Assassin’s Chronicle - Chapter 431

It was undeniable that everything existed for a reason. Anfey thought the different types of management systems on this magic continent were not as good as they should be. They were too simple, but the imperfect management system in the League of Mercenaries was actually very effective once it was implemented.

Alice only gave-newly recruited mercenaries very low wages, but the mercenaries who had followed Anfey in battle received a much higher salary. A large group of mercenaries were sometimes short of food, while the other mercenaries could buy luxury goods and drink extravagantly. There was obvious contrast between the lives of newly-recruited mercenaries and veterans. Of course, if this situation lasted too long, it would likely cause conflicts among mercenaries, but in a short period of time the new mercenaries were just jealous and wanted to be considered veterans.

Mercenaries had left Stormenburg two days previous. Some of them had been extremely excited. They all happily talked and dreamed. Alice came to see Anfey a couple of times before they left Stormenburg. She made a budget for the post-war expenses. Basically, Anfey needed to get at least 100,000 gold coins. It did not matter if he had to rob White Mountain City: she made it clear that Anfey had to come back with at least 100,000 gold coins.

Alice stressed how important money was to the league after the war. She told Anfey many stories about legions failing because they had no money after war. There were very few legions who never lost any battles. The fighting ability of most legions was just mediocre. As the legions regrouped, they usually ended up in one of two extreme situations. Some legions would be able to shake off their failures and rebound, while others just gave up on themselves. How the losing legions treated their mercenaries after they lost battles greatly affected them. The uncertainty crushed them more than from the frustration and disappointment from losing the battle. Only when people with power did not judge mercenaries who lost in battle and still treated them well could mercenaries shake off negative attitudes and rebound from their failures. Of course, how those in power treated their mercenaries after losing the battles largely depended on their own financial ability. A country definitely could not have the financial ability to afford more than one military. Whether they would spare some money for the mercenaries was uncertain.

Alice also said power and money were a pair of wings for humans. No matter which wing was missing, that person would not be able to fly. The best that person could do would be to stay away from others and be well on his own. She even hinted that they had an example around them, trying to prove she was right. In fact, Anfey did not need Alice’s hint to know who she was talking about. Master Swordsman Ernest was poor without any doubt. He did not own anything valuable. Ernest had travelled alone everywhere with his sword. He never gave Anfey anything valuable. However, it was not a big deal for Anfey. Anfey felt nothing would be better that Ernest’s sincere care for him. Ernest tried to take care of Anfey and did not care whether Anfey knew what he had done for Anfey.

At dusk, the mercenaries stopped to set up their tents. This time the League of Mercenaries literally travelled all together. It would be an exaggeration to say they formed a line with thousands of mercenaries and horses that no one could see from front to back. It was indeed spectacular to see a few hundred thousand people and horses travelling together. Marino also sent some mercenaries to travel with them. Entos led some mages to join the mage group in the League of Mercenaries. The participation of Entos made Christian and others more confident about this trip. They worried about their mage group’s lack of fighting experience. Entos was in charge of the Band of Brothers mercenary group at times, and then went back to Saul and helped him with different battles. No matter whether in large-scale battles or small fights, he had developed a good understanding of fighting, almost as good as that of Archmage Michael.

“I cannot believe we already have so many mercenaries in our league!” Ozzic said excitedly as he looked around from his horse.

“Yes!” Blavi responded with a smile. He had been trying to do as Anfey had told him. He not only got along with lower-level mercenaries but also with the two commanders, Ozzic and Stein. Ozzic and Stein were not stupid. They knew Blavi was close to Anfey and Anfey trusted him a lot. Ozzic and Stein knew why Blavi was trying to get along with them. Therefore, they catered to Blavi’s needs and tried to build their relationship. Very soon, they became very close friends.

“Master Alice can finally take a break,” Ozzic said.

“Do you like her and feel bad for her?” Blavi joked.

“Don’t joke about that matter!” Ozzic was scared, and his face turned a little pale after hearing what Blavi said. Alice might hear this joke! He was scared of Anfey the most, and then Alice. Blavi dared to joke about Alice, but he shouldn’t. He’d better not trouble her and cause problems for himself.

It was true that all men liked beautiful girls, but they would often dream about things that were not realistic, like frogs dreaming about eating a swan, as the saying goes. Very few men had tried to approach Alice, even though most men wanted her. Ozzic was not young and impulsive anymore. He had been in the Country of Mercenaries for over 20 years. Depending on their fighting ability and skills, people enjoyed different positions. Ozzic knew people had different visions, needs, and desires because they were in different positions. There were only two people in the whole league who could be a match for Alice. However, he was not one of them.

“Look at you! You are so scared,” Blavi said, laughing at Ozzic. Suddenly, they heard drum beats in the distance. “Anfey is calling us. Let’s go.”

At the headquarters, Hui Wei absentmindedly stared at Anfey, who was twirling a knife. He looked very skillful. “Anfey, what are you doing?”

“Playing with the knife,” Anfey answered.

“Playing with the knife?” Hui Wei rubbed his nose. “I thought you were practicing with it.”

“This knife is made of a manticore’s tail needle. It likely would stiffen the enemies’ muscles if the enemy could be stabbed with it, but the life of this knife is limited. The more often it is used, the less chance it could be effective stiffening muscles,” Anfey said.

“Nice!” Hui Wei said.

“It is nice, but I have not had a chance to use it since Hagan gave it to me,” Anfey said.

“Why haven’t you used it?” Hui Wei asked curiously.

“I do not like things that don’t function as they should,” Anfey said casually. “It does not give me confidence. This knife is garbage to me,” Anfey said, tossing the knife to Hui Wei.

“What are you doing? Are you giving it to me?” Hui Wei asked.

“No, can you pass it to Alice. She is really weak with combat power and magic power and has nothing to defend herself with,” Anfey said.

“Anfey, why don’t you give her something better if you want to give her a gift. You just said this knife is garbage. How could you give her junk as a gift?” Hui Wei smiled. “Besides, why are you asking me to give it to her? Why don’t you give it to her yourself?”

“Why are you talking so much bullsh*t? People will misunderstand me. Besides, you are the chief of staff. You are the best person to do it.”

Hui Wei looked at the knife in his hand and then looked at Anfey. After awhile, he said slowly, “Anfey, you are really a good person.”

“A good person? What do you mean?” Anfey asked.

“I have been running around the city with Alice for the past few days. She talked about you a lot. It sounds like she secretly…”

“Stop. I don’t want to hear about it,” Anfey retorted, lifting an eyebrow.

“Ok, I will stop.” Hui Wei shrugged.

“Anfey!” someone called, and then Christian, Entos and few others landed near him. Christian asked hurriedly, “I heard from Suzanna that you will go with her to White Mountain City to scout it out first?”

“Yes.”

“Is it necessary to do that? Isn’t it too risky? If we want to know the situation in White Mountain City, we could just get the information from mercenaries. We met many mercenaries from White Mountain City on the way.”

“Hearing does not give us information as accurately as seeing does. I’d like to check it myself,” Anfey said.

“You can send Ling and Long there,” Christian continued, trying to convince Anfey not to go. “What if you and Suzanna were discovered?”

“Christian, don’t you think Alice’s analysis made sense? If we really could sabotage the relationship between Anthony and Michael and cause them to fight, it would be less costly to win this battle,” Anfey said. “If Ling and Long went, they might not be able to grab the opportunities, even if the opportunities presented themselves. Suzanna and I could do a lot more there. Besides, I have a different assignment for Ling and Long.”

Christian just shook his head after he saw that Anfey had made up his mind.

“Kumaraghosha!” Anfey called out loudly.

“Yes, master!” Kumaraghosha said as he strode over.

“Christian, you will be in charge of everything after I leave. Kumaraghosha, you will assist Christian.” Anfey paused. “I will try to get to White Mountain City in three days. You guys rest tomorrow and leave here the day after. The league should be travelling with regular speed. You will start the fight in six days no matter whether you receive any information about me or not. You have to do everything according to the plan.”

“I got it, Anfey,” Christian answered quietly. He suddenly thought of something. “How about having Bro Entos go with you?”

“I cannot go with Anfey,” Entos said, shaking his head.

“Many people know Bro Entos. We probably could not even enter the city if he went with us,” Anfey said. “Don’t worry. I will be fine. Suzanna will be with me.”

“At critical moments, we see you are taking risks for us again,” Christian said bitterly. “Ok, I am not going to make it awkward. Just be careful!”

Anfey nodded. He turned to Kumaraghosha. “Kumaraghosha, do not let professional guards join the battle if it is not necessary.”

Ozzic and other commanders walked over one after another. Suzanna, Ling, Long and the whole scout team showed up outside the station.

“Christian, can you give orders? I have to leave now.” Anfey slowly stood up. He lowered his voice and said to Christian, “Don’t ever forget you are the prince.”

Anfey meant this in more than a literal way. The main point was to remind Christian what a chief commander should do.

Christian slowly nodded. “Remember, do not fight for the sake of fighting. Once you notice something wrong, come back immediately.”

“What are you thinking about?” Anfey asked, stroking Suzanna’s hair.

“Nothing,” Suzanna said, leaning closer to him. “Just a bit tired.”

“I’m sorry,” Anfey said with a sigh. “You really shouldn’t have been a swordsman.”

“What do you mean?” Suzanna asked, confused.

“You’re a strong woman, Suzanna, but a lot of that strength isn’t yours, isn’t it? It’s forced into you. All you want is a peaceful and quiet life,” Anfey said with a sigh. “I cannot fathom how rigorous your training must have been.”

Suzanna pursed her lips, then asked, “What about you? What would you do if you had a choice?”

“Me?” Anfey said, smiling. “I like being lazy. I think I would be content being a minor noble, doing nothing but hunting and staring at my maids.”

Suzanna grinned. She pinched Anfey’s arms lightly and asked, “Do you miss those maids? I’m sure Christian can get them to come over. I won’t mind.” She trusted Anfey enough to know that nothing would happen, so she wasn’t worried.

