Chapter 120: Stumbling Into It
“Just call me Anse.” Anse tugged at the corner of his mouth; the mere mention of that title embarrassed him to death.
“Not many can make the Nahshival Family suffer a silent loss, haha…” Quentin laughed heartily, probably having some grudge with Amn.
Most others hadn’t heard of Anse’s name, but upon hearing Quentin say this, their eyes were immediately filled with admiration.
Anse was speechless; so everyone had some beef with Amn. Stol was a clever little guy—this method to prevent Amn from buying people off was simple and brutal.
He focused his mind on Quentin:
【Quentin, Human, Level 7 Ranger（Hunter）】
Besides him, the other four Councillors were all Professionals, with the weakest at Level 4.
‘Not bad.’
But compared to those big cities, the high-ranking strength was indeed much weaker, all relying on Stol and Illyas to hold the scene.
In Baldur’s Gate and Blue Water City, ordinary Elite Professionals could only serve as Captain or middle to high management, hard to enter core management, like Ragna and Flame Fist’s Level 8 Barbarian.
Only by becoming an Advanced Professional could one ignore the constraints of origin and background, breaking through class barriers.
Quentin sized up Anse with a smile: “How did you discover that Mind Flayer?”
“It possessed one of my friends. His name is Matthew, from Silver Scale Bay. I sensed something wrong and used True Sight to look…” Anse explained.
“Silver Scale Bay?” Quentin’s face darkened. “Could the Baldur’s Gate incident be orchestrated by Mind Flayers? What do they want?”
“Mind Flayers are all conspirators; besides eating brains, they want to rule everything,” Illyas said coldly. “This matter must be kept strictly confidential, but the screening work is urgent. I’ve already ordered the city gate sealed.
Everyone, share your thoughts and discuss countermeasures.”
“The Mind Flayer probably possessed someone during the exodus from Baldur’s Gate or Silver Scale Bay, intending to infiltrate major cities via Adventurers’ footsteps. Dulag is quite far from there, so few could have slipped in.
How about checking recent Adventurers entering the city under the pretext of searching for enemy Spies, and later form a dedicated team for this?” Quentin suggested.
“But isn’t the Mind Flayer hiding in the brain? No one can tell it apart,” a young man spread his hands, looking dejected.
“Yeah…”
The group discussed for a long time but came up with no good ideas.
Currently, only Anse could see through the Mind Flayer’s possession, but he wasn’t one of their own—who dared to casually order around an Elite Spellcaster?
Anse naturally wouldn’t bring trouble on himself; people should avoid shouldering responsibilities that aren’t theirs.
“Let’s deal with this Mind Flayer first,” Illyas decided.
“Good, I’ll summon the Guards right away.” Quentin stood up.
Illyas and Quentin assigned tasks, and everyone went to their duties.
Anse went out alone, teleporting Finn and Greyhawk out from Hollewen, and handed the search task to them.
Greyhawk had seen Matthew before. It was intelligent with sharp eyes, making the search easier and less likely to alert the target.
Quentin’s Guards had just assembled when Greyhawk found the target.
Matthew and those Adventurers were strolling in the city. New arrivals, they were probably learning the local situation and considering how to make a living.
Anse mounted Nolnos, leading Giant Tail and Finn to approach the target first.
Illyas glanced at Greyhawk in the sky and flew over on her flying carpet: “Found the target?”
“Found it, in the west of the city. They probably haven’t noticed yet.” Anse appeared calm but was actually a bit spooked—reluctant to lose experience, yet afraid of being targeted by the Mind Flayer.
Mind Flayers, also called Mind Flayers, were remnants of a multiverse empire that once destroyed worlds—infamous conspirators and manipulators whose thirst for dominion rivaled their hunger for brains.
They excelled in Psionics, using it to control other creatures. Kuo-Toa, deep bears, Duergar, cave lizards, Gith, etc., were once their servants and Slaves.
Mind Flayers often experimented with their life mechanisms, implanting tadpole-like Intellect Devourer Larva into other creatures to create supernatural servants.
These creatures were disgusting, terrifying, insidious, secretive, with almost no weaknesses. An ordinary Mind Flayer’s Challenge Rating is 7, Intelligence nearing 20; normal Professionals had almost no chance against them.
“What are you worried about?” Illyas laughed. “You fought ferociously without saying a word. I thought you’d take out the Mind Flayer right away.”
“Mind Flayers are terrifying,” Anse emphasized seriously.
Many only knew the terror of Mind Flayers from books or stories, without personal experience, always separated by a veil, never taking it seriously enough.
“You seem… very knowledgeable?” Illyas’s gaze was intense.
“Aren’t the rumors enough?” Anse urged Nolnos to speed up, lest something unexpected happen.
Illyas watched his back, sunlight casting a glow on him, making him seem indistinct.
She waved her hand, and teams of Knights and Guards followed behind Anse, charging into the main streets.
“Security Guards checking for Spies…”
“Hands off weapons, don’t cause misunderstandings…”
“…”
The street atmosphere tensed instantly, everyone on edge, but the Guards didn’t approach or harass anyone, avoiding widespread panic.
Anse rode west along the east-west street, spotting Matthew’s figure from afar.
He was hiding in the crowd at the west gate, watching this way with curiosity, looking no different from an Adventurer.
Anse waved at Finn, signaling him to leave, then pointed at the west gate crowd.
Teams of black-armored Knights charged forward on horseback, passing on both sides of him and encircling the crowd.
The crowd erupted in commotion; many nervously scanned those around them, eyes full of suspicion, seeing Spies everywhere, fearing involvement.
All eyes unconsciously focused on Anse approaching slowly. Black horse, black staff, black cloak—he blended perfectly with the Knights. That unusually large black horse was so distinctive; no one would believe he wasn’t the leader.
Illyas hovered high in the sky, scrutinizing everyone’s subtle expressions, but found nothing.
Quentin and the others followed behind Anse, faces serious, waiting for him to identify the target.
Clop, clop, clop—the hoofbeats like drumbeats, each one pounding on people’s hearts. The atmosphere was heavy and suppressed.
Anse wanted to force the Mind Flayer to reveal itself, but Matthew’s expression was full of surprise, hesitant to speak, matching a normal reaction.
But he didn’t relax; Mind Flayers’ Intelligence surpassed normal people. They could even fool those closest to them—their Disguise Ability was outrageous.
Just as he was about to activate the True Sight Ring, seven or eight men dressed as Adventurers suddenly drew weapons and lunged at him with a roar.
“Brothers, kill—”
“Can’t escape, fight them…”
Anse was stunned, then realized—these were Spies and Scouts from Amn!
He pursed his lips, silently rolling his eyes. Capturing Spies was just a pretext; these guys couldn’t keep their cool.
The Spies’ sudden attack triggered the Guards and Knights’ nerves; the Warriors counterattacked immediately, arrows flying like rain.
“Whoosh whoosh whoosh—”
The frontmost few were instantly turned into pin cushions.
Giant Tail had stayed by Anse’s side. Seeing this, it charged with shield raised, greatclub lifted—bam!—smashing a “pin cushion’s” head into its chest, blood spraying, eliciting cries of alarm.
Giant Tail always shielded Anse; those people hit it like a wall, unable to break through.
Greatclub swinging, Giant Tail used its height advantage like whack-a-mole. Earth heavy hammer carried Earth Elemental effects; almost no one could withstand a single blow without falling.
Other Warriors closed in, completely cutting off these Scouts’ escape hopes.
