With a soft “whoosh,” the guard opened his mouth to shout but no sound came out. He collapsed to the ground.
Leo silently praised Knox for his swift action.
After hiding the guard in the bushes, the three continued down the path.
After a silent march, the path widened. Ahead, under a tall statue, stood two guards, each holding what looked like flashlights, sweeping them randomly.
“Those are thermal motion detection flashlights, specifically designed to detect invisible equipment. It’s almost impossible to pass by them unnoticed,” Knox whispered, familiar with such high-tech gear.
“It seems we’ll have to take them down by force,” Vivian said eagerly.
“No need, watch me,” Leo said, pulling out a talisman.
It was an auxiliary talisman called the Phantom Creature Talisman, which could create fake living creatures.
With a flash, two black snakes appeared on the grass.
Vivian, terrified of snakes and rodents, quickly covered her mouth to stifle any sound.
The black snakes slithered silently towards the guards under Leo’s command.
In the dim light of night, the black snakes were nearly invisible unless one looked closely at the ground.
The guards, unaware of the approaching danger, chatted casually.
“Bill, how was that woman last night?” one guard asked his companion.
Bill reminisced for a moment before replying, “Fantastic!”
“Introduce me sometime.”
“No problem, in a couple of days I’ll… uh…”
The guard noticed something black wrapping around Bill’s neck. As he moved to help, he felt a sudden tightness around his own neck and reached up to grab it.
The constriction tightened with terrifying force. Unable to breathe, both guards quickly lost consciousness and collapsed.
After taking down the guards, the trio continued and soon reached the south side of the main manor building.
They were now less than a hundred meters from the main building, hidden in dense bushes, observing the guards.
There were guards on all four sides of the building, with five at the south entrance alone.
The five guards were fully armed, resembling Navy SEALs from movies. Their guns looked like blasters from sci-fi films.
The five guards stood solemnly, each watching a different direction, silent like statues in the night.
Such tight security indicated something very important inside the main building.
With no cover for a hundred meters and only three of them against five fully armed guards, approaching unnoticed was nearly impossible.
“Leo, any way to take out those five at once?” Vivian whispered through her headset.
Leo shook his head. “No, it’s too bright near the building. Using the same trick would get us caught.”
“Knox, any ideas?” Vivian asked again.
“No way. They have equipment to detect energy fluctuations. I can’t get closer than ten meters without triggering an alarm.”
Knox gritted his teeth. “We’re here already. Let’s attack directly. The real experts are inside.”
Leo and Vivian agreed. Leo signaled a countdown, and they charged simultaneously.
Their speed was like shadows moving in the night.
As Knox predicted, alarms sounded when they were ten meters away from the guards.
The guards quickly lowered their special goggles. In that brief moment, three dull thuds were heard as three guards spat blood and flew back.
The remaining two fired several shots at the intruders but missed. They too collapsed shortly after.
Applause echoed in the night, followed by a man’s voice. “Well done, Espers from Atraria.”
Leo and his companions were shocked that their identities were known.
“They knew we were coming,” Knox said warily.
The man’s next words confirmed Knox’s suspicion. “I knew you’d come. I let you come; otherwise, your companion wouldn’t have returned alive.”
As he spoke, the main building’s doors opened automatically. Under bright lights, three people emerged slowly.
Seeing their faces, Knox whispered, “They’re Espers from the Sea Eagle Organization.”
The three stood at the main entrance. The one in the middle smiled smugly at the empty space before him. “Espers from Atraria, no need to hide. Your invisibility cloaks are useless against us.”
Knox addressed them directly. “Hand over what we want and we’ll leave now.”
The man on the left laughed. “Nonsense. Do you think that’s possible? You must be Espers from Atraria WONDER. I’ve been wanting to teach you a lesson.”
He made a fist-pumping gesture.
“If you want the Cauldron, you’ll have to defeat us first,” said the man in the middle arrogantly. “I’m James. I control fire.”
“I’m Eric. My power is shockwaves,” said the man dressed in hip-hop style.
“I’m Savannah. I control wind,” said the only female Esper among them.
These foreign Espers were straightforward, not only revealing their names but also their abilities-showing their confidence.
Leo and his team knew they had to defeat these three to enter the main building. After exchanging glances, they charged at their respective targets: Leo at James, Knox at Eric, and Vivian at Savannah.
The three opponents reacted quickly. Before Leo’s team could reach them, James and his companions disappeared from the entrance and reappeared on the lawn to the left of the building.