“That reminds me,” Anfey said. “I want to get Urter over here to help Alice. He’s a better choice for a chief of staff than Hui Wei. But…”

“You really care about that city, don’t you?”

“Of course,” Anfey said. “That is to be our future home, after all.” Country of Mercenaries was important, but so was Violet City and the mysterious labyrinth under it. He couldn’t afford to move Urter at that moment.

“Anfey, shouldn’t I…” Suzanna whispered, but her voice trailed off as if she was too embarrassed to finish.

“What is it?” Anfey asked, confused.

“I…”

“Huh?”

“I… You know!”

“I really don’t!”

Suzanna stamped her foot and said, “About… about a child…”

“Oh!” Anfey said. “Oh.” Suzanna turned her face away and nodded slightly. Anfey smiled. Of course, they were in a war and it was the worst time to have a child. If Suzanna became pregnant, she couldn’t fight the way she had been fighting. He knew that Suzanna wanted to start a family, but that would have to wait until after everything was over.

“Sir, Lady Suzanna,” Ye said, knocking on the carriage. “There’s a caravan approaching with a lot of guards. They’re flying the flag of Cloud Chamber of Commerce.”

“Cloud Chamber of Commerce?” Anfey frowned. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he had heard it. “Let’s move out of the way for now.”

Ye slowed the carriage and drove it onto a nearby meadow. He jumped off the carriage, grabbed a waterskin of wine and took a sip, watching the caravan of Cloud Chamber of Commerce approach.

As the caravan approached, Ye saw that the guards all looked very thin, with sallow skin and hollow cheeks. The guards glanced at Ye and the carriage but did not stop or pay him any attention.

Ye grabbed the waterskin again and took another sip of the wine inside. It was cold and he needed the alcohol to keep him warm. However, the waterskin and the scent of wine drew the attention of the guards in front. Before he could put the waterskin away, half a dozen guards turned to him with hungry eyes. These guards were mercenaries from White Mountain City. Because of the zombies, they hadn’t had a good meal in weeks.

“Do you have more wine?” one of the mercenaries called out.

Ye glanced at the mercenaries but did not say anything. He was a quiet person and did not like the mercenary’s attitude.

Ye’s attitude angered the mercenaries, who glanced at each other and suddenly drew their weapons. It was not uncommon for mercenaries to kill each other for food at White Mountain City during the most difficult times. These mercenaries did not mind killing for a sip of wine.

Ye frowned. He was not afraid of the mercenaries, and mercenaries frequently fought over valuable things like magic crystals, but he only had some wine, and this was a caravan, not robbers.

“What is it?” someone in the caravan asked. “Why are we stopping?”

“Someone was threatening us, my lord,” one of the mercenaries replied loudly while the rest crept towards Ye with their swords.

Anfey sighed. He glanced at Suzanna and stepped out of the carriage.

“Sir,” Ye said when he saw Anfey, and backed up. He did not want any conflict with the mercenaries.

Anfey nodded at Ye and walked towards the carriages of the caravan. He didn’t look at the mercenaries. Suzanna followed him and did not look at the mercenaries either. The mercenaries watched Suzanna with wide eyes. One of them smirked and took a few steps towards Suzanna, but another mercenary grabbed him and shook his head.

“Did my ears betray me?” Anfey asked, stopping in front of one of the carriages. “Lord Arlanga?”

An old man poked his head out of the carriage and looked at Anfey. The old man frowned, trying to recall where he had met Anfey. The mercenaries, seeing that Anfey knew their master, backed away quietly.

“Lord Arlanga was my teacher,” Anfey said to Suzanna.

“Really?” Suzanna asked, surprised. She had no memory of this old man.

“Of course,” Anfey said with a grin. Arlanga’s eyes suddenly widened as he remembered Anfey.

“You!” the old man exclaimed, wide-eyed.

“Hey, friend…” one of the guards hurried over. Suzanna grabbed the man’s arm and tightened her grip, breaking the guard’s arm. The guard screamed in pain and stumbled back.

Seeing Suzanna attack one of their own, the mercenaries grew angry. They all drew their weapons and surround the two.

“Wait! Wait!” Arlanga said, waving his arms at the mercenaries. He turned to Anfey and Suzanna and said, “This way, sir, my lady.”

Arlanga had become the founder of Cloud Chamber of Commerce because he was a smart man with a vision. He knew what Anfey and Suzanna were capable of, and he did not need to anger them.

“I need to talk with you, Lord Arlanga,” Anfey said.

“Of course,” Arlanga said, nodding. “Please, this way.” As long as Anfey needed to talk to him, Arlanga could be sure that he had no intention of harming him.

Arlanga led Anfey and Suzanna to another carriage and knocked on its wall. Anfey’s eyes widened when he saw who he sitting in the carriage. He knew the woman. She was a well-known socialite in White Mountain City called Honna. He did not know the name of the man, but he looked very familiar.

“Lady Honna,” Anfey said with a smile. “It has been a while.”

“Lord Anfey,” Honna said with a sweet smile. “What are the chances that we meet here.”

Anfey glanced at the young man, who smiled and said, “Greetings, Lord Anfey. I’m Edy.”

“Edy? Have we met somewhere?” Anfey asked.

“I do not recall,” Edy said slowly. “I’m sure I wouldn’t forget meeting you, my lord.”

“Really?” Anfey asked. He had caught a glimmer of recognition and surprise in Edy’s eyes. He was sure that Edy knew him, but he could not remember where he had met Edy before.

“Arlanga, where are you going?” Anfey asked.

“Master, you probably do not know there is no more food in White Mountain City. We are going to Maho Empire to buy some and sell here to make some money,” Arlanga said, trying to please Anfey.

“It seems that you heard necromancers have lost the battle,” Anfey said, “but you are crazy to do business at this time. Necromancers lost the battle, but many death spirits are all around. It would be hard for you to protect yourselves from those death spirits. Arlanga, wouldn’t you be the very first person to dare to do business in White Mountain City?”

“I have to do it, master. If I could be the first, I would make a little more. In fact, I do not want to come out and risk my life if I have a choice.” Arlanga looked respectful, but he hated Anfey’s guts. If it were possible, he wished he could jump Anfey and choke him.

Arlanga let his daughter and son-in-law handle his business after he got older. He recently found that he had lost all power in his business. He used to be a spender. He had been miserable with the little allowance “granted” from his daughter and son-in-law. Half of the pension he saved up was robbed by Anfey. He had to make some money before he was not too old to do so. In other words, everyone except Anfey had shown care for him. If Anfey did not rob his pension, he would not have to live such a difficult life.

“How could you say that? It only shows you have a strong business sense,” Anfey said. “Arlanga, do you know Batusimon?”

“Yes, we are old friends.” Arlanga had a big smile on his face. In fact, he did not know Batusimon. He was only bluffing. He was simply bullsh*tting.

“What do you think of Batusimon?” Anfey asked.

“Master, do you want…” Arlanga was shocked.

“Nothing, I only want to know him a little better.” Anfey smiled.

At the same time, Anfey sensed a very weak surge. He kept his face straight as he immediately released his telepathy. The view in the wagon started to look clear. It was different to observe with his eyes than his other senses. There were blind spots with vision, but sensing allowed Anfey to see everything and everyone without any blind spots.

Honna sat diagonally across from Anfey with her hands clasped. The ring on her middle finger gave out a gentle orange light. After a while, she moved her hands and pointed the ring at Suzanna. A bright gold light flashed on the ring. Honna’s face immediately changed. Edy, who had been wearing a smile, suddenly shook.

Suzanna lifted her head and took a look at Honna and Edy. She did not notice the weak surges because her telepathy was a lot weaker than Anfey’s, but she did notice the weird looks on Honna and Edy.

“Ms. Honna, I haven’t seen you for a year. You look even more beautiful than a year ago,” Anfey said with a smile.

“Thank you. I am flattered.” Honna giggled. “I hope you are not lying to me.”

“Of course not. I would not lie to you.” Anfey held his hand out and grabbed Honna’s right arm in a flirty way. He commented, “Your skin seems to be smoother.”

“Really?” Honna answered Anfey with a sweet voice as she leaned toward Anfey.

“Hey, what is this?” Anfey pretended to just notice the ring.

“My grandpa gave it to me. Huh? Ow!” Honna screamed in pain. She even had tears in her eyes. Her middle finger on the right hand looked bloody.

Anfey sounded like a gentleman, but acted harshly. He took the ring off by force without caring if it would hurt Honna. Of course, Anfey did not think he needed to care about a social butterfly.

“I am sorry.” Anfey smiled. He weighed the ring in his hand and measured it on his fingers. His fingers were thicker than Honna’s so the ring barely fit on his little finger. “Can you give it to me? I like this ring a lot.”

Honna’s face got pale. She had already forgotten the pain in her finger. She thought quickly, trying to analyze the situation and make a right decision. She cherished this ring. This ring was her secret because it could identify anyone’s fighting ability. She had been practicing her moves using this ring. No one had noticed anything while she was using the ring, so she assumed Anfey would not notice either. She thought someone must have sold her out.

“Why are you not talking? You do not want to give it to me, is that it?” Anfey was still smiling.

“If you really like it, I can give it to you.” Honna forced a smile, but it looked even worse than crying.

“Thank you. I really appreciate it.” Anfey turned to look at Suzanna. “Suzanna, do you know what this is?”

“What is it?” Suzanna asked casually. Suzanna looked too aloof. She did not seem to care whether Anfey was touching Honna’s arm or hurting her by force. She did not seem to be jealous or have any sympathy towards another woman. It was because she confidently believed in Anfey. Anfey seemed to have legit reasons for doing everything.

Anfey released his telepathy and turned the ring at Suzanna. That ring shone a bright gold light again. “Did you see it? This ring can tell me you are a master swordswoman.”

“I think I have heard about this ring.” Suzanna frowned and began thinking.

