Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage Chapter 772: ANBO Unit Strikes I

CH772 ANBO Unit Strikes I

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A few moments earlier...

The animal-masked members of the ANBO unit reconvened at their secluded staging location within Castin Town.

This time, they had not gathered to exchange intelligence, but to prepare for the operation.

The eagle-masked operative stepped forward and placed two scrolls on the ground, channelling her Internal Energy into them.

As energy flowed into them, the scrolls disintegrated into countless motes of light, leaving behind two intricate runic circles, each roughly one metre in diameter and densely inscribed with runes.

The circles released vertical pillars of light about a metre high.

The light seemed to tear open the fabric of space itself, forming two spatial gates roughly half a metre wide.

Masked figures immediately stepped through.

From one gate emerged seven masked operatives accompanied by a lone eagle.

From the other stepped approximately one hundred masked and cloaked individuals.

The eagle glanced over the waiting ANBO members as though searching for someone.

Her eyes eventually settled on the operative wearing the eagle mask.

She beat her wings and rose into the air.

As she flew, her body shrank slightly before gliding gracefully onto the eagle-masked operative’s shoulder.

The eagle lowered her beak, allowing the operative to stroke it gently.

Satisfied, she lifted her head proudly towards the sky, once again assuming her usual imperious and somewhat arrogant bearing.

Everyone already knew the plan before arriving.

As such, the operation’s commander—the eagle-masked operative—didn’t waste time with unnecessary words.

She simply raised a hand.

The force immediately moved out.

The eagle soared into the sky, taking up an aerial observation position over the town.

Meanwhile, the ANBO unit split into five groups, each advancing towards one of the five major family estates in Castin Town.

As they neared their respective objectives, roughly twenty cloaked operatives dispersed around each estate, quietly taking up concealed positions.

From the eagle’s vantage point above, however, the pattern became obvious.

The cloaked operatives had established a complete perimeter around each estate.

An inescapable net had been cast.

No one inside would be escaping what was about to unfold.

With the excitement in town surrounding the domain lord’s agreement with the five families, nobody noticed the shadows moving into position.

At the Saltz estate, the seven individuals who had stepped through the spatial gate alongside the eagle approached the rear perimeter wall.

Working in perfect coordination, the seven operatives—each wearing a unique canine-themed mask—scaled the wall with ease and silently infiltrated the estate.

Already possessing detailed layouts of the grounds, the seven Hounds split up and descended upon their assigned objectives.

Moving from building to building, they employed whatever method best suited the situation—swords, crossbows, knives, or even their bare hands to silently break a target’s neck from behind.

Whatever accomplished the mission.

One by one, they quietly eliminated roughly fifteen Silver-ranked members of the clan.

After sweeping the estate and confirming that every designated Silver-rank target had been dealt with, the seven Hounds regrouped before advancing towards the estate’s main building.

It was the most heavily guarded structure on the grounds, so they proceeded with greater caution.

Unwilling to risk alerting the estate through a missed roll call, the Hounds decided against eliminating the guards stationed outside the building.

Instead, they relied on more creative methods to bypass them.

Exiting through a lower-floor window, they climbed the exterior wall to the uppermost level before slipping through a nearby room adjacent to their target—the study.

Thanks to the runic enhancements embedded within their masks, which greatly heightened their senses, the Hounds detected the presence of three guards standing outside the study door.

Re-equipping their pump-action crossbows, they stepped out of the room.

Twang!

Twang!

Twang!

Three bolts flew almost simultaneously, dropping the guards before they had a chance to react.

The sound of the crossbows wasn’t completely silent.

Knowing they had only moments before the disturbance was discovered, the Hounds immediately surged forward and kicked open the study door.

Inside, the clan head and the clan elders had been discussing their plans for the upcoming mayoral election.

Although the strange sound outside had caught their attention, it was unlike anything they recognised as an immediate threat.

Consequently, they had not fully raised their guard.

The Hounds made sure they never had the chance.

Thwack! Thwack!! THWACK!!!

Without waiting for an invitation, the Hounds burst into the room and opened fire on every target within sight.

Within moments, most of the elders had been struck down.

Only the clan head and two clan elders remained alive.

They had reacted just quickly enough to evade the incoming bolts.

The Hounds had emptied the magazines of their pump-action crossbows and needed to reload.

The surviving clan head and elders gave them no such opportunity.

They immediately charged.

Casting aside their crossbows, two of the Hounds drew their swords in a single fluid motion and met the three attackers head-on.

To the Saltz clan head’s astonishment, the two masked operatives successfully held their ground.

The clan head and both elders were all peak Silver Rank combatants.

Although no coloured aura surrounded the Hounds, their pressure and methods identified them as Silver Rank fighters as well.

That was precisely why the Saltz leaders were so shocked.

Two Silver-ranked opponents should never have been able to withstand the combined assault of three peak Silver Rank combatants.

What the Saltz family didn’t realise was that it wasn’t merely two people resisting their attacks.

It was all seven.

The runes engraved upon the Hounds’ bodies emitted an almost imperceptible resonance, linking the energies of all seven operatives together and allowing them to reinforce one another.

The instant the two Hounds halted the trio’s advance and locked them in place, the remaining five struck.

Moving with flawless coordination, they swept around the Saltz leaders and closed the trap.

Their fangs—gleaming swords—pierced through the surviving Saltz clan higher-ups in nearly the same instant.

The three Saltz leaders collapsed to the floor, lifeless, as blood pooled beneath them.

Elsewhere, a lone operative wearing a fox mask approached the Heisen family estate.

The Heisen Clan was renowned throughout Castin Town for the exceptional toughness of its members and their formidable defensive abilities.

It was often said that once a member of the Heisen Clan chose to turtle up and fight defensively, defeating them became nearly impossible.

The lone ANBO operative wearing a fox mask calmly approached the estate through its front gate.

They intended to put that legend to the test.

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