Assassin’s Chronicle - Chapter 131

Maybe it was because the nature of civilization in this magic world involved many bloody fights, or because everyone was eager to prove how strong they were when a person’s fate was purely decided by their abilities. Almost every city seemed to have boxing facilities in addition to entertainment complexes. Anfey thought the boxing here was even more bloody than the underground boxing in his world.

The last match had just finished. Four human slaves were torn up into pieces. Blood and their organs were everywhere on the boxing stage. The audience had both men and women. They got excited, cheering for bloody scenes. If Black Eleven and Christian had not sat next to Anfey, Anfey would have thought he was in a party thrown by vampires.

Anfey never thought killing was enjoyable. It was only a way to protect himself. Anfey did not like the idea that the crowds loved to watch the bloody scenes, but he did understand these crazy people. The people who watched the boxing should be no less excited than the people who went to an arena to watch fights when it was newly built.

Walking in others’ shoes was Anfey’s strongpoint. In most cases, he could find a specific reason for any unusual behavior. He was never surprised by unusual behavior. His strongpoint allowed him to be able to think psychologically, including studying his enemies’ psychology.

“Do you have other places to go that are not so bloody?” Anfey asked, frowning. He was a ferocious assassin who killed many people, but he did it with reason and purpose. He had never been able to appreciate death in an entertaining way, so he did not like the crowds in the boxing arena. He liked neither the boxing stage nor the Angel Love Hotel.

“Do you want to go to the theater?” Black Eleven grinned.

“Is there any theater? What is it for?” Anfey was shocked for a second.

“It has bard shows,” Black Eleven said.

“Not bad.” Anfey smiled. “If I do not have a job, I know where I should go to help make ends meet.”

“Do you want to be a bard?” Black Eleven seemed to pick up on what Anfey implied and asked in surprise. Anyone who knew a little about Anfey should know he would never make it as a bard.

“I have the potential to be a bard because I have so many great stories.” Anfey pointed at his head with a smile. “Camille, Faust, Madama Butterfly, Carmen, Romeo and Juliet. I promise you every one of them will be a classic.”

“I think you have the potential to be bragger.” Black Eleven did not believe a word Anfey said.

The crowd suddenly cheered and went wild. Many men and women started to stand up. Some of them threw beer bottles on the floor, some flipped their tables, some even stood on the tables. There were even some waitresses who stopped serving and just jumped and screamed. Gradually, all kinds of sounds merged into one: “Katuru, Katuru, Katuru!”

“What is Katuru?” Anfey asked.

“It is a scary monster.” Black Eleven smiled bitterly. “You will know in a second.”

A gigantic magic altar light lit up on the boxing stage, which signaled the most important annual matches at Angel Love Hotel were about to start. There were only three matches like this each year. The curtain on both sides of the stage opened. The boxers in this match were about to come out.

From Anfey’s angle, he saw an 8-foot-tall wolfman with blond fur walk out from the left side of the stage. Compared with the wolfmen Anfey had seen before, this one was bigger and had different fur. Regular wolfmen were 6 feet tall with grey, brown or black fur. The appearance did not make a huge difference, but his ferocious personality did. When the wolfman walked on the stage, his eagerness to fight showed on his face. He even tried to attack the bodyguards who escorted him out. The wolfmen Anfey had seen before were a lot calmer. That wolfman did not even have to make any aggressive moves, he showed his ferociousness in his eyes. His pupils were contracted to the size of peas.

The three boxers who came out from the other side of the stage were female. An elf wearing a gold crown walked in between, and two human swordswomen walked on the sides. They all were scantily dressed. Only a few layers of gauze were wrapped around their breasts. Small and thin panties barely covered their private parts. They all looked desperate. Anfey could clearly tell that they were trembling as they walked. Obviously they had been forced to dress the way they were dressed. They had been forced to fight on the stage as well.

The bodyguards escorting them were quite different. Although the boxers all wore antimagic bracelets, a senior magister and two intermediate magisters followed the wolfman, while only two junior swordsmen followed the three girls.

Before they even started their fight, Anfey knew these three girls were no match for the wolfman. Anfey did not understand the point of this fight.

Boxers all walked onto the stage. A senior magister and his assistants started to set up the magic array. A moment later, a swordsman walked onto the stage to check the antimagic bracelet on the wolfman, and then he turned around to take the antimagic bracelets off the girls. He walked back to the wolfman to take the apron off him. The wolfman stood on the stage naked.

Audience screamed, “F^king kill them, F^king kill them!”

The elf had already loaded her bow and pointed it at the wolfman standing opposite her. The other two girls pulled their swords out and positioned themselves to fight. The wolfman wore the antimagic bracelet. The girls were ready to fight with their full force, but the girls did not seem to have the confidence to win and looked even more desperate.

“Is this the upper class you talked about? Is this the show you said regular people were not qualified to come in to watch?” Anfey said with an ironic tone.

“Anfey, let’s go back.” Christian was anxious to leave.

“In order to bring you here, I had to pull a lot of strings,” Black Eleven said, smiling bitterly. “These people looked crazy here, but when they walk out of this hall, they could be gentlemen. They could give money to the homeless and would shed tears for the unfortunate. Anfey, this is just a show. Every city has this kind of show. You cannot stop them and have no right to stop them. Many royal families just love to watch them,” Black Eleven said.

“Supply and demand. I understand it.” Anfey smiled and stood up. “I have no control over others, but I can control my eyes. There should be no one forcing me to stay, right?”

“I finally find someone who shares the same values as me.” A girl’s voice rose behind Anfey. “The air here is filled with ugliness and disgrace. Sir? Did we meet somewhere?”

Anfely slowly turned around. He smiled, “Madam, we did meet at White Mountain City. I am sorry that I offended you then. I did not mean to.”

“So you still remember me?” The corner of Honna’s mouth turned up.

“You are so beautiful. How could I forget you? I may forget where I am from, but I would not forget you,” Anfey said.

“You have such a sweet way of talking.” Honna looked at Black Eleven and Christian. “Don’t you want to introduce me your friends?”

“Hello, Madam. My name is Christian.” Christian stood up politely.

Black Eleven followed him, standing up too. “Hello, my name is Armin.”

“Nice meeting both of you.” Honna nodded. “I am Honna.”

The fight had just started on the stage. That elf and the other two swordswomen crowded into the corner of the stage, trying hard to defend themselves. The antimagic bracelet definitely constrained the moves that the wolfman could do. He had received two minor wounds on his body in the short fight. Those three girls were intact, but wolfman had the advantage of making offensive attacks.

“What is your name? Is it a secret?” Honna looked at Anfey with a smile.

“My name is Anfey. Honna? Your name is as beautiful as you.” Anfey smiled.

“Thank you.” Honna covered her little mouth with her hand. “I have something to do today. I am going to let you guys go, but I hope you guys can come by at my house sometime. Will you?”

“It would be my pleasure,” Anfey said.

“Oh, right, where are you staying now?” Honna asked.

“Tuna Hotel,” Anfey answered.

“Honna.” A man around fifty years old called from the distance.

“I am sorry. I have to go now.” Honna had a beautiful smile on her face. She moved back two steps.

“Sure,” Anfey said.

Black Eleven waited until Honna walked next to the old man. He frowned and asked, “Anfey, what does that woman want to do?”

“Who knows? It seems that she wanted to get to know us,” Anfey said.

“Not us. She wanted to know you.” Christian smiled. “Her eyes had been on you the whole time. Couldn’t you tell?”

“Idiot!” Black Eleven commented. He had not known Anfey for a long, but he knew Anfey was different than other young guys. He would not fall into the trap of a beautiful girl. Niya and Suzanna were famous for their beauty. Anfey did not make a big deal out of it. Even when he flirted with Suzanna, Black Eleven still could tell Anfey had a natural calmness in his eyes. If Anfey would not fall for Suzanna and Niya, neither would he fall for Honna. In addition, Anfey knew about Honna’s messed-up life. It would be a joke if anyone tried to connect with Anfey through beautiful girls.

The situation on the stage suddenly changed. The wolfman took the opportunity and dragged a swordswoman out of their defensive zone. The other two girls understood the importance of fighting together. If any of them died, the other two would end up the same way. Therefore, the other two girls went forward and tried to save that swordswomen from the wolfman.

Anfey looked at the stage and noticed that the wolfman was breathing normally, while the girls were out of breath. He shook his head. “Let’s go.”

As night fell, Arlanga entered his room with a girl on each arm and a smile on his face. He was not young anymore, but he was still a romantic man at heart. His younger days were tough, and he wasn’t fully established until his middle age. Thankfully, he had two good daughters who married two good men. With the help of his daughters and sons-in-law, he was able to successfully expand his trading company. The need for him to go on business trips dwindled. He often found himself bored out of his mind, and when he was bored he needed to find something to do: things he did not have a chance to do when he was younger.

The two women led him to the bedroom and helped him sit down on the bed. He was groping the women and smirking. “Why don’t you dears go grab my things?” he said.

The two women widened their eyes in fear. As he aged, Arlanga found that he had a hard time convincing his body to have sex drive. Sometimes he would spend hours on top of a woman and still could not enter her; or he could, but could not keep himself hard. Arlanga enjoyed seeing women squirming and crying under him, but it brought him only psychological pleasure, not physical pleasure.

As a leader of a trading company, Arlanga still had ways to find pleasure. He found some soft whips and ropes and crystal sticks that could help him. On the other hand, this was torture for the women. They were young and needed warmth, not coldness and pain, and much less so from men that could not keep themselves hard.

However, there was too big of a difference in their socioeconomic class, and none of the women dared offend Arlanga. If they did, who knows what would happen to them later. They would disappear, or be handed off to men who had not seen a woman in years. Or thrown into a pit with werewolves or bear men, and experience warmth with Death holding their hands. So all the women chose to obey the old man and satisfy his needs.