Both Honna and Edy shook from the shock. Arlanga seemed to shake even more. He was scared when he learned Suzanna was a master swordswoman. He seemed to hear Anfey complimenting Suzanna’s huge progress. He wondered if Anfey was even better than a master swordsman? Arlanga broke out in a cold sweat on his back and forehead. He tried to control himself, not showing his hatred. Now he dared not even hate Anfey any longer.

Anfey suddenly turned the ring to Edy. A grey light flashed on the ring. It looked like the ring was covered in thick fog.

“Death spirits? Are you a necromancer?” Anfey was shocked and immediately understood what the grey light meant.

“Master, do I look like a necromancer?” Edy rolled up his sleeves with a bitter smile to show his strong arms.

“Magic tools are more reliable than words. I’d rather believe magic tools.” Anfey said, looking at the ring.

“Master, I have nothing to do with them. I really do not know whether they are necromancers,” Arlanga suddenly yelled.

“Quiet, quiet! I know you have nothing to do with them. Only crazy people would be involved with necromancers. If you wanted to make money buying and selling food, it proves that you are not that irrational.” Anfey laid his eyes on Edy. “Sir, can we talk? How should I treat you? Do you want to exchange my mercy for your secrets?”

“It would not work. You will kill me anyway.” It was obvious that Edy had given up arguing that he was not a necromancer. He closed his eyes. He looked like he was waiting to die.

“Are you doubting my reputation?” Anfey smiled. “You know what, I have a friend waiting outside. He has amazing communication skills. I will have him talk to you.” Anfey gave Suzanna a look.

Edy already had an answer as Suzanna just ducked out of the wagon. “No, no need. You are doomed. Master Minos will take over the whole continent. It would not matter if I tell you anything or not.”

“Don’t you think it would be too early to talk about who will win this continent. If you tell me secrets, you can live longer. If you do not tell me, you could die very soon,” Anfey said casually.

“It is up to you. Master Minos will get revenge,” Edy said distantly. He would have struggled and tried to work things out if he did not know Suzanna was a top power. The cruel reality had crushed his hopes. Just as he said, it did not matter if he gave away secrets or did anything.

“Can Minos beat all the top powers on Pan Continent? If he can, he would be way more powerful than we think,” Anfey sneered. “Such a powerful person would care little people like you two. Besides, I am not scared of anyone. Do you know how Annunciata died?”

“Annunciata did not die. Master Minos gave her new life,” Honna interrupted.

Anfey froze there. Anfey responded quickly and was very sophisticated. Sometimes if Anfey did not think of something, it would only be because he need something to help him think. After hearing what Honna said, he immediately realized why the church doubted the death of Slanbrea. Necromancers must have done something to make the church believe he had not died. Reborn Annunciata must know what had happened.

“Look, Ms. Honna is smarter than you.” Anfey regained his calmness.

“Honna, do you really want to do this?” Edy suddenly opened his eyes and looked coldly at Honna.

“Don’t you remember what happened in the past few days?” Honna said slowly, “Five days ago, we should have left White Mountain City. My people had an accident in the magic lab. An Element explosion attracted patrols. We were surrounded before we could even walk out the door. We had to not only put out the fire but also reimburse our neighbors for their losses. We worked until really late that day.”

Edy quietly watched Honna, but Honna had zoned out. “Four days ago, when we were ready to leave, Archmage Michael sent me a birthday party invitation. You said we needed to get along with him and could wait another day. I listened to you and stayed.”

“Three days ago, we were about to leave. Just as we walked out of the room, we were attacked by a group of starving mercenaries. They killed our horses and tried to take the dead horses with them. What a surprise when Glory mercenaries showed up to provide security. That group of starving mercenaries took me hostage against Glory mercenaries. Hehehe, I do not even want to say how those idiots treated me. Of course, with everyone’s help, I got out safely.”

“Two days ago, as we were about to leave, I realized I had lost my magnet somewhere the previous day during the fight. Without the magnet, we could not finish our assignment. We looked for it the entire day and finally found it in a pile of dog sh*t after dark.”

“Yesterday when we were about to leave, we saw this stupid ass recruiting mercenaries. You said we could disguise ourselves in the merchant group so no one could notice us. This stupid ass said it was not safe to ride the wagon on the street. He needed to park wagons in front of the city gate and asked Glory mercenaries to protect us. We had to wait another day.”

“We could have left earlier today, but this stupid ass said he did not have enough money for the trip. He did not leave until noon. Now we are stopped here. If we could have left earlier, we would not have these troubles.”

“Honna, why are you saying these? Are you blaming me?” Edy said coldly.

“Master, can you tell me who sold us out?” Honna did not answer Edy but looked at Anfey.

Anfey could not help laughing inside. Anfey thought to himself, These two poor guys! They only wanted to get out of the city but ran into so much trouble. They must feel helpless.” Anfey smiled. “Sold you out? You think too much. We just ran into you.”

“Running into us? How could you just run into us?” Honna shook her head.

“Arlanga lead me here. I came over because I saw Arlanga. Before that, your mercenaries saw my people drinking and wanted to rob them.”

“Those mercenaries!” Arlanga yelled in anger. “I have killed over a dozen horses to feed them. They are still not satisfied and have to rob others for alcohol.”

“It seems you did not want to see me,” Anfey interrupted Arlanga’s yelling.

“Huh…” Arlanga was shocked for a second before he realized what he said made it too obvious and did not allow him to find excuses to cover his real intentions. He tried to please Anfey with a smile. “No, master, I mean they did well, really, great.”

“Are you saying I should be robbed?” Anfey said.

“No.” Arlanga looked like he was about to cry. He really did not how to explain it.

“Don’t you think it is weird that we ran into so many ridiculous coincidences and accidents?” Honna said to Edy with a blank face. “Think about what our assignment is. No matter how you think of it, I seemed to understand something.”

“Do you think our luck has run out?” Edy forced the words out one by one.

“What are you saying?” Anfey asked, frowning.

Honna did not reply to his question. Recognizing her dilemma and wanting to convince her companions, she only looked at Edy. “Don’t you think so?” she asked him quietly.

“Honna, don’t be stupid,” Edy said coldly. “You’re just trying to find an excuse for your own cowardice. You can do whatever you want, but you have to remember that these people will fail and you will be punished.”

“Dying now and dying in the future makes to no difference to me,” Honna said quietly. “You cannot possibly think this is all just coincidence.”

“What is it, if not coincidence?” Edy asked with a snort.

Anfey did not interrupt their conversation. Clearly, Honna and Edy were working together, but Honna was not as loyal to the cause as Edy.

“It’s god’s will,” Honna said.

“God’s will?” Edy repeated mockingly. “Every necromancer exists to defy the will of god. That means nothing.”

“Then attack me with your great, god-defying magic, Lord Edy,” Honna said sharply. “If you’re just using the fear spell, then don’t even bother. You know that has no effect on me.”

“You…” Edy spat angrily. “You don’t want to see your brother again?”

“I’ve been trying to protect him for ten years now,” Honna said softly. “It’s time I live for myself.”

“By condemning him to eternal suffering,” Edy said. “I never took you for one so selfish, Honna.”

Honna spat at Edy. “If I die, then he becomes nothing. Nothing but a zombie, and that is the best case scenario, am I right?”

“You’re a poor, pitiful thing,” Edy said. “If you’re going to abandon him now, then why did you waste ten years protecting him and suffering?”

Honna stared at Edy, her eyes burning with rage. Then she lunged at him, her fingers clawing at his face and neck. Edy did not pushed her away. He wrapped his fingers around a small dagger and stabbed at Honna’s stomach.

Anfey spotted his movement. He moved over to Edy and grabbed his wrist before he could do anything to Honna. Then he grabbed Honna and pushed her towards Suzanna. “Keep an eye on her,” he said. Suzanna nodded. Honna was at a disadvantage in the argument with Edy and she was not as loyal to the necromancers as Edy. She must have been repressing her feelings for a long time, or else she wouldn’t have changed sides so easily.

Unlike normal necromancers, there was blood seeping out of Edy’s wounds. No wonder he could walk around without arousing any suspicion.

“Edy, tell me, have you met me before?” Anfey asked.

Edy lifted his chin and did not reply.

Anfey wanted to change the subject and ask something when he was interrupted by one of the mercenaries, “Sir, there are a lot of cavalry heading this way!”

“Cavalry?” Arlanga repeated. He frowned and glanced at Anfey.

“Tell them not to worry about it,” Anfey said. “Those are my men.”

“Don’t worry about it!” Arlanga yelled to the mercenaries outside. “They’re not enemies.”

The mercenaries and guards were very confused by this development. A lot of the guards and mercenaries knew that Arlanga was not rich and only stayed in business because his friends had been aiding him. If those riders really were his people, why would he hire other people as guards?

Soon, the riders reached the caravan with Ling and Long in front. The riders had only been training for a few weeks, which was why they did not have standard uniforms and did not stay in formation. However, this was only a scouting team, and formation was not the most important thing.

A few moments later, Long appeared by the carriage.

“Come in,” Anfey said. “What’s the situation?”

Long glanced around the carriage and did not say anything. “Don’t worry,” Anfey said. “Go ahead.”

Long nodded. “We found a few who were going to White Mountain City. We took care of them.”

“What about the other directions?”

“We have almost twenty thousand people, sir,” Long said. “There is no way we can hide for long. They will know we’re coming.”

“I see.”

Arlanga’s eyes widened when he heard there were almost twenty thousand mercenaries working for Anfey. Even Edy seemed surprised.

“Let me introduce you,” Anfey said. “This is Lady Honna. This is Edy, who is also a necromancer. I trust you to take care of them while I’m gone.”

“Necromancer?”

“Don’t worry,” Anfey said. “He’s not a very good one.”

“Should I take them now?” Long asked, looking at Edy.

“Be careful,” Anfey said. “Edy here has a temper.”

“I’ll keep an eye on him myself,” Long said.

A sudden ruckus interrupted Long. Anfey frowned. “What was that?”

