Chapter 160 Chapter 159-Assassin’s Intent, Target Locked（2nd update, Cheer me with Power Stones!）
Stepping out of Werewolf Village, a system prompt indicated that they had entered a combat zone, automatically lifting the previous non-combatant status.
In reality, this so-called non-combatant status didn't really mean much to them.
The system has two ways of penalizing players who engage in combat within safe zones.
The first is punishment from the town's defensive forces towards the player.
If the system determines that the player's strength is too great for the town guard or other local NPCs to restrain, the system will punish the player directly at a fundamental level, using lightning to cause damage.
In other words, it was like when John previously made a move on Kingserp, the guild leader of Dawn Guild at the Morning Wind auction house, and bolts of lightning emerged from the void.
But, of course, both of these forms of punishment were completely ignorable for John. His venturing into the prairie was merely out of consideration for other players.
Those two shadowy figures, they were confident that their hiding technique was unbeatable.
Yet, even before John had entered the werewolf village church, he had already detected them.
With John's current divine power, unless the God of Shadows and Assassins personally stepped in, no matter how strong an assassin class was, they could not entirely hide from John using stealth techniques.
Under John's divine power inspection, those two voices were as eye-catching as candles in the darkness.
However, initially, John did not consider them enemies.
While the two assassins' abilities were extraordinary and undoubtedly not the work of regular players, John simply regarded them as local NPCs in the process of training as assassins.
It was only until he stepped out of the werewolf village church that he was surprised to find those two still lurking in the shadows, and the moment he turned his back to them, they did not hesitate to reveal their murderous intentions.
That piqued his interest. They were clearly here for him.
John walked on the vast, boundless prairie, letting the breeze brush past him, bringing about waves of chill.
He pondered in his heart.
Which assassin was so precise about his location and did not bother to hide their intent to assassinate him?
Suddenly, John thought of a minor incident.
Before entering Sunset Mountain, he had intercepted a few players from the Darklord and Wolf Guild on the prairie.
From them, John learned that these two guilds were currently trying to take him down and mentioned an ancient assassin alliance hidden in Godslayer Continent for a long time. AGHHO...
John instantly came to a realization.
It seemed that those two lurking assassins were likely members of AGHHO (Ancient God Hunters Hermit Order).
No wonder they were so formidable.
A faint smile emerged at the corner of John's mouth, and his eyes were filled with a glacial light.
They really had the audacity to make a move on him.
They were surely tired of living...
John continued into the depths of the prairie.
Not far behind him, several shadows moved along the ground.
The scorching sunlight was sprinkling down, but only left a few faint shadows on the ground.
It was impossible to tell that they were people.
These shadows passed some players who were leveling up on the prairie.
The players had no awareness at all. This was the horrifying ability manifested by an assassin who had reached a certain level of training.
Their stealth skill could directly put them in the shadow space, taking advantage of the connection between the shadow space and the real space to move, thereby achieving the purpose of silently moving next to the enemy.
Although these AGHHO assassin NPCs were powerful, they were not really top-tier.
The legendary master assassins could completely hide without a trace.
They wouldn't even leave a shadow behind.
"Where on earth is this guy headed? He just keeps moving further into the prairie," the voice with a deep and dull tone spoke again, "I have this bad feeling that he's purposely leading us to a deserted place."
"Frankly, I share your hunch. This dude must have noticed us. You don't suppose there's a trap up ahead specifically designed for us assassins, do you?"
"Shut up, all of you! The more you yap, the more likely we'll be exposed. Regardless of whether our target has detected us or not, we have a job to complete. I refuse to believe that any trap could effectively target all of us..." A somewhat aged voice suddenly rebuked.
The group immediately fell silent, continuing to move stealthily.
It's a universal truth that rogues and assassins are the classes with the keenest sense of impending danger.
Despite John's nonchalant demeanor, and the fact that he hadn't turned to look behind him even once, the NPC assassins still felt a sense of impending crisis.
However, they stubbornly believed that as senior members of AGHHO, there were few assassins in the entire Godslayer world who could rival them.
Even if their target had discovered their intention, they were confident they could complete the assassination.
John continued to walk forward until, after about half an hour, there wasn't another player in sight, only a handful of low-level monsters wandering aimlessly.
Finally, John came to a stop. He turned around, grinned, revealing his white teeth: "You've been tailing me for quite some time, don't you plan to show yourselves? There's not a soul around here. Isn't it the perfect place for an ambush?"
John's voice wasn't loud, but it bizarrely echoed in the air for a long time, obviously using some special communication technique.
However, as soon as he finished speaking, there was no movement in front of him.
The prairie was as tranquil as ever, with a gentle breeze.
John cocked his head, watching the area in front of him with a smile, as if waiting for something.
After a while, just as John was growing somewhat impatient, a ripple appeared in the space not far ahead.
A hunched, small figure slowly emerged. "Young man, such sharp senses. It's been years since I've been exposed during an operation. I didn't expect you to see through our stealth technique," the figure said.
John gave a wry smile, "You're quite confident, sir. Is your stealth technique really that hard to detect? I don't think so..."
Upon hearing John's words, the hunched figure flipped his right hand, revealing a sharp dagger glowing with a dark green light.
Since their cover had been blown, there was no need for any more hesitation.
As soon as he grasped his weapon, he entered stealth mode once again.
John shook his head in resignation, and without any warning, he lifted his arm.
A flash of cold light streaked through the air, passing gently over his waist without even touching the hem of his clothes.
The hunched figure reappeared not far from John, sounding somewhat astonished, "You can really detect my stealth trajectory?"
John quirked a lip, replying nonchalantly, "Do you really think I was trying to bait you? In fact, not only you, but the other gentlemen are also within my grasp. So, there's no need to intentionally drag time. I'll stand here and wait for you to get into the right assassination positions..."
"Insolence!" The hunched figure roared in anger, seemingly dissatisfied with John's indifference. "You'll pay for your arrogance, boy..."
John shrugged indifferently, casting his gaze casually around, lingering for a few seconds in particular directions.
Whenever his gaze lingered longer, a figure would emerge in the area he was looking at.
By the time John had finished scanning his surroundings, a total of six top assassins had appeared on the scene, encircling him completely.
[System Notice: You have been locked onto by six Assassin's Intents… You have been locked onto by six Assassin's Intents… You have been locked onto by six Assassin's Intents…]
The system's crimson alerts appeared thrice in quick succession before John's eyes.
John raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised that these six assassins had all manifested Assassin's Intent.
[Assassin's Intent (Legendary Talent): Exclusive to the assassin class. Once an assassin reaches a certain level and refines their assassin's heart, they can awaken this exclusive skill. Once activated, it can lock onto an enemy, foresee their next move, and increase their own damage output by 10% when attacking the locked enemy...]
Overall, it's a rather overpowered talent.
That was what surprised John.
All six of these assassins had awakened Assassin's Intent…
"You forced all six of us out just to prove your perception is superior? Have you considered the consequences you'll face next?" The hunched figure in front of him was the first to speak.
John didn't directly answer his question, but tilted his head and replied casually, "So, you are the ones from the legendary hall of all assassin classes—AGHHO, right?"
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