The two women glanced at each other and walked out the room, smiling. Arlanga remained, humming and waiting.

After a few minutes, Arlanga felt someone approaching him. “Give me my things, dearest,” he said, cackling, showing his missing teeth.

Hard objects showered Arlanga. He turned angrily, but froze when he saw it was not the women, but a figure in black standing over him. He wanted to call out, but suddenly felt something cold slipping against his neck. He shut his mouth.

His body was getting old. He felt the impact of the shock from the wetness between his legs. The coldness was uncomfortable, but he did not dare to say anything. He grabbed more quilts and piled them on his body to avoid embarrassment. His eyes darted around the room, trying to get himself out of this situation.

Even though he had sought nothing but pleasure in recent years and did not do anything dangerous, he had been a mercenary when he was younger, and did not lack experience. He knew that when faced with danger, screaming and crying would not do him much good. He had to act natural and at peace.

When he was still a mercenary, he and his companion encountered a Seven Tail Magic Fox. His companion, who was screaming and making a fuss, was ripped apart in seconds. Arlanga, on the other hand, had remained calm and was speaking to the fox the entire time. He did not know whether the fox understood him, but he knew that it did not harm hm. He learned that when in danger, he must remain calm in order to save himself.

Arlanga coughed quietly and pointed at his neck. “This is not the way to treat an old man, is it, young man?” he said, smiling. Except for his slightly shaking fingers, he was very calm. His smile was natural and voice was level.

The coldness around his neck disappeared. The figure hid its weapon, but did not speak. His black eyes were cold and calm.

The first step was a success. Arlanga gave himself a mental pat on the shoulder. “Tell me, young man. What are you doing here? Of course, if you don’t want to tell me, just pretend I did not ask the question.” Arlanga worded his question very carefully. He was afraid his words would anger the assailant.

“Someone paid me to kill you,” the figure croaked.

“You’re an assassin?” Arlanga asked. He was suddenly hopeful. This man was an assassin, but instead of killing him, he stopped to engage him in conversation. Clearly he wanted something. “You’ve made a mistake,” Arlanga said.

“Did I, now?”

“There are so many thing you could do in the world. With your skills, you could be anything you want. Why choose this path of evil?” Arlanga knew what kind of people were protecting him. This man could stand in front of him because he was very powerful. Powerful men had more choices than normal men, and being an assassin was not the best choice. Arlanga was hoping to find the man’s weakness.

“I enjoy it,” the figure replied.

“But this is a path of death! It will never end well for you. Trust me, young man. One day you will regret your decision.” Arlanga’s voice was hoarse and filled with wisdom, as if he was a mentor teaching his student about the way of the world. “Money cannot buy everything,, and violence is not the solution for everything.” The last part Arlanga had once heard from a minstrel. He was very impressed by his memory. These were words of pure wisdom. Surely it would make an impact.

“Money cannot buy everything, but it bought me. Violence is not the solution for everything, but it will bring you to your end.” The hoarse voice shattered Arlanga’s hope.

Arlanga’s forehead was dotted in sweat. He wished he could be a minstrel so he could convince the man with just his words. Now he realized how little knowledge he held. “Young man, you’re too stubborn. There are a lot of answers to one question. Say, how much did you employer pay you for my death?”

“A hundred gold coins.”

Arlanga cackled, “Young man! My life is not as cheap as that! Let me offer you two hundred, no, five…no, let me offer you a thousand gold coins to let me be. What do you say?” It seemed like Arlanga could never be a minstrel. A minstrel would not preach that money cannot buy everything, then turn around and try to bribe his opponent.

“Really?” The figure sounded hesitant, and he moved his eyes away from Arlanga.

“Think about it, young man. If you really kill me, you would make an enemy of Storm mercenary. My daughters and their husbands would try everything in their power to avenge me. I want you to let me be. I do not even want to know who your employer is. I know you have your rules and morals, and so do I. I will not make the situation difficult for you.” Arlanga was speaking from the bottom of his heart. He would seek out who employed this assassin, but first he needed to live. He was old, but he was not ready to die.

“You’re willing to pay a thousand gold coins?”

“Of course!” Arlanga raised his hands. “I swear on my life.”

“Deal.”

Arlanga was overjoyed. He struggled out of his bed and said, “follow me.”

He had a small vault in his bedroom filled with money. He was the head of his trading company, but his daughters and their husbands were already taking over the finances, since Arlanga did not know how to limit his spending. He had built the vault to prepare for the unexpected.

As he stood in front of the vault, he was worried. He had way more than a thousand gold coins in the vault. He was afraid that the assassin would take everything in there. However, he did not have any other choice. If he did not give the man money, he would die.

There were only about a hundred gold coins in the vault. For someone like him, he did not need to hide his gold in a vault like that. There were two boxes made with black antimagic crystals, one he had had for a long time, the other he had recently acquired. Behind the boxes were some magic scrolls, a dagger, and some small bottles holding the best alchemy potions.

As Arlanga stood there trying to figure out how to make up for the missing gold, he was pushed aside by the figure. The man took everything from the vault and placed it into his dimensional ring.

Arlanga watched as his treasures disappeared into the ring. He felt terrible losing these treasures, but he had to smile. “I’m old now, these mean nothing to me. Take it.

“I should not have given you a chance to talk. I should have just killed you,” the figure said slowly.

“Why?”

“I didn’t know you would have an intermediate magister here. He saw me when I was on my way in, but he didn’t do anything about it,” the figure said, smiling. “I thought that was interesting.”

Arlanga cursed Ulemon quietly. How dare he abandon his post? He was really old now, old enough to remain completely ignorant of the hidden meaning in the figure’s words.

“I don’t want to serve as other’s executioner, so you better be careful,” the figure said. He reached over and hit Arlanga on his neck. Arlanga fell to the ground quietly.

After a few hours, Arlanga’s angry voice could be heard from the courtyard. “I curse your entire family…” He had reverted to his mercenary days, but could not finish his sentence.

“Anfey, I took an assignment at mercenary union,” Suzanna said as she pushed the door open.

Anfey and Christian looked at each other and asked in surprise, “What assignment?” With any common sense, Anfey should be the one making decisions on what kind of assignments they would take. Suzanna could give suggestions, but not make decisions for Anfey. In this case, the assignment must be special or she had some special reasons.

“Someone is buying a lot of seven-winged magic flies. He gave a really good price. I took an assignment from him. We need to kill fifty seven-winged magic flies.”

Anfey was shocked for a second, since this assignment was nothing special. He could not think of any reason Suzanna had to do it.

Suzanna saw Anfey and Christian give her a weird look. She hesitated a little before she said, “Anfey, we cannot keep doing things like this. Have you seen what everybody is doing every day? Besides practicing magic, they have being fooling around with those girls, or going out in groups. The morale in our legion will be gone if they keep doing it.”

Anfey went quiet. What Suzanna said was true. Of course, not everyone lost focus and totally relaxed. Riska, Blavi and a few others still worked very hard. Only some people, who lacked willpower, abandoned their lives to pleasure.

“Anfey, don’t blame me for making a decision without you. I have mentioned a couple of times to you. You were busy day and night. You were never in the hotel to see what is happening to our legion. It is getting serious. You can ask Christian about it if you do not believe me,” Suzanna said in low pitch.

“Suzanna is not exaggerating,” Christian said, smiling bitterly. “But it is a personal preference. We are not in a position to tell them what to do.”

“In fact, it is all good. At least it allows us to know who in our legion would be able to further their magic skills. In other words, I could tell who wishes to go further with their magic skills,” Anfey said slowly.

Dedication is crucial for being successful. When Anfey had just come to this world, besides sleeping, he had dedicated the rest of his time in physical fitness training and martial arts basic training. After he followed Saul to the Saint City, he spent most of his time learning magic and reading magic books. When they had to flee, Anfey forced himself to only sleep three hours a day. In terms of dedication and hard-work, no one was comparable to Anfey.

Christian, Blavi and several others worked very hard as well, but they would reach different levels of success. There was a story about nine sons of a dragon. Each of the nine had different personalities and reached different levels of success. They all learned magic from Saul. Each one of them had different desires. Some were willing to work hard, and were able to bear the loneliness, while some were strict with themselves. Therefore, some of them became senior mages at 60 or 70 years old, and some became archmages around 50 years old. Talent contributed to their success, but it was not decisive.

“I am glad you are not blaming me for taking the assignment.” Suzanna heaved a sigh of relief.

“Actually even if you did not take the assignment, we need leave White Mountain City for a short time.” Anfey smiled. “I will have Christian tell you about it.”

“Huh?” Christian did not expect it.

“Suzanna, I have visited Band of Brother mercenary group. I wanted to send the girls there, but they did not take them. They said it is not a good time, and they would not be able to take good care of those girls,” Anfey said.

“Band of Brother mercenary group has a few thousand mercenaries. How come they couldn’t take care of twenty girls?” Suzanna asked a rhetorical question.

“Maybe because those female slaves are from Maho Empire, Band of Brother mercenary group did not want to take a side yet at this sensitive time.” Anfey smiled. “Or they may have different ideas on this issue inside their mercenary group. Entos is the student of our professor. He went back to help the professor. It was obvious he was on the side of Maho Empire. However, maybe someone took advantage of Entos not being in the legion to give a totally opposite suggestion that Band of Brother mercenary group needed to cut off any connection with Maho Empire.”

“Stupid,” Suzanna said with anger.

“But they allowed us to rent a town from them.” Christian smiled. “Suzanna, Anfey and I were just discussing what time we should move to that town.”

“What is the name of that town? How much is the rent?” Suzanna asked.

“It’s called Moramatch. We signed a three-year lease with them. It’s one hundred gold coins a year. We have already paid one-year’s rent.” Christian said.