Long shook his head and shrugged.

“Arlanga,” Anfey said. “Go take care of your men. Don’t let them do anything out of line.”

Arlanga did not like being ordered around, but he did not have any choice but to follow Anfey’s directions. He nodded at Suzanna and Anfey and hurried out of the carriage.

“This caravan…”

“Don’t worry about them,” Anfey said. “They’re going to Maho Empire for food. If you find anything in the next few days, contact Christian. No need to look for me.”

“Yes, sir,” Long said with a nod.

Anfey glanced at Honna, who was sitting next to Suzanna and staring at the ground. She was in shock, and he knew he couldn’t get anything useful out of her. Better to let her rest for a bit before talking to her.

“Take them away,” Anfey said. He glanced at the ring he just found. He pointed it at Long, and the ring burst into green light.

“What is this?” Long asked curiously.

“A useful addition,” Anfey said.

Long nodded and did not ask any further. He turned to Edy and said, “Come with me.”

Edy glanced at Long but did not move. Long asked again, and Edy still did not move. Long sighed and reached over, grabbing Edy’s hair and knocked his head against the wall of the carriage. Edy cursed loudly and passed out.

Long sighed and grabbed him by the shoulder, dragging him out of the carriage.

“Wait!” Anfey said, suddenly noticing the calluses on Edy’s hands. “Honna, is Edy just a necromancer?”

Honna stared at Edy and said quietly, “I don’t know.”

“Didn’t know there are twin-discipliners among necromancers as well,” Anfey said. “Long, be careful. He may be difficult.”

“I will,” Long said before disappearing from the carriage with Edy.

No matter which civilization, which dimension, or what era, it was common in most societies to have small percentage of people own most of the wealth. There had never been real justice in any society.

At that time, the situation was very tense in White Mountain City. In fact, most conflicts in most societies occurred because of the uneven distribution of wealth. With the help of Archmage Michael, Glory mercenary group had taken over White Mountain City and made themselves the new owners. They had full control over the three biggest granaries in White Mountain City.

Wars and death spirits were everywhere, which put everyone in danger but also provided some people great opportunities. More than a few people saw this opportunity, but some of them were not lucky, or might have already died. Some people did not have the funds to do anything. Anthony definitely knew the situation well. Unfortunately, White Mountain City and Stormenburg were quite different. White Mountain City had a population of about 170,000. When it was surrounded by death spirits, with more people seeking shelter there, White Mountain City had a population over 300,000. It was a huge burden for the owner of the city to feed so many people when the trade route was blocked and they could not get any supplies.

Before 20 days ago, Anthony had claimed that the city had run out of food. In fact, there was still a decent amount of food left, but Anthony had to make sure Glory mercenary group and Michael’s soldiers and horses had enough food and shelters. He could not provide the rest of the people with food.

Mercenaries in other mercenary groups were not stupid. They knew Anthony must have played them when they saw Glory mercenary group so full of energy. The disappointment and anger accumulated, and eventually fighting broke out. Anthony and Michael worked together to suppress it. The mercenaries in the riots were all killed. Glory mercenary group was able to keep control of the whole city.

The stability was earned by force. It was hard to criticize whether it was the right approach to keep the city under control. Anthony could not avoid having his reputation get hurt. After finding out the death spirits were already gone, mercenaries immediately all left White Mountain City except for those who wanted to keep a good relationship with Glory mercenary group. Anthony had no way of keeping those mercenaries in the White Mountain City. He could suppress riots and keep order in the city, but he could not force those mercenaries to stay.

As it was getting dark, Anfey and Suzanna quietly sneaked into White Mountain City from the northwest corner. Anfey wanted to ride a wagon into the city with Suzanna, but he worried that Suzanna’s beautiful face would attract too much attention. After talking with Arlanga and few others, he realized wagons would attract more attention, or even get attacked. Starving people were everywhere in the city. They had lost their minds and had become very irrational.

“Anfey, what is wrong?” Suzanna asked quietly.

“Nothing.” Anfey shook his head. He looked like he was deep thought. As Anfey’s position got higher and higher, his vision had changed a lot. People followed orders in Stormenburg, so life was relatively peaceful there, while White Mountain City was in chaos.

He released telepathy to observe the whole city. He saw many things he never imagined would happen in White Mountain City. Two hundred yards ahead of him, two mercenaries excitedly swung their swords at a mouse. They looked like they were pretty bad with combat power, since they had difficulty killing a mouse. After a while, the mercenary in the front finally got the mouse. As he excitedly picked the mouse up, a shiny sword pierced his chest from behind. White Mountain City was not White Mountain City anymore. The city seemed to have more danger than Death Forest. A mouse did not seem to be enough food for two adults.

Two mercenaries on patrol saw what happened when they walked by the alley. They pulled their weapons out and prepared to run over. However, they were stopped by their head, who waved his hand impatiently to signal the patrol to continue to move forward.

If it were not group fight causing a bloody scene or trying to challenge Glory mercenary group, the head of the patrol did not want to get involved. He pretended nothing had happened. When everything became quiet again, a skinny wild dog came from nowhere. The dog sniffed the mercenary’s dead body, suddenly showed his sharp teeth and started to tear flesh off the body.

In fact, all the chickens and dogs in White Mountain City had been killed. This little wild dog had been the luckiest one, but its luck was about to run out. With an ear-piercing whooshing sound, a dark black arrow shot the little dog in the neck. That dog did not even make a sound before falling on the ground. A few mercenaries rushed out from the shadows. The one in front picked the dog up by the rear legs and shook it. He laughed with pride. The mercenaries behind him stared at the dead body on the ground. They did not move their eyes away from the dead body for quite a while. They were not too hungry and had the wild dog now, so they were reasonable enough not eat the dead body. If they continued to have no food for the next few days, they really did not know whether they would eat the body. The idea of eating a corpse made them feel scared and disgusted.

After the patrol turned down an alley, a girl around 20 years old walked up to the patrol. During this hard time, men could protect themselves with force while women could only exchange food for their bodies. No one needed to laugh at anyone else since survival was everyone’s priority. Many times, it was not that hard to overcome the humiliating feelings when survival at stake. The head of the patrol got horny when he suddenly saw a pretty face. He hooked his finger to signaled the girl to come to him. He put his hand into the girl’s shirt in front of everyone. He did not feel any softness on her chest, but few tough ribs. The girl had been starving for a long time. The fat on her boobs was used to supply energy for her body. The head patrolman looked annoyed and pushed the girl away. The girl did not want to give up and leaned toward the leader and smiled. The leader got pissed. He grabbed the girl’s head and kicked her chest and stomach few times. He kicked her on the floor at the end.

“Let’s go,” Anfey said in a low voice. He did not want anyone to notice them, which was difficult. There were people, crime and tragedy everywhere in the range of his senses. People were hardening towards what happened around them. They watched bad things happening without interfering. They could not see hope for their own lives. Of course, they were in no mood to help others.

Anfey needed to avoid patrols from Glory mercenary group in case of any unnecessary troubles. Anfey and Suzanna moved fast at times and slow at other times. Luckily, it was cloudy that evening. No one noticed Suzanna. Anfey stopped in front of a store at the end.

Anfey reached out his hand. Now Anfey could already gather wind elements on the other side of the door without any magic tools. The wind elements blew the latch out a little bit and left a crack between the door and the door frame. Anfey pushed the door open and walked in.

A clerk in the store jumped up and alertly looked at Anfey. “You two are…”

“I am a bard, coming from Miracle Island.” Anfey closed the store door as he talked to the clerk.

“Miracle Island. Flying Dragon originates there. You must have seen Gold Dragon, did you?” the clerk said with a pleasant smile.

“I did not see Gold Dragon, but I saw a three-legged green dragon,” Anfey said.

“That is nothing. I have seen five-legged green dragons,” the clerk said, relieved.

Anfey took something from his Dimensional ring and tossed it to the clerk. “Can you find the others?”

“Now?” The clerk hesitated for a second. When he saw the secret tablet, his face changed. “You are Master Anfey. Can you wait for a second? I am going to look for others,” the clerk said.

“Sure. Is there anyone in the basement?” Anfey asked.

“No, nobody there,” that clerk said.

“Can you unlock the basement first? We will wait for you in the basement,” Anfey said.

“Yes, master.” The clerk pushed the rear door open and ducked in. “Please this way.”

Anfey and Suzanna slowly followed behind the worker. They passed a hallway and saw a stable ahead of them. In fact, Anfey had been here once. There had been few horses in the stable last time, but there were none this time. Hay was piled up to cover the entrance of the basement.

“You do not have to worry about the entrance. You can watch for others,” Anfey said quietly. His sensing ability had a default. If he was in a closed area, he could not sense anything outside the room, and vice versa. Only when he was in a space with natural air flow could he clearly see his surroundings. The clerk used to work for Black Eleven, but Anfey still kept alert since he was in enemy territory.

“Yes, master,” the clerk said and hurried away.

“Anfey, do I need to follow him?” Suzanna asked in a low voice.

“No need.” Anfey shook his head and jumped out through the basement door.

“What are we doing?” Suzanna asked.

“We will see as things unfold,” Anfey said. “These people have been stuck in the city and should know what White Mountain City has been through. Maybe they could give me an answer,” Anfey said.

Anfey and Suzanna had encountered several mercenaries from White Mountain City before arriving and learned more about what was happening in the city. Even though the mercenaries were not professional spies, they were still able to provide some useful information.

They learned that Anthony’s life was very difficult. He originally had around six thousand men under his command, but after the attack from Tiger of Tawau mercenary group, he lost almost two thousand men in Blackwater City. Due to the loss of Davidson and Shanteler, Anthony also lost another three hundred men because he couldn’t control the mercenaries as effectively.

This loss made Anthony even more eager for revenge. He had been watching Hotchbini closely and reorganizing Glory mercenary group. The arrival of Michael was another boost to his strength. Michael brought around four thousand men with him, including several senior swordsmasters and a dozen mages.

