Book 6: Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Decoy

“Hey, Black Rat, look! Three o’clock!” Just before reaching the breach, Silver Sail, who was stealthily moving, suddenly had his eyes flash with silver light. He nudged his companion beside him.

“That guy!” Black Rat followed Silver Sail’s gaze, and his eyes instantly gleamed intensely. To their right, a faint shadowy figure was sneaking toward the fortress breach.

Black Rat and Silver Sail gently bumped elbows, feeling a surge of savage joy inside. What luck! They’d finally found him without hardly any effort!

When two shadow-class professions turned invisible, they couldn’t see each other clearly. Even Silver Sail’s Eye Technique could only detect a vague ripple. But since these two were part of the same alliance team and worked together often, they could sense each other’s body language through slight distortions in space when they got close enough.

Black Rat secretly signaled Silver Sail with their prearranged gesture, and wordlessly, they closed in from both flanks.

Qin Lun was clinging to the broken wall at the breach, peering outside. He seemed completely unaware of the movement behind him.

Outside, early dawn’s dim gray light crept across the land—the moment when the Apostles were most lax. If they couldn’t break past the siege right then, they’d be trapped inside the fortress. After all, Qin Lun wasn’t a Rogue class skilled in invisibility.

Realizing this, Qin Lun wasted no time. Feet planted firmly, a puff of smoke burst beneath him as he shot from the fortress like a gust of wind, aiming for some ruins fifty meters away.

These ruins were the most intact structure around. The building had mostly crumbled, but the bottom two or three floors of the structure remained roughly whole. Scattered walls and debris stood around it, creating a tiny obstacle maze.

Qin Lun’s instinct was on point. Nearby Apostles, cold and weary after being outside all night, were still rather sluggish. By the time Qin Lun had raced twenty-plus meters, they finally reacted. A dozen figures surged from the closest ruins, speeding toward him.

At the same time, more silhouettes materialized in the distance. A quick headcount revealed that, despite the night having passed, the number of waiting Apostles hadn’t dropped—it had actually climbed to over thirty.

Though this group wasn’t united under any single leader, their coordination became uncanny. Since they were a step behind Qin Lun and couldn’t intercept him before he reached the ruins, they rapidly circled into a crescent-shaped net, trapping the entire ruin complex.

Just as Qin Lun was about to leap into the ruins, the scene suddenly changed. A short figure—ghostly and unnoticed—appeared behind him. In its grasp, a beam of light like a rising sun plunged relentlessly into the youth’s lower back.

Fast, precise, vicious. Apostles far off glimpsing this couldn’t help flinching. Goosebumps spiked across their skin—as if the blade hadn’t struck Qin Lun, but jammed into their own spines.

It was Rogue’s core strength: Skinning Bone!

Most low-tier Rogues focused on stealth and speed first. They’d sharpen their combat edges later. Only near Second Order would their truly terrifying talents emerge.

Yet Black Rat, a stand-out in the qualifiers, surpassed common low-grade Rogues. He’d mastered only two or three offensive skills from the Rogue arsenal. And among these, Skinning Bone shined—notching B+ rank.

Skinning Bone was famed for its damage, yet horribly difficult to master. Why? Its power hinged on striking precisely where flesh met bone and joints. Hitting broad, tough hide or solid parts dulled its bite. Only striking bone junctions made Skinning Bone unleash its full force—inflicting major paralysis.

Even a High-Rank Apostle hit wouldn’t react instantly without seconds to recover. And where Black Rat aimed? None other than the base of Qin Lun’s spine.

“Thuck!” Blood splattered as a dagger shaped like a fang plunged deep into its victim’s spine. Qin Lun instantly stiffened while sprinting, confusion flooding his face. He toppled forward, rigid as a felled oak.

Right as Qin Lun began falling, space rippled beside him. A man dressed in white, coiled like a snake, materialized mid-air.

He lingered briefly there—rising slightly—then vanished in a blink. Reappearing ahead of Qin Lun, a streak of blazing white light blazing in his wake.

The man crossed his glowing silver-white arms like shears before flashing across Qin Lun’s exposed neck. “Crack!” Qin Lun’s bewildered head shot upward. Blood geysered high into the air like a red fountain.