“Most towns in the Country of Mercenaries are ghost towns. They just provide stops for merchant caravans and mercenaries. There is a small population in each of those towns. How much tax can we collect there?” Suzanna smiled bitterly. “We definitely will lose money on this deal.”

“It’s ok. I never expected to make money from it anyway,” Anfey said.

Suzanna could not help rolling her eyes at Anfey. She knew Anfey had money, but they were the savings of Archmage Saul. Anfey seemed fine to squander Saul’s family fortune.

Someone knocked on the door, and Black Eleven walked into the room with big strides.

“Any good news?” Anfey gave a half smile.

“What?” Black Eleven was shocked for a second. He rubbed his face. “How did you know? I usually have a poker face and do not show my feelings.”

“You did not show it on your face. You walked faster than usual. Your steps seemed lighter as well. Therefore, I guessed you had something urgent and which also made you feel happy.”

“Every time before I come to see you, I tell myself to be cautious and act normal. However, you always can find a way to make me lose my confidence. I wonder if we were enemies before.” Black Eleven shook his head helplessly. “Did you hear anything?”

“About what?” Christian asked in surprise.

“A few things. Let me start from the very beginning.” Black Eleven took a seat and cleared his throat a little bit. “Arlanga was attacked.”

“Don’t tell me this little thing even caught your attention,” Anfey said.

“I haven’t finished yet. Anfey, it’s rude to interrupt,” Black Eleven complained. He did not have good impressions of Anfey and his legion at the beginning. He thought they were merely kids who had to flee. After being together with them for some time, he was able to appreciate these “little kids” more. What surprised him the most was Anfey’s intelligence. He received orders from the king to cooperate with Anfey. In fact, he was asked to assist Anfey. Subconsciously, he did not think he was lower than Anfey in terms of their positions. He had been watching the legion as a leader. He did not talk to Anfey like Anfey was his supervisor. He talked like they were fellows without his callous face.

“Proceed,” Anfey said.

“Do you guys know who killed him?” Black Eleven asked.

“It’s a woman.” Black Eleven glanced at Suzanna. “Suzanna, you’d better not go out anytime soon. Right now, patrols are searching for that mysterious woman everywhere. You are a powerful senior swordswoman and a stranger to them. They would easily suspect you.”

“Huh?” Anfey was shocked for a moment before he started to talk. “How did you know it’s a woman?”

“Shinon told me.” Black Eleven smiled. “Do you know Shinon? He was blackmailed by Arlanga before. He said when he tried to commit suicide one day, a woman with a cosmetic fragrance and girly voice save him. That woman had a mask over her face. She asked for a bronze coin from Shinon to agree to work for him. The second day, Arlanga was attacked. Hahaha…that woman had a famous nick name, Judge.”

“I wonder, what did you do before you became a professional investigator.” Anfey shook his head.

“What do you mean?” Black Eleven asked.

“Allow me to use an example to explain to you. Imagine if someone hurt you and you wanted to take revenge on him, and you were never able to do it for some reason. Finally one day you met someone who could, and that person volunteered to help you. Would you tell others about his looks and identity? Do you want to see him on the wanted list of mercenary union and patrol?”

“Me…No, of course not.” Black Eleven smiled bitterly.

“Neither would Shinon. I think if Shinon said she had a girly voice, then the real killer should have a coarse voice. If Shinon said it’s a woman, I think it must be a guy.” Anfey smirked. “Shinon tried to cover for him.”

Black Eleven blushed a little bit. He felt he should not be criticized by Anfey, since after receiving the news that Arlango was killed, he also got a few more important messages. He had to rush to the hotel, so he had no time to give the information any thought, especially on those nobodies. With his experience, it was not difficult to figure something fishy was going on.

“I think what Anfey said makes sense.” Suzanna smiled. “What happened to Shinon?”

“He was taken away by patrol, but he changed his story. He said he dreamed of a woman who killed Arlanga but refused to admit hiring her to kill Arlanga. He said it was just a dream. The officer did not want to give Shinon a hard time. They did not have any evidence anyway. The officer could not make a judgement based on his dream. I heard Shinon was released after being interrogated for half a day. It is not a big deal that Arlanga was attacked, but Storm mercenary group finally made a move. They claimed that Arlanga was not killed out of revenge. They said they had been in charge of the security of Arlanga’s house and Cloud Chamber of Commerce. I heard the security was so high that even a senior swordsman was not able to hurt Arlanga. Therefore, they think Arlanga was killed with some scheme by other mercenary groups. They should have already sent mercenaries to White Mountain City,” Black Eleven said slowly.

“I meant to ask you yesterday. What kind of business does Cloud Chamber of Commerce do?” Anfey asked.

“Arms and magic crystals. Their inventory of magic crystals at Cloud Chamber of Commerce was not the largest, but they have the best sale for arms in the White Mountain City.”

“I see. For certain items, it’s better to have the control.” Anfey’s comment was confusing to everyone.

Black Eleven was silent for a few moments, then said, “It wasn’t only the Storm mercenary. Band of Brothers mercenary is also sending out their people. What with Anthony still in the game…Anfey, what do you think is going to happen?”

“Chaos,” Anfey said, shaking his head.

“I just want to get your input on the matter,” Black Eleven said. “I know the situation is too complicated.”

“Is there a casino here? Have you been to it?” Anfey asked.

“Of course, why?”

“People like Anthony and Mourtta are the big players. They are the ones at the table. We are the little people standing behind them, watching.” Anfey smiled. “But do not underestimate us. When we dislike the person with the advantage, we hit them with a plastic bottle.”

“Plastic bottle?” Suzanna asked curiously.

“It’s a kind of crystal bottle.”

“You’re not hitting them,” Black Eleven said. “You’re stabbing them in the back. By the way, I have another news.”

“What is it?”

Black Eleven glanced at Suzanna and Christian and looked hesitant.

“We’ll be outside,” Suzanna said softly.

“No need for that.” Anfey shook his head. “Speak freely. I trust them more than anyone else.”

Black Eleven shook his head and said, “According to my sources, Shansa only sent out a squadron of their aerial unit because they knew what had recently happened in Country of Mercenaries. This squad is not involved in the siege of Blackania City. They are in the Transverse Mountains and are responsible for the protection of the supply lines.”

“Anfey, you talked to me about griffins the other day because…” Suzanna said with wide eyes.

“How many times have you talked about this?” Anfey asked, shaking his head. “You keep talking about this. What do you want me to do? To attack the griffins with my people?”

“Listen, Anfey. It is vital that we defeat these griffins protecting the supply lines. If we succeed, it will be a huge blow to their army and to their king’s confidence. We can give Blackania City’s army a chance.”

“You speak of success, but what if we lose?” Suzanna asked coldly. She was not from the Maho Empire and did not feel obliged to help it. She cooperated with Anfey in Blackwater City because she respected him as a friend. However, attacking the griffins was practically suicide. They might as well slay a dragon and die as heroes.

“My people will cooperate with you,” Black Eleven said.

“How many?”

“If necessary, all of them.”

Anfey frowned and thought about his words for a few moments. He then looked up and said, “Suzanna, fetch me Hagan.”

“Anfey!” Suzanna said, frowning. She knew he was considering it, and was worried.

“Just go. Don’t worry. I know what I am doing.”

Suzanna sighed and left the room with Christian.

Seeing that the door was closed, Black Eleven turned back to Anfey and said, “His Majesty said he has two wishes. One is to destroy the Dark Moon Magic Legion, and other is to kill the annoying flies. He is referring to the Griffins Aerial Unit. In order to fight against the griffins, he had been gathering money to purchase griffins. However the only place with griffins is the Shansa Empire, and they control it very carefully. Over the years we’ve only gathered a dozen griffins. They can be used in espionage activities, but as not fighting forces.”

“Of course. Even if the emperor is an idiot, he must have smart men serving him. They should know what to do.”

“If we can defeat the squad and capture some griffins, His Majesty would be very happy.”

“Frankly, I don’t like the way you approach things,” Anfey said. “Do you want me to just go and convince those soldiers to surrender? Fifty griffins and their knights. His Majesty will be very happy, don’t you think?”

“I’m saying hypothetically,” Black Eleven said quietly.

“Don’t expect too much, or else there’s a higher chance of failure. We cannot handle that,” Anfey said. “If you want to destroy that team, I may have a way. If you want to capture the griffins, you’re on your own.”

“You really have a way?” Black Eleven’s eyes lit up.

“Never know if you don’t try it.”

Suzanna and Christian pushed open the door. Hagan was following them.

“Stop rushing me. I am doing the best I can,” Hagan held up his hands and admitted as soon as he was in the room.

“How many have you made?”

“A dozen.”

“How is it? Does it work?”

“What am I suppose to do? Use myself as a lab rat?”

“I’ll think of a way. Can you make enough in three days?”

“I can try.”

“What are you talking about?” Suzanna asked, confused.

“It’s a secret. You find out soon,” Anfey said, grinning.

“You’re not thinking about using potions against griffins, are you?” Suzanna asked, her tone grave. “It’s impossible. I’ve told you, griffins are practically immune to magic. Not only the major elements, even dark and spirit magic can hardly touch them. Not even poison magic can hurt them.”

“Poison isn’t that easy to defend, is it?” Anfey said softly. “I heard that Gold Line Snakes are very capable of killing griffins.”

“Do you know how many snakes it takes to kill a single griffin? You need at least two hundred snakes for the entire squadron. Where are you going to find all those snakes?” Suzanna shook her head. “How you are going to poison them, anyway? Can you command the snakes? The griffins are very smart creatures. They would take off as soon as they detect danger. What are you going to do then? The snakes cannot fly.”

