Chapter 003: Night Attack

Immediately afterward, a loud “whooshing” sound was heard as countless arrows rained down on the carriage like hail. It turned out that there was a magic array on the carriage, providing some protection. Yet even so, the arrows pierced through the wooden planks above the carriage in just a few seconds. By then, countless arrows had already accumulated where Du Fan and Prince Fischer were sitting. If they hadn’t left their seats earlier, they would likely have been turned into arrow-pigs by now!

Almost at the same time, the sound of numerous horse hooves came from not far away. Clearly, after the barrage of arrows, cavalry were charging in.

Du Fan and Prince Fischer crouched under their seats, facing each other. The position was somewhat awkward, but in such a life-or-death moment, who cared about that?

Hearing the horse hooves, both of them showed slight reactions.

Du Fan snorted and said, “These people are after me!”

But Prince Fischer shook his head and said, “They’re not after you!”

With that, he grabbed an arrow nearby, pointed at its tip, and said coldly, “These are special magic-breaking arrows used by the army. Only the Imperial City Guard in the entire empire is equipped with such things. Moreover, under normal circumstances, who would bring such precious items out to kill people? It seems my elder brother really doesn’t want me to survive. Hmph, having the Imperial City Guard use magic-breaking arrows to kill me? Isn’t he afraid his father will be furious when he finds out?”

At this point, a hint of sadness flashed in Prince Fischer’s eyes, but he quickly concealed it. Instead, he smiled slightly at Du Fan and said, “Young Master Du Fan, I’m truly sorry for dragging you into this tonight. If we can survive and return… I’ll hold another grand feast to make it up to you!”

As he spoke, Prince Fischer somehow grabbed something from under the carriage. With a light “click,” Du Fan felt lighter beneath him, and the two of them rolled to the ground like a ball.

But before they could recover from rolling down, they heard more archery sounds. Du Fan snorted. There was no time to hide now, so he grabbed a magic scroll and threw it out, while also grabbing Prince Fischer. The two rolled again, this time toward the front of the carriage.

In his haste, Du Fan threw the magic scroll, which burst into flames but had little effect. As the two were about to be buried under a rain of arrows, they saw Alva, the top expert in the palace, let out a groan. He swung his whip, which cracked loudly in the air, and then the whip shot out like a dragon, instantly knocking down all the arrows near Du Fan and Prince Fischer. Those arrows exploded into powder mid-air, and not a single arrow managed to harm either of them. Just from this, Alva’s skill level was astonishing. With Alva’s help, Du Fan and Prince Fischer managed to get up from the ground. Though they still looked disheveled, they were unharmed. Du Fan looked around and couldn’t help but sigh bitterly. It was a small path in the jungle, surrounded by dark forests, with no idea what lurked inside. In front of and behind the carriage, dozens of masked warriors armed with long swords were closing in, followed by a dozen knights in heavy armor. These knights carried crossbows, and their warhorses were equipped with three-meter-long spears—clearly the source of the dense arrow rain. This showed that the enemy must have planned this attack in advance. Du Fan’s heart sank. Both these warriors and knights resembled the assassins who had attacked him before. Could it be that the one who tried to kill him back then was Prince Fischer’s elder brother, the crown prince?! Prince Fischer already drew his knight’s sword and shielded Du Fan behind him. Meanwhile, Alva, the top expert in the palace, got off the carriage and pulled out a rusty long sword from beneath the seat. His expression was stern, and his combat energy was surging. Judging by the level of his combat energy, he was clearly a warrior of around level eight. More synchronized shouts came from the darkness. Those murderous-looking men stood around the carriage. Du Fan then noticed that there were only eight of them, but their movements were extremely coordinated, as if they had undergone some special training. They didn’t carry weapons, but their murderous aura was undeniable.

Even so, Du Fan’s side had at most eleven people, while although the enemy showed up with less than a hundred people for now, Du Fan was certain they had far more than that. After all, if they wanted to target the current prince, they must have made thorough preparations, while his side was completely unprepared. Even if the enemy had only a hundred people, it would still be a ten-to-one fight—how could they possibly win? Not to mention that each of the enemy soldiers moved steadily with fierce combat energy, clearly being experts. Even if they were just ordinary soldiers, his side still had no chance of winning. Thinking of this, Du Fan couldn’t help but sigh. Although he wasn’t helpless against these people, revealing his true strength in front of Prince Fischer would be a hundred times worse than the current situation! With that in mind, Du Fan glanced at Prince Fischer ahead. The prince still wore an expression of neither joy nor sorrow, his knight’s sword drawn but without any sign of preparing to attack. Moreover, there was no trace of combat energy around him, clearly indicating he couldn’t use combat energy at all. Just then, a flash of light appeared in the distance, instantly expanding countless times before shooting toward them like a meteor. The strong magical aura it carried could not be concealed in any way. Du Fan’s expression changed—he recognized it as an arcane missile. Unlike spells of specific schools, arcane missiles could be cast by magicians of any school. Although their power was slightly weaker than spells of their own school, they were still not easy to deal with. The only reason a magician would use an arcane missile was probably to conceal their identity! And magicians who needed to hide their identity were likely grand magicians—only such magicians would fear having their identities exposed, especially since they were dealing with the current prince. If their identities were revealed, they would surely face trouble in the future. Seeing this, Du Fan gritted his teeth and prepared to act. Based on his apparent strength, even if he managed to withstand this attack, he would likely suffer heavy losses. But under these circumstances, he had no choice but to act. With a flick of his hand, he pulled out his Phantom Wand from his storage ring and prepared to charge forward.

But at that moment, Prince Fischer suddenly turned to look at Du Fan, gave a faint smile, and said, “Lord Du Fan, there’s no need to rush… It’s not the time to act yet!”
Du Fan was stunned and momentarily unable to react. This Prince Fischer was eerily calm!
Seeming to sense Du Fan’s confusion, Prince Fischer sneered and explained, “This carriage was blessed by the head of the court mages. The moment it was damaged, a message spell was sent instantly. By now, the court mages must already know that something has happened to me. At their speed, they’ll arrive in no time… My elder brother planned everything carefully, but he missed this point. It seems I really owe him an apology if I don’t leave all of his men behind this time!”
As soon as Prince Fischer finished speaking, the massive arcane missile was already right in front of them…
Suddenly, Alva let out a fierce roar and charged forward from his position. The brilliance of his sword’s combat energy surged dramatically as he swung it at the arcane missile.
Then came a thunderous roar—the massive arcane missile was split by Alva, and a ball of light exploded. Alva, mid-air, was knocked back several times by the blast. He opened his mouth, and a mouthful of blood sprayed out.
Yet the arcane missile was incredibly powerful. Though split, it showed no signs of dissipating.
Alva was also a top-tier expert. At this critical moment, without even a grunt, he abruptly stopped his retreat mid-air. The light on his sword flashed, and he charged at the ball of light once more.
This time, Alva succeeded. With a single swing, he cut the arcane missile into two. Then, with a sharp lift, he sent those two masses of magical energy flying toward the advancing warriors.
Those masses contained the most primal and violent magical elements. Before they could even hit the ground, they exploded with a loud bang!
The warriors near those masses were blown to pieces without even a sound, while those who survived were often left with half their bodies missing.
Yet these guys were incredibly tough. Despite losing half their bodies, they didn’t utter a sound. Instead, their combat energy surged as they rushed at Alva, who was falling from the sky.