Chapter 156: Combat Robe 2
The Shadow Thief has been completely petrified, including the equipment and clothes on his body; the grayish stone texture is clearly visible.
This is only temporary; after 24 hours, the petrification effect will disappear, and the Shadow Thief and equipment will return to normal, but the broken arm definitely cannot be reattached.
「Aegis of Euryale」’s petrification effect is stronger than a regular sixth-circle 「Petrification」; Petrification requires four cumulative saving throw failures to enter the petrified state, while the petrifying magic on the shield only needs two.
However, after being petrified by Petrification, if no one uses Greater Restoration or similar spells to save him, he will be permanently trapped in the petrified state.
“That was easy.” Anse touched the Medusa’s face, his eyes full of amusement.
Petrifying magic may not be very effective against Warriors or Barbarians, but it’s simply a divine skill against Rogues with average Constitution who rely on evasion.
Without 「Aegis of Euryale」, even if he could take down the Shadow Thief Master, it would definitely have been a hard-fought battle.
He focused and observed the Shadow Thief; the dice spun for a moment and popped up the target’s information:
【Petrified Shadow Thief Master, Human, Level 14 Rogue（Soul Blade）】
“It’s indeed a Soul Blade.” He sighed inwardly.
That invisibility ability should be the renowned 「Psionic Veil」, which weaves a psionic veil to conceal the body, lasting one hour; as long as he doesn’t attack enemies, he won’t become visible.
“I wonder if he’s the Assassin who nearly ambushed Illyas that day.” Anse still felt some lingering fear.
It was the first time he had been approached in his sleep; although he wasn’t injured, thinking back on it still felt quite terrifying.
This was also why he was initially unwilling to indulge his desires; even love’s end might be a suitcase, let alone a woman he’d only met a few times.
He’d heard that the Shadow Thieves also had female killers who were quite skilled in their trade; countless fools on the Faerun continent had died in their beds.
The wind whistled as Illyas returned, wrapped in a purple cloak, bare-faced, with long hair flying.
Seeing the Shadow Thief’s miserable state, her expression improved greatly, and she said softly: “A Shadow Thief?”
“Yes, an advanced Soul Blade.” Anse turned his head to look at her; after the passion, looking at her felt different.
Illyas remained composed and let him look openly, though her eyes never met his: “It seems like the Assassin who ambushed us that day.”
“This time he came for me.” Anse recalled the scene; the opponent’s target was clearly him.
Illyas glanced at him but said nothing; when she opened her eyes, she clearly saw the Shadow Thief attacking her, though Anse had blocked it.
The sharp blade scraped across the Dragon Scale, sparking; it was very hard~
“Why not kill him?”
“Can we pry open his mouth?” Anse wanted to know the Shadow Thieves Guild’s secrets and plans.
“Impossible.” Illyas shook her head slightly. “Skilled Shadow Thieves all have death curses; they can’t be interrogated, and even after death, nothing can be gotten out of them. Moreover, the Shadow Thieves Guild is highly organized, and each Shadow Thief on a mission knows very limited information.”
“So the Shadow Thieves high-ranking officials basically won’t act personally.”
“Probably.”
“Then keeping him is useless.”
Anse walked up to the Shadow Thief and swung his longsword forcefully; a streak of platinum light flashed in the air as the blade clanged against the Shadow Thief’s neck.
The blade bounced back, sending stone fragments flying, leaving only a sword mark two or three centimeters deep.
“So hard.”
Pfft, Illyas pursed her lips and smiled: “Great form; maybe a blunt weapon would work better? Why not hand him over to them to chip away at slowly?”
The surrounding Knights gripped their weapons, eager to try.
“No need.” Anse quickly waved his hand and said seriously, “Ending every enemy with my own hands is my respect to them.”
With that, he swung the Dragon Gold Slash Sword, clanging twice as he severed the Shadow Thief’s head.
Holy Slash isn’t great at chopping dead things, but it’s not helpless against a stone.
However, the experience prompt still hadn’t sounded.
Anse checked the combat log; the Shadow Thief’s head had indeed been severed, but since he was in a petrified state and had long lost vital signs, the “death” status would trigger when the petrification effect ended.
If someone reattached the Shadow Thief’s head and used Restoration before then, he could still live.
“Not fully dead yet.” He frowned slightly.
“Restoration?” Illyas realized; she knew about petrifying magic.
Anse took out the Scepter of Sanctuary and teleported the Shadow Thief’s corpse to the Black Tower Prison, keeping the head and body in separate cells.
“Just in case.” He explained.
“Mm.” Illyas yawned; they had just fallen asleep when the Shadow Thief appeared, and after messing around half the night, they were somewhat tired.
“Everyone go back.” She dismissed the Knights and Guards, then went to comfort her awakened Grandmother in a low voice.
She didn’t blame anyone, because no matter how diligent the Guards were, they couldn’t detect a Shadow Thief; it was an irreconcilable strength gap.
Anse was only wearing a cloak, which was a bit indecent, so he nodded and flew back to his room.
Back in the bedroom, he glanced at the mess on the floor and involuntarily savored the warm, moist taste from last night.
He casually pulled over a bed sheet discarded in the corner; the bloodstains on it were clearly visible.
“That night really was an illusion.” He’d once thought it was real, because the feeling that day was very similar to last night.
After lying back on the bed, he waited a long time but didn’t see Illyas return; it seemed she had gone back to her own room.
“Heh…”
He simply hugged the shield and slept; there were two hours until dawn, and there was an important meeting today.
——
Knock, knock, knock…
The knocking was steady and calm; just from the sound, one could feel the knocker’s patience.
Anse opened his eyes and looked out the window; it was bright daylight, with warm sunshine.
It was nearing August, and the weather didn’t seem so hot anymore.
He got out of bed, put on his cloak, and opened the door.
The Butler stood outside, dressed in neat formal wear, holding a set of clothes in his hands, and bowed slightly to him.
“Mr. Horleywen, this is the clothes Miss prepared for you. It’s seven o’clock; change and come down for breakfast.”
“Ah, okay.” Anse took the clothes; they felt heavy and substantial in his hands.
The Butler smiled and closed the door, then his footsteps gradually faded away.
Anse tossed the clothes onto the bed; it was a complete set of formal wear—shirt, vest, pants, belt, leather boots, coat—all complete, white-based with simple black-and-gold patterns.
He picked up the coat; it emanated faint mana fluctuations, clearly a magical item.
Its design was also unique, like an alternative tailcoat, resembling a trench coat, but with two black-gold shoulder guards on the shoulders, very cool-looking, obviously accommodating combat needs.
The dice spun slightly and soon detected the formal wear’s information:
【Magical Item: +2 Combat Robe】
「Type」: Armor
「Rarity」: Rare
A noble formal wear densely woven from some kind of spider silk, with defensive properties equivalent to cloth armor.
While wearing this armor, your Armor Class +2.
「Self-Repair」: The active spider silk grants this equipment self-repair capability; when damage is below 20%, the Combat Robe can slowly repair itself.
“Not bad at all.”
This Combat Robe’s affixes were simple and practical; cloth armor itself provides 1 Armor Class, totaling +3 Armor Class.
But it wouldn’t stack with Anse’s own Armor Class; the Dragon Scale was underneath the armor, after all.
Still, it was useful as long as he wore it; any incoming attacks had to break through the Combat Robe first to reach his Dragon Scale, equivalent to an extra layer of defense.
“With such a good thing, why didn’t you give it to me earlier?”
Anse grumbled, shaking out the formal wear, but he noticed the purple flower emblem of Jacqueline Castle on the chest and cuffs.
“This… wear it or not?”
