they slowly descended the steps.

Unbeknownst to them, a pair of eyes silently watched them from the darkness.

While walking, Leonard suddenly spat out blood and quickly said, “Little Garcia, take a look. My wound has started to ache terribly again.”

He was presenting himself as an easy target; any assassin would be able to kill him swiftly with one stab.

But as long as he appeared sufficiently weak,

he firmly believed that the assassin would not miss an opportunity to kill an injured person first.

“Ah…oh.”

Tracy was initially worried when she saw him coughing blood,

but soon understood what he meant and quickly retrieved her healing potion and Healing Card to tend to his wounds.

This action and conversation revealed her identity as a doctor beyond doubt.

Upon entering the fourth level of the mine, Leonard collapsed entirely onto this ball-headed lady. His right hand concealed a surgical knife and his whole arm was wrapped around her fair neck, denying anyone a chance to slit her throat.

But this intimate posture inevitably brought them closer, making skin contact as they moved, occasionally brushing against her voluptuous body.

Tracy’s neck felt slightly hot.

Leonard, however, was entirely indifferent to this.

Despite staggering around like a severely injured person, his focus was as heightened as a cheetah ready to pounce on its prey, intently sensing his surroundings, ready to spring into action.

None of them noticed that as he walked, he sprinkled some powder on the steps.

In no time, the four of them had descended the staircase and arrived at a flat section of the tunnel.

Not long after, they arrived at a T-intersection.

The four of them were spaced a few meters apart, the primary source of illumination came from the flaming sword.

The light in the corridor where the two in the back were faded instantly as Liam Martinez turned the corner up front.

As his vision darkened, Leonard Churchill’s eyes narrowed slightly, a cold sneer in his heart, “Not making a move yet?”

Though he hadn’t spotted the trace of the assassin, he was certain that they were about to strike!

When it comes to ambushes, there’s no better opportunity than now.

Just as expected!

The assassin seized this golden opportunity.

Without any warning, it seemed like ripples spread in the air behind Leonard and his partner.

A dagger with a hidden cold glint suddenly, noiselessly lunged towards Tracy Garcia’s heart!

Such a sophisticated technique of backstabbing.

The sharp dagger had already pierced Tracy’s clothes before anyone could react, then plunged fiercely in.

From timing to technique, the assassin executed everything flawlessly.

Under normal circumstances, a card master would surely die on the spot from such an attack!

However, what the assassin didn’t expect was that his blade was obstructed as soon as it pierced through the clothes.

“Soft armor?”

The assassin, Alex, scoffed. It was natural for a doctor to wear under-armor.

But his dagger was a Black Iron Dagger with Armor Piercing behavioral attribute, capable of slicing through iron like mud!

Numerous have lost their souls under this blade.

However, as Alex forcefully plunged in again, his expression froze instantly: What’s going on?

The tip of the knife was blocked by something.

Plate armor?

I’ve checked before, no, it’s a Heart-guarding Mirror!

In an instant, the assassin, Alex, realized he might have fallen into a trap set by them.

As he suspected.

Leonard suddenly sprung into action!

Stealth assassinations required all aura to be suppressed.

Even the Body Protection Curse Power must not be lightly deployed.

Everything was for a deadly strike.

The moment of exposure was also the most dangerous phase.

Seeing the “Injured” suddenly spring into action, the assassin, Alex, confirmed that he’d walked into a trap these guys had prepared, cursing in his mind: Damn it, how did they find out?

How did they detect his presence here?

How did they predict who he would kill?

How did they guess the timing of the attack?

So many questions.

He could never guess that the many options he thought he had were actually the only choices Leonard intentionally left for him!

Leonard had anticipated that the guy would make his move round about this time.

Although he hadn’t really spotted the assassin until the dagger pierced into Tracy’s heart.

But those advanced 0.01 seconds of prediction was enough for him to make up the agility gap between him and a first-tier veteran assassin.

Leonard’s right hand was just on Tracy’s neck, slashing back from that position in response.

The moment he turned his head, he saw a translucent figure in the air.

The assassin also reacted very quickly, seeing his exposure, he leaned back to the limit of his body, already out of the range of Leonard’s counterattack. However, things didn’t go as Alex expected.

Leonard never expected to kill him with a single blow, neither did he expect his swipe to hit a fatal spot.

Therefore!

When he stabbed back with the small knife, he suddenly changed his aim from the head down to the thigh of the translucent figure.

Regardless of how agile his upper body movements were, his lower body would certainly lag!

Leonard’s premeditated strike accurately hit his thigh bone.

The sharp scalpel cut through the leg bone without obstruction, severing a muscle in front of the femur.

To deal with an assassin, if you can’t catch them, take out their legs first! Seeing himself wounded, the assassin, Alex, was frightened out of his wits. Without caring about anything else, he turned and vanished into the darkness, like a fish diving into the water, disappearing instantly.

Leonard watched the blood spurt out, wanting to strike again, but when he turned his head, he found that the man had already disappeared from his vision.

This is not an ordinary stealth ability.

Leonard wasn’t surprised at all, just sneered in his heart: “So, it is a relic-level equipment. Tsk, tsk, the Black Wolf Group really went all out.”

He had thought of it before, without this kind of stealth ability, the assassin couldn’t have quietly made it to the fourth floor..