Michael’s sudden change in attitude was very unexpected. No one knew how Anthony reacted to Michael’s request for peace, but Anthony’s son David was furious. David thought that Michael proved Ellisen Empire had betrayed them by trying to negotiate a peaceful resolution. According to the spies, David had been spreading harmful rumors in the city to hinder Michael’s effort. Also notable was David’s relationship with his mother, Nishieva. Nishieva came from Ellisen Empire, which contributed to tension between her and her son. In the past, they had a very close relationship, but now they were always arguing. Every conversation they had would end in a shouting match.

Despite the unrest among his mercenaries and the conflict between his son and wife, Anthony had remained uncharacteristically quiet. No one tried to talk to him about this situation, because he would grow very angry. David tried to talk to him about it and he sent his son away in a fit of yelling. Nishieva tried to talk to him as well to no avail.

“I see,” Anfey said, nodding. He could tell that Anthony was angry about Michael’s attitude, but he couldn’t do anything about it. “Have you reported to Sacred City?”

“Yes,” the spy said. “But we haven’t gotten anything bad yet. Michael can detect magic surges in the city so we can’t use any portal.”

Anfey nodded. “I see. You can go back now. Suzanna and I will be on our way.”

“Do you need us to…”

“No,” Anfey said, shaking his head. “Remember, no matter what happens, I need you to pretend this conversation never happened.”

The spy pursed his lips and nodded.

“Another thing. What is David like?”

“David? He’s about twenty-four, and Anthony keeps him on a pretty tight leash. He keeps low profile,” the spy said. “He became a mercenary when hewas fifteen and became a squad leader when he was eighteen. Now he’s an intermediate swordsmaster. He’s stronger than his level, though, because Anthony wanted to him to take things slowly.”

“What about his personality?”

“He’s a very kind person, very friendly. Everyone likes him. They always forget that he’s Anthony’s son and treat him just like one of their own,” the spy said. “Which is why everyone was so shocked when he began criticizing Michael. No one thought David would react so strongly.”

“It’s normal, of course,” another spy added. “Even though David is just a common mercenary right now, he will one day inherit his father’s position. He cannot let Michael ruin the future of Glory mercenary group.”

“Anything else?”

The spies shook their heads. “We don’t know David very well,” one of them said. “Everything else we know are just rumors.”

“Alright,” Anfey said. “Does he have a lot of friends?”

“A lot,” one of the spy said. “Technically, I’m one of his friends. We go out for a drink once in a while.”

“But you still don’t know anything about him?”

“No,” the spy said, shaking his head.

Anfey pursed his lips, thinking about their words. “I want to meet Anthony. Do you think it’s possible?”

“Sir, you’re mad,” one of the spies said. “It’s practically impossible.”

Anfey frowned. “Anthony’s under a lot of pressure, isn’t he? The rift between him and Michael is too wide to mend now. Maybe I can convince him to work with me.”

“Sir, even though there is a rift between him and Michael, Anthony won’t work with us,” another spy said. “This is unnecessarily dangerous.” The spies have more access to information than normal people and knew that Anfey was one of the people Yolanthe had been grooming. If he went with Anthony and something happened, there would be dire consequences.

“Who will he work with then, Shansa Empire?”

“Ellisen Empire and Glory mercenary group had been working together for decades, sir,” one of the spies said. “There are too many things linking the two. They won’t break their relationship just because of Michael. It’s practically impossible to convince Anthony to work with us.”

“But Anthony clearly isn’t satisfied with Ellisen Empire.”

“Maybe they’re putting up an act.”

“For who? Anthony has no other enemies except zombies and necromancers.”

The spies glanced at each other. Even though it was tempting, they couldn’t let Anfey take this risk.

“What about Michael?” one of the spies asked. “Michael lives with Anthony. It’s easy to startle him.”

“I’ll think of a way,” Anfey said. “Suzanna, let’s go.”

The spies opened their mouths, wanting to say something. Anfey shook his head and began walking up the steps.

“What do you want to do?” Suzanna asked. If it had been just Anthony, she wouldn’t be as worried. But there were still Michael and half a dozen senior swordsmasters.

“I once saved a man,” Anfey said, “and sent Anthony a piece of information through him. I think Anthony will meet him again.”

“What should we do about Michael?”

“I have a plan,” Anfey reassured her. He leaned closer to Suzanna and whispered something to her. Suzanna frowned.

“There’s no way he’s letting you take it,” Suzanna said.

“I’m borrowing it,” Anfey corrected her. “I’ll give it back.”

The street was empty save for a few mercenaries slumping against the walls. One of the mercenaries glanced at Suzanna and his body shook. Suzanna turned around, alerted, but did not see anything except for the mercenaries.

“What is it?”

“Nothing,” Suzanna said, turning back around. “Who’s the man you saved?”

“He’s name’s Shinon,” Anfey said. “Don’t worry. He’s reliable.”

“Who is outside?” someone in the room asked.

Anfey did not answer. He only looked around. The room was decorated very simply. Besides a table and two chairs, there was nothing else. It was cold and humid in the room. Obviously, the fireplace was not lit. It was winter, so sleeping in the room without a fire was no different than sleeping outside.

The light was turned on in the room. An old man carefully opened the door with a torch in one hand and a knife in the other. He yelled, “What are you doing here? I am going to call the police.”

“Shinon, don’t you remember me?” Anfey said, smiling.

Shinon was shocked for a second. Now he was able to see the two unexpected guests with the help of the torch. The guy was handsome, while the woman looked sweet and beautiful. He thought Anfey and Suzanna were burglars. They did not look like they could be burglars. Hearing Anfey say his name, Shinon was even more surprised. “You are…”

“Didn’t I tell you my name when I asked you to see Anthony. I asked you to ask for some rewards from Anthony. I also left you some gold coins. Why are you still so poor?” Anfey said.

“Master?” Shinon could not help raising his voice and looking surprised. He immediately remembered something. “Steel pipe.”

Anfey was shocked for a second before he tried to remember the secret codes. “Stomach” Anfey did not have bad memories, but the problem was it had been so long since he talked to Shinon. He kind of remembered the secret code he told Shinon in case they made contact. He just could not remember exactly what the code was. He had to take a guess with deductive reasoning.

“You are the master!” Shinon rushed over and kneeled in front of Anfey. He had tossed the knife and torch to the side.

“What are you doing? Get up, get up.” Anfey held his hand out and pulled Shinon up.

“Master, I knew you would come back.” Shinon had tears of joy in his eyes.

Anfey looked perplexed. He had saved Shinon but did not expect anything from him in return. He had asked Shinon to see Anthony because he did not have other choices. He felt like he had a relationship with Shinon. Of course, that was how Anfey thought of them, but Shinon obvious felt differently than Anfey.

Seeing Shinon really appreciate Anfey, Anfey felt uneasy. He smiled and changed the subject. “Shinon, didn’t Anthony give you any reward? Look at your life now,” Anfey said.

“Anthony was very generous. He gave me ten gold coins,” Shinon said.

“Then why are you…” Anfey asked.

“Anthony was very nice to me because of you. Later he got to know my son was still in jail and asked his people to get my son out.” Shinon wiped his tears. “Later I had my son join the Glory mercenary group. I knew master would come back. Master told me to collect information about four super mercenary groups, so I gave all the money to my son to have him socialize with people. I hoped he could collect more information this way,” Shinon said.

“You…” Anfey slightly shook his head.

“Master, are you coming back for something?” Shinon asked.

“Yes.” Anfey hesitated for a second. “Are you able to see Anthony?”

“Yes, Master. Anthony told me last time that I could see him directly if I have any information.” Shinon reached his hand into his shirt and took out a badge carved with an angel. “This is what Master Anthony gave me.”

“Great.” Anfey nodded. “Can you tell Anthony I want to see him. About the place and time? I will see him tomorrow before dawn in the woods ten miles south town.”

“Master, do you want me to see Anthony now?” Shinon asked.

“Yes, do you have time now?” Anfey asked.

“Sure.” Shinon did not want to wait. He turned around and was ready to walk out. He paused after a few steps. “Master, I still do not know your name. Do I need to tell Anthony your name?”

“You do not need to know my name,” Anfey said.

“Ok,” Shinon said.

Seeing Shinon disappear through the door, Suzanna said quietly, “Anfey, he is such an honest person. We should not have asked him to take such risks.” Suzanna felt bad for Shinon. It was dangerous to see Anthony. It would be great if he could talk with Anthony, but Shinon and his son would be in trouble if Anthony had any problems with Shinon.

“I know, so I was a little hesitant,” Anfey said with concern.

“Why did you not ask those spies to see Anthony?” Suzanna asked.

“Do you still remember what happened in Zagreen City? You killed all the Knights and Prients of Light,” Anfey said.

“Yes, what about it?” Suzanna asked.

“General Baery told me two of them were our people,” Anfey said quietly. “You do not know how much money, effort, and time we have to put into training a qualified spy. Whatever happened in Zagreen City was no one’s fault, but I still felt a little guilty about it. I can not cause any more losses.”

Suzanna gave a slight sigh, but did not say anything.

“Let’s see what kind of luck Shinon has. After this, I won’t trouble him,” Anfey said slowly. “He has a tough life.”

As the clock ticked away, Anfey sensed his surroundings with telepathy for a moment and stopped. Telepathy was not unlimited. He could not predict what would happen in the next few days, so he had to keep his fighting ability at its best. He could not waste any unnecessary telepathy.

Without knowing how much time had passed by, Anfey’s body suddenly stiffened. He jumped from the chair. Suzanna was shocked for a second and looked at Anfey in surprise. In her memory, Anfey rarely lost his cool.

“We were betrayed by Shinon,” Anfey said coldly. He could sense a few hundred soldiers travelling toward them along the main road and some mages flying in the distance. There were not many mages on Pan Continent. The civilization on Pan Continent was not developed well enough to pay attention to environmental protection. Therefore, there were only few trees in White Mountain City, which greatly affected Anfey’s sensing ability. He could not have a full view of the city, but his sensing had proved everything.

