Night Ranger

”No. This isn’t the highest grade of Origami.”

The voice from the Shadow Thief Owl came out of the crystal ball, extremely gentle.

”Open your eyes and watch, Little Marvin.”

”To behead such a small snake, why do you need so many plans? I alone am enough.”

...

”Bang!”

The Crimson Patriarch grabbed the paper doll and ruthlessly tore it to shreds!

His eyes were staring at something inside the village.

But White River Valley seemed extremely eerie under the glow of the moonlight.

Shadows came out from each house, extremely nimbly. They all looked human.

But under the pale moonlight, the Crimson Patriarch could clearly see that they were all paper dolls!

”Shadow Thief Owl!”

The Crimson Patriarch ground his teeth and yelled that name.

”We don’t have any grudges, do we?”

Looking at that endless army of paper dolls, the Crimson Patriarch couldn’t understand. His enemy was unexpectedly the Shadow Thief, Owl!

Didn’t this guy run to the Jewel Bay to fight that Ancient Red Dragon? Why did he suddenly appear in an insignificant place like White River Valley?

‘Could everything be a conspiracy? Destroying the Hidden Granary, using the golden bulls to lure me in, is this my enemies’ plot?’

Auzin thought quickly. ‘It should definitely be the case. How could that White River Valley’s Baron be bold enough to steal my golden bulls otherwise?”

He figured it out.

In fact, he had already thought something was wrong with White River Valley. But as a powerhouse, the Crimson Patriarch was very confident with regards to his strength!

Constantine and Endless Ocean couldn’t deal with him. There weren’t many people in this world he was scared of.

Especially after Anthony’s death.

Thus he still continued with his plan. He wanted to find out what was going on in this territory.

But Owl’s appearance exceeded his expectations.

Shadow Thief Owl had already been famous for quite a long time. His strength was unfathomable. And more importantly, Auzin didn’t know who else was in White River Valley.

‘Constantine? Could it be him?’

‘Impossible, when the enemies destroyed the granary, Constantine and Endless Ocean were chasing me. They couldn’t plan such a plan at that time, right? Could there be others?’

Auzin’s expression turned very gloomy. He had always been scheming against others. He hadn’t expected that others would be scheming against him today.

But one Shadow Thief Owl wasn’t enough to make him afraid!

...

On the riverbank, the paper dolls began to transform. They all turned into Owl.

But there were different types of paper, leading to some weird angles, and creating some discrepancies.

All the paper dolls were holding two paper daggers while smiling sinisterly as they surrounded the Crimson Patriarch.

”This is a very ruthless world, Auzin.”

The paper dolls smirked. ”We have no grudges with you, but among those you killed, weren’t there many who held a grudge?”

The Crimson Patriarch’s face turned ashen. He suddenly spread his arms and Divine Power began condensing without him saying anything!

[Divine Spell – Snake Whirlwind]!

In an instant, a whirlpool appeared from his chest. Countless frightening snakes kept flying out from it.

These snakes were thrown out by the whirlpool, toward those paper dolls.

”Idiot!”

All the paper dolls sneered, ”I am made of paper, why would I be afraid of snake bites?”

The paper dolls completely disregarded the endless waves of snakes which were swarming them.

Some dolls even had five or six snakes coiling around them, but it didn’t affect their movements at all!

Marvin was astonished as he looked at that scene though the crystal ball. If his Origami skill could reach this level, that would be amazing.

‘With Owl acting, it should be very easy to get rid of one of the Crimson Patriarch’s lives,’ Marvin thought.

Very few people knew that the reason he was so troublesome to kill wasn’t actually his endless escaping tricks, but his shocking amount of lives!

The Five-Headed Crimson Snake had a total of five lives.

He was actually the second son of the World Ending Twin Snakes, a Five-Headed Basilisk. He would lose one head each time he was killed and his lives remaining would lower by one.

But after some time, his heads would regrow under the blessings of the World Ending Twin Snakes.

This was the main reason why he was so hard to kill.

Constantine and Endless Ocean actually made him lose one of his lives a few days ago. In other words, the current Crimson Patriarch only had four lives left.

Every one of his lives had already been taken into account in Marvin’s plan.