“Suzanna’s right. You’re not making Hagan brew poison, are you?” Black Eleven asked. He was the one that wanted the griffins team destroyed, but he kept his wits about him. He talked to Anfey about it multiple times because he wanted to hear a complete plan from him.

“No.”

“Then what is it?”

“You’ll find out.”

Suzanna and Christian glanced at each other and shook their heads. Black Eleven frowned. He had just told Anfey about the aerial squad, but Anfey already had Hagan preparing the potion. It meant that even though Anfey had not agreed to attack, he was already preparing for it. This made Black Eleven very happy.

“From what we already know, this city is about to become really chaotic,” Anfey said. “We should change our plan and leave as soon as possible.”

“We’re leaving?” Black Eleven asked.

“Yes. Help us prepare a bit,” Anfey said. He glanced at Black Eleven, “Are you coming with us?”

“Of course,” Black Eleven said. “Where are we going?”

“Christian and the Band of Brothers mercenary signed a deal. We’re going to a town called Moramatch.”

“Moramatch?” Black Eleven repeated. He shook his head and said, “You fell right into their trap, Christian.”

“What, is the town disturbed?”

“No just disturbed. Very disturbed.”

“Tell me more,” Anfey said.

“It’s hard to explain. I’ll tell you more on the way,” Black Eleven said as he stood up.

“Alright.” Anfey thought about the situation for a few moments. “Everyone think about what you need. If this city fall into chaos, we will have to rely only on ourselves for supplies.”

“Leave that to me,” Black Eleven said. “I’ll make sure everything’s taken care of.”

Seeing that Black Eleven left the room, Suzanna turned to Anfey and said slowly, “Are we really doing it? Attacking the griffins squad? You don’t want to think about it?”

“I promised I will keep everyone away from danger,” Anfey said. “Making the plan doesn’t necessarily mean executing it. We can try. If anything goes wrong, we will abort the mission.”

“Do as you wish,” Suzanna shook her head and sighed.

“You don’t trust me?”

“Nonsense,” Suzanna snapped. “If I didn’t trust you, I would not stay here.”

“Alright,” Anfey said, smiling. “Follow the party. Can’t be wrong.”

“The party?” Suzanna asked, frowning.

At dawn, as soon as the patrol had opened the gate of White Mountain City, Anfey and his legion walked out in mighty formation. It was not an exaggeration to call it a mighty formation. Black Eleven was pretty influential, because he was able to get over thirty wagons. Alibaba mercenaries were in the front of the wagon route, girls in the middle, while a variety of items were carried in the back. Black Eleven said he would be in charge of getting everything ready for this trip. He did not just say it, he in fact brought everything. In addition to necessities like rice, flour, tables and other furniture, cabins, cloth and other materials, and alcohol, he even brought nails, sewing thread, rope and needles. He brought everything imageable. Black Eleven even had cosmetics for the girls. Anfey wondered if he carried the whole grocery store with him.

There were many attendants for the caravan. Anfey had mentioned to Black Eleven that they needed to figure out how to attack the Griffin Aerial Unit in the shutter ridge. Therefore, Black Eleven brought all the people he could think of and asked them to disguise themselves as the bodyguards of the merchant caravan. They walked on both sides of the caravan to protect them.

They had been travelling south the whole time. They had not run into any trouble yet. They did meet two small bandit groups. When those bandits saw their caravan from a distance stretched so far like a snake, they had backed off. Black Eleven brought over sixty people with him, and all of them were good. He also hired more than a hundred bodyguards. Those two bandit groups were not able to counter the strength of a caravan with such a large number people. Even the larger bandit group with about hundred bandits in it had to think twice before taking any action.

As it was getting dark, the caravan stopped and started to set up their camp. There were so many people working on it that Anfey did not have to do a thing on his own. He leaned back on a rock, zoning out looking at the sky. Suzanna walked to him from the other end of the camp. She took a seat opposite of Anfey. She waited for a while and snorted when she saw that Anfey kept looking at the sky.

“What are you snorting for?” People could not say whatever was on their minds. If Anfey said the same thing when Suzanna had just joined the legion, they might have already started to fight. Of course, Suzanna did not have the same attitude towards Anfey any more. Everybody had already become familiar with each other and been through difficult times together. They were more like brothers and sisters. No one would make a big deal out of jokes.

“I admire you.” Suzanna said.

“What do you mean?” Anfey asked.

“Do you know how long I have known Hagan?” Suzanna asked.

“Less than thirty years?” Anfey joked.

“You…” Suzanna did not know whether she should be angry or laugh at his answer. Everyone knew Suzanna was not even twenty years old yet. How could she know someone around thirty years? Suzanna did not want to fight with Anfey. She said, “I have known him for three years. You just met him two months ago, but it seems that you are more important to him than me.”

“Why are you saying that?” Anfey asked.

“I was asking him what he was making. He just would not tell me,” Suzanna said.

“He just followed the directive. It is nothing to do with whom he is closer to.” Anfey smiled. “It looks like Hagan is more mature than I thought.”

“Are you proud of it?” Suzanna snorted again. Suzanna typically changed her mind really fast. Since Suzanna met Anfey, her attitude towards Anfey had changed a lot. She was alert from the beginning, then felt relaxed in front of Anfey, then trusted him, now she could even go into a fit of rage in front of him.

“No, no. You do not have to ask him. You can just ask me.” Anfey smiled.

“I hate people who pretend to be mysterious in front me.” Suzanna’s mouth curled down. She had asked Anfey before, but he had always told her that she would understand later. She really hated how Anfey treated her.

“But I just like to act mysterious in front of people.” Anfey heaved a sigh. “What a paradox!”

Suzanna felt helpless dealing with someone like Anfey. She should have snorted and left, but she did not. She still sat across from Anfey.

“Feller, can you get me some wine?” Anfey shouted at Feller.

“Sure,” Feller answered him from distance. A moment later, Feller walked over with a bottle of wine and two wine glasses. What good service.

Black Eleven was talking with Hagan. One looked sincere, while the other kept shaking his head. After a while, Black Eleven had to stand up. He slowly walked towards Anfey. It was obvious that Suzanna was the first one lost in the conversation; and, well, Black Eleven was the second one.

As Black Eleven passed by Christian, he drew back. He saw Blavi, Riska and Zubin talking about something together, but they kept looking at Anfey. Each of them had a grin on his face. Black Eleven was shocked for a second and realized something. He did not notice it until he saw Christian and others’ grins. There was definitely something between Anfey and Suzanna when he looked at them again. Alibaba mercenaries had been trying to leave them alone. They seemed to agree not to bother them, no matter whether Anfey was looking for Suzanna or Suzanna was looking for Anfey.

It is easy to tell from Niya’s face because she kept grinning at Anfey and Suzanna in a way that seemed like she had been given hundreds and thousands of gold coins. She held Shally’s hand with one hand and the little unicorn with the other hand. If she had let Shally and the little unicorn go, they would have gone to bother Anfey and Suzanna without any doubt. She would have no show to watch if that happened.

Anfey lifted up the glass and poured the wine into it. He took out something Hagan made and carefully dropped one drop in the wine. He passed the glass to Suzanna.

Suzanna looked at Anfey in curiosity, but did not say anything. She took over the glass and raised her head. It looked like she was going to drink to the bottom.

“Hey, hey, hey…” Suzanna did not care, but Anfey could not sit there still. He grabbed Suzanna’s arm and took the glass away from her.

“What are you doing?” Suzanna frowned.

“Did you really want to finish it?” Anfey smiled bitterly. No one would eat anything without knowing what it is. It was common sense. Anfey thought Suzanna first would ask what it was so he could bring the topic up. Who would know Suzanna would chug it without even asking.

“Didn’t you ask me to have it?” Suzanna felt Anfey was weird.

“Are you going to drink just because I asked you to?” Anfey sighed. “You fool. Would you die if I ask you to?”

Suzanna went quiet for a second. It looked like she actually gave serious thought to his question. She smiled, but without giving him the answer.

Anfey took a close look at the wine in the glass. Luckily he had taken the glass away from her quickly. She only had taken a sip out of it. He heaved a sigh of relief.

“We haven’t practiced sword skills for a long time. Anfey, do you want to fight with me?” Suzanna smiled.

“You want to beat my ass, right?” Anfey leered at Suzanna.

Suzanna burst into laughter. “We are just practicing sword skills. Don’t tell me you do not dare?”

“I do not dare,” Anfey answered firmly.

“You are not a man,” Suzanna said.

“Crazy! So I am a man if I allow you beat me?” Anfey said.

“Boring.” Suzanna shook her head. If any man had refused to fight with her in the past, Suzanna would look down upon him. She thought a real man could move forward even knowing it was going to be hard, and bravely face the failure. She did not disdain Anfey even when she saw Anfey shamelessly refuse to fight with her or tried really hard but still lost the match when they practiced sword skills together. After having been through so much together, Suzanna had to admit sometimes the power someone possessed was not decisive. The two senior swordsmen in Glory mercenary group were among the best on Pan Continent. They were tricked and killed by Anfey. If it had been her, she would not have thought she could escape it either.

“Boring? You have many ways to be entertained. You do not have to find me every time you are bored.” Anfey smiled.

“Who always finds you?” Suzanna blushed a little. Women were usually sensitive. They could easily make things more complicated than they were. ” I am going to look for Niya. I am not going to stay bored here with you.”

Anfey watched Suzanna running away with a smile. When he looked down, the smile had already gone. He looked a little anxious and sort of touched. He raised the glass and drank the whole glass of special wine. He heaved a slight sigh. “Suzanna, do you trust me to the point that you could do anything I ask you to do?”

Anfey’s heart was heavy. He shook his head and forced himself to stop thinking about it. He looked up at the sky again.