“What to do?” What Suzanna said was not helping. Since they had been betrayed, they had to fight now. Suzanna’s question indicated she had listened completely to Anfey. In other words, Suzanna had become dependent on Anfey out of instinct.

“Kill them,” Anfey said angrily, with hatred in his voice. It was not a big deal to be betrayed. The problem was he felt bad for Shinon not long ago, which made him feel he was played.

With a huge crash, the door in the yard was kicked to pieces. The sudden loud noise scared the soldiers who were jogging along the street outside the yard. Anfey and Suzanna walked to the street together. Cold wind with high humidity in the air helped Anfey regain his calm as wind blew on his face.

People were not machines, so they would make mistakes. Seeing the soldiers in armor with weapons, Anfey knew they must not be mercenaries. He could not sense the exact direction these soldiers were running. To be more specific, the soldiers were advancing along the main street. Obviously, whether or not these soldiers were looking for Anfey, they did not know his exact location.

Anfey was too impatient! He took a deep breath. He had asked Shinon to see Anthony and then noticed groups of soldiers in armor running nearby. In fact, probably most people would think they were betrayed, but how could Anfey define himself as a regular person. Anfey had not noticed that his mistakes were not just due to impatience. He did not recognized himself as special and different than others.

People’s personalities kept changing. Anfey was not the old Anfey anymore, especially after he killed Master Swordsman Deswright. Anfey’s confidence had reached an unprecedented level. If he dared to see Anthony, it meant he was not afraid of Anthony and Michael joining together to fight him. Of course, Anfey was still cautious, so he borrowed the pieces of War God Will Power from Hui Wei. Within Antimagic Terra, he was confident he could kill Archmage Michael with one strike.

Anfey did not realize what he imagined was based on one condition: he needed to attack first. The surprise attack on Michael indeed gave Anfey a high chance to kill him with one strike. In other words, his plan was made from the perspective of an assassin. However, killing a top power was not just about assassination. The plan was made by an assassin, while the fighting was done by a paladin. The deviation in planning usually would cause a far different result than planned. It was hard for Anfey to notice the miscalculation in his plans and real actions.

“Rush out. I will cover you,” Anfey said quickly.

Suzanna gave a quick nod. She turned around and ran fast to the end of the street. She gradually released her combat power, which covered her whole body with a cloud of gold light.

A mage close to Anfey had released lightning magic. Of all magic series, Fire series magic was the most powerful, Space magic was the most mysterious, while Electronic series magic was difficult because of its unbelievably high speed.

With his strong telepathy plus the internal force running fast through his body, his anti-magic ability was supposed to be way better than others, but Anfey was not very lucky today. Lightning could not hurt him, but it shocked him. He could not move at all for two or three seconds.

The flashing lightning became a signal for the battle. Groups of soldiers in armors with weapons ran into Anfey’s sensing range. Anthony dared not to stop. He raised a gigantic Fire Shield over his head and adjusted his internal force to the maximum. He went after Suzanna.

Mages tended to be treated with more respect than knights and swordsmen. Suzanna was a native of this world and she knew better than Anfey, which was why she was more nervous than him. She had summoned all of her combat power from the moment she drew her sword, because she knew they needed to get into the city as fast as possible. However, the defenses around the city were too well positioned. The closer Suzanna got to the wall, the harder it was to get through the defenses. Even though the wall was right in front of her, several bright sword radiances forced her to stop.

A master swordsman’s combat power was very powerful, but it was not powerful enough for Suzanna to be able to just ignore attacks from senior swordsmen. Her combat power would break if she ignored them.

Anfey knew now was not the time to stop. He gripped his fire sword and waved it in wide, sweeping motions at the swordsmen behind Suzanna.

A sudden surge of magic swept across the battlefield, and the stone under Anfey disappeared, replaced by a pool of lava.

Anfey had very quick reflexes, but this change was too sudden even for him to react in time. However, he did not panic. His body twisted and summoned a large wind blade with a wave of his hand. He pushed off of the wind blade and used a levitation spell to push into the air. He had already spotted his opponent. It was an old man. The mage had a red wand in his right hand and was holding onto a mercenary in his left.

The mage raised his wand again, and the tip of the wand burst into bright red light. A column of fire shot out from the wand towards Anfey.

Suzanna’s eyes widened. She recognized that it was a senior level spell called fire birds. Even though it was not as powerful as a meteor spell, it was much faster. What was even more shocking was that this mage could summon fire birds without spending any time chanting the spell. It was clear who this old man was.

Anfey raised his left arm and blocked the attack from the fire bird with his shield. The column of fire turned into a huge fire bird and crashed into the shield. The bird and the shield both broke into fire elements, and the impact of the crash sent Anfey stumbling towards the ground. The mage waved his wand again, summoning a pool of lava where Anfey would land. He hurriedly summoned a wind blade to prevent falling into the lava, but it was impossible to prevent himself from falling right into the bubbling lava.

Suzanna’s eyes widened as she moved towards Anfey, trying to save him. The swordsmasters around seized this opportunity and attacked her at the same time.

Seeing that he couldn’t get out of this situation any other way, Anfey clenched his fist and disappeared. A moment later, he appeared behind one of the swordsmasters around Suzanna and slashed at him with his sword.

“Suzanna!” Anfey called loudly. He knew that the best plan wasn’t teleporting behind the swordsmaster. He should have teleported to the mage and fought the mage, but he couldn’t teleport that far. Now that he had teleported once, he had to wait another day to teleport again.

Suzanna waved her sword and it burst into light. The sword radiances around her disappeared in the light and she dashed towards the swordsmaster whom Anfey had just attacked.

The swordsmaster had just taken a hit a few moments ago and could not move out of the way in time. Suzanna stabbed the man through the chest with her sword, then jumped back and dashed towards the others.

“Stop her!” the old mage ordered loudly. “I’ll take care of the boy.”

The remaining swordsmasters surrounded Suzanna, preventing her from getting away. The soldiers around them formed a circle to stop Suzanna. Even though Suzanna could take out several soldiers with every sweep of her sword, there would be more waiting for her. A dozen mages blocked her path, as well. They rained fireballs and lightning down on her, stopping her. Michael said he wanted to take care of Anfey, and the mages had no other option but to attack Suzanna.

Anfey lunged at the soldiers in front of him, gripping his sword tight and holding it out in front of him.

Michael frowned and raised his wand. He did not know why Anfey was acting so brash, but he couldn’t let this opportunity slip away.

Anfey’s body twisted and he waved his sword, striking the lava before it fully formed. The lava wavered and shattered into loose fire elements.

Michael frowned. Even though he was a top level power, he still could not shrug off the effects when a spell backfired. He stumbled a little, dropping the mercenary, and backed away.

Anfey bellowed as he dashed towards the soldiers in front of him.

Hearing his voice, Suzanna dispersed an incoming sword radiance and began pulling her combat power back to increase her defense.

Anfey pulled his longsword out and waved it, summoning lightning down on the swordsmasters and soldiers around Suzanna. Everyone around her, including Suzanna, disappeared in bright, crackling lightning.

Serial lightning was as close to a forbidden spell as possible without actually being forbidden. The soldiers around Suzanna all fell to the ground due to its effects; and even the mages were affected. The swordsmasters and Suzanna were all temporarily numbed by the lightning.

Anfey dashed towards the falling mages, sweeping his sword. Suzanna had overcame the numbing effect and slashed her sword at one of the swordsmasters. The swordsmasters could not move and couldn’t defend themselves against Suzanna.

Suzanna’s sword sliced through the combat power of one of the swordsmasters and sliced off the man’s arm. She pulled her sword back and stabbed at another man close to her.

The remaining swordsmasters only overcame the numbing effect then. They hurriedly drew back, avoiding Suzanna’s attack.

Michael spat angrily and waved his sword. A large fire dragon appeared in front of him. Michael waved his wand again, sending the fire dragon flying towards Anfey. Normally, a spell backfiring was enough to disable a mage, if not killing the mage. But Michael was a top level power, and he was strong enough to cancel out the effects by just using his own power. The best option for him was to hide and rest, but now he had no time for that. He had to attack and fight back.

Everyone had their own strengths. The fact that Anfey could become one of the best on Pan Continent in a short period of time proved that he had many strengths. No matter what kind of danger he was facing, Anfey could always pose as absolutely calm, which allowed him to rarely make any misjudgment. He was so tough that he could take more than most humans could take. He would not give up fighting even if he was slain with axes and swords and had blood gushing everywhere.

Anfey quietly watched the gigantic Fire Dragon flying over. The dragon looked sharp and murderous. He suddenly tossed his fire sword backward. He screamed from deep in his throat, “Fight!” He reached his arms out. An almost three-meter wide fire shield appeared in front of him.

Strategies were used everywhere and on everything. Even shopping took some strategy. No one could walk around every store. Fighting also involved strategy. Anfey had judged the situation he was in. Archmage Michael looked very cautious. He had been keeping a distance from Anfey. It would be hard no matter whether Anfey wanted to kill him or hurt him. Anfey had better start with the senior swordsmen. He needed to rush out of their encirclement. Anfey did not know what Anthony wanted to do to him. If Anthony came, Suzanna and he would be in a really bad situation.

He decided to fight the Fire Dragon face to face and sent a signal to Suzanna at the same time. He thought of exposing his back to those senior swordsmen to lure them to attack him. He wanted to have a better understanding of magic, since this was a fantastic opportunity to know the power of the Fire Dragon.

Anfey was brave but cautious, crazy but calm at the same time. He countered the Fire Dragon spells from Archmage Michael and made himself bait to those few senior swordsmen. Except for Anfey, no one dared to do so. However, every one of his decisions was made after thorough calculation. He dared to do it because he was confident that he could do it. In other words, it was worth taking risks to get what he wanted.