Now with with three more Legends helping, Marvin truly couldn’t figure out what other variable could appear.

There was only one possible complication, which was whether the Shadow Prince would appear at this time!

‘It shouldn’t be this coincidental, right?’ Marvin took a glance at the crystal ball and couldn’t help but look at the sky.

The moonlight was very bright and there were no black clouds.

...

The fight between the snakes and the paper dolls could be rated as very desperate. The Crimson Patriarch was expressionlessly standing on the riverbank, still casting that snake summoning whirlpool.

These snakes looked like sharp blades, crazily flying and ripping apart the paper dolls at the front.

The thousands of paper dolls had been unable to close in on the Crimson Patriarch’s body.

”You like this skill?” The Crimson Patriarch sneered while looking at those paper dolls continuously pouncing over.

He guessed that Owl must be hidden among those paper dolls, waiting for an opportunity to act.

Among Legend classes, Shadow Thief was actually not a particularly strong one. Because it wasn’t very resistant, it was very easy for a powerful class to annihilate one.

He still had many Divine Spells, but he didn’t feel it was necessary to use any more yet.

He had a feeling that his enemy tonight wasn’t just limited to Owl. There should be others that hadn’t shown their face.

Those Divine Spells he kept were prepared for the others.

As for the Shadow Thief, the two defensive force fields and warning spells enchanted on his body should be enough.

Thinking of it, Auzin couldn’t help but leak a hint of smile.

He spread his arms further and sent more Divine Power toward the whirlpool!

The countless snakes filled the riverbank.

Suddenly, he noticed a paper doll that stood out from the masses.

That paper doll didn’t rush toward him like the others, instead continuously jumping around in the crowd.

‘Doppelganger? Or main body?’ The Crimson Patriarch’s sight focused on that paper doll.

While he was still considering whether to use a Divine Spell to hit that one, an ice-cold voice suddenly echoed beside his ear.

”Did you even think about why I would dig such a big hole?”

The Crimson Patriarch was startled!

But it was already too late!

The straight daggers shone under the moonlight with a sinister glint. Owl silently jumped out from that hole to the Crimson Patriarch’s back!

He had hidden himself in the Shadow Plane for such a long time!

Under the assault of the legendary daggers, both force fields were immediately broken!

A warning sound instantly echoed in Auzin’s mind. He unhesitantly used an instant Divine Spell!

4th-circle Divine Spell – [Life Severing Shriek]!

This was one of the strongest life saving tricks of the Crimson Patriarch. People hearing this shriek would sink into a paralyzed state for a long time!

But Owl’s moves showed no signs of slowing down.

”Very unpleasant to hear… You must be baffled as to why I can still move.” Owl ridiculed him.

”It’s because…”

”I have earplugs!”

After saying this, the pair of daggers attacked again from two different sides. The left ruthlessly stabbed down, onto the Crimson Patriarch’s shadow!

The right hand used Cutthroat!

In an instant, the Crimson Patriarch’s neck was opened and blood flew out!

...

‘Using a legendary dagger to nail his shadow down in order to prevent the Crimson Patriarch from instantly using [Void Shift].’

‘Even if Owl is quite carefree, he still attaches a lot of importance to those details and strategies.’

Marvin looked in the crystal ball, pleased. The Crimson Patriarch died.

In reality, a simple Cutthroat would definitely not kill the Crimson Patriarch! His Void Shift was an instant spell. Coupled with Life Severing Shriek, almost no one could sneak attack him!

But Owl had managed to. Half of it was due to his powerful strength, while the other half was due to Marvin’s information.

The Crimson Patriarch probably never expected that there were people in this world that knew him so well.

He was fated to die tonight!

Marvin stared at the crystal ball, holding an open scroll and a potion in his hands.

If any extreme circumstances truly came up...

‘I would have to personally intervene…’

...

On the river bank, Shadow Thief Owl kicked the head of the Crimson Patriarch in the White River.

The Crimson Patriarch’s body suddenly shattered, turning into pieces of stone.

”Hathaway, where is that guy now?” Owl raised his head to look at Hathaway on the peak.

She was the one in charge of communication for the fighters tonight. Apart from Marvin, all the Legends used [Telepathic Bond]. This was a short range communication spell.