Compared to Black Rat’s Skinning Bone, Silver Sail’s Swallow’s Drop Strike was a rarer aerial assassination move: brutal power requiring long buildup and impossible aim corrections mid-strike—easy to dodge if the target sensed it.

With prey dispatched, Silver Sail didn’t falter. Swiping adeptly at the headless corpse’s back, he hooked the body’s large canvas sack, darting backward like lightning. Black Rat, behind Qin Lun’s corpse, retreated instantly too—speeding after Silver Sail.

Upon seeing this, Apostles closing in reacted differently. But all accelerated sharply. Several already fumbled inside pockets to grab scrolls.

In those brief ten seconds, they’d realized that the first fleeing Apostle was the Celestial Wheel Branch infiltrator from last night. The two behind him? Rogues thought to have slipped inside earlier.

Though Black Rat and Silver Sail excelled at stealth, experienced Apostle scouts circled outside tracking every motion. Avoiding all watchers? Hopeless.

“Wait—Silver Sail, that bag…” Black Rat gasped seconds after they began running.

“Huh?” Alerted, Silver Sail glanced back—only to find the canvas sack slung over his shoulder melting away. It was rotting meat and flesh!

“It’s… a Flesh Golem!” Silver Sail’s steps faltered immediately. Eyes snapping toward where they’d struck, he saw the decapitated corpse dissolving into putrid slime.

“A trick!” Black Rat’s expression twisted venomously as he glared at the fortress breach.

That same instant, a faint shadow burst from the gap. It sped off at several times its previous velocity—wary circle’s opposite direction. Upon its shoulder hung an identical large canvas sack: a perfect replica.

Now, with Apostles targeting the two Rogues instead of Qin Lun, their encircling formation shifted—leaving the breach poorly watched.

“Damn him! He made us bait!” Black Rat exploded, rage swelling his temper.

“Black Rat! Fallback plan!” Silver Sail’s face darkened. Without pause, he flipped backward mid-run, pivoted and shot toward Qin Lun.

“Damn… we’re screwed.” Black Rat’s lips curled in silent agony. This stung deeply.

Turning back, the two Rogues didn’t flee their pursuers; they charged straight toward them.

However, they’d anticipated this. Running hard, each tore their packs off and flung them toward the closing Apostles—currently over a dozen strong. And beyond them? More quick-closing Apostles.

Suddenly, two Rogues had plunged deep into a deadly net of thirty-plus foes.

“Stop him! He’s got the Celestial Wheel branch’s Demiplane coordinates!” they yelled as they ran, targeting Apostles now before them.

The charging Apostles glanced at each other, thoughts flashing velocity. Only those nearest Qin Lun changed course. The rest still hunted Black Rat and Silver Sail.

These Apostles stayed coolly deliberate. Switching targets now meant Qin Lun might escape while the Rogues slipped away. Everyone had heard the two, but reality won over hope: better caught prey than chasing phantoms. Few would ever abandon their kill for words.

The lead chasing Apostle slashed crazily. Black Rat’s pack shredded instantly.

“Clang!” Contents spilled out across fading night air. The faint dawn seeping across rendered each gleaming outline faintly. Mysterious resonances surged from within—signs of powerful magic.

“Whoa!” The swordsman frowned. Instinctively stepping arrow-swift backward. One hand shot up—grabbing a pulsating shard of Dark Gold crystal shield ejected from the mess as he halted mid-charge.

“Dark Gold shield material!” The swordsman’s eyes widened sharply. His gaze swept across gleaming treasures flung upward with speed.

But by then, others trailing him recognized something wrong. Several leaped upward, each snatching pieces hurled by the bursting bag.

“Dark Gold material!”

“Dark Gold!!”

“Were those Rogues telling truth?!” Seven or eight Apostles, clutching Dark Gold treasures, recalled instantly what just happened. Without delay, they spun urgently—rocketing toward shadows where Qin Lun fled.

One Apostle—bulky with leopard-like eyes—roared like thunder:

“CUT HIM OFF! Those Rogues were true! The Demiplane coordinates are HIS!”

For one frozen moment, the ruin zone went still—then exploded like magma. Thirty shapes burst frenzy-driven. Magic hummed intensely; forms blurred surreal speed streaks. Targets vanished dreamlike—only Qin Lun filling every hunger.