Suzanna went to find Niya. Shally and the little unicorn finally had their freedom back. They ran behind each other to Anfey. Shally was a little slow, while the little unicorn already rushed to Anfey with hurricane speed. He whined, with his head pushed onto Anfey’s leg. The little guy noticed the wine glass in Anfey’s hand. He moved his nose closer to the glass to sniff, and stuck his tongue into the glass to taste it.

Frankly, Anfey did not love animals that much. Neither could he be called “nurturing”. He grinned and held a glass of wine to the little unicorn.

The little unicorn stirred the wine with its tongue and then bit the glass to pour the wine into his mouth. The little unicorn put the glass down on the ground with happy barks. If it was other alcohol, the little unicorn might not have liked it. Feller brought wine. This little guy got used to drink fruit juice, and the wine was similar in smell and taste, so he was very tempted to have it.

“Haha, you really can drink.” Anfey smiled and poured another glass.

The little unicorn was still an infant, but it seemed that the little guy really liked the wine. Every time Anfey poured a glass of wine, he could finish it without any trouble. The little unicorn made some happy sounds.

“Anfey.” Shally came up to Anfey. Shally had been a happy kid, but she seemed different today. She looked at Anfey with worry and anxiety.

“Shally, what is it?” Anfey asked, smiling.

“Anfey, I want to as you something. Promise me you won’t get mad?” Shally bit her lip and ask timidly.

The little unicorn yelped. Anfey still hadn’t given it alcohol, and it was getting impatient.

“Why would I get angry at you?” Anfey replied gently. He poured the unicorn some wine, wondering how a unicorn would act when it was drunk.

“Will you love and cherish and take care of my sister forever?”

“What?” Anfey looked at Shally and could not process what she just said. “Why would you ask something like that?” Since he was distracted, the wine overflowed the cup.

The unicorn jumped up and snatched the bottle from his hands. However, Anfey was focused on Shally and did not bother to stop the unicorn. He soon turned up the bottle and allowed the unicorn to take gulps from it.

“Niya said that you’re in love with my sister. That you will marry her.” Shally stared at Anfey with her bright, clear eyes. “Anfey, will take care of her forever?”

Anfey smiled, unsure of how to answer the question. If it was another man answering, it might not have been so difficult. He could think about the question from different aspects, like their futures and lives and hopes, and answer properly without hurting anyone’s feelings. However, Shally was too young and could not understand anything too deep. All she needed from him was a simply yes or no.

No? He couldn’t just say that. That would hurt Suzanna’s feelings. Suzanna was one of the best members of his team, and was a great help to him. Without Suzanna, the entire team’s strength would decrease. Back in Blackwater City, the situation would have been a lot more difficult if Suzanna was not there. Women tend to be proud, and if he made her feel as if he had hurt her dignity, he might lose a great assistant.

Yes? This answer may be a little…Anfey’s mind flashed back to a few moments ago. He remembered seeing Suzanna grinning and accepting the goblet and draining the wine. He felt his heart skipping a beat, and before he could think he said, “Of course.”

“Really?” Shally widened her eyes in joy. “Anfey, do you swear on it?”

“Of course I do,” Anfey said. He held out his hand and high-fived Shally three times.

“Yes!” Shally jumped up and cheered. She jumped up and ran over to Suzanna, screaming, “Sister! Anfey said he would take care of you and love you for the rest of his life!”

Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and looked over at Anfey. Everyone’s expression was a blend of confusion and surprise. Romance wasn’t a surprise, it was the people involved that surprised everyone. Anfey was a logical person who did not normally care for other’s feelings. It was hard for everyone to understand why a person like that would do something remotely romantic.

Anfey stared at Shally, too stunned to say anything. He was unsure of what he should do. He thought he was just making Shally feel better, but he never imagined Shally would do something like this. He had been through a lot of strange things in his life, but none of them involved women and love. This did not involve love, either, but how would he explain that to the others? Should he explain himself?

Suzanna blushed. “What are you talking about?” she asked.

“Really!” Shally was grinning widely. “He promised me. He would he would take care of you and cherish you.”

Suzanna glanced at Anfey, and Anfey glanced at her. Their eyes touched, and then darted away. Suzanna had never been in a relationship before, and it wasn’t a surprise for her to do something like that. Anfey, however, had experience with women. This made him look like an inexperienced little boy. Clearly he was having difficulty processing this situation.

“Sister…” Shally clearly did not realize how much of an impact she had just made, and wanted to say something more.

Suzanna, however, felt that she could not stay in the room anymore. She turned and dashed away, disappearing into her carriage.

“What happened to her?” Shally stared after Suzanna’s figure, confused. She thought her sister would be happy after hearing about Anfey’s vow.

“Good job, Shally.” Niya walked over and patted Shally on her shoulder.

“But…”

“Don’t worry. She’s just shy,” Niya said, smirking.

Anfey picked up a broken twig and began drawing on the ground. It looked as if he was trying to figure something out, but in fact he did not know what he was doing and was trying to avoid everyone’s eyes.

“Christian, come here,” Anfey looked up and called out.

Christian moved over, smiling. He sat down next to Anfey and said, “Didn’t know you were this brave.”

“You…” Anfey shook his head. “Don’t talk about it. It’s not what you think.”

“You’re not saying Shally’s lying, are you?” Christian asked, enjoying Anfey’s unusual awkwardness.

“There’s some serious business we need to attend to. Don’t distract me.”

“Alright,” Christian said, controlling his expression. “What do you want to talk about?” He was grinning widely and was even more annoying to watch than before.

Anfey shook his head and said, “Christian, use Eye of the Sky and take a look at the camp.”

Christian nodded. He whispered a spell and summoned Eye of the Sky.

Anfey, however, did not look at the Eye. He glanced at the sky and closed his eyes, as if he was trying to feel something.

“Close it,” he said. Christian dropped his hand and all magical surges disappeared.

After a few moments, Anfey opened his eyes slowly and said, “Do that again.”

Christian hesitated and looked at Anfey.

“Don’t worry, just do as I say.”

“Alright.” Christian nodded and released the magic again.

After five times, Christian felt a seed of doubt. Could Anfey be tricking him for what he just said?

“Alright.” Anfey nodded. “Christian, let’s go somewhere else and do that again later.”

“What are you trying to do?”

“I’m studying the Eye,” Anfey said slowly. “Technically speaking, when the Eye of the Sky is watching a certain area, people in that area could feel its magic surges.”

“You can feel it?” Christian asked, surprised.

“Not exactly.” Anfey paused before continuing. “It’s just a feeling. It’s strange. There is a very faint surge, but when I try to feel it, it’s gone.”

“Are you being serious?” Christian asked nervously.

“I don’t have a reason to lie, do I?”

“Anfey, do you know why a strong army tends to need a powerful man to lead it?”

“Because a powerful general can make his men believe in his invincibility. When two armies clash and one side has a powerful general, its soldiers are often fiercer.”

“That is part of the reason, but not all of it,” Christian said slowly. “Take Ellisen Empire’s Dark Moon Magic Legion as an example. Its general is the famous Newyoheim. He is magically superior to most people. However, he is only mediocre when it comes to strategizing. He knows very well, and that is why he hands most of his commanding power off to his deputy general Serigue, who is an excellent general. This is why their legion can win time after time.”

“Why is that?”

“What is the most important thing before a battle breaks out? Espionage and counterintelligence.” It was a question anyone who had read a book or two could answer.

Christian, however, only looked at him.

“Am I wrong?” Anfey asked.

“No, you’re right.” Christian nodded. “Eye of the Sky is a very simple magic. Almost every senior mage can use it. It’s magical surge is very weak, so normal people cannot detect it. The most powerful men, however, can. People like Newyoheim cannot only detect it, he can find where the mage who is using the magic is located.”

“I see what you’re talking about,” Anfey nodded and replied. “I’m not a powerful person, but I can feel something. Let’s go somewhere else and experiment later.”

“This i very good news,” Christian said with a smile. “Anfey has the potential to be powerful. You may be the first person to learn both magic and Wu. You may be one of the most powerful men ever alive.”

“I’m not that ambitious,” Anfey said with a grin. “All I want to do is to survive.”

Before Christian could say anything, Niya’s scream sliced the air. “Anfey, what did you do?!”

Anfey turned around to look. He saw the little unicorn walked around with an empty bottle in his mouth. The little unicorn walked sideways, diagonally, backwards, hopping and many other ways, but just not forward. This little guy did have very strong kinetic skills. He wobbled all around, but did not fall.

Niya had already rushed over and held the little guy in her arms. She felt so bad for the little unicorn. She reached out her hand to take the empty bottle away from the little unicorn. She was a senior swordswoman, but she could not even pull the empty bottle out of the unicorn’s mouth after two tries. The little unicorn bit the empty bottle so hard that Anfey could even hear some cracking sounds.

Niya suddenly turned around, screaming again in anger and sadness. “Look at you.” Niya’s temper had gotten a lot better now. Six months ago if someone had fooled around with her pet, she would have pulled out her sword at that person without thinking whether she could beat the person or not.

“Anfey did not do it on purpose. The little unicorn wanted the wine himself,” Christian tried to mediate between them. He smiled.

The little unicorn burped loudly from drinking too much. It seemed that the unicorn tried to prove Christian was right. Everybody burst into laughter. What a scene! Many people could not see a real unicorn their whole lives, but they had raised one as a pet and could watch the little unicorn burping from drinking. They definitely could brag about it.

The little unicorn looked around with eyes half closed. Drunk people easily made fools of themselves, and so did the little unicorn. The little guy was looking for Anfey, but it spun around a couple of times in a weird pace, failing to locate Anfey. Anfey actually was only 70 feet away from the little unicorn.

“You deserve it.” Niya gave the little unicorn a love tap on its butt. Her anger came and went fast. She had already switched her attention quickly from being angry at it to how to take care of this drunk little guy.