Before Hathaway could say anything, another voice already answered emotionlessly, ”No need, I got him.”

Constantine.

As soon as the patriarch died, Hathaway used her True Sight spell to search the whole territory for the place where the Patriarch would be reborn.

The location of his rebirth would usually not be too far away. This came from Marvin’s experience.

Sure enough, she found the Crimson Patriarch in accordance with Marvin’s plan and reported the location to the middle-aged Night Walker.

The latter’s speed during the night was just like a fierce wind, arriving in the blink of an eye. There was nothing Owl could say.

The Shadow Thief dully shrugged, ”Why on earth do you insist on solo fights…”

”Ganging up on someone feels extremely good.”

Marvin smiled as he looked in the crystal ball, not saying anything.

The reason for not ganging up on him was very simple. The Crimson Patriarch’s rebirth was very fast and he had a huge amount of escaping tricks. Even if they could quickly kill him by ganging up on him, it would immediately expose numerous Legends, and the first thing the Crimson Patriarch would do after his rebirth would be to use one of his escaping tricks.

...

The Northern Mine, in an area near the Shrieking Mountain Range.

The Crimson Patriarch was ashenly looking at the man before his eyes.

He originally still thought of looking for Owl to settle his debt, but before he could take a few steps, Constantine blocked his path!

He was now sure that this was a plot against him!

”Constantine, you sure have some good relationships. You were actually able to ask Shadow Thief Owl to make a move.”

”Since you are here... That Endless Ocean whore should also be there?”

”Hehe, three Legends, such a great hand!”

”Sorry for not keeping you company.”

The Crimson Patriarch gave a hollow laugh and his body suddenly twisted.

He split into three, and the other two instantly disappeared in the void.

The Crimson Patriarch standing in front of Constantine also suddenly turned and ran, choosing to escape toward the Shrieking Mountain Range!

‘As expected, after dying once and noticing three Legends, he immediately prepared to flee.’

Marvin sneered. Everything was going according to plan.

The Crimson Patriarch’s reaction was good. Unfortunately...

Could he even run away?

________

T/N: This is a short version of the author note in between 153 and 154

A/N(summarized): There were few comments about the Crimson Patriarch’s intelligence.

The author is dumbfounded. What happened wasn’t an issue with his intelligence, but his way of thinking.

As a Legend powerhouse, he is at the top of the food chain. Would he care about things he considers insignificant details? White River Valley and Baron Marvin are ants in his eyes, and he doesn’t that much time on his hands to investigate an ant’s personal life. As a Patriarch, he has many more important things to take care of.

Getting the golden bulls is very important and very urgent. In fact, if it was another Legend, they would have used force first, like Leymann or Hathaway, they would have used ”Aurora Burst” or ”Burning Firerain” first before looking for the golden bulls.

The Patriarch still used Mind Control to investigate, isn’t that cautious enough?

In addition, being sly doesn’t necessarily mean being highly intelligent. Slyness only proves that that person is extremely cautious, cherishing his life and able to find a way out.

We all see from Marvin’s perspective, knowing what was ahead of the Crimson Patriarch, but what can the Patriarch see? If he was scared away just by a village being strange, he would definitely not belong to the Legend realm.

Also, Marvin is an ant in front of him, would he be that overcautious in front of an ant? Even if there was something strange about that ant, would he run away like that?

Another point: Twin Snakes Followers will have a pair of snakelets implanted in their eyes which had to be dug out before their deaths, or else their murderer would be detected. But it’s implanted by the Clerics to their followers, and the Clerics themselves don’t have those. Thus, there was no need for him to dig out their eyes. I was afraid people would say I was adding unimportant things (T/N: aka filler) so some details that wouldn’t bring too much of an influence on the reading were purposefully left out. But since some people raised the issue, I’ll add more details to the setting, but I hope people won’t say I’m adding filler. But the popularity is a proof that the majority of readers appreciate my style of writing. I’ll say again. Thank you everyone.

T/N: So I said summarized but it’s still pretty long. I usually don’t TL author notes because they are usually related to the chinese releases. But I felt this one should be.

I only kept what was related to the story and the translation side. Please continue to support us by giving us more power stone.