Suzanna saw Anfey counter attack the Fire Dragon and wanted to get closer to him to cover him. She heard Anfey’s screams and immediately stopped running and pulled her sword back.

Anfey’s judgement was right. Those five swordsmen were stunned when they saw Anfey was able to release Series Lightning magic. Seeing Anfey not retreating under the attacks of the Fire Dragon, they thought they had a great chance to kill Anfey. They ignored what Michael had told them before. They exchanged looks and rushed towards Anfey.

Suzanna was a master swordswoman. Her combat power had very strong defensive ability, while Anfey was only a poor paladin. Anfey’s defensive ability was way below Suzanna’s. He did not have a magic shield or other protective magic on him, so even the most dimwitted among his enemies knew they could not miss this opportunity to kill Anfey.

Those five senior swordsmen worked very well together. Two of them started suicidal attacks on Suzanna, trying to keep Suzanna in the fight. If they could hold Suzanna for just a while, the other three senior swordsmen would be able to surround Anfey.

In an instant, Anfey released all his energy on the Fire Sword. Bright orange light spread everywhere with the fire sword as the center. The fire spread as fast as a tsunami. The fire was so hot it could turn people into ashes immediately, while the moving flames could even destroy everything. The houses on both sides of the street were crashed. Any flammable objects were burning. The inflammable objects were crushed into powder. It looked like hell in an area with the radius of 100 yards.

The residents and mercenaries in the houses on the street were very unlucky. Anfey could not help them. Elements could not identify if anyone was innocent, which was why magic would be terrifying. No matter how nice a person was, he could not take care of everyone. As an assassin in his former life, Anfey had not always been so nice.

The Series Lightning Anfey released failed to bluff the soldiers. The survivors rushed towards him again. Unfortunately, they were doomed. The ones rushing in the front were turned into ashes in the fire. The ones with some luck who stood outside the range of the fire were knocked down by the fire explosion.

The Fire Dragon Michael released hit Anfey’s fire shield. However, compared with the fire sword that Anfey had released, the power of the Fire Dragon could be ignored. It was like a pair of chopsticks poking around on the plate. To Anfey, “chopsticks” were more powerful than he imagined. When the Fire Dragon hit the fire shield, he had to release all the telepathy so his fire shield would not be crushed. At the same time, Anfey adjusted the angle of the fire shield. He tilted the fire shield a little bit and stood on his toes.

The pressure Anfey took was significantly reduced. After these two moves, Anfey started to move back quickly. In other words, he was pushed away by the Fire Dragon.

Anfey was a master of technique without a doubt. “Borrowing the momentum” was a basic skill for Anfey. Breaking a fixed wood plate was easy, but it would become hard to break a hanging wood plate. The same principle could be applied to what Anfey was doing. If Anfey had to be a wood plate, he rather to be the later one. If he could keep the shape of the fire shield, Fire Dragon would not be able to hurt him. It would not be an issue even if he was pushed far by Fire Dragon. He rather be pushed 100 miles away. That way he did not even have to worry about running out of the encirclement.

The five senior swordsmen in the fire screamed in pain. Their combat power could protect them from being burned, but they still suffered the pain from the high heat. They were surrounded by fire. The fire seemed to have submerged everything, which blinded them from seeing their target. They could only release sword radiance to where they thought Anfey would be and randomly swung their swords to attack Suzanna.

The five senior swordsmen panicked, but Suzanna did not. Seeing Anfey tossing his fire sword away and hearing Anfey’s screaming, she had already known what Anfey planned to do. As the fire was about to swallow everything, she was able to target those two senior swordsmen who attacked her. She took the risk of being hurt and thrust her swords at them twice.

Suzanna thrust with full force, which showcased her sword skills in accuracy and force. There were two short screams. Obviously, they were hit.

The fire started to die out while the Fire Dragon became free elements. Anfey was pushed away about 60 yards by the Fire Dragon. Luckily, he was not hurt at all, not even missing one hair. Maybe because of his strong telepathy, the elements Anfey gathered and released would not hurt him. He learned to control the elements he released, but still did not know how to control the magic released by others. He tried to control the Fire Dragon, but the fire elements the Fire Dragon contained did not respond to him. Anfey sneered at Michael as he asked himself whether he could only fight with little Shally.

Michael was so enraged that his body started to shake. Strictly speaking, he had not done anything wrong. He just did not know Suzanna was a master swordswoman and Anfey was pain in the neck as well. It was not a mistake. Someone lied to him. At that moment, Anfey and Suzanna were totally fine while Michael’s people were all injured or died. Michael was both physically and mentally hurt, especially when he saw those three swordsmen all looking scared. He lost five senior swordsmen. He could not even find their bodies. They all had turned into ashes.

Seeing Anfey’s sneer, Michael almost lost his mind. He raised his magic wand without a second thought and released another Fire Dragon. The Fire Dragon directly flew down at Anfey.

“Let’s go!” Anfey said in a low voice and raised the fire shield. Anfey only knew to passively defending himself when the magic was new to him. He could usually skillfully counter magic he was familiar with, decoding it and even counterattacking with the same magic his opponents used on Anfey.

Suzanna slightly nodded. She turned around and rushed to the city wall. The soldiers, including the three surviving senior swordsmen, had lost their courage to fight. Watching Suzanna running away, they did not do anything.

At that moment, Anfey ran towards the Fire Dragon with the fire shield. This time the fire shield tilted even more. When the fire shield clashed with the Fire Dragon, Anfey was knocked backwards. It looked like Anfey was knocked back by Fire Dragons, but Anfey was not hurt at all. He only moved backwards with the force the Fire Dragon applied on him.

The Fire Dragon, composed of flames, seemed to be alive. Fire Dragon twisted his body and chased after Anfey. Anfey raised his fire shield again. As a huge noise was heard, Anfey’s body flew away in a different direction.

If Anfey were described as the ball in the dragon dance, then the Fire Dragon would have been a fake dragon chasing after the ball. The Fire Dragon tried to bite the ball from all directions but could not swallow it.

Michael could not just stand by and watch. He took advantage of the timing and raised his magic wand to release a Fire Bird. A flame rapidly spread in the sky a hundred yards toward Anfey. Michael dared not release any magic that required him to be close to his opponents. He worried that he would be bit again by his own magic. He chose to use Levitation magic from a distance, which constrained Michael and made him uneasy. It felt like he fought with only one hand, but he could do nothing with it.

Anfey never felt dizzy, even when he had been put on pilot training to spin 1,000 times around a pole. Anfey had locked his senses on Michael. The Fire Bird’s speed was super fast, but Anfey was no slower than the Fire Bird. Moreover, Anfey had seen him releasing the Fire Bird and had reacted as soon as he saw it.

Anfey moved to the side and countered the Fire Bird, with the fire shield almost parallel to the ground. With a loud noise, the fire shield in Anfey’s hand did not change a bit but the Fire Bird had shot up to the sky as it passed against the shield.

Michael gasped. He finally realized that regular magic attacks would not work on Anfey.

Anfey raised the fire shield to block the Fire Bird, but got knocked away and rolled to the side. He noticed the shocking face on Michael and understood this was his best chance to fight back. When Anfey rolled, he had his back facing Michael and took out a bow from his Dimensional ring. He turned his body and took aim at Michael. A dark arrow shot at Michael.

No wonder Michael was an archmage. He was very experienced since he had been through many battles. Even though he had lost his cool, he was still observant about dangers. As Anfey turned around, he sensed the danger and immediately released a magic shield. He immediately started chanting rapidly.

With two huge crashes, the two arrows shot together by Anfey crashed into Michael’s magic shield. Michael looked very cautious. He did not care if his magic shield could take the hit; he had disappeared. When he showed up again, he kept another 100 yards between Anfey and him.

Saul and Entos could perform Instant Transportation at any time, but Michael could not. His Instant Transportation took a long time to cool down. This was the difference between different series mages. Saul could not instantly release Fire Bird and Fire Dragon with top fire series magic.

“Anfey, be careful with the rage from Fire God!” Michael’s angry voice came from a distance. He raised his magic wand high and started to chant.

They were Forbidden Spells! Anfey felt the intense magic surges in the air. He was shocked and dared not to stay around. He turned around and started to run away. At the same time, he heard a coarse voice: “Master, don’t hurt Suzanna. You have promised me that you would give Suzanna to me.”

Anfey was shocked. His sense immediately located the person who was talking. He was the mercenary Michael accidentally tossed away. That familiar face made him remember a name, Vonmerge. He used to like Suzanna a lot.

Michael looked enraged and thought to himself, Stupid ass! Because this stupid ass told him Suzanna was a senior swordswoman while Anfey was only a stupid paladin, he suffered the loss. If he were more careful and asked Anthony to come with him, he would not have ended up like this. Right now he needed to focus to release Forbidden Spells and had no time for that ass.

Those three senior swordsmen who were so shocked and disappointed at themselves seemed to come back to life. They, just as Michael, blamed everything on Vonmerge. One of the senior swordsmen yelled in anger, “Shut up!” He rushed towards Vonmerge after yelling at him. He dared not to fight Anfey, but it did not mean he dared not to kill others.

Anfey sighed. He suddenly stopped. At the same time, Suzanna had run out through the city wall. She did not hear Vonmerge’s screaming. Anfey had decided not tell Suzanna about Vonmerge. He did not want Suzanna to get hurt. He decided to pretend Vonmerge was not there at all.

No matter how long the spells could be, there would be an end to it. The magic surges got stronger and stronger but suddenly stopped. Anfey had a weak smile on his face. He knew he was about to face the terrifying Forbidden Spells. It was the most terrifying power on the whole Pan Continent. He was not scared, because being scared would not solve any problems and could cause unnecessary mistakes. He stayed still because he felt he was responsible to do so. He unconsciously wanted to run away with Suzanna at the beginning to counterattack the Forbidden Spells. Anfey had a habit of approaching an issue from different angles. He immediately realized he did not have to involve Suzanna in it because the Forbidden Spells were so powerful, and he did not want Suzanna to get hurt. He rather took the Forbidden Spells himself.