Anfey slowly stood up. “Christian, I will come to see you later.”

“Sure,” Christian said.

If someone had closely watched Anfey, he would have notice something weird. Compared with the little drunk unicorn, Anfey walked more steadily, but without any directional sense. He first walked towards his wagon, then changed direction on the way. It looked like he was trying to see Feller. He changed direction again before he walked along. This time it looked like he wanted to see Hagan. Half way there, he turned around and walked toward Hui Wei. If there were a spy watching him, he would be so confused by the way he walked. In fact, Anfey himself did not have a clear destination in mind either. He just walked by following his heart. When he finally stopped, he realized he was standing in front of Suzanna’s wagon.

They might have to fight together soon, so Anfey felt they needed to talk about the misunderstanding between them. He did not want to see them not being able to team up well because of any misunderstanding.

Anfey found a good excuse to see Suzanna. He lifted the curtain and ducked into the wagon.

Suzanna was surprised to see Anfey, and then she blushed again. It was interesting to see Suzanna blushing again when her previous blush had not disappeared yet.

“Hey, here you are,” Suzanna said in low pitch.

“Yeah,” Anfey said.

“Would you like some tea?” Suzanna asked.

“No, thanks,” Anfey said.

“I heard Niya yelling. What happened?” Suzanna found a topic they could talk about.

“The little unicorn drank too much. She thinks it is my fault,” Anfey said.

“You must have given the unicorn the drinks. Am I right?” Suzanna said.

“I only wanted that little guy to taste it, but it finished the whole bottle before I even noticed,” Anfey said.

“I cannot believe you are so naughty.” Suzanna gave Anfey a smile.

“You are not being fair to me.” Anfey smiled bitterly. “We have known each other for a long time. Don’t you understand me? I take things seriously.”

“Don’t be mad at Niya. She’s got a temper. She will be fine,” Suzanna said.

“I know. I was never mad at her,” Anfey said.

Their conversation was stuck. Both of them seemed to have nothing else to talk about, but their brains were racing. They seemed to be stuck in this tense thinking at the same time.

Anfey was thinking how he could explain to Suzanna in a way he was not going to hurt her feelings. His instinct did not allow him to have any connection with women. No matter how others saw Suzanna and him, he would not admit there was anything between them.

Suzanna was trying to read in between Anfey’s lines. She thought to herself, “Anfey just emphasized that he takes things seriously. Did he worry that I do not take what Shally said seriously?” Suzanna nervously bit her lip.

No one would know whether Anfey meant it or not. If Suzanna thought so, just let her believe so for now.

“Would you like some tea?” Suzanna asked again. She did not know what else to say. She just could not stand the silence. The quieter it got, the more nervous she felt.

“Ok.” Anfey changed his mind to have some.

Suzanna lifted the tea pot up and tested the temperature of the water with her finger. “The water is already cold. I will have Feller warm it up.”

“No, it’s fine, I will have some water,” Anfey said.

Maybe Suzanna unconsciously did not want to ruin the moment. She treasured this moment even though they were both awkward. She did not insist on making the tea. She gently poured a glass of water and passed it to Anfey.

Anfey took the glass and sipped on it. His eyes stared at something for a second. When Suzanna was pouring the water, her skirt rolled up and her long and beautiful lower legs showed. Suzanna was ready to go to bed and had already taken off her boots before Anfey walked in. The silky and milky-white feet showed in front of Anfey. It was common in psychology that old memories were triggered by seeing things that had been seen in the past. Anfey could not help recalling the battle with Suzanna in the water that night.

Suzanna was very sensitive right now. She noticed Anfey was looking at something. She followed his eyes and saw her lower legs showed. She blushed and hurried to pull her skirt down to cover her legs. She even tucked her feet under her skirt.

Anfey felt awkward and moved back a little. He looked around but was just not able to look at Suzanna.

“Anfey pays attention to details and does not show his emotions when he does things. It must have taken him a lot of courage to show his love to me,” Suzanna thought to herself. Suzanna was recalling every moment with Anfey. What happened at the pond was a nightmare from the past, but it also made her realize the good sides of Anfey. When Anfey caught her that night, she was taking a bath without any clothes on. Suzanna was confident about her looks and body, but Anfey did not take advantage of her that night. Anfey quietly left the pond when he found out it was just a misunderstanding. If Anfey were bad, she would not be a virgin now.

Since joining Anfey’s legion, Suzanna had been under Anfey’s supervision. She had developed a habit of listening to and counting on Anfey. Before a woman decided to accept a man as her man, her top criteria would be whether that man was reliable. Suzanna was going far in terms of counting on Anfey. What she did not like about Anfey in the past had changed into things she liked about him. The awkward moments between them seemed to be sweet in their memories.

Suzanna nervously coughed. She thought what she did was too obvious, which probably seemed like a rejection signal to Anfey. Suzanna twisted her body a little bit to allow her lower legs to be shown again. This move was nothing to most girls, but it was all Suzanna could handle. Her heart beat fast. The red color on her cheeks made her more beautiful. Her head leaned on the wagon’s wall. She did not dare even to look at Anfey.

In this magic world, there was no saying to describe girls accidentally showing their skin, nor was there a book to teach them how to keep perverts away. Suzanna moved in panic. As a result, she showed more than just her lower legs. From Anfey’s angle, he could even see her underwear.

Anfey noticed Suzanna’s moves. He understood Suzanna showed her body on purpose. After noticing it, Anfey started to feel nervous, but did show the nervousness on his face. He immediately realized his emotional change. He closed his eyes right away and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes, he could see clearly again.

“Anfey, why are you here?” Suzanna asked in a very low pitch.

“Well…” Anfey did not know how to put it. Before he walked to Suzanna’s wagon, he did not realize there was anything special between Suzanna and him. He thought Suzanna was a good friend. He thought Suzanna was thinking the same way about him. That was the reason he felt it was necessary to explain to Suzanna about their misunderstanding. However, seeing how Suzanna acted, no matter how stupid Anfey was, he could tell Suzanna liked him.

Suzanna suddenly felt she was a fool. She did not even know how to talk. “If there was nothing related to the legion, was Anfey not supposed to come here to hang out? It was no different than rejecting him,” Suzanna thought to herself.

“Actually you can come and talk to me anytime you want. I would like to hang out with you. Seriously,” Suzanna said in a low pitch. Shally’s little kid’s talk had put Suzanna in this awkward position. She felt things moved too fast, and she was not too comfortable with it. However, she never wanted to hurt Anfey’s feelings and pride.

“I am glad to hear that too.” Anfey smiled. The air was filled with chemistry sparkling between them. They treated each other with respect and courtesy. Anfey never said “thank you” to Suzanna, but he did today. They were so polite to each other.

“Suzanna, can I meditate here for a while? Don’t let anyone interrupt me,” Anfey suddenly said. He had to meditate right now, otherwise he felt something bad was going to happen. He noticed himself getting panicky.

“Sure.” Suzanna was shocked for a second, then she nodded at him.

Everyone in the caravan woke up before dawn. Usually, the caravan would wait until daytime before departing. However, on this day, they appeared to be busy in the dark about something. What was even more peculiar was that the caravan did not leave until it was almost noon.

Other people were not uninformed, but those employed by the caravan knew very well what they were doing. The two dozen guards dug a hole in the middle of the camp ground, and buried a heavy chest in it. Then they did their best to return the patch of ground to normal. Then Christian used magic to move a large boulder to cover the place where the chest was buried as a marker.

The carriages left. The bugs resumed their business. If anyone else passed this area, they would not be able to tell there was a secret under the boulder.

There was a saying. In the beginning, there was no road. Roads were created because so many people chose the same path. Another saying says that there were roads, but the roads all disappeared because too many people had used them.

However, the two sayings were not referring to the same road. After the carriages left, another team appeared. This team was significantly smaller, consisting of only a dozen members. As they approached the campsite of the previous team, they left the road and headed straight for the boulder.

A thin mage jumped off of his horse and circled the boulder a few times. He whispered a spell and the boulder floated into the air and landed nearby.

“This is the place,” the mage said.

“What were they doing?” The leader was a swordmaster around fifty. He frowned and stared at the spot, thinking. “Check their location again,” he ordered.

“Yes, my lord.” The mage whispered a few spells, and a ball of mist appeared in his hands. The ball slowly cleared up, and a long line of carriages appeared in the ball.

“My lord, we should dig here first and find out what they were hiding.” Another mage walked up to the swordsmaster and said.

“I don’t want to disturb them. Wait until people from our leader arrives,” the swordmaster said.

“My lord, they won’t discover us,” the mage informed him. “They only have a junior magister. They cannot reach back this far with Eye of the Sky.”

“He is right, my lord,” another mage said.

“Alright,” the swordsmaster agreed. “Go and dig this thing up.”

Although this was a small team, everyone on the team was very obedient. As soon as the leader issued an order, a few swordsmen jumped off their horses and began digging.

After a few moments, a chest appeared. A mage walked into the hole slowly, and everyone jumped off their hoses. Everyone was curious what this chest contained.

The mage closed his eyes and probed the chest. When he found nothing to raise alarm, he reached over and opened the chest carefully. The others peered over the edge of the hole to catch a glimpse of what was in the chest.

As the mage opened the chest, he felt a sudden surge of chaotic element. His eyes widened and he screamed, “Run! It’s a magic array of chaos…”

A flash of white light appeared from the chest, and the subsequent explosion shook the entire forest. The explosion caused thick debris and threw those that stood too close to the chest through the air. The ground shook violently under the impact.

After a few moments, the world returned to a more peaceful state. The swordsman spat out a mouthful of blood and pushed himself up from the ground. Even though the explosion was unexpected, he was able to protect himself with his combat power. However, that was not enough. He was pushed away from the campsite and was wounded.

He glanced at the campsite and saw that the chest was gone and the site had become a small crater. All over the crater were broken limbs and a few bodies. The swordmaster was enraged by his companion’s pointless deaths. They thought the chest would hide a secret, but never imagined it would contain a trap.

Three other men pushed themselves off the ground, staring at their surroundings blankly. The explosion happened too fast for their brains to process what had just happened.

“It was a magic array of chaos,” the swordmaster said with shaking voice. The magic array was actually a very useless form of magic array, but it could use up magic crystals very fast. Other kinds of magic array used power of the magic crystals slowly, and would not run out of power unless either the crystals were depleted or the array was destroyed. The magic array of chaos could use up a crystal’s power in an instant. Of course, it wasn’t the biggest flaw of this form of array. Elements were natural and balanced, but chaos array disrupts this balance. This was against the nature of elements. After the magic array was formed, the elements would try to return to their natural state. Judging by the power of this array, if they opened it after noontime, the explosion would be nothing but a gust of breeze.

The existence of this array meant that Anfey and his companions knew people were on their trail, and knew that whoever was following them would try to dig the chest up as soon as possible.

The swordmaster felt frustrated and defeated. He did not know where they had made the mistake of exposing themselves. This was too great a loss for the organization to let him off the hook easily.

“My lord!” One of the swordsman called, pointed to the body of a mage.

The swordmaster glanced at the body and found an arrow sticking out of the mage’s throat, and the mage had his hands wrapped tightly around the shaft. Clearly what happened to him wasn’t the explosion but the arrow.

The swordmaster realized that there were enemies present. He drew his longsword. A flash of bright light spliced a bush fifty feet to his left. It was the proof that there was a magical wall there. Then, a figure coated in bright white combat power appeared and dashed in his direction.

The swordmaster waved his hand, and his three remaining men gathered around him. He estimated his opponent’s power, and felt slightly more reassured. He stared ahead coldly.

Suzanna was used to being the first to attack. However, this time she did not strike. She stopped in front of her opponent and stared at them with cold eyes. Every time she used her combat power, her gentleness disappeared. Instead, she would be as cold as her sword. This was an understandable change, not everyone was like this. People like Ernest could still smile after using his combat power, but Suzanna would turn into someone who did not know what smiling was.

Anfey and Black Eleven were much slower than Suzanna. They walked over and stood by her, observing their enemies.

“You’re Anfey?” The swordmaster smiled and asked. “You should reveal yourselves quicker. Thank you for giving me a chance.”

He didn’t want to hide anymore. Anfey had planted a magic array of chaos, meaning he knew what their intentions were. He needed to capture the man alive to redeem himself. It was the only way he could make it out of this situation alive.

“There was never a chance for you,” Anfey said slowly. “I didn’t kill you because I need you to answer some questions.”

“Don’t ask me.” The swordmaster said and waved his longsword. The light of his combat power suddenly became blinding. It was almost as bright as Suzanna’s, if not more. He was indeed a powerful man, and that was why he sought a battle first.

“You’re too hasty,” Anfey said. “Are you not interested in us? How about we make a deal? We each ask one question. If you can work with us, then we can answer more questions. How about you go first?”

The swordmaster hesitated. Then he asked slowly, “Who are you? Where did you come from?” These two things were something his organization could never answer. No matter how much they researched, Anfey’s past was a mystery to them. The first time he appeared in the world was with Saul, but the organization had no need for that part of his past. They needed to know where he came from, and where he learned his strange but powerful fighting skills.

“That’s two questions.”

“Who was your teacher before Saul?” Both Black Eleven and Suzanna turned and looked at Anfey. They were curious about it, as well.

“Archmage Yagor.”

“You lie,” the swordmaster said coldly. “He was an archmage. He wouldn’t teach you how to fight.”

“I never said he taught me how to fight,” Anfey said. “An old man in my village taught me those skills. Now, my turn. Who are you?”

“We’re from the Evil Mist,” the swordmaster said. He already had it all planned out. If he could capture Anfey, then the secret would not get out. If Anfey killed him, the organization couldn’t punish a dead man, and so he was very honest. “How did you know we were following you?”

“Sorry. I only need an answer from you.”

Before Anfey finished talking, Suzanna had already shot herself out to lead the swordsmen. The radiance of Suzanna’s sword was threatening.

The other senior swordsmaster did not move at all. The two swordsmen to his sides went forward to counter Suzanna. One of them looked like he did not see the sword radiance from Suzanna’s sword. He thrust his sword at Suzanna like he did not care whether he would die from this attack. The other swordsman thrashed at Suzanna’s midsection from the side.

Suzanna had a higher level than these two swordsmen, but not much higher. No matter whether it was with the sword broadside or blade, they both could hurt her. Suzanna pulled her sword back to block the sword thrusting at her. That intermediate swordsman almost dropped the sword. He tried really hard to hold the sword shaft steady with his arm raised high, which is a good angle to attack from.

Suzanna had no time to take advantage of this opportunity to attack the intermediate swordsman. She thrust her sword at the other intermediate swordsman’s neck as she moved one step sideways to avoid his attack.

The sword had a radius of more than 3 feet. Even if she had not moved sideways, her sword radiance could have killed him anyway. Suzanna was young but she was very experienced in fighting. It was a correct move to pull away from him. By doing so, she gave herself plenty of time to make another attack, no matter how the swordsman attacked her next.

That intermediate swordsman suddenly sped up. He looked like he was running onto Suzanna’s sword radiance. His sword had sword radiance as well. He thrust at Suzanna’s midsection again.

The third intermediate swordsman was running towards Black Eleven. They had very similar fighting abilities, even though Black Eleven was slightly better. This intermediate swordsman was just as the other two. Every attacking move looked suicidal, which forced Black Eleven into a disadvantageous position.

The senior swordsmaster yelled and jumped into the air. His body left an arc trace in the air because of his fast speed as he threw himself at Anfey. It looked like he did not even want to survive this attack. In general, only when two parties’ abilities were vastly different or they fought for life would they use the strategy of attacking opponents from the air. If his ability was not as good as the other one, this attack would have been suicide. If a swordsman jumped in the air, he would lose the dodging ability and could barely defend himself. He was allowing others to trample him. Of course, if his ability was far better than his opponent or he did not even think of dodging or defending, that suicidal attack could win him the advantage and allow him to continue his offensive attacks.

Anfey moved back as fast as he could, as coldness showed in his eyes. Today he was quite different than usual. He chose to counter the attack just to see how good that swordsman was.

Although they had just met and talked very little before they started their fight, Anfey had sufficient information to know this swordsman was a tough opponent.

Anfey took advantage of Magic Array of Chaos and killed most of the enemies. Most people would become crazy or depressed after suffering such a defeat. However, the four people left in the battle were very calm. They did not do anything extra. They were neither scared nor panicking.

By exchanging secrets, Anfey wanted to double check who they were, on the one hand, and provide them an opportunity to see if they could grab it, on the other. The explosion from the Magic Array of Chaos was very intense. Those four people were too close to the explosion. They were all hurt to some degree. Wounded people needed some time to allow themselves to adjust before they could get back to the fight again. They did grab the opportunity. They wanted to talk to Anfey even as their colleagues’ bodies were everywhere, which proved they were capable of adjusting their emotions.

The fight at the end was well organized. There was a story about horse racing Anfey heard when he was little. The person in the story won the horse race by strategically matching the worst horse with the best one of the opponent, the intermediate one with the worst one of the opponent, and the best one with the intermediate one. This was the strategy they applied as well. They have two intermediate swordsmen attacking Suzanna, the other intermediate swordsman fighting with Black Eleven, while the main force attacked Anfey. They definitely thought Anfey was their break through. This was the only correct strategy they used.

Anfey felt upset after seeing how these four guys fought. He could tell how powerful Evil Mist was. One guy moved back fast and another rushed forward. The knees were bent forward, so moving forward was a lot faster than moving back. When the senior swordsmaster landed on the ground, he was less than 17 feet away from Anfey. The sword in his hand pointed diagonally downwards. A crescent shaped sword radiance swept at Anfey’s shoulders.

Anfey suddenly switched direction as fast as a ghost. After barely dodging the sword radiance, Anfey moved back again.

The senior swordsmaster went after Anfey after getting the upper hand. He thrust the sword at Anfey’s forehead with a step forward. Before the sword blade got close to Anfey, the sword radiance had already reached him.

Countless fireballs appeared around Anfey at the same time. They were side by side and layer by layer. Anfey was submerged in fireballs in the blink of an eye. The senior swordsmaster paused for a second. On Anfey’s profile, it never showed Anfey was a Magic-Combat discipliner. The fireballs were not big, but there were many. Intelligent life had been cautious when they saw any unknowns. Without testing, the swordsman was not sure whether those fireballs would be able to hurt him.

The countless fire balls suddenly disappeared, just as bizarre as they suddenly showed up. Suddenly a flaming sword appeared in Anfey’s right hand, a gigantic flaming shield on his left arm. As the swordsman was startled for a second, Anfey swung the sword upwards to block the sword from the senior swordsmaster, and then he moved back a step. The flaming sword created a flaming wall in the sky as it moved toward the senior swordsmaster’s neck. It appeared that, Anfey had better momentum than the senior swordsmaster.

The pupils of the senior swordsmaster contracted. Anfey did not fit the profile he had. Anfey should not have such powerful combat power. If he knew about this, he would never have thought Anfey was his break through. He would rather have attacked the guy who wore a facial mask even during the day. As things had already proceeded in this way, he was not able to change anything. That swordsman suddenly screamed in anger, and pulled back the sword a little bit before he thrust the sword forward with full speed. The sword radiance was so bright that people could not directly look at it.