Some people could only work together in tough situations but could not get along once they became successful. Others could only share joy but could not go through the tough times together. The former situation was more like “Danger gone, God forgotten,” while the later was more like “A flock of birds fly in all directions when dangers come”. Anfey was not all great, but he disdained both groups. Things were not just all black and white. Sometimes, Anfey had no choice but to pick one option for the people he cared about. This time Anfey chose the latter option, that is, flying on his own when danger came.

Obviously, Susanna chose differently than Anfey. She did what Anfey had asked her to do, that is, rush about 100 yards further after running out of the city wall. The magic surges seemed to get stronger and stronger behind her, to a point that the magic surges were so strong that they felt terrifying. Suzanna had not seen Anfey showing up on the city wall yet.

Suzanna immediately turned around and rushed back to the city. As the tip of her feet just touched the city wall, she saw a terrifying scene. Michael pointed his magic wand at Anfey. The magic surges were so intense that it seemed they would turn into real objects, which told Suzanna that Michael released Forbidden Spells.

Anfey made a long roaring noise as he quickly directed his internal force. He broke his own telepathy record again. Anfey observed any slight changes around him. No one, including people as powerful as Saul and Ernest, dared fight with full force with Forbidden Spells.

After a while, Anfey’s roaring suddenly stopped because Michael had put away his magic wand. Nothing seemed to change around them. To be more specific, only Michael looked older and his body was a little hunched, but nothing else had changed. Anfey wondered if that was all the power of Forbidden Spells. He thought Forbidden Spells were a lot more powerful. Anfey was wrong. No one even saw what Forbidden Spells looked like.

“Anfey!” Suzanna rushed over behind Anfey and grabbed his arm. Seeing what had happened, she had a feeling that she was going to lose Anfey. She felt her heart broken. She was so terrified.

“Hahahaha…” Michael laughed out loud. He looked so happy.

“Let’s go!” Anfey grabbed Suzanna and they ran out of the city together. He did not want to stay there any longer than he had to. Anfey thought that old guy, Michael, must be a nut, or Forbidden spells were not working. He wondered if Forbidden spells could expire.

“Anfey!” Michael did not seem to be the only one losing his mind. The crowd around Suzanna and Anfey stared at them, but Suzanna held Anfey and stared at him as she touched all over Anfey with her soft hands. She seemed to check whether Anfey had lost any parts. “You…”

“I am fine. That old man played a telepathy game with me.” Anfey knew what Suzanna was worried about him so he lied about it to comfort Suzanna.

Suzanna heaved a long sigh. She suddenly felt weak and almost fell into Anfey’s arms. She knew Anfey’s telepathy was super powerful. If anyone tried to attack Anfey with telepathy, it definitely would not work.

Seeing Anfey and Suzanna disappearing on the city wall, Michael was still floating in the sky and had no intention to chase after them. After a while, he looked proud and smiled. “You are just a paladin. Do you really think you could survive after you received my Burning spells?”

Generally speaking, three spells in Fire series magic belonged to Forbidden magics. However, Michael mastered four Forbidden magics. He learned about the fourth Forbidden magic from a relic.

Burning was just a regular word in the dictionary, but also represented a very horrific magic in magic world. In other words, it was vicious. In Fire series magic, burning was a magic similar to a cursing. Every time, when the Burning magic was released, it would take a large amount of magic power. It would have a burning effect that could last one day to one month long, depending on how strong the opponent’s anti-magic ability and telepathy were. This burning effect could not be countered by other elements. No matter whether Anfey jumped into the water, hid in the snow, or even buried himself in the dirt, the effects were still there for that period of time.

Michael knew some top powers could not bear this non-stop burning pain and even killed themselves at the end after they were hit with Burning magic, even though they tried to fight the burning pain with combat power and magic power. Anfey was just a paladin with weak magic and barely any combat power. Burning magic would show its burning effect the most on Anfey. Michael thought there was no chance for Anfey to survive it.

Suzanna and Anfey ran until they were sure there was no one chasing them anymore. Clearly, Suzanna was right. Now that they knew how powerful Michael was, they knew that if Michael and Anthony teamed up, there was no chance of victory.

“Should have listened to those spies,” Suzanna whispered, “or let them meet with Anthony. At least they won’t have betrayed us.” In the past, she would be angry with herself because she believed that if she was stronger, she could protect herself and Anfey. But now that she was a top level power, she could not do that anymore. She also knew that fighting a mage was not easy, because mages tended to be more in control in a fight.

“Shinon didn’t betray us,” Anfey said, “or else Anthony would have noticed much sooner.”

“Are we going back?”

“No,” Anfey said, shaking his head.

“If we don’t, Anthony will realize who sent Shinon.”

“He will realize no matter what,” Anfey said with a shrug.

“If Shinon didn’t betray us, how did Michael realize we were there?”

“Maybe some of the mercenaries recognized us,” Anfey said.

Suzanna frowned and nodded. “Alright, then. Anthony didn’t do anything. Do you think we can…”

“Possibly,” Anfey said. “Michael must be very angry right now.”

“Which will only widen the rift between them,” Suzanna said with a grin. “If that’s the case, shouldn’t we go and meet with Anthony.”

“Don’t worry,” Anfey said. “We can’t rush this kind of thing.”

Suzanna sighed. “Alright,” she said. “We shouldn’t take risks like this anymore in the future. We only got away this time because we were lucky. If Anthony and Michael are working together…” She shuddered and did not finish. She walked over to Anfey and grabbed his hand. “Promise me.”

As Suzanna grabbed Anfey’s hand, his body shivered. Suzanna frowned. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I just remembered something.”

“What is it?” Suzanna asked, confused. “Why is your hand so warm?”

“Well, we just ran fifty miles, of course my hands are warm,” Anfey said. “Nothing important, really. Just something that happened when I was young.”

Suzanna frowned and looked at Anfey. She realized that he was staring at her intensely, his eyes filled with love. Even though they were married, Suzanna was still very shy and not used to attention. “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked, blushing.

“Because I like you,” Anfey said.

Suzanna sighed. She moved closer to him and said, “Tell me more about your childhood.”

Anfey pursed his lips and frowned. “It’s not too… it isn’t anything interesting.”

“I don’t care,” Suzanna said. “Tell me.”

“Well, I spent most of my childhood just fooling around with the neighbor’s kids,” Anfey said. “That’s about it. Suzanna, come on, let’s get some rest. Then we need to head different ways. I’m heading back to White Mountain City, you’re going to look for Christian.”

“Christian?” Suzanna asked.

“Tell him that there is indeed a rift between Michael and Anthony. After the battle, we need to avoid conflict with Glory mercenary group and its mercenaries. Focus on Michael’s men,” Anfey paused. “Let him decide the rest.”

“Can’t we go talk to Christian together after he gets there?” Suzanna asked, confused. “What are you going to do at White Mountain City?”

“I need to find a chance to take out Michael,” Anfey said. “You see, I need to prepare and create a plan if I want to kill Michael and live. A good plan needs time. I cannot go look for Christian.”

“I want to help you,” Suzanna said.

“I can conceal myself,” Anfey said. “I can approach people without them noticing and still be able to fight. Even if I don’t use magic, I can still do a lot of things. You need your combat power. Plus, you are a top level power. People will notice you. We cannot hide amongst them together.”

“But… but I can still help,” Suzanna insisted.

“I don’t need help,” Anfey said. “Really. Don’t worry about me. I will be fine. Listen to me and go find Christian. I need him to know our intentions.”

Suzanna watched Anfey without saying anything. She did not want to leave Anfey, but she knew that he was right. Splitting up was the most effective and reasonable plan.

“Don’t frown,” Anfey said. “I have the Shattered Will of God of War, remember? Really, don’t worry. I will be fine. As long as I’m well rested, I can use teleportation. I promise I won’t put myself in harm’s way.”

“Even if you can kill Michael, what about his guards?”

“Anthony won’t do anything. I’m not worried about the guards. If I can take out Michael, who are those guards to me?” Anfey paused and smiled at Suzanna. “You need to help Christian organize the attack. You need to attack Michael as hard as possible to give me a chance.”

“I see,” Suzanna said, nodding. She was a very strong woman, so as soon as she made a decision, she would follow through. She wanted to be Anfey’s helper, not burden.

Anfey glanced at the night sky and sighed. Then he looked at Suzanna and smiled, “With everything lately…I’m sorry. I promised you a peaceful life, not this. After everything’s over, we’ll find Shally and the three of us will get out of here.”

Suzanna grinned and nodded. She stepped towards Anfey and wrapped her arms around him.

Anfey wrapped his arms around her as well, trying hard to control his shivering. He knew something was wrong as soon as he left White Mountain City, because every inch of his body was burning with pain.

Everything, including breeze and Suzanna’s embrace, caused the pain to intensify. Thankfully, Anfey could control himself well enough not to show that he was in pain.

He did not know what would happen to him, which was why he needed Suzanna to leave. He didn’t want the woman he loved to suffer because he was in pain. His mind kept replaying the terrifying magic surge he felt from Michael. Clearly, the forbidden spell had worked.

“Hurry,” Anfey whispered, letting go. “You have a long way ahead of you. I need rest as well.”

Suzanna sighed and nodded. “Be careful,” she said.

“You have to be careful as well,” Anfey said.

Suzanna nodded. “See you later,” she said.

Anfey nodded and smiled.

Suzanna looked at him again, then turned around and dashed away. She stopped, turned and waved at Anfey, then took off.

Anfey’s eyes fell on his dimensional ring. He wanted to give everything to Suzanna, at least he needed to give her the shard of the Shattered Will of God of War, because he didn’t know if he could survive this. But Suzanna wasn’t stupid, and she would realize something must be off if he gave her everything he had. If she realized something was wrong, she would insist on staying with him. Anfey didn’t know how long he could keep up his calm facade, and he didn’t need Suzanna to see his pain.