The sword was the key of this attack. He knew he could not fight with Anfey for long. His two companions were no match for that girl, so he had to beat Anfey before the two intermediate swordsmen finished their fight with Suzanna. He attacked with full strength without caring about his wound. He almost reached the limit his body could handle.

As the sword hit the flaming sword, the senior swordsmaster’s body only moved a bit, while Anfey felt unbearable pain in his arm. Anfey lost control of the flaming sword. It moved to the right, and a lot of its flame went away as well. However, the elements did not disappear totally. They still kept the shape of a sword.

The senior swordsmaster would not let any opportunity go, so he took the opportunity and kicked at Anfey’s chest. In this magic world, there was no leg technique for fighting. As the name suggested, leg techniques were a system of fighting skills using leg movements. The ones without leg techniques could still kick others, but with strong body and combat power, a kick could be more lethal.

The senior swordsmaster attacked quickly. Anfey’s speed was not slow either, and did not seem to be affected by his wounds. At the very moment, the gigantic flaming shield on his left arm shielded his front. With a huge explosion, the senior swordsmaster had to move back 18 feet and stopped. Anfey was no better than him. Anfey was moved back almost twice as far as the swordsman. He accidentally fell into a big puddle created by the explosion from the magic array.

The senior swordsmaster was so happy to see Anfey fall. He immediately ran to the big puddle in one big stride. He looked down at the puddle, but he was shocked by what he saw.

The fire elements Anfey used in the fight disappeared in the blink of eye. They turned into intense surges of gas elements. Countless wind blades were floating above Anfey. They looked like groups of swimming fish. They were close, and swam in all directions with a strange pace. Between the wind blades, the senior swordsmaster could see Anfey’s eyes shine with coldness.

The senior swordsmaster could not help taking a deep breath. Anfey’s hands and feet did not move a bit, but he was able to stand up and then rose in the air. Countless wind blades were moving around him, protecting and holding him. It was not levitation magic. The magic Anfy performed was self-created.

The senior swordsmaster did not understand how Anfey could rise in the air. Worried, he secretly glanced back. That girl obviously had started to get familiar with the pace of their suicidal attacks. It would not be long before she would end the fight with the two intermediate swordsmen. He took another deep breath and decided to attack Anfey with the sword radiance, but Anfey had already landed on the other side of that big puddle.

“You are a lot stronger than me,” Anfey said slowly.

The senior swordsmaster snorted. If Anfey wanted to bulls%t before the fight had started, he would have loved to bulls%t with him, but he did not dare to waste any time now. He swung his sword hard and a shining sword radiance showed up. He jumped into the air and threw himself from the air towards Anfey.

The crescent-shaped sword radiance left a series of mirror-like traces in the sky. The sword radiance swept 40 feet through the sky in the blink of an eye and reached Anfey. The senior swordsmaster jumped into the sky and left a trace of an arc. He rushed to Anfey from the sky. He had already used up his strength. He had been hurt, and used all of his remaining strength to try to beat Anfey as fast as he could. His body had already gotten really weak. If he continued to fight like this, even if his companions could get even in the fight with the girl, it would not help because he had lost all his fighting ability.

Being tough on himself was crueler than being tough on others. The senior swordsmaster grinned as he swung his sword. Two crossed sword radiances came together in the sky, but his combat power seemed to get weaker.

Anfey remained still, and the wind blades rearranged themselves together. The blades wove together tightly and formed a large, circular formation, then began to spin. It was very fast. The edge of the formation was blurred and it made a high pitched screech.

The swordsmaster saw that Anfey had disappeared and a strange swirl appeared. He was shocked. However, he knew that he did not have another choice, because he heard his companions dying. He had to keeping going because it was his last chance.

Three sword radiances hit the swirl, but all three were swallowed by the blades. The swordsmaster couldn’t tell how many of the blades he actually destroyed. It didn’t matter. Compared to how many blades were there, the amount he destroyed was still too little. The swirl was not at all affected.

Anfey smiled and waved his right hand. The swirl, as if controlled by an unseen force, gathered and flew to his hand. It became a long spear. Anfey couldn’t use intermediate magic, but he was very good at controlling the elements. The formation of the elements were very tight, the spear shone as if it was a real weapon, especially the tip. It shone coldly, and the swordsmaster felt cold just looking at it.

Anfey held the spear in one hand and thrust it forward, aiming at the swordsmaster’s head.

The swordsmaster shouted angrily and summoned all of his combat power. He waved his sword and hit the spear’s shaft. He was confident that his blow could shatter the weapon made out of elements. Even though he had never seen the strange weapon, he was sure it would be as vulnerable as the others he had seen before.

Something strange happened. The swordsmaster used all of his might, but Anfey had used a lot of strength as well. As the two weapons clashed, the swordsmaster felt his arm going numb. His sword bounced away from the spear as if it had hit a spring. The spear bounced the other way, and the spear bent under the impact. The elements were still woven together after the blow. The strength of this weapon and the person who summoned it was evident. This was important news for the organization, but first he needed to survive this fight. A dead man cannot relay information.

Anfey’s eyes flashed. He kicked on the spear, which caused the spear to travel upwards. At the same time, his right hand reached forward. When the spear straightened itself, the tip was only a foot away from the swordsmaster’s face.

The swordsmaster had never seen anyone fight like this. At the last minute, he raised his sword and blocked the attack. However, this time his defense was significantly weaker. The spear made a curve and hit the swordsmaster’s chest.

The swordsmaster’s chest rippled. It was the reaction from his combat power. The spear left a visible wound on his chest. The man flew back.

Anfey jumped up into the air and chased after the man. The spear in his hand flashed and struck the swordsmaster. The man had just taken a hit, and had not recovered enough to block this next hit. The only thing he could do was to summon his combat power. All three blows landed where Anfey wanted them to land. The man was falling faster, and the light of his combat power dimmed.

The swordsmaster rolled on the ground. Anfey had already landed when he jumped up. Anfey held the spear in both hands and thrust out towards the swordsmaster’s head. Spears were originally his weapon of choice, but here in this world he had not found a place to use it. Until today.

The swordsmaster was like prey in a trap. He tried to block the spear, but Anfey changed his way of attack. The spear changed its direction and struck down instead of up. The tip of the spear struck the swordsmaster’s calf. Even someone like Ernest could not defeat Anfey with a spear, let alone a swordsmaster.

The swordsmaster screamed in agony and tried to grab the spear. The way of the spear was to strike continuously. As soon as the enemy was wounded, every strike could be a lethal blow. Trying to grab the spear was human instinct, but it was a mistake.

Anfey pushed with his left hand and pulled with his right, and the spear was jerked to the right. The tip was still in the swordsmaster’s calf. The man screamed again as his leg was pulled away from under him. A chunk of skin was ripped off by the spear.

Anfey then pulled right with his left hand and pushed left with his right hand. The spear returned and hit the swordsmaster again.

The swordsmaster was wounded, but he could still react. He lowered his head to duck from this lethal blow.

Anfey did not wait for him to recover. His left hand flew back and the spear flew back like a snake. Then he step forward with his right foot, and the spear flew forward. It struck the swordsmaster’s chest.

The swordsmaster tried to block the spear with his sword. He was wounded and his combat power was almost gone. Now he was very slow. When his sword was a hair away from hitting the spear, the spear glided past the sword and hit his chest.

The swordsmaster reached over and grabbed the spear. He stared at Anfey with bloodshot eyes.

Anfey smiled. He pressed down with his left hand and threw the swordsmaster into the air.

The swordsmaster couldn’t hold onto the spear no longer. He began tumbling through the air, his blood spraying down. Before he hit the ground, he felt cold and then pain in his back. The spear had pierced his back.

Anfey had no mercy. When the spear entered the man’s body, his hands were relaxed. He didn’t fight against the gravity and let the spear glide forward. Then he took a step back and brought his hands back. When the man was almost on the ground, he stepped and thrusted forward.

The spear pierced the swordsmaster’s body and killed him.

The swordsmaster fell to the ground. Anfey let go of the spear. The wind elements dispersed quickly. If anyone found this body, it would be very hard to identify the murder weapon.

Anfey turned around. Suzanna was almost done with her fight. She had already taken care of one of the men. The other blocked a few of her blows but couldn’t hold against her. The swordsmaster fighting with Black Eleven wanted to run, but his route was cut off by Suzanna and Black Eleven.

Perhaps because he did not do well today and was troubled by someone who was less powerful, Black Eleven seemed defeated. He checked the swordsmaster’s body and walked over to join Anfey.

“You took a huge risk today,” Black Eleven said.

“Well, at least now I know how dangerous Evil Mist really is,” Anfey shrugged and replied.

“I’ve told you before…”

“Listening and experiencing are two very different things,” Anfey interrupted. Why were they following him? Was it because he had killed Black Ghost? Anfey felt that there was something not quite right. There should be another reason for this.

“Thank god we took care of their mages first,” Black Eleven said. “If there had been a necromancer, then we would be the ones on the ground now.” He was in fact very troubled. His sense of order told him to tell Anfey to be cautious and tell him everything. He did not realize Evil Mist would be so interested in Anfey and send out their best men. A senior swordsmaster was rare even in White Mountain City.

“I’m curious. They are indeed very powerful. If they had just fought us, we would definitely have lost. Why are they following us? If it wasn’t for the faint surges I felt, no one would have realized they were there.” Anfey frowned. If there were a necromancer among the mages, combined with the other mages, why would they follow him in secret?

“You’re saying they have backup?” Black Eleven’s face paled. Normally he wasn’t afraid of Evil Mist. If he couldn’t fight them, he could run and hide. However, now he needed to destroy Shansa Empire’s aerial squad. He didn’t have time to be dealing with Evil Mist right now.

“Do they know we are going to Moramatch?” Anfey asked.

“How am I supposed know?” Black Eleven replied.